Wednesday 10th December 2014

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 3:12 pm

Only digital part of UC is requesting interview ,everything else is face to face /via telephone.

Sutton 17 claims made in the two weeks since UC became "live"

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 3:16 pm

That isn't many, is it?

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 3:22 pm

Deleted

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 3:23 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:
citizenJA wrote:Did I miss news about David Miliband?
Not news about him *as such* but the US Congressional report into (lovely euphemism) "enhanced interregational practices" after 2001.

Of course DM, as our Foreign Secretary especially, was involved in extradition and stuff which directly impacted on this.

I wonder if he ever thinks about such things late at night, I would like to imagine he does (its certainly more than the likes of Bush Jnr and Cheney do)

Excuse me for not responding sooner - I've been away from the computer. I'd thought that might be it. Agree. I'm satisfied with the current Labour party leader for many reasons.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 3:37 pm

refitman wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:Worth taking a look at Andy Burnham's twitter time line. He's challenging - successfully it would seem - Clegg's version of what happened to Hinchinbrooke hospital - feisty exchange.

Andy Burnham @andyburnhammp · 8m 8 minutes ago
So, in summary, @nick_clegg misled the House. Will wait for one of his world-famous apologies.
Burnham's not the only one:
On a point of order, Gregg McClymont, the Labour MP, says Clegg misled MPs about Labour’s record on pensioner poverty. He should set the record straight.

John Bercow says these issues are a matter for debate. If he had to correct MPs when they said something wrong, he would be very busy, he says.

Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, says Clegg did not have a good outing on points of fact. Clegg accused Burnham of privatising a hospital. That was not true, he says. Burnham says he did not choose a private bidder to run Hinchingbrooke hospital. When it left his hands, there were three bidders, including an NHS one.

Bercow says it is up to Clegg to decide if he wants to correct the record.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, rises to accuse Clegg of getting another fact wrong. He said more women than men gained from the rise in the basic rate tax threshold, she says. But the House of Commons library has produced figures showing that more men have gained.

Bercow repeats the point about it being up to Clegg to decide whether to correct the record.
From AS Blog.

That would make a good quote / comment to post on LibDemVoice next time they have a gushing excuse of an article on how different they've been in government ... fair, accurate .... you know that kind of dissembling guff they come out with all the time.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 3:43 pm

danesclose wrote:
On a point of order, Gregg McClymont, the Labour MP, says Clegg misled MPs about Labour’s record on pensioner poverty. He should set the record straight.

John Bercow says these issues are a matter for debate. If he had to correct MPs when they said something wrong, he would be very busy, he says.

Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, says Clegg did not have a good outing on points of fact. Clegg accused Burnham of privatising a hospital. That was not true, he says. Burnham says he did not choose a private bidder to run Hinchingbrooke hospital. When it left his hands, there were three bidders, including an NHS one.

Bercow says it is up to Clegg to decide if he wants to correct the record.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, rises to accuse Clegg of getting another fact wrong. He said more women than men gained from the rise in the basic rate tax threshold, she says. But the House of Commons library has produced figures showing that more men have gained.

Bercow repeats the point about it being up to Clegg to decide whether to correct the record.
If Clegg had called someone a jumped up tit, the Speaker would have forced him to retract the comment or be thrown out of the chamber, yet when he's caught lying to the House, its up to him whether he corrects the record.
No wonder the majority hold politicians in such contempt

I'm cautious who I hold in contempt; it's a big deal for me. I don't do it lightly. I hold Clegg & the Speaker in contempt at this time over allowing a liar to decide whether or not he wants to correct his lying record in the House of Commons. Parliament is secularly sacred for me. Democracy in action is supposed to happen there. An elected representative has lied on record, it's documented & the Speaker lets it ride. Foolish, foolish thing to do.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 3:43 pm

I posted a comment earlier in which I referred to a post that I had stumbled (and anything that I glean from over there is always by accident these days - it's such a jumble and impossible to navigate so "what you see is what you get" is very true so far as I'm concerned) across over at the Andrew Sparrow place. However, the sharp-eyed amongst you (ie all of you) may have noticed that I failed to quote said post. Sorry. Here it is now -

BBC Nick the tory says that Clegg was pushed back into the corner to act and support tories by
Harriet Harman - and this was a brilliant strategy by Labour.

