Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

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seeingclearly
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by seeingclearly »

LadyCentauria wrote:
refitman wrote:
adam wrote: Veggie ones. There's a shop on the corner of the street by my school that sells five very lovely warm veggie samosas for a pound. We're not strictly speaking supposed to go out during the day but it's usually possible to find a kid who's prepared to make a run for it.
Had and Indian 'corner' shop by me, when I lived in Bristol. They had home-made lamb samosas and potato cakes. I miss them. And now I'm hungry.
And now you've all made me hungry too :( We were out on the hill, the other night, watching three separate Diwali fireworks displays. The beautiful temple at Neasden does a brilliant one and, like all Hindu and Jain temples and Sikh Gudwaras, they welcome visitors with open arms and hearts; and put on wonderful feasts. If anyone comes to London the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (Neasden Temple) is well worth a visit. It is fully accessible, too: http://londonmandir.baps.org
Wonderful, heartwarming posts, from Adams to here, which made me miss Handsworth immensely, and it's welcoming Sikh community, and let to a reverie about watching the huge parade of splendidly dressed Sikh men who walk annually from the Gurdwara in West Bromwich to Handsworth Park, every one of them barefooted, while young people hand out free drinks to anyone and everyone. Then following them down to the park with thousands of Sikh visitors from around the country for their mela, where they would feed all comers with rice, vegetables, dhal, samosas and other delights. The teams of youngsters collecting the plates, ensuring everything was looked after. The Kabbadi displays, live music, bhangra and whole extended families from as far away as Scotland and the South coast picnicking under their chosen trees, sometimes four generations. Wonderful.

All of this good healing after a barely tolerable day online.

Adam, I wasn't allowed to thank you, it said my thanks were invalid. So thank you :D , you don't know how blessed it was to read your post, like a benediction, but warmer.

Five samosas for a pound? They cost that here around 1982!

I love this place for its reality, it's dogs, cats, horses, children and grandchildren, its word pictures and humour, good intent and everything and all of you. :hug:
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by Spacedone »

Morning all!

Judging by the bin currently being blown down my road it's a windy one out there today.
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by Spacedone »

Record number of people working for low pay - 5.2 million, up 250,000 in the last year.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... CMP=twt_gu
"Being low paid – and getting stuck there for years on end – creates not only immediate financial pressures, but can permanently affect people’s career prospects. A growing rump of low-paid jobs also presents a financial headache for the government because it fails to boost the tax take and raises the benefits bill for working people."
letsskiptotheleft
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by letsskiptotheleft »

Bit blowy down here too, best thing about the clocks going back, you can take the hounds out and it's still only 8.20ish.

Paul Sykes has promised to give the Kippers a million and a half quid to target a 100 seats, including those who have euro-sceptic, or if you prefer septic MPs already, there will be no ''grubby deals'' still, it's only bad news for Miliband.
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rebeccariots2
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by rebeccariots2 »

Morning all. Did we get our clocks right last night? I still have to reset my FTN time BTW.
John Prescott @johnprescott · 14h 14 hours ago
Don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight. Unless you're Grant Shapps, who gets an extra hour of being an idiot
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letsskiptotheleft
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by letsskiptotheleft »

rebeccariots2 wrote:Morning all. Did we get our clocks right last night? I still have to reset my FTN time BTW.
John Prescott @johnprescott · 14h 14 hours ago
Don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight. Unless you're Grant Shapps, who gets an extra hour of being an idiot

Talking of which, idiots that is, two years Shapps promised there would be ''no mercy shown'' by the Tories in targeting those seats they need to win for a majority, now, it seems they are concentrating on defending seats rather than winning. Yet more bad stuff for Labour.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 18672.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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rebeccariots2
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by rebeccariots2 »

Spacedone wrote:Record number of people working for low pay - 5.2 million, up 250,000 in the last year.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... CMP=twt_gu
"Being low paid – and getting stuck there for years on end – creates not only immediate financial pressures, but can permanently affect people’s career prospects. A growing rump of low-paid jobs also presents a financial headache for the government because it fails to boost the tax take and raises the benefits bill for working people."

