Monday 16th February 2015

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 1:31 pm

PorFavor wrote:
TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
John Mann MP ‏@JohnMannMP · 36m36 minutes ago
HSBC at Treasury Cttee 25 February. Suggestions of questions welcome. Any more whistleblowers out there? if so please contact me

Martin Rowson
‏@MartinRowson @JohnMannMP Ask them what they spend their bonuses on - no one ever explains why bankers NEED so much money. Coke's relatively cheap

I sometimes muse that it could be a genuine mental illness, this obsessive accruing of wealth which, in many cases, is on a scale which no-one could possibly spend, still less need, over the course of several lifetimes.

Robert Peston did a couple of excellent Radio 4 programmes recently on inequality.
He interviewed a full blooded capitalist who got hot under the collar explaining that people like him just had to earn barrels of dosh because they needed it for their sense of self esteem.
A psychologist had views on it later...think they said it was all about [unsurprisingly] the ego.

The programmes are really worth a listen on BBC i-player.

The Price of Inequality, Part One
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05102t3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Part Two
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b051s0fc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 1:32 pm

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
ICM Poll_16 Feb 2015.jpg

Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 4m 4 minutes ago
Breakdown of ICM Guardian poll
A 6% jump, with the battering they have been taking? Nobody but NickyB is going to believe that is kosher, although Hodges, Watt et al will spin it for dear life.

Main article on the website, heck I even got an alert on my phone over it.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 1:37 pm

There were a few polls putting the Tories on 36% just after their conference finished last year. Needless to say, it didn't last.

(though their GB-wide - ie on the same basis as polls - score at the last GE was actually 37%)

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 1:40 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:
TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
ICM Poll_16 Feb 2015.jpg

A 6% jump, with the battering they have been taking? Nobody but NickyB is going to believe that is kosher, although Hodges, Watt et al will spin it for dear life.
Outlier. Polls don't move that much in one go however much the media might want them to.

On a more general note, when was the last time the Tories polled as high as their 2010 GE vote share? Because regardless of what Labour does, the Tories are going to have to score around 36% just to hold onto their current seat count.

I think they have done it twice in the past three years, single polls (which, of course, got numprty Nicky very excited), falling back to 32%-33% straightaway. I'm not going to get worked up about this, or Ashcroft's pile of poo later today, as it clearly is not credible especially (as I say) after the battering of the last week.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 1:44 pm

Lib Dem leaflet from Sheffield Hallam.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 1:47 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:There were a few polls putting the Tories on 36% just after their conference finished last year. Needless to say, it didn't last.

(though their GB-wide - ie on the same basis as polls - score at the last GE was actually 37%)
Wiki says 36.1% (vs 29.0% Labour and 23.0% LibDem)

Yes, that is across the entire UK (including NI)

From at least the 1980s onwards (until the last GE anyway) the GB percentages were generally the ones used (as do the pollsters, NI is invariably excluded)

GB wide scores last time were roughly Con 37 Lab 30 (actually slightly under) and LibDem 24.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 1:48 pm

There's a beautiful few ladybugs enjoying the warmth inside the flat.
We never had ladybugs in the flat until after I came back from California.
I lived on the shore of the bay.
I live in Stoke now & I'm glad to be home.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 1:50 pm

Nothing is sacred to Tories.
I don't trust them or those who support them.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 1:50 pm

At least they didn't try to add a "left" on the end, I suppose

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 1:56 pm

Ooooh, look who has just signed up here!

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 1:58 pm

Joe Watts ‏@JoeWatts_ 4m4 minutes ago
By far the most notable story of the day...Gerry Adams: I trampoline naked...and my dog does it with me http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics ... 47318.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

Now that's an image that is going to stay with me - I don't think I need to read the story.

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 1:59 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Ooooh, look who has just signed up here!

But we won't know it is the real one unless there is a new ID each day!!

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:01 pm

Hello and welcome Spinning Hugo - what took you so long?

It's our normal practice to say hello and welcome to new signer uppers at FTN ... some people also offer cake or biscuits, in the spirit of the late CIF.

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:02 pm

Not sure Shapps has got quite the right line here....

Chairman of the Conservative party Grant Shapps has responded to Labour’s business plans. Speaking on BBC News, the minister without portfolio said Ed Miliband had “never run a business in his life”

And that makes him different from Cameron and Osbourne in what way exactly?

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:06 pm

Rich people need lots and lots of money. Lots and lots and lots.

A woman called Mouna Yacoub, divorced from her Lebanese billionaire husband, owns the largest yellow diamond ever found and the largest yacht in the world. She wears only couture, and wears it only once. Most custom-made couture costs in excess of £20,000 per item, sometimes much more. It is alleged that she stores the once-worn items in large warehouses the size of a village somewhere in France.