Nick Robinson ditching the tories?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 3:53 pm

PorFavor wrote:I posted a comment earlier in which I referred to a post that I had stumbled (and anything that I glean from over there is always by accident these days - it's such a jumble and impossible to navigate so "what you see is what you get" is very true so far as I'm concerned) across over at the Andrew Sparrow place. However, the sharp-eyed amongst you (ie all of you) may have noticed that I failed to quote said post. Sorry. Here it is now -

BBC Nick the tory says that Clegg was pushed back into the corner to act and support tories by
Harriet Harman - and this was a brilliant strategy by Labour.

Nick Robinson ditching the tories?

I think it is more likely Robinson allowing a bit of contempt for Clegg and the Lib Dems to show through.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 3:55 pm

What a wanker.

Labour’s Andrew Gwynne says Clegg has received donations from a firm, Autofil Yarns, that is moving jobs overseas. What does he think of that?

Clegg says he does not speak for the factory. Labour is bankrolled by the unions. They may have even written Gwynne’s question. Isn’t it time that Labour backed party funding reform?

Yeah, bastard unions. Wanting questions about an important issue like exporting skilled jobs asked in Parliament.

That needs fixing.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 3:58 pm

George Eaton retweeted
Patrick Wintour @patrickwintour · 2h 2 hours ago
Extraordinary Birmingham Library to have weekly opening hours cut from 73 to 40 in April next year. More than half staff to lose jobs.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 4:01 pm

citizenJA wrote:
danesclose wrote:
On a point of order, Gregg McClymont, the Labour MP, says Clegg misled MPs about Labour’s record on pensioner poverty. He should set the record straight.

John Bercow says these issues are a matter for debate. If he had to correct MPs when they said something wrong, he would be very busy, he says.

Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, says Clegg did not have a good outing on points of fact. Clegg accused Burnham of privatising a hospital. That was not true, he says. Burnham says he did not choose a private bidder to run Hinchingbrooke hospital. When it left his hands, there were three bidders, including an NHS one.

Bercow says it is up to Clegg to decide if he wants to correct the record.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, rises to accuse Clegg of getting another fact wrong. He said more women than men gained from the rise in the basic rate tax threshold, she says. But the House of Commons library has produced figures showing that more men have gained.

Bercow repeats the point about it being up to Clegg to decide whether to correct the record.

If Clegg had called someone a jumped up tit, the Speaker would have forced him to retract the comment or be thrown out of the chamber, yet when he's caught lying to the House, its up to him whether he corrects the record.
No wonder the majority hold politicians in such contempt
I'm cautious who I hold in contempt; it's a big deal for me. I don't do it lightly. I hold Clegg & the Speaker in contempt at this time over allowing a liar to decide whether or not he wants to correct his lying record in the House of Commons. Parliament is secularly sacred for me. Democracy in action is supposed to happen there. An elected representative has lied on record, it's documented & the Speaker lets it ride. Foolish, foolish thing to do.

Yep. Should surely be someone who can investigate errors or lies, and compel correction of the record.

Wonder if the OBR have been contacted about the tax error/lie? They should be.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 4:09 pm

I've just given in to the post walk fixed stares of our two mutts and presented them with a dog biscuit each. Two pairs of eyes, two noses, 4 ears swivelling in unison to track my every move around the kitchen ... just to let me know they know they should be given a biscuit now. How do they do this .... get their wishes granted through sheer doggedness?

When we got the first dog Mr Riots said to me he had one cardinal rule ... they are not allowed on the sofa.

As I write this they are stretched out together on said sofa, pointer with legs and massive paws dangling over the front, the muttley with his head pushed into the cushions. Not on the sofa my arse ... that lasted all of about 2 hours as I remember.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 4:11 pm

Gregg McClymont MP retweeted
Adam Bienkov ‏@AdamBienkov 4h4 hours ago
Gregg McClymont was right. Pensioner poverty fell under Labour according to the IFS. http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/6738" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; … #PMQs

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 4:11 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
George Eaton retweeted
Patrick Wintour @patrickwintour · 2h 2 hours ago
Extraordinary Birmingham Library to have weekly opening hours cut from 73 to 40 in April next year. More than half staff to lose jobs.