That bit really stuck out for me too. It's the real problem facing whichever government is in power post May 2015. I look at that para and then remember the graph about how Osborne's really dealing with the debts ... and think the unthinkable. For the UK's sake would somebody please get on with some serious infrastructure investing ... housebuilding, renewables (of the right kind) etc ... even if we have to borrow to do it, we would at least be creating some jobs that might pay enough for our overall tax take to start rising and people to be able to afford to hope again ... as well as doing some good for society and the planet. Simplistic? Yes, very. But I don't see any of the wheezes cooked up by Cameron, Clegg and Osborne as being any less simplistic - fag packet some might say - and the one thing they seem designed not to do is actually help the people and parts that really need help.
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PaulfromYorkshire
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by PaulfromYorkshire »

Morning All!

Re: clocks

You need to go to User Control Panel (top right) then Board Preferences (left) and uncheck the summer time option.

Have a good day ;-)
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rebeccariots2
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by rebeccariots2 »

Interesting chart and post.
Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 58m 58 minutes ago
LAB-SNP battleground: LAB's 41 Scottish seats ranked by % majority. See chart. http://bit.ly/1so2zq0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Editing to add: And this one:
Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 5h 5 hours ago
New post
LAB heavyweight Jim Murphy becomes the 2-5 favourite to be next Scottish LAB leader http://bit.ly/1so2zq0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I wonder if that would solve any of the leaking to the arch whinger problems?
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by PaulfromYorkshire »

rebeccariots2 wrote:Interesting chart and post.
Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 58m 58 minutes ago
LAB-SNP battleground: LAB's 41 Scottish seats ranked by % majority. See chart. http://bit.ly/1so2zq0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Yes very good. Makes the point that Labour is much less vulnerable to the SNP than one might believe, though they mustn't be complacent of course!
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rebeccariots2
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by rebeccariots2 »

Labour and banks plan house-building funds
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 18659.html
Labour is working with the five major high-street banks on proposals to kick-start a house-building boom with the help of government loan guarantees for builders.

Chris Leslie, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Housing spokesperson Emma Reynolds met representatives of HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Scotland last week to hammer out proposals.

Labour wants a “help to build” scheme if it wins the general election next year, a policy that would involve government underwriting bank loans to small house-builders with a turnover of up to around £20m a year. These smaller firms have struggled to secure loans as the banks have become more cautious with their money since the onset of the financial crisis. They now build fewer than a third of new homes, compared with two-thirds in the late 1980s...
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rebeccariots2
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by rebeccariots2 »

WhichIdiotIncludedBlackEconomy.jpg
WhichIdiotIncludedBlackEconomy.jpg (43.09 KiB) Viewed 14436 times
Dave Simpson ‏@davesimpson21 25m25 minutes ago
@NadineDorriesMP Which idiot included 'black economy' money to make it look like we were doing so well? Your dear chancellor I guess!

‏@NadineDorriesMP
@davesimpson21 that's the best question anyone has asked on here
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TechnicalEphemera
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by TechnicalEphemera »

rebeccariots2 wrote:Interesting chart and post.
Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 58m 58 minutes ago
LAB-SNP battleground: LAB's 41 Scottish seats ranked by % majority. See chart. http://bit.ly/1so2zq0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Editing to add: And this one:
Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 5h 5 hours ago
New post
LAB heavyweight Jim Murphy becomes the 2-5 favourite to be next Scottish LAB leader http://bit.ly/1so2zq0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I wonder if that would solve any of the leaking to the arch whinger problems?
I can't see supposed heavyweight Murphy being the answer. For a start the problem in Scotland is the Labour Party has to move leftwards and expose the SNP as being opportunist rather than sincere in its new found leftism.

How is Murphy going to do that? Brown could just about manage it.

Also WTF has Jim Murphy actually done?
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rebeccariots2
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by rebeccariots2 »

Dr Éoin Clarke @LabourEoin · 8m 8 minutes ago
Gordon Brown has ruled himself out of running for Scottish Labour Leader. Wise decision.
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by rebeccariots2 »

EdMilibandPublicSupportForCarers.jpg
EdMilibandPublicSupportForCarers.jpg (70.87 KiB) Viewed 14417 times
Dr Éoin Clarke
‏@LabourEoin
@yorkierosie @Domhnall_iain @DanielBoffey I can confirm on that particular day Ed scheduled 15mins with them but it drifted to 45m+. Promise
Be interesting to see if Daniel Boffey comes out with any response .... doubt it.
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Lonewolfie
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by Lonewolfie »

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Spacedone wrote:Record number of people working for low pay - 5.2 million, up 250,000 in the last year.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... CMP=twt_gu
"Being low paid – and getting stuck there for years on end – creates not only immediate financial pressures, but can permanently affect people’s career prospects. A growing rump of low-paid jobs also presents a financial headache for the government because it fails to boost the tax take and raises the benefits bill for working people."

