FlyTheNest

DonutHingeParty wrote:

refitman wrote:

rebeccariots2 wrote:Just in case you thought our MPs and Lords are out of touch and pampered ... What was that about small state being better? Don't see why the state is providing subsidised bars to any of this lot - let alone bubbly.

And meanwhile the ever gobby David Mellor has the cheek to tell the Archbishop of Canterbury about religion and food ..

I assume he skipped the loaves & the fishes in bible class

To be fair, Numbers 11 is a pretty dick move by God - people whinge about being hungry, so he drops a cloud of quails on them, which they eat and then die.

And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.
And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.
And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

Make sure IDS isn't let anywhere near the food warehouses.

Are you wondering why 835,000 tweets have little impact on a prime minister’s job? That’s how many tweets had been posted as of 4 December – four weeks since the #CameronMustGo campaign began on 22 November, attempting to highlight government failings.

ephemerid wrote:

tinyclanger2 wrote:

Mr Snozers wrote:Having said that, the Bank of England comes to the rescue with a report that says if interest rates went up by 2% in thee years, only 480,000 households would struggle to maintain payments. So that's all right then.

I know I keep on about this, but more and more I think that the public schools have to go. It's the only explanation that springs to my mind for the complete absence of either humanity or reality that pervade (if an absence can pervade) the thinking of the modern British elite. I keep thinking of the episode of "the village" where the son is shot for desertion. The levelling effect of WW2 has clearly receded and we are really back much closer to where we started.

I agree with you, TC.

The "elites" know they are the top dogs before they even start. Their sense of entitlement seems to be imbibed with their mothers' milk.

They are told all their young lives that they are special and different and better than everyone else, and they believe it. No wonder when the rest of us have so little in comparison. They're born to rule, bred for success, and become a self-fulfilling prophecy when they end up in charge and assume that those who have nothing are just useless and have only themselves to blame for not being like them.

The days of "noblesse oblige" are long gone. The likes of Churchill and Macmillan at least had a sense of duty to the rest of us.
This new breed of Tories and aristos are not similarly encumbered.

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Morning!

In some ways Alexander is correct isn't he? He and Clegg always wanted to be Orange Book centre right old fashioned Liberals and if you ignore their increasingly disastrous "liberty" record that's pretty much where they are.

I still wonder where voters who in the past we would have labelled as "One Nation Tories" are and will be in May. Surely they can't be looking at UKIP, Greens or NATS. So maybe they don't really exist any more except among the over 65s, who Cameron and Osborne keep bribing to stay with them.

ohsocynical wrote:

ephemerid wrote:

tinyclanger2 wrote: I know I keep on about this, but more and more I think that the public schools have to go. It's the only explanation that springs to my mind for the complete absence of either humanity or reality that pervade (if an absence can pervade) the thinking of the modern British elite. I keep thinking of the episode of "the village" where the son is shot for desertion. The levelling effect of WW2 has clearly receded and we are really back much closer to where we started.

I agree with you, TC.

The "elites" know they are the top dogs before they even start. Their sense of entitlement seems to be imbibed with their mothers' milk.

They are told all their young lives that they are special and different and better than everyone else, and they believe it. No wonder when the rest of us have so little in comparison. They're born to rule, bred for success, and become a self-fulfilling prophecy when they end up in charge and assume that those who have nothing are just useless and have only themselves to blame for not being like them.

The days of "noblesse oblige" are long gone. The likes of Churchill and Macmillan at least had a sense of duty to the rest of us.
This new breed of Tories and aristos are not similarly encumbered.

Yes. I'd thank this a dozen times if I could.

