Wednesday 11th February 2015

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Our glorious free media making this a Westminster Village story about the language used by the opposition leader rather than a revelation of govermnent corruption and complacency.

Let 'em, I think it is more damaging to Cameron this way and I doubt we've heard the end of the HSBC revelations.

In normal circumstances PMQs means nothing to people outside the Bubble (and in this context we are inside it), this week it is different; all the broadsheets are running it as usual but this week the BBC are featuring it prominently and the cherry on the icing on this cake is that Mail piece. If that gets any sort of prominence in tomorrow's print edition Cameron is a laughing stock outside the Bubble as well as in, and the laughter will get louder next time the Tories try the "weak Ed" jibes - if weak Ed intimidates Cameron, how pathetic does that make OGRFG look?

The irony is that the likes of The Sparrow called today for Cameron but with that one remark he's gifted it to Ed. Couple that with the damaging stuff about the closeness of HSBC & the Tories (following hot on the heels of the Boots farago) and that is another Tory fox comprehensively dealt with. Best laugh I've had in weeks.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Ivan White ‏@ivanwhite48 28 mins28 minutes ago

Antony Worrall Thompson’s tip for Pancake Day (17 February):

take eggs, milk, flour and butter – and then run like hell.

I hesitate to reproduce the conversation Mr Riots and I have just had .... but here goes. I'm pondering away about some different meals we could cook (that's we as in I could cook) as I chop cabbage. I idly say to Mr Riots - is toad in the hole basically yorkshire pudding with sausages? He says yes, I think so. And then I say ... so do you have gravy with it or what? (Thinking - gravy nice, gravy good - starting to like the sound of this meal.) Mr Riots then says - Oh yes, you have to have gravy - otherwise it would be a dry hole - you need to have a toad in a wet hole.

It just doesn't sound quite so enticing now.

It will entice you as it comes out of the oven. I always make too much, and always finish it!!!

[rebeccariots2]

Ivan White ‏@ivanwhite48 28 mins28 minutes ago

Antony Worrall Thompson’s tip for Pancake Day (17 February):

take eggs, milk, flour and butter – and then run like hell.

I hesitate to reproduce the conversation Mr Riots and I have just had .... but here goes. I'm pondering away about some different meals we could cook (that's we as in I could cook) as I chop cabbage. I idly say to Mr Riots - is toad in the hole basically yorkshire pudding with sausages? He says yes, I think so. And then I say ... so do you have gravy with it or what? (Thinking - gravy nice, gravy good - starting to like the sound of this meal.) Mr Riots then says - Oh yes, you have to have gravy - otherwise it would be a dry hole - you need to have a toad in a wet hole.

It just doesn't sound quite so enticing now.

It will entice you as it comes out of the oven. I always make too much, and always finish it!!!

Well clearly you're not making too much then. You're making just enough.

[letsskiptotheleft]

Smithson seems to think there's a bad poll for Labour coming out, plunged to 26/1 to have an outright majority..

Or I am reading it wrong, wouldn't the first time?

[TechnicalEphemera]

Lord Fink isn't hugely bright.

Tax avoidance is perfectly legal, I do it when I invest money in an ISA.

Tax evasion is illegal.

So for Finks point to stand he has to show he never used his accounts to legally avoid paying tax.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Miliband is quite right to call Lord Fink.

Even if it's a complete lie, the suit won't be until after the election when Ed will be PM and can change the law so he can't be sued.

That what PMs do

[rebeccariots2]

Kerry McCarthy MP ‏@KerryMP 3m3 minutes ago
Unfortunately the Government voted in favour of Lords amendment on #fracking, and we lost.

Oh FFS.

[letsskiptotheleft]

Cons are moving out too..

[TechnicalEphemera]

Kerry McCarthy MP ‏@KerryMP 3m3 minutes ago
Unfortunately the Government voted in favour of Lords amendment on #fracking, and we lost.

Oh FFS.

Pretty disreputable behaviour.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Smithson seems to think there's a bad poll for Labour coming out, plunged to 26/1 to have an outright majority..

Or I am reading it wrong, wouldn't the first time?

[rebeccariots2]

ExaroNews ‏@ExaroNews 6h6 hours ago
EXPLOSIVE: Lowell Goddard confirms bombshell disclosure by Exaro: CSA survivors need not be on panel. http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5497/ ... -survivors" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

This is disgraceful. They are being ignored and mistreated all over again.

[letsskiptotheleft]

If the Tories move ahead this week after all the shite flying about I will give up, almost.

Come May I will be on some beach reading crap paperbacks like everyone else who doesn't give a toss.

