Tuesday 18th November 2014

[Tish]

Here's an article to cheer us all up

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... egist.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Apparently Danny's big plan to stave off defeat is to ignore the past five years and concentrate on local issues, like his campaign against speed cameras on the A9. I'm sure that will save him!

[pk1]

Umm, didn't St Julie state in her 'statement' that the charity stuff was an 11-day error from earlier this year ??

How does that explain this then from May 2013 ??

https://twitter.com/CureUKcharity" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Whoops !!

[yahyah]

Klass pays £8,000 a month rent for her home in Highgate.
Must be on the breadline, poor ducks, how can she feed her children ?

[Rebecca]

Off topic,for a change.
The 'dogmatic head collar' for my puppy arrived today.5 months old and she's very strong indeed.
She does not like it,and she can't pull on the lead anymore.
I like it a lot,and I'm winning the argument.

[MsChin]

Judicial review proceedings start tomorrow -'re Sanctuary rooms and bedroom tax


http://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/news/art ... olence-vic" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Apparently this one - benefit cap & lone parents + victims of domestic violence with sanctuary rooms - will be delayed:

Please note that the scheduled judgment in this matter has been postponed to allow opportunity for the Justices to consider further written submissions from the parties.

https://www.supremecourt.uk/news/future-judgments.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Rebecca]

Klass pays £8,000 a month rent for her home in Highgate.
Must be on the breadline, poor ducks, how can she feed her children ?

To be frank,I really despise rich people who whine about money.
£250 per month is less than £62.50 a week.Do they,and let's face it Klass isn't the only one of them whinging about the mansion tax,believe they would even notice having that less money each week?

[pk1]

Danny Blanchflower ‏@D_Blanchflower 2m2 minutes ago New Hampshire, US
Labour Party should simply declare going to cut taxes on avge worker by earned income tax credits & let Tories explain why against tax cuts

[DonutHingeParty]

In response to the usual "Bedroom Tax" isn't a tax rhetoric which keeps surfacing, I present my modest proposal.

In Britain today there are pensioners today receiving £113.10 per week who are in possession of two perfectly working legs.

Studies have shown that those with two legs spend twice the amount on shoes as those with one leg, and possibly a bit less on trousers. It cannot be right that in these times of austerity, we are subsidising these pensioners to flagrantly walk about on two legs. Legs that have been provided for them by the State through maternity wards and ongoing health care. Those with less than two legs also tend to go out less, which means that they put less of a stress on local infrastructure, and have less chance of becoming involved in hideous car pile ups which cost the NHS millions a year.

Which is why this government is introducing a "Removal of Spare Leg Subsidy". State pensioners will be given a choice of "Downsizing" to a one leg arrangement, or of paying a nominal £20 a week fee in order to retain the leg they already have. The legs which are vacated will then be offered to those with no legs in mostly matching pairs in order to bring them to a two leg status. Of course, this will then make them eligible for the "Removal of Spare Leg Subsidy".

[danesclose]

Afternoon all. I wonder if this is the same Myleene Klass:

In January 2010, Klass claimed she received a warning from Hertfordshire Police for brandishing a kitchen knife (through a window) at a group of teenagers who entered her garden while she and her daughter were alone in the house – she stated she was "utterly terrified" and "aghast" at the response by the police. Hertfordshire Police have denied making any such warning and stated that the law allows householders the proportionate use of force to protect themselves. It has subsequently been reported that it was Klass' agent or publicist who notified the police of the incident and who then passed on the story to the Sun Newspaper's reporter, Emma Cox

[DonutHingeParty]

Will the Mansion Tax carnage ever stop? Now it's the Estate Agents who are suffering!

http://www.theguardian.com/business/201 ... ff-savills" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[AnatolyKasparov]

According to Martin Kelner in the Indie, Klass is the new Paxman. Truly beyond parody

[adam]

Myleene Klass is worth £11 million!!!!

My entire knowledge of her is that she was once in an X-Factor style pop band about 15 years ago (which is no long term money spinner if you don't write the songs). Then she presented CD:UK for a few months in its dying, post Ant & Dec days. I thought she was one of those D List celebs who scrapes by from getting married every couple of years and selling the pics to OK magazine. What on earth has she been doing in the past few years to amass such a fortune?

She has a range of baby/toddler products that are sold through Mothercare.