Closer to home, and booked so far in advance you will wait a year for a table, are the top restaurants in London. Sketch, Le Gavroche, or Apsleys at the Lanesborough, will expect you to pay at least £100 for a tasting menu at dinner with champagne at £5,000. Cheapskates could have tea at the Ritz - a snip starting at £50 per person, although you'd have to fork out £68 if you want a glass of champers too.

If you're really a bit nouveau and insist on carrying your dosh, you could do worse than opt for none other than SamCam's creatively directed Smythson's 1887 Tote Bag - £1,495. A handbag to match, £995, and a dinky little wallet for your Platinum card, £325.

Rich people need money for all this stuff. They can't not have all this stuff, it's what they work so hard for. Stuff that costs lots and lots of money.

They have to have houses in London that cost several million, they can only buy their sofas from Heal's or Darling's and they cost thousands.
Then they have to have staff to look after their children and Norland Nannies cost £30,000 a year plus accommodation and travel.
Then they have to send them to Eton or Harrow or Cheltenham or Stowe - say goodbye to at least £35,000 a year (not including uniforms etc)

They have to pay for all sorts of stuff.
People like us don't understand.

That's why they need a few hundred million stashed away somewhere - you never know when just the right handbag will come along, do you?

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:08 pm

gilsey wrote:Not sure Shapps has got quite the right line here....

Chairman of the Conservative party Grant Shapps has responded to Labour’s business plans. Speaking on BBC News, the minister without portfolio said Ed Miliband had “never run a business in his life”
And that makes him different from Cameron and Osbourne in what way exactly?

Very different. OGRFG made such a calamitous mess of ITV Digital that he effectively destroyed Carlton TV, and Snowy Osborne was sent into politics because nobody wanted him anywhere near the family business; mind you, you'd have thought Shapps would have avoided bringing up politicians running businesses, wouldn't you?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:14 pm

George Osborne Once Gave Advice On How To Avoid Tax On BBC's Daily Politics
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/02 ... mg00000067

With another tax avoidance row hitting the headlines, the Tories have busily tried to push the spotlight onto Labour and the tax arrangements of various figures, including party donors and leader Ed Miliband.

Why has Tory chairman Grant Shapps led the attack on Labour, rather than a senior cabinet minister like chancellor George Osborne? Could it have anything at all to do with this rather bizarre appearance that the chancellor made on live television more than a decade ago, when he appeared to advise people on how to avoid tax?

Back in May 2003, then backbencher Osborne, starring as the "parliamentary doctor" on the BBC's Daily Politics, and gave advice to a caller - 'Bill' - on how to get around paying inheritance tax on any property that he leaves to his children by using "clever financial products", and also how to ensure the state then pays for his personal care.

"I probably shouldn't be advocating this on television," he mused.

Later on, in 2007, the then shadow chancellor Osborne did his best to help people like Bill by promising to triple the inheritance tax threshold from £300,000 to £1m if Tories won the next election.

And they've got the video of George's advice session ...

Nicky · Post by **Nicky** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:15 pm

StephenDolan wrote:
TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
ICM Poll_16 Feb 2015.jpg

A 6% jump, with the battering they have been taking? Nobody but NickyB is going to believe that is kosher, although Hodges, Watt et al will spin it for dear life.

Main article on the website, heck I even got an alert on my phone over it.

Yes, I did as well (re the news alert). It prompted me to actually delete the Guardian app which sends out these alerts. I've been thinking about doing it for some time, but that was the last straw.

Nicky · Post by **Nicky** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:33 pm

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
gilsey wrote:Not sure Shapps has got quite the right line here....

Chairman of the Conservative party Grant Shapps has responded to Labour’s business plans. Speaking on BBC News, the minister without portfolio said Ed Miliband had “never run a business in his life”
And that makes him different from Cameron and Osbourne in what way exactly?
Very different. OGRFG made such a calamitous mess of ITV Digital that he effectively destroyed Carlton TV, and Snowy Osborne was sent into politics because nobody wanted him anywhere near the family business; mind you, you'd have thought Shapps would have avoided bringing up politicians running businesses, wouldn't you?

Further to Cameron's less than stellar career outside politics: he seemed to upset quite a few people while he was working at Carlton. Jeff Randall, the business correspondent who's far from being a leftie of any sort, said he was poisonous, slippery, would never give a straight answer if he could lie or obfuscate about it, and that he wouldn't trust Cam with his daughter's pocket money.