That bit really stuck out for me too. It's the real problem facing whichever government is in power post May 2015. I look at that para and then remember the graph about how Osborne's really dealing with the debts ... and think the unthinkable. For the UK's sake would somebody please get on with some serious infrastructure investing ... housebuilding, renewables (of the right kind) etc ... even if we have to borrow to do it, we would at least be creating some jobs that might pay enough for our overall tax take to start rising and people to be able to afford to hope again ... as well as doing some good for society and the planet. Simplistic? Yes, very. But I don't see any of the wheezes cooked up by Cameron, Clegg and Osborne as being any less simplistic - fag packet some might say - and the one thing they seem designed not to do is actually help the people and parts that really need help.
I'm always amazed by the 'surprise' with which these 'think tanks' announce their findings - stating the b******g obvious, having 'researched' it - well f*****g done! Do they recognise the part Workfare has played in reducing incomes and limiting career prospects? What about the mental health issues that go with the constant worry about how you're going to stay in your home, how you're going to eat, how you're going to provide your children with clothes for school (that don't make you and them feel like second class citizens (not against hand-me-downs, just the attitude of superiority from the 'haves' in our current 'society')) - maybe you've had a couple of fewer hours in 1 week - so in the knock on, something has to give...or you have to 'find' money from somewhere...or get into debt (oh look - all those nice 'payday lenders' :fire: ) How about the (very) low wages paid by profitable companies? May be not a good example lately, but Tesco? How many of their employees' are in receipt of Housing Benefit and/or Tax Credits? Redirecting the profits to employees has a number of beneficial effects (Sorry - not researched - anecdotal, but historically John Lewis/Waitrose!) but none that accrue for the 'investors' :cry: . Frankly it's taking the p*** - I've no doubt they're good people at Resolution (other 'think tanks are available - but good luck finding one that 'thinks') Where do they point out the real state of 'benefits'? As we know, many working people (60% of HB, is it? Apols, don't know lastest/real figs...nor do they mention where that benefit is actually paid (landlord, not renter)) are able to survive only because of benefits - supermarket employees working all day, watching customers place purchased (at full profit for said supermarket) food in the 'Food Bank' trolley that they then go round the corner to pick up as they can't afford to shop where they work. Perverse in the extreme...but we can't have think tanks rocking the Ultra-Neo-Conmens boat can we :fire:

Rant over.
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ephemerid
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by ephemerid »

Re. Samosas - my pal taught me how to make them (very easy if you use ready-made filo). When I lived in Gloucester, our corner shop sold them and pakoras and onion bhajis and stuffed bhindi (okra) for 20p each. Lush. We also had neighbours who insisted on giving us food when they had their Eid huge family gatherings - they did not eat until a "stranger" had been fed, so we got a delicious meal (to be fair, as soon as we'd had the first mouthful they got stuck in too!) then they gave us enough food to feed an army before we left.

Re. Cameron - He cannot continue like this much longer. In the past few days, we have seen him puce with rage, and uttering some very odd slurred statements (he could almost be drunk.....maybe he is....). All this nonsense about the EU charge/rebates is a ridiculous posture - he cannot seriously think that we accept he had no idea. Ministers have known this was coming for a very long time - most of the media are buying all this shit (forgetting the three-billion-odd we got back recently) and neglecting to mention that all the different EU budgets are adjusted all the time.
If there is any truth in the suggestion that Osborne put a memo in a red box, one has to ask what the F**K does Cameron do all day if he doesn't bother opening his dispatches? He's tying himself in knots trying to woo the Ukippers and his own backbenchers; he is being shown up for the lazy preening spiv he is; Europe is laughing at him; and he has such a lack of awareness he seriously expects us to believe that he had no idea what his ministers were doing on health, education, justice, social security, etc. until their "reforms" had become legislation.