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:This is one alongside bins that's not going to go down well I feel

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30378299" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Royal Mail on threat to 'universal service' deliveries
29 minutes ago
Royal Mail has claimed competitors in the UK's bigger cities cherry picking its business could harm the less profitable rural services.
And despite its modernisation programme, it said this means the universal service of a six-day-a-week service to all UK addresses is at risk.
But the Royal Mail's rivals reckon it's missing its own efficiency targets.

tinyclanger2 wrote:

Are you wondering why 835,000 tweets have little impact on a prime minister’s job? That’s how many tweets had been posted as of 4 December – four weeks since the #CameronMustGo campaign began on 22 November, attempting to highlight government failings.

No, but I am wondering why the Guardian thinks that "more than a million" by 6 December should be reported as 835,000 on 4th December and that the time between 22 November and 4 December is "four weeks".

seeingclearly wrote:As far as I can tell the Independent living Fund will close next year. They appeal failed.

rebeccariots2 wrote:

seeingclearly wrote:As far as I can tell the Independent living Fund will close next year. They appeal failed.

That is just awfully depressing. They really are determined to take a hatchet to all that is good and gives people some dignity and quality of life - and actually works.

George Eaton @georgeeaton · Dec 7
Three biggest UK political figures outside Westminster (Boris, Farage and Salmond) all now hoping to enter.

Rob Merrick @Rob_Merrick · 8m 8 minutes ago
No Government minister willing to talk to #wato about devastating picture of hungry Britain in #FeedingBritain report....

The World at One @BBCWorldatOne · 12m 12 minutes ago
We asked Downing St, Cabinet Office & Department for Work and Pensions for an interview about #foodbanks but no-one would speak to us. #wato

Chris Bryant @ChrisBryantMP · 4h 4 hours ago
Fancy supporting #CameronMustGo ? The Rhondda Labour Party is looking for a part-time organiser for #GE2015. http://tinyurl.com/mxd6xgd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 wrote:

George Eaton @georgeeaton · Dec 7
Three biggest UK political figures outside Westminster (Boris, Farage and Salmond) all now hoping to enter.

A little wish for the New Year ... that none of them get elected. I know, I know, - probably a pipe dream, but a pleasant pipe dream nevertheless.

rebeccariots2 wrote:

Rob Merrick @Rob_Merrick · 8m 8 minutes ago
No Government minister willing to talk to #wato about devastating picture of hungry Britain in #FeedingBritain report....

The World at One @BBCWorldatOne · 12m 12 minutes ago
We asked Downing St, Cabinet Office & Department for Work and Pensions for an interview about #foodbanks but no-one would speak to us. #wato

The media giant, the cleaners and the £40,000 lost wages
The case of 35 unpaid cleaning staff at Saatchi & Saatchi’s Soho office highlights the plight of low-income workers
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014 ... es-low-pay

Consolidated Office Cleaning Limited (COC) won the tender for cleaning the Saatchi offices in London’s Soho five years ago, competing against four other companies. In September, HM Revenue & Customs initiated court action because the company owed more than £760,000 in unpaid tax and VAT. COC continued to invoice Saatchi for cleaning and when cleaners’ wages weren’t paid in October for the previous four weeks, COC told the cleaners this was a temporary situation caused by moving from one bank to another.

In November, COC began the process of voluntary liquidation – without informing the cleaners, who continued to do their jobs, still without payment. Some were forced to walk miles from home to work because they could no longer afford fares. One woman had to pay £5 a day on fees for a £700 overdraft. On 11 November, the cleaners organised a protest at Saatchi. “The staff organise to raise money for Africa, but for them we are invisible,” one cleaner says.

HindleA wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... CMP=twt_gu

"Food banks don't solve food poverty.The UK shouldn't institutionalise them."

giselle97 wrote:Have you seen this one about Cameron and Twitter?

http://www.theguardian.com/media-networ ... l-campaign" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But perhaps more revealing was that it was nowhere to be seen in Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Belfast or Bristol.

tinyclanger2 wrote:It's almost like the Tory focus has shifted simply from getting us to hate each other to help them achieve their self-serving ends, to simply getting us to hate each other for their entertainment.