Back in 2010, the Guardian's Janine Gibson noted that:

It is the journalists who dealt regularly with the younger Cameron, however, who find it most difficult to accept that he could be running the country in a few months' time, perhaps because many of them still remember him as a PR man capable of dissembling and doling out disinformation. "I have to pinch myself when I think he could be prime minister," says the senior journalist. "I can still picture him wringing his hands behind Michael Green's back. It's like that saying from the US – they say 'Anyone can become president' – and now I'm starting to believe it."

So Dodgy Dave, contrary to received wisdom (and of course to the valued opinion of Dec from out of Ant and Dec) didn't always look the part of PM.

Regarding Osborne, he originally wanted to be a journalist and failed at that. If he'd succeeded he'd have no doubt eventually have been given his own politics show on the BBC.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:37 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:
TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
ICM Poll_16 Feb 2015.jpg

A 6% jump, with the battering they have been taking? Nobody but NickyB is going to believe that is kosher, although Hodges, Watt et al will spin it for dear life.
Outlier. Polls don't move that much in one go however much the media might want them to.

On a more general note, when was the last time the Tories polled as high as their 2010 GE vote share? Because regardless of what Labour does, the Tories are going to have to score around 36% just to hold onto their current seat count.

And what about the LibDem figure? A bit high?

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:42 pm

gilsey wrote:Not sure Shapps has got quite the right line here....

Chairman of the Conservative party Grant Shapps has responded to Labour’s business plans. Speaking on BBC News, the minister without portfolio said Ed Miliband had “never run a business in his life”
And that makes him different from Cameron and Osbourne in what way exactly?

That should have been never run a crooked business in his life.

diGriz · Post by **diGriz** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:42 pm

Do we usually have 57 guests?

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:46 pm

ohsocynical wrote:
gilsey wrote:Not sure Shapps has got quite the right line here....

Chairman of the Conservative party Grant Shapps has responded to Labour’s business plans. Speaking on BBC News, the minister without portfolio said Ed Miliband had “never run a business in his life”
And that makes him different from Cameron and Osbourne in what way exactly?
That should have been never run a crooked business in his life.

Ha!

There are outliers and there are out-and-out liars.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:53 pm

ephemerid wrote:Rich people need lots and lots of money. Lots and lots and lots.

A woman called Mouna Yacoub, divorced from her Lebanese billionaire husband, owns the largest yellow diamond ever found and the largest yacht in the world. She wears only couture, and wears it only once. Most custom-made couture costs in excess of £20,000 per item, sometimes much more. It is alleged that she stores the once-worn items in large warehouses the size of a village somewhere in France.

Closer to home, and booked so far in advance you will wait a year for a table, are the top restaurants in London. Sketch, Le Gavroche, or Apsleys at the Lanesborough, will expect you to pay at least £100 for a tasting menu at dinner with champagne at £5,000. Cheapskates could have tea at the Ritz - a snip starting at £50 per person, although you'd have to fork out £68 if you want a glass of champers too.

If you're really a bit nouveau and insist on carrying your dosh, you could do worse than opt for none other than SamCam's creatively directed Smythson's 1887 Tote Bag - £1,495. A handbag to match, £995, and a dinky little wallet for your Platinum card, £325.

Rich people need money for all this stuff. They can't not have all this stuff, it's what they work so hard for. Stuff that costs lots and lots of money.

They have to have houses in London that cost several million, they can only buy their sofas from Heal's or Darling's and they cost thousands.
Then they have to have staff to look after their children and Norland Nannies cost £30,000 a year plus accommodation and travel.
Then they have to send them to Eton or Harrow or Cheltenham or Stowe - say goodbye to at least £35,000 a year (not including uniforms etc)

They have to pay for all sorts of stuff.
People like us don't understand.

That's why they need a few hundred million stashed away somewhere - you never know when just the right handbag will come along, do you?

One of the families whose garden my son maintains, recently threw out their old Bang and Olafson TV combined sound system which cost 25,000 when new. They have replaced it with something costing a bit more.

Another place, while they were away their kids held a party and trashed their multi-million pound country home. Thousands of pounds worth of damage.

Another place the guy owned a top end Ferrari. It sat in the garage because it was so powerful he literally couldn't control it.

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 2:56 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Iain Dale ‏@IainDale 47m47 minutes ago
I have a 25 minute live, extended interview with Iain Duncan Smith at 5pm today on @LBC. What would you like me to ask him?
Anyone?
How much of a head start should you be given when I come after you with a machete?

I logged in purely to 'thank' you for that !

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:02 pm

Looked at Sparrows blog, expecting it to be Readers only because Andrew is on hols & my god, CCHQ must have issued a 3-line whip to their entire workforce !

Rentokil couldn't deal with today's infestation & I imagine they've all gone to invade the (clearly rogue) poll piece now.