Re. Miliband-bashing - Show and I have been discussing this a lot lately. He thinks (with some justification, IMHO) that an awful lot of people in this country are basically thick and are likely to believe what they read in their papers and see on the news. I know that sounds unkind, but after nearly 5 years of this awful government it's amazing how many people still think Cameron's doing a good job and who still believe that Labour caused all the problems we have now. Some of that's down to the media and the Tories' divide-and-rule tactics, but it doesn't explain why there are a lot of people who think UKIP actually have policies, nor does it entirely explain why they're apparently gaining so much support.
It's going to get worse in the run-up to the election - and I can't help wondering if the Great British Electorate might get so sick of what is fast becoming bullying that they'll rally behind Ed because there's nothing the Brits love more than the underdog. And yes, I really do think that some people are that shallow.

Finally - I have every expectation that the next move will be some sort of Osbornectomy on benefits or pay. He will pretend that the EU, whose fault everything is, are demanding their "extra" money and he has to find it fast. He will ask us if we knew that we are spending £X Billion on widows/veterans/disabled people's wages/tax credits/housing/council tax/whatever, and he'll cut something. He'll tell us that those people actually have other sources of income and they are all frauds anyway and the benefit cap is set waaaayy too high and he'll get the scissors out.

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
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AngryAsWell
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by AngryAsWell »

Dr Éoin Clarke ‏@LabourEoin · 11h11 hours ago
The smear job on Ed Miliband has ratcheted up to a new level. Almost to the heights of project fear. Urgent now, that Labour stands united.
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

rebeccariots2 wrote:Interesting chart and post.
Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 58m 58 minutes ago
LAB-SNP battleground: LAB's 41 Scottish seats ranked by % majority. See chart. http://bit.ly/1so2zq0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Editing to add: And this one:
Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 5h 5 hours ago
New post
LAB heavyweight Jim Murphy becomes the 2-5 favourite to be next Scottish LAB leader http://bit.ly/1so2zq0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I wonder if that would solve any of the leaking to the arch whinger problems?
I think that may be the strongest argument for it, tbh - well, also that it would remove any chance of him leading the GB-wide party :twisted:

Seriously, though - he does have his plus points and is somebody, unlike Gray and Lamont, who the "bubble" (there is one in Edinburgh as well as London) would take seriously. Having said that, he is some way to the right of the Scottish party mainstream and would have to be an "inclusive" leader. Can he manage that?
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ephemerid
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by ephemerid »

HindleA wrote:Morning.

Link to UC pathfinder evaluation page 55 has the eligibility criteria (or more correctly what excludes people)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... evaluation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

PS I note their glaring error of Disability Learning Allowance

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... evaluation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


FOI response relevant to recent Independent and Francis Ryan articles

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... o-sep-2013" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you for this link, A.
It's taken me a while to read it and make sense of it, but this is what I deduce.....

The "quantitative" survey comprised just 901 people being asked a set of questions; the first follow-up involved 560 people, and the third 383 people. The qualitative survey involved just 40 people - not enough for any meaningful analysis.

Of those surveyed, hardly any had a claim involving anything other than the personal allowance; no rent, no partners, no children, no sickness/disability. Of the few who did have rent to claim for, a higher proportion got into arrears in comparison to JSA claimants - but what the report does not say is that in the pathfinder areas HB is still administered by LAs, so I suspect that the monthly payment is an issue for people who rent privately and have to top up their LHA with their benefit.

There's a lot of guff about how the UC claimants think that the UC staff are good at explaining things and that they understand clearly what is expected of them - but we all know that the staff to claimant ratio for UC is much higher than in jobcentres generally, and there is no way that can be sustained for long, especially nationally.

The most telling thing from it is this - it would seem that UC claimants are saying that they are doing more jobsearching and applying for more jobs than the JSA claimants, but they would given the draconian terms of the Claimant Commitment.....plus, around half of all the UC claimants thought that the CC would help in various ways (with no comparison made to the old Jobseekers Agreement) but more than three-quarters of them thought that jobcentre staff would be checking up on them.

Nowhere does it say that there were more job starts with the UC claimants - it's all about "attitudes" and no wonder because the claimants involved are getting very intensive jobsearch coaching and they're getting it more often.
One final point - although the survey says that claimants have not availed themselves of financial advice, a few have had to apply for benefit advances and some said that they have had to rely on friends and family to help them.