[TechnicalEphemera]

There is no reason to believe an IPSOS-MORI poll that is radically different from all of the other polls. It is what is known as an outlier.

When exactly are the media going to start understanding this stuff.

There have been no earth shattering events to move public opinion.

[ohsocynical]

Ivan White ‏@ivanwhite48 28 mins28 minutes ago

Antony Worrall Thompson’s tip for Pancake Day (17 February):

take eggs, milk, flour and butter – and then run like hell.

I hesitate to reproduce the conversation Mr Riots and I have just had .... but here goes. I'm pondering away about some different meals we could cook (that's we as in I could cook) as I chop cabbage. I idly say to Mr Riots - is toad in the hole basically yorkshire pudding with sausages? He says yes, I think so. And then I say ... so do you have gravy with it or what? (Thinking - gravy nice, gravy good - starting to like the sound of this meal.) Mr Riots then says - Oh yes, you have to have gravy - otherwise it would be a dry hole - you need to have a toad in a wet hole.

It just doesn't sound quite so enticing now.

I like Mr Riots...

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Smithson seems to think there's a bad poll for Labour coming out, plunged to 26/1 to have an outright majority..

Or I am reading it wrong, wouldn't the first time?

Wouldn't be the first time Smithson has read it wrong either.

[TechnicalEphemera]

Smithson seems to think there's a bad poll for Labour coming out, plunged to 26/1 to have an outright majority..

Or I am reading it wrong, wouldn't the first time?

Wouldn't be the first time Smithson has read it wrong either.

Also I believe IPSOS-MORI have a stupid likelihood to vote filter, which often skews their results.

[ohsocynical]

Labour Whips ‏@labourwhips 3 mins3 minutes ago
Not one Tory or Lib Dem MP voted with @UKLabour on tackling tax avoidance. Read our motion here

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/p ... 150211.pdf …

[pk1]

Ivan White ‏@ivanwhite48 28 mins28 minutes ago

Antony Worrall Thompson’s tip for Pancake Day (17 February):

take eggs, milk, flour and butter – and then run like hell.

I hesitate to reproduce the conversation Mr Riots and I have just had .... but here goes. I'm pondering away about some different meals we could cook (that's we as in I could cook) as I chop cabbage. I idly say to Mr Riots - is toad in the hole basically yorkshire pudding with sausages? He says yes, I think so. And then I say ... so do you have gravy with it or what? (Thinking - gravy nice, gravy good - starting to like the sound of this meal.) Mr Riots then says - Oh yes, you have to have gravy - otherwise it would be a dry hole - you need to have a toad in a wet hole.

It just doesn't sound quite so enticing now.

Am sitting here nearly crying with laughter.

[ohsocynical]

Tennessee Decided to Drug Test Its Welfare Recipients — Here Are the Shocking Results

http://mic.com/articles/110352/a-shocki ... recipients

This'll be the next thing. It's already been spoken about.

[citizenJA]

Kerry McCarthy MP ‏@KerryMP 3m3 minutes ago
Unfortunately the Government voted in favour of Lords amendment on #fracking, and we lost.

Oh FFS.

NOOOOO!

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Can anyone explain what's happened with fracking?

Have MPs simply changed their minds in the last week?

[rebeccariots2]

Can anyone explain what's happened with fracking?

Have MPs simply changed their minds in the last week?

The Lords changed the Labour amendments so they don't provide the protection they did. But I'm not sure what the vote was today ... if it was a Lords vote or a further reading / passing into full legislation in the HoC.

[ohsocynical]

Can anyone explain what's happened with fracking?

Have MPs simply changed their minds in the last week?

House of Lords?

All this cynical member of FTN can think is that they've been got at.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Can anyone explain what's happened with fracking?

Have MPs simply changed their minds in the last week?

The Lords changed the Labour amendments so they don't provide the protection they did. But I'm not sure what the vote was today ... if it was a Lords vote or a further reading / passing into full legislation in the HoC.

No it was back in the Commons. Caroline Lucas was complaining there wa sonly 1 hour for it.

So there was an amendment passed by the Commons. The Lords watered it down (no pun) and the Government couldn't then accept the watered down version?

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Can anyone explain what's happened with fracking?

Have MPs simply changed their minds in the last week?

House of Lords?

All this cynical member of FTN can think is that they've been got at.

No it was the Commons I think tonight.

[HindleA]

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



Labour to cap infant class sizes by ending free schools in surplus areas

[HindleA]

See below

[adam]

Yougov/Sun Labour lead by 1

lab 33
con 32
ukip 15
green 7
lib dem 7

unremarkable. but perfectly fine.