The likes of Big Brother (sensu de Mol not Orwell) are at the heart of this resurgence in gladiatorial mentality.

Rebecca wrote:Re the 'some poor people can't cook' thing.
Well,this is true.And some people who are not poor cannot cook,but can afford not to be able to.
When I was a health visitor in Tower Hamlets ,going back to the late 80s,this problem wasn't so pronounced,though this maybe because of the high bengali population,also small pockets of vietnamese.There was terrible poverty,but the children were fed on (delicious) home cooking.Simply walking down the streets made me feel hungry.
Move on to the 2000s in Sunderland.I was astounded by the number of families who could not cook,and had no cooking skills to pass coo down to their children,which was people learnt to cook when I was a kid.
Yet my kids at school had cookery,food tech it was called.They made apple pie one day.With ready rolled pastry and apple pie filling.NO basic skills required.
So.not poor bashing,but having the knowledge to put together a cheap and nutritious meal would help.And I don't think it helps to get offended by the idea that people can't cook,but to do something about it.Though god knows what fresh ingredients would be found at a foodbank.

James O'Brien retweeted
David Lammy @DavidLammy · 3h 3 hours ago
Heartbreaking on @LBC just now with @mrjamesob. Listening to a grown man cry because he desperately want a job. Hope Osborne was listening.

Willow904 wrote:

giselle97 wrote:Have you seen this one about Cameron and Twitter?

http://www.theguardian.com/media-networ ... l-campaign" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Why do the media keep wasting entire articles on something they are convinced is meaningless?

But perhaps more revealing was that it was nowhere to be seen in Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Belfast or Bristol.

I have a Bristol postcode. I appreciate I can't trend on my own but I resent the implication that my part of the world doesn't care if Cameron carries on hammering the poor or not. Are all these articles a bit weirdly passive-aggressive or is it just me? "Social media's great! - but not when people we don't agree with use it, then it's a pointless waste of time!" Journalists are chumps, basically. #CameronMustGo has been a huge morale boost for those on the left, it's put them in touch with like-minded people and Labour are, in fact tapping into it. They are using the hashtags and they're using the opportunity twitter provides to make it extremely easy for anyone who wants to donate to Labour or volunteer their time. I notice not one of these anti#CameronMustGo articles have ever mentioned the enormous amount of specific information and links that have been attached to this hashtag - it's a veritable library of all the things this government has got up to.

HindleA wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... CMP=twt_gu

"Food banks don't solve food poverty.The UK shouldn't institutionalise them."

Willow904 wrote:

HindleA wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... CMP=twt_gu

"Food banks don't solve food poverty.The UK shouldn't institutionalise them."

I wonder how many people, like me, would refuse to donate if foodbanks ever became anything other than a completely charitable effort run by church volunteers. Even the more professional upper echelons of the Trussell Trust leave me a little uneasy.

The foodbank that closed in Nottingham because it felt it was being used by the council to save on welfare is to be commended in my opinion. These people volunteered their time to help the homeless and needy, not to do the DWP's job for them for free.

Timms said there has been a tenfold increase in the amount of money saved from benefits being withheld through sanctions between 2010 and October 2012. In October 2012 the sanctions regime became even tougher, and the Department for Work and Pensions stopped publishing these figures, he said. He also said he was “very critical” of the way the DWP had responded to the report. There was “no doubt” that its policies were “a major cause” of food poverty, he said.

James O'Brien retweeted
ARTIST TAXI DRIVER @chunkymark · 28m 28 minutes ago
Just want you to know @mrjamesob as that man was crying this morning just a short drive away this was happening …

LBC @LBC · 2h 2 hours ago
This emotional call from a man too poor to eat is just heartbreaking http://l-bc.co/yyXMuw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; @mrjamesob

rebeccariots2 wrote:Such A Heartbreaking Call: The Man Too Poor To Eat
http://audioboom.com/boos/2713731-such- ... oor-to-eat

James O'Brien retweeted
David Lammy @DavidLammy · 3h 3 hours ago
Heartbreaking on @LBC just now with @mrjamesob. Listening to a grown man cry because he desperately want a job. Hope Osborne was listening.