As my Dad is fond of saying 'For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.'

You are Jesus and I claim my ten pounds.
(edit to add - i read that wrong, didn't I. You still might be Jesus).

[HindleA]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... t-deficits" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"Cameron is right to warn of another recession ,but wrong to blame the World"Robert Skidelsky

[PaulfromYorkshire]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... t-deficits


"Cameron is right to warn of another recession ,but wrong to blame the World"Robert Skidelsky

Ouch!

[ErnstRemarx]

She has a range of baby/toddler products that are sold through Mothercare.

As my Dad is fond of saying 'For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.'

You are Jesus and I claim my ten pounds.
(edit to add - i read that wrong, didn't I. You still might be Jesus).

Myleene Klass? Fuck me, Miliband must have wondered why he was being subjected to such self-interested drivel. Oh, I feel her pain, scraping along with a mere £11,000,000 in the bank. The humanity, the humanity...

[HindleA]

"Coalition welfare reforms have failed in figures"


http://speye.wordpress.com/2014/11/18/c ... n-figures/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Anyone care to do a bit more research on this? Looks like it's an example of EU legislation that is fair, benefit UK retailers, but make things dearer for the UK customer.

Slightly tricky one. I think I've mentioned before that I'm ex-book trade so I'm not a great fan of the likes of Amazon and (to a lesser extent) Waterstones who have killed off much of the independent sector and reduced, not increased consumer choice; RobertSnozers point about volume sales being the driver for companies like Waterstones, but not for Amazon, is a valid one to a large extent (although they do have their moments - they've kept "Harry's Last Stand" in their instore picks for months, and I can't imagine that has been a volume seller.

A bit of background. Back in the day the price of books was covered by the Net Book Agreement which meant all retailers, large or small, sold the book at the advertised cover price; so whether you were WH Smith or a small independent specialist you sold the book for the same price, which meant the consumer could choose whether they bought their book from a faceless multiple or from an independent who was often more knowledgeable and offered a more diverse choice of books - Lion & Unicorn Bookshop in Richmond, which sadly & inevitably closed last year, was a fantastic example of the latter! The NBA was tested in a restrictive practices law suit in the sixties (it came into being in 1900 btw) and the courts found in favour of it; their reasoning was that it allowed publishers and retailers to subsidise the printing of the works of important but less widely read authors using money from bestsellers - it is why a company like Bloomsbury was able to take a punt on an unknown Jo Rowling, and would certainly have been beneficial to Mr Snozers.

It wasn't a perfect system, but it worked by & large. You bought from the publishers at a margin below the retail price (the one area where the big boys had an advantage, Smiths would obviously have a larger margin than an independent. iirc our margin at Harrods was around 30%-35% with most of the main publishers, as we were a prestige player). But in 1991 Dillons (remember them) swiftly followed by Tesco and then Waterstones began to discount some titles; they would still only have been getting the same margin but, by being prepared to take a reduced profit per item, they figured that they would increase their sales volumes; and, of course, they were right. People snapped up the best sellers at reduced prices from the big boys, and the small independents gradually went under; and when Amazon entered the market and were able to take the practice to a whole new level most of the big boys went as well.

Phew, a novel in itself! Anyroadup, along things ticked. Most books and printed publications are zero-rated for VAT, apart from certain specialized publications, mainly specialized text books, blueprints and maps; that is why Stanfords in Covent Garden survived ( a Good Thing imo) as well as the likes of Blackwells and Foyles who got a lot of their business from academia. But e-books are deemed to be electronics, not books, as far as the taxman is concerned and so are subject to standard VAT; and, at this point, Amazon's flag of convenience basing in Luxembourg coupled with their vast buying power have tipped the balance firmly in their favour and threaten, unless these proposed changes are pushed through, to make them a virtual monopoly supplier. Like many I prefer not to use them, partly because of their taxation shenanigans but also because they are reducing, not increasing, choice; but, like many, there are times when there is no other option and that, to be honest, is a very scary harbinger of the future.

*Gets off soapbox. Walks away mournfully *

[ohsocynical]

Klass pays £8,000 a month rent for her home in Highgate.
Must be on the breadline, poor ducks, how can she feed her children ?

To be frank,I really despise rich people who whine about money.
£250 per month is less than £62.50 a week.Do they,and let's face it Klass isn't the only one of them whinging about the mansion tax,believe they would even notice having that less money each week?