[citizenJA]

I'm tired now.
I've got a lot of information I've gone through but I wasn't expecting doctored legislation from the House of Lords to get voted through the Commons this afternoon, I really wasn't.

09 February 2015
Committee writes to Committee on Climate Change on the impact of fracking on carbon budgets, following the EAC’s report on ‘Environmental risks of fracking’

http://www.parliament.uk/business/commi ... e-change-/

Conclusions and recommendations

1. Any large scale extraction of shale gas in the UK is likely to be at least 10-15 years away. It is also unlikely to be able to compete against the extensive renewable energy sector we should have by 2025-30 unless developed at a significant scale. By that time, it is likely that unabated coal-fired power generation will have been phased out to meet EU emissions directives, so fracking will not substitute for (more carbon-intensive) coal. Continually tightening carbon budgets under the Climate Change Act will have significantly curtailed our scope for fossil fuel energy, and as a consequence only a very small fraction of the possible shale gas deposits will be burnable. (Paragraph 26)

2. A moratorium on the extraction of unconventional gas through fracking is needed to avoid the UK's carbon budgets being breached in the 2020s and beyond, and the international credibility of the UK in tackling climate change being critically weakened—already a prospect if the provisions in the Infrastructure Bill aimed at maximising North Sea oil extraction are passed. (Paragraph 27)

3. The Infrastructure Bill should be amended to explicitly bar fracking of shale gas. This could be done through an Amendment to Clause 37, to qualify the provision in the Bill which seeks to introduce a strategy to maximise the economic extraction of 'petroleum' (which includes natural gas) reserves, so that the "principal objective [of the strategy] is not the objective of maximising the economic recovery of UK petroleum but ensuring that fossil fuel emissions are limited to the carbon budgets advised by the Committee on Climate Change and introducing a moratorium on the extraction of unconventional gas through fracking in order to reduce the risk of carbon budgets being breached."

4. It remains to be seen whether [the existing regulatory regime] will ensure effective regulatory co-ordination across all the relevant bodies and departments. A joint strategy concerning the regulation of unconventional oil and gas signed by all relevant national and local departments and agencies must be developed and published.

5. The Government must ensure adequate numbers of skilled and experienced staff are in place to regulate unconventional oil and gas now and in the future.
...

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/p ... /85607.htm

That's a NO.

[LadyCentauria]

Thank you for all your entries in my "What do you call a boomerang that doesn't come back?" competition. They were all very good but the correct answer is:

A stick.

@Roger O'Thornhill: did you include a video in your reply? They don't show up for me so I just got blank space

Yes it was this.

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In which case you are the winner and also receive the Above & Beyond award for including the correct answer in a video

[refitman]

This might be NickyB's funniest ever post.

Personalising this attack on Stephen Green is both wrong and stupid. Wrong because no-one seriously thinks that Lord Green (a rather saintly man) was involved in any wrongdoing. And stupid because instead of the constructive questions about what more can be done to clamp down on tax evasion/avoidance it becomes a personal attack.

What a berk.

Speaking of 'over there', is notso actually stupid, or just wilfully thick?

[pk1]

This might be NickyB's funniest ever post.

Personalising this attack on Stephen Green is both wrong and stupid. Wrong because no-one seriously thinks that Lord Green (a rather saintly man) was involved in any wrongdoing. And stupid because instead of the constructive questions about what more can be done to clamp down on tax evasion/avoidance it becomes a personal attack.

What a berk.

Speaking of 'over there', is notso actually stupid, or just wilfully thick?

Either / or depending on whatever point he's trying to argue against.

He a sly, passive aggressive troll & why anybody responds to him is a bloody mystery to me.

[refitman]

KC retweeted
BBC News (UK) ‏@BBCNews 22m22 minutes ago

Thursday's Guardian: "Four times he evaded the answer" (via @suttonnick) #TomorrowsPapersToday #BBCPapers

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B9mHoCIIEAAI2ED.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[pk1]

So, the 'win' dodgyDave got at PMQs forms the basis of tomorrow's front page ? Looks like a win for Ed to me !

[refitman]

Tsk, I'd expect a mod to rejig the size of that pic so it doesn't skew the page....*ducks for cover*

Don't know what you're talking about

(forgot I have a high resolution screen)

[ErnstRemarx]

There is no reason to believe an IPSOS-MORI poll that is radically different from all of the other polls. It is what is known as an outlier.

When exactly are the media going to start understanding this stuff.

There have been no earth shattering events to move public opinion.

They do understand it. That's the point.