This is (probably very expensive) puffery which doesn't tell us much - and no doubt it will be lied about and misinterpreted by the usual suspects to justify the vast expense of it all.
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by frightful_oik »

Welsh NHS spokesman giving Neil a good slapping. Nice!
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by rearofthestore »

I just (accidentally) watched two contrasting interviews on Sunday Politics
The Environment Sec Liz Truss gave as close to a car crash interview as possible and showed ,imo, that she has absolutely no grasp of her brief and was unable to answer direct questions even when posed to her 4 or 5 times.
Compare and contrast with the following interview with the Welsh Health Minister Mark Drayford which was impressive. He answered ever question posed by Neil and squashed a number of inaccuracies quoted as fact with proper statistics. A man in complete control of his brief!
Very impressed and know he has succeeded when all Andrew Neil can say when faced with substantive replies is to say "interesting" in his sarcastic 'you must be telling lies' voice.
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

Truss was promoted because she "looked" good - literally no other reason. PR man Dave to a tee there :twisted:
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by rebeccariots2 »

AAAAAArrrrrrrgggh.

I woke up today and wanted to be positive and light .... despite losing an hour of precious daylight.

Relentless downbeat, Labour bashing stuff across the media - mainstream and social.

And now I've just had the most depressing phone call with my sis in London. She's in Hammersmith & Fulham and reckons the mansion tax proposal could well do for their very good and well liked MP, Andy Slaughter. I've kept quiet on here about it - but have been thinking about her and this recently as I knew it would probably put her and local Labour in a very difficult situation. Her house - which she has lived in for nigh on 27 years or so - must be creeping to the 2 million mark or just above - but she earns a very small salary for London (below the median wage). As a sensible person and Labour supporter - she says they will be OK - i.e. not forced to leave - as she doesn't earn enough to have to pay the extra £3k a year and can roll it up until they die / the house is sold. But she reckons - and she should know as she goes out regularly leafleting and talking to people in her area - that an awful lot of people will find their houses in that bracket and might be earning just inside the range that will make them qualify to pay it ... and it's an absolute vote loser. We also talked about the inevitable perverse outcomes of people then trying to move to smaller, cheaper houses (which there aren't enough of and so they would likely have to leave the area) and house values / prices actually reducing because of said tax.

We then got on to the Labour wrangling and Russell Brand etc. Again all very depressing stuff - much of which I don't think I can or should repeat. Suffice it to say she's not impressed with Balls and Cooper in particular and found it hard to keep up much of a positive front about the rest of the Labour sell.

Right - apologies for sharing that. I needed to get it out of my system.
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

Yes, things are looking fairly grim on all fronts tbh - have started in the last few weeks to wonder, for the first time, if the next GE might be a good one to lose :(

Labour needs to offer something to inspire and banish such heretical thoughts. Urgently.
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by rebeccariots2 »

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Yes, things are looking fairly grim on all fronts tbh - have started in the last few weeks to wonder, for the first time, if the next GE might be a good one to lose :(

Labour needs to offer something to inspire and banish such heretical thoughts. Urgently.
Now I am seriously worried.
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

First thing that needs to happen, then, is for Balls to be shown the door as SC.

His almost joyously pro-austerity speech last month has crippled the party at all levels.
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by rebeccariots2 »

AnatolyKasparov wrote:First thing that needs to happen, then, is for Balls to be shown the door as SC.

His almost joyously pro-austerity speech last month has crippled the party at all levels.
From various things I have read - including between the lines - Balls is the chief deadweight that sits down hard on anything being proposed or offered that goes in the direction many of us want and that might actually lift spirits and desire to campaign hard for Labour.
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by pk1 »

AnatolyKasparov wrote:First thing that needs to happen, then, is for Balls to be shown the door as SC.

His almost joyously pro-austerity speech last month has crippled the party at all levels.
Can't see that happening though.

7 short months to get everything right - we've seen Ed Miliband getting the big calls right time after time so fingers crossed he's sitting on bucket loads of hope, ready to share with us in January onward.