I don't begrudge them their money or want it...And they're entitled to their opinions, but I damn well object to their arrogant assumption that they're important, the only ones that matter and we should listen to their whinging and sympathise.
They should do their thing, count their money, and keep their gobs firmly shut!

[ohsocynical]

Anyone care to do a bit more research on this? Looks like it's an example of EU legislation that is fair, benefit UK retailers, but make things dearer for the UK customer.

Slightly tricky one. I think I've mentioned before that I'm ex-book trade so I'm not a great fan of the likes of Amazon and (to a lesser extent) Waterstones who have killed off much of the independent sector and reduced, not increased consumer choice; RobertSnozers point about volume sales being the driver for companies like Waterstones, but not for Amazon, is a valid one to a large extent (although they do have their moments - they've kept "Harry's Last Stand" in their instore picks for months, and I can't imagine that has been a volume seller.

A bit of background. Back in the day the price of books was covered by the Net Book Agreement which meant all retailers, large or small, sold the book at the advertised cover price; so whether you were WH Smith or a small independent specialist you sold the book for the same price, which meant the consumer could choose whether they bought their book from a faceless multiple or from an independent who was often more knowledgeable and offered a more diverse choice of books - Lion & Unicorn Bookshop in Richmond, which sadly & inevitably closed last year, was a fantastic example of the latter! The NBA was tested in a restrictive practices law suit in the sixties (it came into being in 1900 btw) and the courts found in favour of it; their reasoning was that it allowed publishers and retailers to subsidise the printing of the works of important but less widely read authors using money from bestsellers - it is why a company like Bloomsbury was able to take a punt on an unknown Jo Rowling, and would certainly have been beneficial to Mr Snozers.

It wasn't a perfect system, but it worked by & large. You bought from the publishers at a margin below the retail price (the one area where the big boys had an advantage, Smiths would obviously have a larger margin than an independent. iirc our margin at Harrods was around 30%-35% with most of the main publishers, as we were a prestige player). But in 1991 Dillons (remember them) swiftly followed by Tesco and then Waterstones began to discount some titles; they would still only have been getting the same margin but, by being prepared to take a reduced profit per item, they figured that they would increase their sales volumes; and, of course, they were right. People snapped up the best sellers at reduced prices from the big boys, and the small independents gradually went under; and when Amazon entered the market and were able to take the practice to a whole new level most of the big boys went as well.

Phew, a novel in itself! Anyroadup, along things ticked. Most books and printed publications are zero-rated for VAT, apart from certain specialized publications, mainly specialized text books, blueprints and maps; that is why Stanfords in Covent Garden survived ( a Good Thing imo) as well as the likes of Blackwells and Foyles who got a lot of their business from academia. But e-books are deemed to be electronics, not books, as far as the taxman is concerned and so are subject to standard VAT; and, at this point, Amazon's flag of convenience basing in Luxembourg coupled with their vast buying power have tipped the balance firmly in their favour and threaten, unless these proposed changes are pushed through, to make them a virtual monopoly supplier. Like many I prefer not to use them, partly because of their taxation shenanigans but also because they are reducing, not increasing, choice; but, like many, there are times when there is no other option and that, to be honest, is a very scary harbinger of the future.

*Gets off soapbox. Walks away mournfully *

I do try to make my book purchases from my local real bookshop. It's a Waterstone's but it would be a real shame if it shut. WH Smiths is awful. I don't go in there. I doubt some of the staff have ever opened a book judging by the blank looks if you ask for help.

Sadly our local Waterstone's is struggling due to three quarters of the town centre reduced to heaps of rubble and likely to be that way for the next couple of years.
I go in two or three times a year to treat myself to a book or three but the last two times I've been in, I've asked for the latest books by well known authors, they haven't had them in stock. Getting them to order it for me would mean another trip to town just for that one thing puts me off, so I go home and order the book from their online store.
It's very sad.

[ohsocynical]

As my Dad is fond of saying 'For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.'

You are Jesus and I claim my ten pounds.
(edit to add - i read that wrong, didn't I. You still might be Jesus).

Myleene Klass? Fuck me, Miliband must have wondered why he was being subjected to such self-interested drivel. Oh, I feel her pain, scraping along with a mere £11,000,000 in the bank. The humanity, the humanity...