Not sure why Wintour finds that extraordinary, has he only just realized what a bunch of bastards his precious Coalition really are.

rearofthestore · Post by **rearofthestore** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 4:12 pm

I'm not sure if this is ground for celebration.

Roy Greenslade ‏@GreensladeR 8m8 minutes ago
Alan Rusbridger to step down!

As he is moving to this

Roy Greenslade ‏@GreensladeR 6m6 minutes ago
Next summer, Alan Rusbridger will give up ads Guardian editor-in-chief to succeed Liz Forgan as chair of The Scott Trust

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 4:14 pm

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
George Eaton retweeted
Patrick Wintour @patrickwintour · 2h 2 hours ago
Extraordinary Birmingham Library to have weekly opening hours cut from 73 to 40 in April next year. More than half staff to lose jobs.
Not sure why Wintour finds that extraordinary, has he only just realized what a bunch of bastards his precious Coalition really are.

I thought extraordinary was a very limp adjective anyway ... bloody dreadful more like.

Then I wondered if he was talking about the library itself - Extraordinary Birmingham Library - rather than the savage cuts. More than a bit out of touch if so.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 4:19 pm

http://www.durhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/ ... overnance/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A CONTROVERSIAL free school has been rapped for its financial and governance arrangements.

Durham Free School, which only opened in September last year, was hit with a Financial Notice to Improve after an Education Funding Agency (EFA) review found “significant weaknesses”.

The school, based in Gilesgate, Durham City, has been temporarily stripped of some powers and given a list of issues it must address, including recruiting more parent governors and establishing an audit committee.

Oh dear. Sounds like old Lutfur's been involved rather than Dominic Cummings, the DfE man who was telling everyone else how to do it.

Note again the low profile of parents in the school.

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 4:23 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:I've just given in to the post walk fixed stares of our two mutts and presented them with a dog biscuit each. Two pairs of eyes, two noses, 4 ears swivelling in unison to track my every move around the kitchen ... just to let me know they know they should be given a biscuit now. How do they do this .... get their wishes granted through sheer doggedness?

When we got the first dog Mr Riots said to me he had one cardinal rule ... they are not allowed on the sofa.

As I write this they are stretched out together on said sofa, pointer with legs and massive paws dangling over the front, the muttley with his head pushed into the cushions. Not on the sofa my arse ... that lasted all of about 2 hours as I remember.

There is a sci fi author by the name of Julian May who wrote a series of books (the Galactic Mileau series) which revolved around a series of characters with metapsychic abilities - telepathy, psychokinesis, telekinesis etc; one of the abilities she labeled "metacoercion" (i.e. the ability to make people do something against their will) and stated that cats were naturally coercive. I believe her!!

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 4:40 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
PorFavor wrote:I posted a comment earlier in which I referred to a post that I had stumbled (and anything that I glean from over there is always by accident these days - it's such a jumble and impossible to navigate so "what you see is what you get" is very true so far as I'm concerned) across over at the Andrew Sparrow place. However, the sharp-eyed amongst you (ie all of you) may have noticed that I failed to quote said post. Sorry. Here it is now -

BBC Nick the tory says that Clegg was pushed back into the corner to act and support tories by
Harriet Harman - and this was a brilliant strategy by Labour.

Nick Robinson ditching the tories?
I think it is more likely Robinson allowing a bit of contempt for Clegg and the Lib Dems to show through.

Yes - I agree with your comment re Nick Robinson. I was thinking mainly about the Harriet Harman bit - which made me reappraise her performance.

LadyCentauria · Post by **LadyCentauria** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 4:48 pm

ephemerid wrote:
LadyCentauria wrote:... [shortened]
I'm still grieving for the loss of (the original) Queen Mary's Hospital at Roehampton, which was replaced with a 'community hospital' about seven years ago. Built in a corner of the original site where the old mortuary car-park was. The rest (majority) of the site is now packed out with 'luxury' housing with a tiny proportion of so-called affordable units. We no longer have an A&E – just a part-time minor-injuries unit – so Charing Cross Hospital is, technically, our nearest A&E. And the replacement Douglas Bader Unit is a shadow of its former self, tucked away in part of the basement with a fraction of the facilities it used to have. QMH was a great hospital, a brilliant University teaching hospital, one of the most famous burns units in the world, and the same with amputations and prosthetics and rehab. Stopping before I get too angry and nostalgic!