Willow904 wrote:

Timms said there has been a tenfold increase in the amount of money saved from benefits being withheld through sanctions between 2010 and October 2012. In October 2012 the sanctions regime became even tougher, and the Department for Work and Pensions stopped publishing these figures, he said. He also said he was “very critical” of the way the DWP had responded to the report. There was “no doubt” that its policies were “a major cause” of food poverty, he said.

From Andrew Sparrow's lunchtime summary. Is it just me or is this incredibly damning?

Willow904 wrote:

HindleA wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... CMP=twt_gu

"Food banks don't solve food poverty.The UK shouldn't institutionalise them."

I wonder how many people, like me, would refuse to donate if foodbanks ever became anything other than a completely charitable effort run by church volunteers. Even the more professional upper echelons of the Trussell Trust leave me a little uneasy.

The foodbank that closed in Nottingham because it felt it was being used by the council to save on welfare is to be commended in my opinion. These people volunteered their time to help the homeless and needy, not to do the DWP's job for them for free.

rebeccariots2 wrote:

Rob Merrick @Rob_Merrick · 8m 8 minutes ago
No Government minister willing to talk to #wato about devastating picture of hungry Britain in #FeedingBritain report....

The World at One @BBCWorldatOne · 12m 12 minutes ago
We asked Downing St, Cabinet Office & Department for Work and Pensions for an interview about #foodbanks but no-one would speak to us. #wato

*Baroness Pitkeathley
to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any recent assessment of the financial contribution of unpaid carers to the national economy.

Willow904 wrote:

HindleA wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... CMP=twt_gu

"Food banks don't solve food poverty.The UK shouldn't institutionalise them."

I wonder how many people, like me, would refuse to donate if foodbanks ever became anything other than a completely charitable effort run by church volunteers. Even the more professional upper echelons of the Trussell Trust leave me a little uneasy.

The foodbank that closed in Nottingham because it felt it was being used by the council to save on welfare is to be commended in my opinion. These people volunteered their time to help the homeless and needy, not to do the DWP's job for them for free.

LadyCentauria wrote:Not surprised, sadly... However, IDS and his team will – or should – be in for some tough questions during Live Work & Pensions Questions at 2.30pm on BBC Parliament and Parliament Live. (For those who cannot watch live transmissions, it will be available afterwards on iPlayer and via http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Live.aspx.)

In the Lords this afternoon, the third question will be:

*Baroness Pitkeathley
to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any recent assessment of the financial contribution of unpaid carers to the national economy.

HindleA wrote:

rebeccariots2 wrote:

Rob Merrick @Rob_Merrick · 8m 8 minutes ago
No Government minister willing to talk to #wato about devastating picture of hungry Britain in #FeedingBritain report....

The World at One @BBCWorldatOne · 12m 12 minutes ago
We asked Downing St, Cabinet Office & Department for Work and Pensions for an interview about #foodbanks but no-one would speak to us. #wato

Too busy playing computer games

HindleA wrote:

rebeccariots2 wrote:

Rob Merrick @Rob_Merrick · 8m 8 minutes ago
No Government minister willing to talk to #wato about devastating picture of hungry Britain in #FeedingBritain report....

The World at One @BBCWorldatOne · 12m 12 minutes ago
We asked Downing St, Cabinet Office & Department for Work and Pensions for an interview about #foodbanks but no-one would speak to us. #wato

Too busy playing computer games

Willow904 wrote:

giselle97 wrote:Have you seen this one about Cameron and Twitter?

http://www.theguardian.com/media-networ ... l-campaign" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Why do the media keep wasting entire articles on something they are convinced is meaningless?

But perhaps more revealing was that it was nowhere to be seen in Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Belfast or Bristol.