Listen the poor cow can't afford a decent house in London. She's really suffering.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Adrian Hindle retweeted
Labour BIS Team ‏@LabourBIS 1h1 hour ago
Much mirth across the @HouseofCommons benches as BIS Minister Matt Hancock turns up late for his own debate @TobyPerkinsMP @LabourWhips

[ohsocynical]

In response to the usual "Bedroom Tax" isn't a tax rhetoric which keeps surfacing, I present my modest proposal.

In Britain today there are pensioners today receiving £113.10 per week who are in possession of two perfectly working legs.

Studies have shown that those with two legs spend twice the amount on shoes as those with one leg, and possibly a bit less on trousers. It cannot be right that in these times of austerity, we are subsidising these pensioners to flagrantly walk about on two legs. Legs that have been provided for them by the State through maternity wards and ongoing health care. Those with less than two legs also tend to go out less, which means that they put less of a stress on local infrastructure, and have less chance of becoming involved in hideous car pile ups which cost the NHS millions a year.

Which is why this government is introducing a "Removal of Spare Leg Subsidy". State pensioners will be given a choice of "Downsizing" to a one leg arrangement, or of paying a nominal £20 a week fee in order to retain the leg they already have. The legs which are vacated will then be offered to those with no legs in mostly matching pairs in order to bring them to a two leg status. Of course, this will then make them eligible for the "Removal of Spare Leg Subsidy".

Yesterday I gave a rabid, younger than me UKIP supporter the chance to pull my other leg it had bells on, but he declined.

[pk1]

Adrian Hindle retweeted
Labour BIS Team ‏@LabourBIS 1h1 hour ago
Much mirth across the @HouseofCommons benches as BIS Minister Matt Hancock turns up late for his own debate @TobyPerkinsMP @LabourWhips

Handjob has a habit of turning up late it seems - remember how he was late for breakfast slot on one of the morning shows.

[HindleA]

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/20 ... ting-class" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


The mollified middle: how social security is fooling the voting class

[Tubby Isaacs]

Peter Jukes ‏@peterjukes 3m3 minutes ago
BREAKING: in internal Sun email shown to jury, journalists refer to Sun readers as "plebs"

[Tubby Isaacs]

Adrian Hindle retweeted
Labour BIS Team ‏@LabourBIS 1h1 hour ago
Much mirth across the @HouseofCommons benches as BIS Minister Matt Hancock turns up late for his own debate @TobyPerkinsMP @LabourWhips

Private Eye point out that he keeps mentioning he's of "Nottinghamshire Mining Stock" in answers to questions about coal from Dennis Skinner.

He doesn't know that Nottinghamshire miners aren't the most popular after the strike, I guess.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

[quote="ohsocynicalI do try to make my book purchases from my local real bookshop. It's a Waterstone's but it would be a real shame if it shut. WH Smiths is awful. I don't go in there. I doubt some of the staff have ever opened a book judging by the blank looks if you ask for help.

Sadly our local Waterstone's is struggling due to three quarters of the town centre reduced to heaps of rubble and likely to be that way for the next couple of years.
I go in two or three times a year to treat myself to a book or three but the last two times I've been in, I've asked for the latest books by well known authors, they haven't had them in stock. Getting them to order it for me would mean another trip to town just for that one thing puts me off, so I go home and order the book from their online store.
It's very sad.[/quote]

I have a certain affection for Waterstones myself. Tim Waterstone is a proper bookseller of the old school; he used to work for WH Smith but left them due to 'creative differences', using the redundancy payoff they gave him to set up his first shop just down the road from us, on the Old Brompton Road. We had a friendly, but definitely respectful, rivalry with him and his staff who, like our own staff, were highly literate, very knowledgeable and cared!

The rot set in when Smiths bought a controlling interest in the chain - it was they, rather than Tim, who undermined the NBA - and ultimately absorbed Dillons, Ottakar and Books Etc (who were another chain of 'proper' booksellers imo). It struggled for years afterward, lost all identity when Tim walked away and further lost track when HMV bought it out. As you probably know the whole chain nearly went under a few years ago, but was bought by a Russian businessman, Alexander Mamut, who made the immensely smart move of persuading James Daunt to come on board as MD.