And, when I go there I have to have someone with me because the only automatic/accessible doors are the ones at the entrances/exits. All the internal ones are too heavy for me to open. Costs restraints, apparently...

I did some of my training there, including burns and plastics - I also staffed for a short time on the Limb Surgery Unit when they still had the limb-making factory next door. I had a flat in Arton Wilson House, just down the road. Our parties were notorious!

It was fun and games in A&E - if you had a coronary in, you had to take a doctor and a resus trolley with you to get to CCU - it was in the ITU which was at the other end of a quarter-mile-long corridor. The porters had these little red trucks they zoomed up and down on to get supplies to places in a hurry. I hitched a ride if the nursing officers weren't about...
Most of the wards were old Nissen Huts and the ones on the mansion side (where the residential quarters were in my day) looked out over the rose garden and lily pond. We used to stick the patients on traction out there in the summer - back then, we had a lot of bikers on 3-months-plus traction as we didn't use external fixators as much as they do now.

Happy days. Mind you, I don't think it's bad thing that some things have changed. I used to have to dress up in a denim dress, with various collars/cuffs/belts. a huge starched apron, and a great big "butterfly" cap (like the navy nurses have) made from a square yard of starched linen with about a million pins holding it all together. There was a superstition that if you changed your cap between taking your state finals and getting the results, you'd fail. In those days you had to wait 3 months, so there were a lot of third-years with extremely wonky grubby caps on for weeks....

Now all that's gone. I wonder of our newly-trained nurses had anything like the fun we used to have. I suspect they don't, as they've got to find £27K for the uni fees etc. and can't live in like we used to. Some of the rules and stuff were really silly when you think about it, but our sister tutors and the nursing officers were tough as old boots and they turned out some damn fine nurses. I like to think I was one of them, and my experiences when I retrained in 2002/3 and as a patient on several occasions since suggest to me that the old way had a great deal to commend it.

Arton Wilson House parties were notorious and legendary! Congratulations on surviving it

It has been 're-developed' and extended - flats and houses (up to 4 bed) and now (mostly) called Emerald Square. Average selling price: £823,783 – rent a one-bed flat, furnished, £350pw...

One of the chaps at the limb factory used to let us have some of the scrap leather (from baby-soft chamois up to very thick and sturdy tanned leather) to make craft things from – we shared the proceeds with the Friends and contributed towards some super-swish luxury scales for neo-natal. And the long corridors could be a pain but were brilliant for the (forbidden) wheelchair races – and the even-more forbidden grabbing a tow from the porters' trucks. But just about every ward looked out onto at least a patch of greenery. The lawns, the cedars, the long terrace, rose-garden, lily-pond; all of that helped patients (and staff) to have some sense of freedom and space and peace and healing – a balm for the soul.

QMH saved my life twice and probably saved my son's eyesight. Staff and student nurses exuded that quiet confidence, that combination of firmness and gentleness and un-flurried competence that enables the patient to relax as much as their illness, injury, or condition allows. Much more obviously hierarchical with the range of dresses, belts, and fancy hats - tunics for the occasional chaps - but it made it clear who was who, and what their job was from Nursing Auxiliary or Volunteer, through SRNs and SENs, students, up to Matron. A Matron who made Surgeons and Consultants quake in their boots but who would sit and help a patient to eat or drink, or give someone a wash-and-brush-up, or make a bed, or mop a floor because it needed doing and her hands were empty – leading by example (the best ones!) And there was no mistaking a physio for a ward-sister at a distance. Seemingly you need eagle-eyesight now to read the title on a little badge and patients assume that all the people at the nurses' station are nurses. I wonder how much the modern degree-training talks about vocation? How patient-care starts with caring for the patient, tending to the patient, ensuring that they are clean, comfortable, well-fed, given peace and quiet in which to recuperate or stimulation and gentle exercise as needed. Mind you, you need enough staff for that.