On Scotland, what do you think of Kezia Dugdale ? She came across well in the debates but I know little of her. Is she a serious contender ?
AnatolyKasparov
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

Dugdale is good, but it is surely a bit too early for her - apparently she is just 33, even younger than I thought :o

She could "look after" things at Holyrood if somebody like Murphy is chosen until they become an MSP?
"IS TONTY BLAIR BEHIND THIS???!!!!111???!!!"
pk1
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by pk1 »

The claims from Lamont's supporters re bedroom tax has seriously pissed me off so I've trawled through EM's facebook account for the earliest mention of it & voila, he was criticising it long before his 2013 conference !
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AngryAsWell
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by AngryAsWell »

rebeccariots2 wrote:AAAAAArrrrrrrgggh.

I woke up today and wanted to be positive and light .... despite losing an hour of precious daylight.

Relentless downbeat, Labour bashing stuff across the media - mainstream and social.

And now I've just had the most depressing phone call with my sis in London. She's in Hammersmith & Fulham and reckons the mansion tax proposal could well do for their very good and well liked MP, Andy Slaughter. I've kept quiet on here about it - but have been thinking about her and this recently as I knew it would probably put her and local Labour in a very difficult situation. Her house - which she has lived in for nigh on 27 years or so - must be creeping to the 2 million mark or just above - but she earns a very small salary for London (below the median wage). As a sensible person and Labour supporter - she says they will be OK - i.e. not forced to leave - as she doesn't earn enough to have to pay the extra £3k a year and can roll it up until they die / the house is sold. But she reckons - and she should know as she goes out regularly leafleting and talking to people in her area - that an awful lot of people will find their houses in that bracket and might be earning just inside the range that will make them qualify to pay it ... and it's an absolute vote loser. We also talked about the inevitable perverse outcomes of people then trying to move to smaller, cheaper houses (which there aren't enough of and so they would likely have to leave the area) and house values / prices actually reducing because of said tax.

We then got on to the Labour wrangling and Russell Brand etc. Again all very depressing stuff - much of which I don't think I can or should repeat. Suffice it to say she's not impressed with Balls and Cooper in particular and found it hard to keep up much of a positive front about the rest of the Labour sell.

Right - apologies for sharing that. I needed to get it out of my system.
Just finished reading this when I saw yours above :)

My house in the middle of Ed Miliband’s street
Ed Miliband’s plans for a mansion tax has upset some, though not all, of his neighbours. But the fact that this formerly bohemian north London street now has properties selling for up to £3m shows how the capital has changed. Resident Dan Carrier tells the story
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014 ... CMP=twt_gu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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AngryAsWell
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by AngryAsWell »

Danny Blanchflower ‏@D_Blanchflower · 6m6 minutes ago  Burlington, VT
Question is how large did Treasury estimate bill was going to be as they must have known one was coming - question for @dannyalexander

Danny Blanchflower ‏@D_Blanchflower · 8m8 minutes ago  Burlington, VT
it's impossible to believe that the smart folks at the Treasury didnt know a big bill was coming from the EU - was @George_Osborne asleep?

Danny is pushing this
pk1
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by pk1 »

AngryAsWell wrote:Danny Blanchflower ‏@D_Blanchflower · 6m6 minutes ago  Burlington, VT
Question is how large did Treasury estimate bill was going to be as they must have known one was coming - question for @dannyalexander

Danny Blanchflower ‏@D_Blanchflower · 8m8 minutes ago  Burlington, VT
it's impossible to believe that the smart folks at the Treasury didnt know a big bill was coming from the EU - was @George_Osborne asleep?

Danny is pushing this
According to the Torygraph, the Treasury knew in January !
The European Union warned Britain months ago that it was facing a massive increase in its EU membership fee, according to documents seen by The Telegraph.
A furious David Cameron vowed on Friday that he would not pay an “appalling” and unexpected demand for an extra £1.7 billion in British contributions to the EU budget by the December 1 deadline.

However, The Telegraph can disclose that EU officials warned member states in January that new bills were coming, and produced figures showing that Britain was likely to have to pay higher fees this autumn.