Daunt is a legend, a real bookseller in the Tim Waterstone mould; his Daunt Books chain, which concentrated on travel writing, was a model of how the smaller operator could thrive in this business and he has brought that nous with him. And it shows, going in to any one of the stores feels (almost) like going in to that original South Kensington store, with switched on geeky staff; the focus is away from the 3 for 2 offers and back to a more literary feel, as evidenced by the support for Harry Leslie Smith. A way to go yet, but it seems to be working.

Mind you, when I win the lottery and open my answer to Black Books the lot of 'em are toast ......

[HindleA]

"Never forget:In Israel and Palestine ,violence breeds violence.S.Warsi
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/barones ... 1416325178" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



When I quit the government in the summer, I pointed out that the "British government can only play a constructive role in solving the Middle East crisis if it is an honest broker and at the moment I do not think it is".

Little has changed, it seems. My successor as Conservative Party chairman, Grant Shapps, is only too willing to criticise Palestinian terror while refusing to vote in favour of a Palestinian state in parliament, and give young Palestinians hope and dignity.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I do try to make my book purchases from my local real bookshop. It's a Waterstone's but it would be a real shame if it shut. WH Smiths is awful. I don't go in there. I doubt some of the staff have ever opened a book judging by the blank looks if you ask for help.

Sadly our local Waterstone's is struggling due to three quarters of the town centre reduced to heaps of rubble and likely to be that way for the next couple of years.
I go in two or three times a year to treat myself to a book or three but the last two times I've been in, I've asked for the latest books by well known authors, they haven't had them in stock. Getting them to order it for me would mean another trip to town just for that one thing puts me off, so I go home and order the book from their online store.
It's very sad.

Waterstones is getting worse and worse for anything that isn't likely to sell in numbers. They used to do a bit for local authors including putting on events and signings, special displays and so on, but my local branch (according to them because of diktats from head office) has stopped doing anything like that. (Ottakars used to be really good on local stuff until they were taken over by Waterstones). I managed to persuade them to stock one copy of my book, because they're allowed to get individual copies of things. Any larger order would have had to be agreed by head office.

I don't doubt Waterstones is suffering from competition with Amazon, but IMO in trying to do so they're turning the place into a relatively unattractive place to shop.

You shall have pride of place in my new book shop regime!

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Boo

Politico Daily ‏@Politico_Daily 7m7 minutes ago
Opinium Poll:
Conservative 34 +5
Labour 33 +1
Liberal Democrat 5 -4
UKIP 18 -1
Green 5 +1
Other 5 -2

[Eric_WLothian]

Peter Jukes ‏@peterjukes 3m3 minutes ago
BREAKING: in internal Sun email shown to jury, journalists refer to Sun readers as "plebs"

Quite polite really - Jasper Carrott used to be much more scathing.

[rebeccariots2]

Mind you, when I win the lottery and open my answer to Black Books the lot of 'em are toast ......

Please please win the lottery. I want Black Books to really exist somewhere ....

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Boo

Politico Daily ‏@Politico_Daily 7m7 minutes ago
Opinium Poll:
Conservative 34 +5
Labour 33 +1
Liberal Democrat 5 -4
UKIP 18 -1
Green 5 +1
Other 5 -2

Mind you Libs on 5% is quite funny

[AnatolyKasparov]

Boo

Politico Daily ‏@Politico_Daily 7m7 minutes ago
Opinium Poll:
Conservative 34 +5
Labour 33 +1
Liberal Democrat 5 -4
UKIP 18 -1
Green 5 +1
Other 5 -2

When did they start doing polls other than for the Observer?

[ohsocynical]

[quote="ohsocynicalI do try to make my book purchases from my local real bookshop. It's a Waterstone's but it would be a real shame if it shut. WH Smiths is awful. I don't go in there. I doubt some of the staff have ever opened a book judging by the blank looks if you ask for help.

Sadly our local Waterstone's is struggling due to three quarters of the town centre reduced to heaps of rubble and likely to be that way for the next couple of years.
I go in two or three times a year to treat myself to a book or three but the last two times I've been in, I've asked for the latest books by well known authors, they haven't had them in stock. Getting them to order it for me would mean another trip to town just for that one thing puts me off, so I go home and order the book from their online store.
It's very sad.