We might have met, somewhere along the line - it has been my local hospital for more of the years since '77 than the years when I've lived elsewhere. And I've been there as patient, friend, visitor, and as a volunteer advisor at the DAS when it had a part-time outreach office in the Douglas Bader Unit. The Pain Management Clinic is still excellent, as is the Day Case Unit, the bloods people make it fun, and the Douglas Bader Rehabilitation Centre is still world-class (if much shrunken, it is still innovative) – but the new hospital has no 'character' and hardly any views of green growing things.

Oh, and £2m or so, upwards, will buy you a two-bed apartment in Roehampton House, itself...

There is a fairly good potted history here, but no mention of the Wilsons' Covenant which was overturned to allow for the re-development

http://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/queenmaryroehampton.html

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:03 pm

I don't understand cyclists. I used to do it a lot, even in London.

Saw a photo of a cycle lane I thought looked dangerous. It's on a bit of an island but there's no way a mother with toddlers could relax, and a vulnerable adult might easily not see it.

Justified by someone I usually agree with as safer than bikes undertaking buses. Think it's in Brighton. Can't the bikes just wait?

I wouldn't have waited before, but surely not unreasonable to take responsibility for something going wrong if I do? And can I really expect to put pedestrians in danger because I might otherwise put myself in danger?

LadyCentauria · Post by **LadyCentauria** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:11 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
George Eaton retweeted
Patrick Wintour @patrickwintour · 2h 2 hours ago
Extraordinary Birmingham Library to have weekly opening hours cut from 73 to 40 in April next year. More than half staff to lose jobs.

The multiple-award-winning Birmingham Library...
http://www.libraryofbirmingham.com/arti ... jectawards

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:13 pm

There should be a fence round that cycle lane with a small gap to go to the bus waiting island.

mbc1955 · Post by **mbc1955** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:14 pm

rearofthestore wrote:I'm not sure if this is ground for celebration.
Roy Greenslade ‏@GreensladeR 8m8 minutes ago
Alan Rusbridger to step down!
As he is moving to this
Roy Greenslade ‏@GreensladeR 6m6 minutes ago
Next summer, Alan Rusbridger will give up ads Guardian editor-in-chief to succeed Liz Forgan as chair of The Scott Trust

Whoooopppeeeee!!!!

(I know we could get someone even worse next, but I am not going to disguise my joy at the disappearance of the biggest traitor in Guardian history).

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:16 pm

Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan 20m20 minutes ago
I actually like @arusbridger & he's been a good editor. But he's tried to jail more journalists than Putin/Mao/Stalin put together.

Funny, I thought it was Murdoch who shopped all the people working for him.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:25 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:I don't understand cyclists. I used to do it a lot, even in London.

Saw a photo of a cycle lane I thought looked dangerous. It's on a bit of an island but there's no way a mother with toddlers could relax, and a vulnerable adult might easily not see it.

Justified by someone I usually agree with as safer than bikes undertaking buses. Think it's in Brighton. Can't the bikes just wait?

I wouldn't have waited before, but surely not unreasonable to take responsibility for something going wrong if I do? And can I really expect to put pedestrians in danger because I might otherwise put myself in danger?

I don't ride a bike. I'm a pedestrian, an urban hiker. It looks like good pedestrian space in that image.

"I don't understand cyclists."

They're people on bikes.
I've never had any trouble with someone on a bike when I'm walking. I don't push a pram or require mobility assistance gear.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:28 pm

That island thing a good pedestrian space?

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:29 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:There should be a fence round that cycle lane with a small gap to go to the bus waiting island.

Too narrow - it'd be more likely to cause bad falls by getting caught in it.

LadyCentauria · Post by **LadyCentauria** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:32 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:There should be a fence round that cycle lane with a small gap to go to the bus waiting island.

Yep. And mini zebra-crossings for the pedestrians. I don't understand the apparent Red-Route on that other bit of pavement, though. My scooter is restricted to 4mph on pavements/shared-paths and the Highway Code has imprinted into my brain that pedestrians have right-of-way, always, so it is pretty rare that I reach such a dizzying speed when venturing to the shops. Same rules should apply clearly to cyclists on shared-paths, surely, for safety's sake – although, thinking about it, that might make the bicycles a bit wobbly...