The disclosure cast doubt on Mr Cameron’s claims that he had been ambushed out of the blue by the demand for more money on the eve of the Brussels summit on Thursday.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... t-row.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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RogerOThornhill
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by RogerOThornhill »

AngryAsWell wrote:Danny Blanchflower ‏@D_Blanchflower · 6m6 minutes ago  Burlington, VT
Question is how large did Treasury estimate bill was going to be as they must have known one was coming - question for @dannyalexander

Danny Blanchflower ‏@D_Blanchflower · 8m8 minutes ago  Burlington, VT
it's impossible to believe that the smart folks at the Treasury didnt know a big bill was coming from the EU - was @George_Osborne asleep?

Danny is pushing this
I said the other day that if the European Commission "told the countries" on the 17th (Friday before last) that implies that they told the Commissioners i.e. Lord Hill in our case, or our lead civil servant in Brussels.

So...they didn't get round to telling Osborne until Tuesday, and he didn't tell Cameron until Thursday. The people at the EU must think our communications are terrible if it took 6 days to get from them to No 10.
If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.
Tubby Isaacs
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by Tubby Isaacs »

Cameron's lying. His best mate would have told him immediately.
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RogerOThornhill
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by RogerOThornhill »

Tubby Isaacs wrote:Cameron's lying. His best mate would have told him immediately.
hey, I didn't say that I believed it!

They were probably trying to keep a lid on it as long as possible but then when it was leaked the spluttering and faux outrage comes out.

Wouldn't mind betting that they've told the EU that the outrage is for home consumption and we'll quietly pay it when the fuss dies down.
If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.
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refitman
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by refitman »

RogerOThornhill wrote:
Tubby Isaacs wrote:Cameron's lying. His best mate would have told him immediately.
hey, I didn't say that I believed it!

They were probably trying to keep a lid on it as long as possible but then when it was leaked the spluttering and faux outrage comes out.

Wouldn't mind betting that they've told the EU that the outrage is for home consumption and we'll quietly pay it when the fuss dies down.
I still don't understand* why more isn't being made about (a) the fact that the Treasury must have known about this a while ago (b) the fact that no-one told Dave about this when Osborne was told and (c) they can't complain about this increased bill if the country is performing so well.

Nope, lets spend our time attacking Labour and allowing Fallon to spout off about England being "flooded with migrants".

*Actually I can.
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ephemerid
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by ephemerid »

rebeccariots2 wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:Yes, things are looking fairly grim on all fronts tbh - have started in the last few weeks to wonder, for the first time, if the next GE might be a good one to lose :(

Labour needs to offer something to inspire and banish such heretical thoughts. Urgently.
Now I am seriously worried.

Me too.

There are a lot of people who would not survive another Tory government - and lets not pretend that's not what we've got now - and if they get into government again the sick, disabled, unemployed, and poor will suffer even more than they are now.

Although I am seriously unimpressed with Labour's non-policies on benefits generally (bedroom tax excepted) I do think that they will not make matters much worse than they currently are; at least they will support the NHS and social care, and hopefully do something about housing in the public sector. There's a lot more they should be doing, frankly; but at least they are unlikely to be as cruel.

Cameron, Osborne, and the entire cabinet now are serial incompetents. I can't think of one who has done any good at all. But it seems that a lot of people, if the polls are anything to go by, think that this current bunch of crooks and shysters are doing a good job.
UKIP may well split the vote on the right; and Labour may get in by default anyway - but for me it's not enough that they get in, they need to DO something. They are making the right noises on some issues, but if Miliband is playing a long game he's leaving it all very late. I want something to vote FOR and as long as Balls, Cooper, Harman, etc. hang about it's not happening for me.

But the alternative is very scary. What a mess it all is.
"Poverty is the worst form of violence" - Mahatma Gandhi
seeingclearly
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by seeingclearly »

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Yes, things are looking fairly grim on all fronts tbh - have started in the last few weeks to wonder, for the first time, if the next GE might be a good one to lose :(

Labour needs to offer something to inspire and banish such heretical thoughts. Urgently.
A lot of people won't survive another Tory term of office. It's as stark as that. And God help us if the outcome is a Tory UKIP coalition.
pk1
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by pk1 »

For fun:

http://www.quizfreak.com/can-you-answer ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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AngryAsWell
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by AngryAsWell »

pk1 wrote:For fun:

http://www.quizfreak.com/can-you-answer ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Grammar Master
From spelling, to apostrophes, to conjugations - you are a Grammar Master! You were probably the envy of your English class as you swerved and dodged your way through the complications of grammar and the weird, wild English language. Most people really struggle with these words and phrases, but you were unfazed! You are probably the one in your social group that politely corrects everyone as they destroy proper grammar and spelling, and we respect that! (We know you are probably correcting our grammar right now.) Someone has to maintain order, right? You are a Grammar Hero! Now, share this quiz with your friends and family and let’s see if they can pass the test!