I have a certain affection for Waterstones myself. Tim Waterstone is a proper bookseller of the old school; he used to work for WH Smith but left them due to 'creative differences', using the redundancy payoff they gave him to set up his first shop just down the road from us, on the Old Brompton Road. We had a friendly, but definitely respectful, rivalry with him and his staff who, like our own staff, were highly literate, very knowledgeable and cared!

The rot set in when Smiths bought a controlling interest in the chain - it was they, rather than Tim, who undermined the NBA - and ultimately absorbed Dillons, Ottakar and Books Etc (who were another chain of 'proper' booksellers imo). It struggled for years afterward, lost all identity when Tim walked away and further lost track when HMV bought it out. As you probably know the whole chain nearly went under a few years ago, but was bought by a Russian businessman, Alexander Mamut, who made the immensely smart move of persuading James Daunt to come on board as MD.

Daunt is a legend, a real bookseller in the Tim Waterstone mould; his Daunt Books chain, which concentrated on travel writing, was a model of how the smaller operator could thrive in this business and he has brought that nous with him. And it shows, going in to any one of the stores feels (almost) like going in to that original South Kensington store, with switched on geeky staff; the focus is away from the 3 for 2 offers and back to a more literary feel, as evidenced by the support for Harry Leslie Smith. A way to go yet, but it seems to be working.

Mind you, when I win the lottery and open my answer to Black Books the lot of 'em are toast ...... [/quote]

65 years ago - gulp - We had a Smiths bookshop in London St in Reading. On Saturdays if the weather was dry, they'd pull out long wheeled bookcases and stand them outside the shop.
They had thrupenny, sixpenny and shilling shelves. Anything dearer was kept inside.
When I was five I'd just got my own bedroom for a few months until my sister was old enough to move in with me. Didn't have much furniture, a bed and a dressing table but dad had come home with an old bookcase which he varnished to match the floorboards. I only had a few books to put in it [my little sister was a great destroyer of my books] As an extra treat the weekend I moved in, he took me to Smiths and told me I could choose a thrupenny book. I came away with a leather bound gilt edged edition of Moores poetical works...I loved that book! I remember sitting in bed reading it by candlelight.

[ohsocynical]

Mind you, when I win the lottery and open my answer to Black Books the lot of 'em are toast ......

Please please win the lottery. I want Black Books to really exist somewhere ....

And I'll come and work for you for nothing.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Flythenest Haven ‏@FlythenestHaven 38s39 seconds ago
LibDems on lowest ever poll rating since their formation (5%) with Opinium @Politico_Daily @MikeSmithsonPB

[AnatolyKasparov]

Not sure if that is true actually, they might have gone lower in 1989-90 when the "continuing SDP" were still around.

But its their worst rating since Thatcher was PM - that's enough

[letsskiptotheleft]

Government has lost in the Commons over something to do with pubs tied into breweries..

Which just goes to prove Gove couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery.

Sorry, gagging to write that.

[rebeccariots2]

Maria Eagle MP ‏@meaglemp 1m1 minute ago
Govt defeated on Pubco vote. #saveourpubs

Hilary Benn MP ‏@hilarybennmp 3m3 minutes ago
The Government defeated and victory for pub tenant landlords. Proud to vote for the new clause.

Good - another govt defeat.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Government has lost in the Commons over something to do with pubs tied into breweries..

Which just goes to prove Gove couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery.

Sorry, gagging to write that.

A good moment to recall Miliband's wonderful PMQs question when the Tories had screwed up their alcohol pricing policy (thanks to Crosby?)

"Can the Prime Minister tell us if there is anything that he could organise in a brewery?"

[rebeccariots2]

Harry Leslie Smith ‏@Harryslaststand 4h4 hours ago
#MyleenKlass must get out of more b/c the Grans I know are worried about keeping their homes warm in winter not the millionaires tax #labour

[pk1]

Journalists Matthew d'Ancona and Isabel Oakshott are among a number of high-profile individuals to provide character witness statements for Andrew Mitchell in the Plebgate libel trial today.

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/plebgate- ... -have-used" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Look at the cast list Mitchell has coming out for him:

Matthew d'Ancona

Isabel Oakshott

Bob Geldof

and

Painter and decorator Richard Robinson, who worked on Mitchell's house in Nottingham in 1998, also gave evidence.

That's in then, the judge should have been calling an end to the trial with that line-up......