[pk1]

Tsk, I'd expect a mod to rejig the size of that pic so it doesn't skew the page....*ducks for cover*

Don't know what you're talking about

(forgot I have a high resolution screen)

Ha, look at my post & explain where you got that quote from

[citizenJA]

This might be NickyB's funniest ever post.

Personalising this attack on Stephen Green is both wrong and stupid. Wrong because no-one seriously thinks that Lord Green (a rather saintly man) was involved in any wrongdoing. And stupid because instead of the constructive questions about what more can be done to clamp down on tax evasion/avoidance it becomes a personal attack.

What a berk.

Speaking of 'over there', is notso actually stupid, or just wilfully thick?

Supporters of current government are without cover at this point. Just the information from the political threads on the G is enough to demonstrate to everyone current government are lying & brutish. The commentator you're referring to makes effort in style to come off as reasonable, considered, when disagreeing with others. It's usually been nothing more than nonsensical, word salad, diversionary, meaninglessness. I expect the brain broke trying to hold all the dissonance together.

[ErnstRemarx]

Tennessee Decided to Drug Test Its Welfare Recipients — Here Are the Shocking Results

http://mic.com/articles/110352/a-shocki ... recipients

This'll be the next thing. It's already been spoken about.

"In fact, many welfare recipients are actually working hard at their jobs. In 2010, just short of half of poor or nearly poor single mothers receiving welfare were working at least part time. That's not even counting the fact that the 37 people denied benefits are or were likely taxpayers at some point, and deserve the same basic respect as everyone else."

From the article. A 0.23% 'success' rate tells me that it was ideologically conceived, with no connection to evidence. They believed. Where have I heard that before?

[citizenJA]

So, the 'win' dodgyDave got at PMQs forms the basis of tomorrow's front page ? Looks like a win for Ed to me !

Apologies for not having the link on hand, the BBC's article today I glanced through earlier... it read strongly positive regarding Miliband & current events. I must confess, I normally don't watch PMQ's. I read them most often. I don't have anything against watching PMQs. But I'm impressionable & knowing that, I ration orchestrated visual media.

[RogerOThornhill]

This might be NickyB's funniest ever post.

Personalising this attack on Stephen Green is both wrong and stupid. Wrong because no-one seriously thinks that Lord Green (a rather saintly man) was involved in any wrongdoing. And stupid because instead of the constructive questions about what more can be done to clamp down on tax evasion/avoidance it becomes a personal attack.

What a berk.

Speaking of 'over there', is notso actually stupid, or just wilfully thick?

He's normally OK but today he was being deliberately dim on what CEOs do and on corporate governance.

Anyone recall what those people said about the Crystal Methodist - that he should have known what was going on?

Right...but say the same about Green and "he couldn't possibly know what was going on in his own companies!"

[citizenJA]

This might be NickyB's funniest ever post.


What a berk.

Speaking of 'over there', is notso actually stupid, or just wilfully thick?

Either / or depending on whatever point he's trying to argue against.

He a sly, passive aggressive troll & why anybody responds to him is a bloody mystery to me.

Precisely, my friend, really, it's wonderful ignoring what has demonstrated to be terminally contrary.

Speaking of 'trolls' - sometimes I cheer myself up by reading responses to the habitually awful. I'm satisfied most people in the world are really decent.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Mirror have Gove on the front.

Keeping his ministerial limo (other chief whips apparently haven't had them) and using it go 400 yards.

[RogerOThornhill]

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/20 ... plus-areas



Labour to cap infant class sizes by ending free schools in surplus areas

Excellent.

The Free School policy was, for the Tories, the right policy in the wrong era.

When you have plenty of money to play with, trying out innovative approaches might seem like a good idea...but when we're supposed to be short of cash, the public quite rightly thinks that they're an expensive luxury - never mind the "what happens to the pupils when it all goes tits up".

This is why the rhetoric has changed to "look, most are in areas of need" and I think they're playing around with the definition of what is a Free School and what an Academy (even thought they're actually the same beast).

I pointed out the other week that the DfE's annual report mysteriously "forgot" to mention the new academies that had been opened during the year - probably because they don't want inquisitive questions about what makes a school a free school and what an academy.

I'm in the library tomorrow but I'll keep an eye open for the speech itself.

[rebeccariots2]

Goodnight, goodnight. I'm bidding you goodnight.

[refitman]

Goodnight, goodnight. I'm bidding you goodnight.

Night RR2

[HindleA]

Expensive limos for needless drives whilst many struggle to survive.

[HindleA]

Goodnight.

[HindleA]

Not a woman,just to avoid doubt but as a man I find the obsession with bus colour appropriateness bloody patronising.

[HindleA]

A view of PM Q's Rowson style.

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