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:36 pm

citizenJA wrote:
Tubby Isaacs wrote:There should be a fence round that cycle lane with a small gap to go to the bus waiting island.
Too narrow - it'd be more likely to cause bad falls by getting caught in it.

Fair point, would have to be wider.

I can't see anyone's going to wait on that island thing. They'll be on the pavement then move towards it when they see a bus.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:38 pm

LadyCentauria wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
George Eaton retweeted
Patrick Wintour @patrickwintour · 2h 2 hours ago
Extraordinary Birmingham Library to have weekly opening hours cut from 73 to 40 in April next year. More than half staff to lose jobs.
The multiple-award-winning Birmingham Library...
http://www.libraryofbirmingham.com/arti ... jectawards

Images of it (would not have got planning if I had anything to do with it)

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Birmi ... 20&bih=878" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Dam ugly building, but the space and light created inside are (I understand) spectacular.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:39 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:That island thing a good pedestrian space?

No, where the pedestrians are walking - the cycle lane is outside where the people are walking.

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:45 pm

[quote="LadyCentauria"]

Arton Wilson House parties were notorious and legendary! Congratulations on surviving it

I didn't so much survive them as organise them for the 2 years I lived there. We would get the flat(s) ready, then go to the Maltese Cat for a few hours. Nothing really started until after closing time.
My mate Bernie would make huge pots of Scouse, Bridget would invent some sort of punch which invariably involved copious quantites of vodka, gin, wine, and Benylin (yes, really) and we behaved absolutely appallingly.

We always themed our parties - "Bad Taste" or whatever. On a few occasions the word got out and people were actually queuing round the block to get in. We were banned from using the common room on the ground floor after the "Kids Party" incident which involved one of the surgical registrars, too much cake, and a yard of brandy. Whoops!
The porters were the worst - Reg Norman was world famous for the copious quantities of beer he sank before he ever got as far as the party. He was my favourite. Always had a smile and a joke - he used to despatch trainee porters to the stores to find Fallopian Tubes for the gynae wards.
I have a very good friend from back then who lives in Hartley House up the road. He's been there for years. Lovely man.
Don't see him as often as I'd like but we keep in touch.

We may well have met at some point. And thanks for the link - I'll have a good look at it later.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:49 pm

Rick ‏@FlipChartRick 3m3 minutes ago
Consumption growth will outstrip wage growth says @OBR_UK Oops-a-daisy!

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:50 pm

Blimey, modding the like of not seen since the last days of Julian Glover over on the By Bye Rusbdridger Guardian article.

Only sycophantic or slightly critical ones being left.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:55 pm

: MorningStarXmasTShirt.jpg (103.11 KiB) Viewed 11409 times

Sorry Mr Rowson. Beautifully rendered though it is ... I don't want a panto Cameron anywhere near my chest.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 5:57 pm

yahyah wrote:Blimey, modding the like of not seen since the last days of Julian Glover over on the By Bye Rusbdridger Guardian article.

Only sycophantic or slightly critical ones being left.

Full implementation of their not allowed to attack a journalist rule then.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:04 pm

Part-privatisation of vehicle agency scrapped
Exclusive: Decision to scrap search for a commercial partner to help run the Vehicle Certification Agency came at a late stage
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/busin ... 14116.htmlPlans to part-privatise the agency that tests and approves vehicles for use on Britain’s roads, including new types of cars, buses, motorcycles and fire engines, have been shelved by the Government.

The decision to scrap the search for a commercial partner to help run the Vehicle Certification Agency, which collects £16.1m in revenue, came at a late stage: there were four shortlisted bidders, including the British Standards Institute and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, which had been locked in talks with the Coalition since the summer.

Richard Burden, Labour’s shadow Roads Minister, told The Independent that the Department for Transport had created “yet another contract shambles”. ...

mbc1955 · Post by **mbc1955** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:08 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
yahyah wrote:Blimey, modding the like of not seen since the last days of Julian Glover over on the By Bye Rusbdridger Guardian article.

Only sycophantic or slightly critical ones being left.
Full implementation of their not allowed to attack a journalist rule then.

And egoboo to the end. Who does he think he is, Stalin?