[rebeccariots2]

Pat Glass ‏@PatGlassMP 2m2 minutes ago
Just voted to save pubs. Rare victory as government heavily beaten. Looks like c40 Tories rebelled


Jenny Chapman MP retweeted
Katekat ‏@KateUmpleby 9m9 minutes ago
@PhilWilsonMP @JennyChapman - publicans are tearful. Hope has been achieved. Thank you #fairdealforyourlocal #voteforpubs #saveourpubs

[TechnicalEphemera]

Boo

Politico Daily ‏@Politico_Daily 7m7 minutes ago
Opinium Poll:
Conservative 34 +5
Labour 33 +1
Liberal Democrat 5 -4
UKIP 18 -1
Green 5 +1
Other 5 -2

When did they start doing polls other than for the Observer?

Don't know, but that screams outlier. Why would our Dave pick up 5 points mostly from the Lib Dems. Even I don't think they are going to only poll 5%.

Oddly I would have expected Labour to drop (given the week they had).

[Willow904]

I do try to make my book purchases from my local real bookshop. It's a Waterstone's but it would be a real shame if it shut. WH Smiths is awful. I don't go in there. I doubt some of the staff have ever opened a book judging by the blank looks if you ask for help.

Sadly our local Waterstone's is struggling due to three quarters of the town centre reduced to heaps of rubble and likely to be that way for the next couple of years.
I go in two or three times a year to treat myself to a book or three but the last two times I've been in, I've asked for the latest books by well known authors, they haven't had them in stock. Getting them to order it for me would mean another trip to town just for that one thing puts me off, so I go home and order the book from their online store.
It's very sad.

Waterstones is getting worse and worse for anything that isn't likely to sell in numbers. They used to do a bit for local authors including putting on events and signings, special displays and so on, but my local branch (according to them because of diktats from head office) has stopped doing anything like that. (Ottakars used to be really good on local stuff until they were taken over by Waterstones). I managed to persuade them to stock one copy of my book, because they're allowed to get individual copies of things. Any larger order would have had to be agreed by head office.

I don't doubt Waterstones is suffering from competition with Amazon, but IMO in trying to do so they're turning the place into a relatively unattractive place to shop.

I was an academic bookseller for Waterstones before I left to start a family. I watched my career disappear in a remarkably short space of time. When I started in 1995 I was using Whitaker's catalogue on microfiche to find availability of books and prices in the US of specialist academic titles that students and lecturers wanted. I was phoning publishers in the Netherlands to place orders for specialist engineering textbooks. We were the only people who could source these books for people back then. Now anyone can go online and order these books via marketplaces like Amazon. As a result, there is no longer a bookshop at the university where I used to work, which seems a pity to me, but then, of course, education isn't what it used to be either.

The point I'm making is that the advent of the internet changed supply chains within the book industry that go rather beyond Amazon and aggressive discounting. Youth and enthusiasm for new technology meant the academic sector was the first to find the middleman, the bookshop, bypassed. Quite simply, as people began to have their own computers they didn't need people like me to look things up for them anymore. We have all became experts in procurement and enjoy the challenge of hunting down what we want for the best price. I'm just going to have to find myself a new career when I go back to work!

[rebeccariots2]

Chris Bryant retweeted
Paul Waugh ‏@paulwaugh 3m3 minutes ago
Pubs vote is 1st time since 2010 Govt defeated on its own bill (where collective resp not suspended).

Gove is really excelling at this job.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Chris Bryant retweeted
Paul Waugh ‏@paulwaugh 3m3 minutes ago
Pubs vote is 1st time since 2010 Govt defeated on its own bill (where collective resp not suspended).

Gove is really excelling at this job.

Be fair, he's busy in the media every day, leading the charge against Ed Miliband on the full range of issues, as Toby told us he would be.

[rebeccariots2]

Emma Lewell-Buck MP ‏@EmmaLewellBuck 2m2 minutes ago
Asked Nick Clegg why Lib Dems haven't supported making carers exempt from Bedroom Tax. Lab would repeal it entirely. http://www.emma-lewell-buck.net/emma-ch ... droom-tax/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

Clegg's response was ... well I haven't got a word worthy of it at the ready.

[letsskiptotheleft]

I am a bit bemused too at where the Tories have added 5% points.

Think it can be safely disregarded.