I have a Bristol postcode. I appreciate I can't trend on my own but I resent the implication that my part of the world doesn't care if Cameron carries on hammering the poor or not. Are all these articles a bit weirdly passive-aggressive or is it just me? "Social media's great! - but not when people we don't agree with use it, then it's a pointless waste of time!" Journalists are chumps, basically. #CameronMustGo has been a huge morale boost for those on the left, it's put them in touch with like-minded people and Labour are, in fact tapping into it. They are using the hashtags and they're using the opportunity twitter provides to make it extremely easy for anyone who wants to donate to Labour or volunteer their time. I notice not one of these anti#CameronMustGo articles have ever mentioned the enormous amount of specific information and links that have been attached to this hashtag - it's a veritable library of all the things this government has got up to.

rebeccariots2 wrote:Such A Heartbreaking Call: The Man Too Poor To Eat
http://audioboom.com/boos/2713731-such- ... oor-to-eat

James O'Brien retweeted
David Lammy @DavidLammy · 3h 3 hours ago
Heartbreaking on @LBC just now with @mrjamesob. Listening to a grown man cry because he desperately want a job. Hope Osborne was listening.

rebeccariots2 wrote:

Willow904 wrote:

HindleA wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... CMP=twt_gu

"Food banks don't solve food poverty.The UK shouldn't institutionalise them."

I wonder how many people, like me, would refuse to donate if foodbanks ever became anything other than a completely charitable effort run by church volunteers. Even the more professional upper echelons of the Trussell Trust leave me a little uneasy.

The foodbank that closed in Nottingham because it felt it was being used by the council to save on welfare is to be commended in my opinion. These people volunteered their time to help the homeless and needy, not to do the DWP's job for them for free.

I would stop contributing too in those circumstances. I don't want food banks to become the norm ... the expectation ... how it is ... the first port of call because it is the only port of call. It allows the state to have a bloody great big hole in their safety net ... with no remorse.

I've felt quite angry at the the way today's narrative on food banks and poverty has been so diverted by the media to the waste from supermarkets and how much more they should be doing to redistribute ... yes, they should ... but the main issue here is the increasing poverty being experienced, the inability of working people to be able to afford to put food on their tables, let alone actually 'live' in the fullest sense of the word.

...we are seeing a sustained fall in the numbers of 16-17 year olds who are NEET (not in education, employment or training); down to just 4.5% in the period October to December 2013, which covers the new commitment for the start of the academic year. In general, there has been a welcome decline in NEEThood, from a peak in the middle of 2011, because young people have delayed leaving education. The knock-on effect of this is the appearance of lower unemployment. Whilst those in education can be actively seeking work, and therefore counted as unemployed, they are far less likely to do so when compared to those out of work after leaving school. The unemployment imbalance would look far worse but for the increase in education participation.

Future of Circuit Lane surgery more certain

Published: 5 Dec 2014 22:150 comments

Four of the five family doctors whose mass resignations placed the future of a surgery in doubt have pledged to stay, it has been revealed at a meeting tonight.
Patients were told that after Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust stepped in to become interim provider, four of the five GP's have decided to continue to practice.
More than 100 people turned up for the meeting at Southcote Primary School on Friday night to find out the future of Circuit Lane Surgery.
The Trust will be taking over the surgery on February 1 next year to bridge the gap before a permanent provider is found.
It has also declared an interest in becoming the long term provider of services for the1400 patients.
Dr Horne, Dr Jarman, Dr Garside and Dr Adams have all agreed to continue to practice.
Matthew Tait, Director for the Thames Valley region at NHS England provided an outline of what NHS England had done so far in the commissioning process and provided an overview of the timetable for securing a long-term provider for the surgery.
In September the five doctors told NHS England they were all resigning and would not be renewing its contract as of January 31, 2015.
The mass resignation prompted fierce debate over the future of who should provide family practice care in the Southcote area.

http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/ ... e-certain/