What happened there then ???? :o
letsskiptotheleft
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by letsskiptotheleft »

AngryAsWell wrote:
pk1 wrote:For fun:

http://www.quizfreak.com/can-you-answer ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Grammar Master
From spelling, to apostrophes, to conjugations - you are a Grammar Master! You were probably the envy of your English class as you swerved and dodged your way through the complications of grammar and the weird, wild English language. Most people really struggle with these words and phrases, but you were unfazed! You are probably the one in your social group that politely corrects everyone as they destroy proper grammar and spelling, and we respect that! (We know you are probably correcting our grammar right now.) Someone has to maintain order, right? You are a Grammar Hero! Now, share this quiz with your friends and family and let’s see if they can pass the test!

What happened there then ???? :o
Same here, think I fluked it?
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refitman
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by refitman »

AngryAsWell wrote:
pk1 wrote:For fun:

http://www.quizfreak.com/can-you-answer ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Grammar Master
From spelling, to apostrophes, to conjugations - you are a Grammar Master! You were probably the envy of your English class as you swerved and dodged your way through the complications of grammar and the weird, wild English language. Most people really struggle with these words and phrases, but you were unfazed! You are probably the one in your social group that politely corrects everyone as they destroy proper grammar and spelling, and we respect that! (We know you are probably correcting our grammar right now.) Someone has to maintain order, right? You are a Grammar Hero! Now, share this quiz with your friends and family and let’s see if they can pass the test!

What happened there then ???? :o
They managed to mis-spell 'headmaster' quite badly. :D
pk1
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by pk1 »

AngryAsWell wrote:
pk1 wrote:For fun:

http://www.quizfreak.com/can-you-answer ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Grammar Master
From spelling, to apostrophes, to conjugations - you are a Grammar Master! You were probably the envy of your English class as you swerved and dodged your way through the complications of grammar and the weird, wild English language. Most people really struggle with these words and phrases, but you were unfazed! You are probably the one in your social group that politely corrects everyone as they destroy proper grammar and spelling, and we respect that! (We know you are probably correcting our grammar right now.) Someone has to maintain order, right? You are a Grammar Hero! Now, share this quiz with your friends and family and let’s see if they can pass the test!

What happened there then ???? :o
Same here :D
pk1
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by pk1 »

refitman wrote:
They managed to mis-spell 'headmaster' quite badly. :D
:lol: Took a while but got it in the end
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AngryAsWell
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by AngryAsWell »

The Tories are not the party of the North - Ed Balls & Andrew Adonis
http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1009377 ... h-ed-balls" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
pk1
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by pk1 »

Hey guys & gals, we're not alone !

Page 5 of today's UKPR has quotes from people declaring that they joined Labour because of Ed M & if he was to be forced out, they would resign their membership !!

The post on page 4 that prompted the comments said:
Come on. You’ve gotta be joking.
Oh and who exactly is going to replace Ed and lead Labour to victory next May?
If Ed, who I voted for, is replaced then I’ll cancel my membership.
I can’t be the only Labour Party Member who feels this way.
BTW, I joined in May 2010 to register my opposition to the Coalition.
http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archi ... ent-944644" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mr Wells has banished me to the naughty step (again !) for arguing with a right-whinger (wot d'ya mean I can't spell ?!) yesterday so I've had to 're-invent' myself over there today ;)
PorFavor
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by PorFavor »

pk1 wrote:For fun:

http://www.quizfreak.com/can-you-answer ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
12\12 (no brackets required, which probably helped). I had to have a bit of a ponder over the who\whom one, though.




Edited to remove rogue full stop.
pk1
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Re: Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th October 2014

Post by pk1 »

http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/ne ... s.25696262" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
POLICE Scotland has classed the Liberal Democrats and the Tories as "bad debtors" after the coalition parties refused to pay nearly £1 million in policing costs.

The single force took the drastic move after the parties benefited from a police presence at their conferences but declined to pick up the tab.

:rofl:
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