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:08 pm

citizenJA wrote:
Tubby Isaacs wrote:That island thing a good pedestrian space?
No, where the pedestrians are walking - the cycle lane is outside where the people are walking.

Ah apol.

The walking space is fine, but I think that's the problem. People will wait there then all spring forward to the island when the bus is coming. Think that's dangerous.

ErnstRemarx · Post by **ErnstRemarx** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:11 pm

mbc1955 wrote:
rearofthestore wrote:I'm not sure if this is ground for celebration.
Roy Greenslade ‏@GreensladeR 8m8 minutes ago
Alan Rusbridger to step down!
As he is moving to this
Roy Greenslade ‏@GreensladeR 6m6 minutes ago
Next summer, Alan Rusbridger will give up ads Guardian editor-in-chief to succeed Liz Forgan as chair of The Scott Trust
Whoooopppeeeee!!!!

(I know we could get someone even worse next, but I am not going to disguise my joy at the disappearance of the biggest traitor in Guardian history).

As a few Over There have been saying, hope he takes Wintour and Watt with him. Perhaps the next editor might even be a little less slavish to Clegg, less sympathetic towards the Tories and less of an outright enemy to Labour... Pigs might fly...

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:11 pm

Inequality is killing pensioners like me. We must keep up the good fight
As a 92-year-old activist I’m appalled at the prospect of returning to 1930s levels of poverty. But together, we can win
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... 0s-poverty

Well worth reading - it's scope is far broader than pensioners - he nails what is being done to just about every part of society except the likes of Cameron. And from BTL:

MontyTremayne
10 December 2014 5:33pm

Can you imagine Ken Savage and Harry Leslie Smith in charge of some stuff for a while? I know I can, and I'm a 'boomer', I suppose. I'm guessing even some 16 year-olds (see Ollie Middleton's article yesterday) would see the value of Ken's and Harry's experience to improve and sustain what might, these days, be called 'society', often laughably.
Well done, Mr Savage, and thank you.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:14 pm

ErnstRemarx wrote:
mbc1955 wrote:
rearofthestore wrote:I'm not sure if this is ground for celebration. As he is moving to this
Whoooopppeeeee!!!!

(I know we could get someone even worse next, but I am not going to disguise my joy at the disappearance of the biggest traitor in Guardian history).
As a few Over There have been saying, hope he takes Wintour and Watt with him. Perhaps the next editor might even be a little less slavish to Clegg, less sympathetic towards the Tories and less of an outright enemy to Labour... Pigs might fly...

Little bit of a twitter exchange between Paul Mason and Rusbridger - the former extending best wishes / congrats to Rusbridger - which has prompted some to suggest Mason as a good replacement. Can't see that happening.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:17 pm

Michael Crick @MichaelLCrick · 22m 22 minutes ago
Ukip Finance Cttee tells Neil Hamilton to explain expense claims, ahead of Hamilton contesting Ukip selection for Basildon South tonight.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:27 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Michael Crick @MichaelLCrick · 22m 22 minutes ago
Ukip Finance Cttee tells Neil Hamilton to explain expense claims, ahead of Hamilton contesting Ukip selection for Basildon South tonight.

Hamilton in trouble over finances?

Surely not!

If the local party have got any sense they'd kick him into touch - he'd be a disastrous choice.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:27 pm

Talking of Neil Hamilton, I hadn't realised Exaro's David Hencke played a big part in opening the whole cash for questions cesspit.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:28 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Michael Crick @MichaelLCrick · 22m 22 minutes ago
Ukip Finance Cttee tells Neil Hamilton to explain expense claims, ahead of Hamilton contesting Ukip selection for Basildon South tonight.
Hamilton in trouble over finances?

Surely not!

If the local party have got any sense they'd kick him into touch - he'd be a disastrous choice.

Leopards, spots, etc.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:29 pm

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:32 pm

I suppose the Tories may not feel fully able to attack Hamilton with stuff like this, if he stands, because it would remind voters of the last Tory goverment's sleazy tail end times.

Spacedone · Post by **Spacedone** » Wed 10 Dec, 2014 6:38 pm

I don't think this has been mentioned yet but it looks like Twitter users have regrouped after Twitter prevented #CameronMustGo from trending and have now returned with #CameronOut. Currently trending at number 3.