Post by **refitman** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:03 pm

Everyone give Hugo a welcome here: http://flythenest.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=401" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:08 pm

diGriz wrote:Do we usually have 57 guests?

It's normally around 40-45.

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:09 pm

Andrew Neil must be spitting feathers that this poll has come in the same week as there isn't a Daily Politics show

discordantharmony · Post by **discordantharmony** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:21 pm

Hi, and good afternoon.

If my homelessness stories don't really fit in with this site, please let me know and I shall stop them.

Today's story is regarding my next door neighbour. She moved in a couple months before Christmas from shared accomodation and previous to that she was on the streets. She came round for a cuppa this morning and during our conversation we moved onto politics. Surreal does not do justice to this sentence she uttered, 'I'll be voting Conservative at the election as they are the only party that can fix the mess that Labour left behind'. This was definitely a 'tea thru your nose' moment

Some people should not be allowed TV's or any other form of media .

On the subject of tax. Were I ever lucky enough to make enough money from playing music to have to pay tax I would would be shouting it from the rooftops as a badge of honor

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:26 pm

refitman wrote:Everyone give Hugo a welcome here: http://flythenest.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=401" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hi Hugo! ~~~Waves~~~
Our 2 camps are
Jaffa Cakes (Ugggh)
Or Marmite with cheese and crackers
Which are you ? (grins)

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:29 pm

discordantharmony wrote:Hi, and good afternoon.

If my homelessness stories don't really fit in with this site, please let me know and I shall stop them.

Don't stop - they serve to remind us 'lefties' that there is still much to do.

Today's story is regarding my next door neighbour. She moved in a couple months before Christmas from shared accomodation and previous to that she was on the streets. She came round for a cuppa this morning and during our conversation we moved onto politics. Surreal does not do justice to this sentence she uttered, 'I'll be voting Conservative at the election as they are the only party that can fix the mess that Labour left behind'. This was definitely a 'tea thru your nose' moment Some people should not be allowed TV's or any other form of media .

Bloody hell, I hope you got the opportunity to put her straight !

On the subject of tax. Were I ever lucky enough to make enough money from playing music to have to pay tax I would would be shouting it from the rooftops as a badge of honor

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:29 pm

diGriz wrote:Do we usually have 57 guests?

Got 60 now, but yes have seen it that high before although normally round 35 / 40

ErnstRemarx · Post by **ErnstRemarx** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:35 pm

citizenJA wrote:
ErnstRemarx wrote:
TheGrimSqueaker wrote: Morning all.

Well, some of those seats were unwinnable - Eltham, for example, used to be Peter Bottomley's seat but Clive Efford took it in 1997 and has been pretty solid since - but some seemed eminently winnable. The two Cornish seats, for example, were highlighted by Ashcroft last year as seats where the Tories were well on track to taking the seats from the Lost Deposits; mind you, UKIP were showing well in St Austell too, so maybe the Tories know something we don't - always a first time I guess.
Interesting that Bolton West's on the list; that's one rich area, containing Bolton Grammar (fee paying) and a few other schools of the ilk. Big houses; leafy; prosperous - particularly compared to places like Derby and Breightmet. If the Tories have ditched that as a target, it tells me all I need to know about their perception of their prospects in May.
Are we sure they've ditched this as a target? Are we really sure?

Well, you can't be sure, but look here:

http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/conl ... BoltonWest" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I can't find a definitive map, but it's the sort of leafy suburb that should go Tory if they're going to win. That the smellysocks have held it since 97 - and fitfully on and off (more on than off actually) since the 50s tells me quite a bit, not least about the view that northern voters have of the Tories: if they can't even get their favoured electorate (the well heeled) to vote for them up here, they've no chance.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:36 pm

ComRes ‏@ComResPolls · Feb 14
New poll for Sunday Mirror / @IndyOnSunday
Con 32% (-1)
Lab 34% (NC)
LD 7% (NC)
UKIP 16% (-2)
Greens 4% (+1)
Others 7% (+2)

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:38 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:I know I said all that about being welcoming on Hugo's thread but if any of those guests are OpenSeas they can **** off

Think we can summarise that into:

debate welcome, trolling not. (Should that be 'trawling' not ?)

TechnicalEphemera · Post by **TechnicalEphemera** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:39 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:ComRes ‏@ComResPolls · Feb 14
New poll for Sunday Mirror / @IndyOnSunday
Con 32% (-1)
Lab 34% (NC)
LD 7% (NC)
UKIP 16% (-2)
Greens 4% (+1)
Others 7% (+2)

Well clearly having been depressed by the ICM poll I am now ecstatic at comedy results, neither of these statements is true.

Can't wait to see what the blind dart throwing contest that is Ashcroft polling makes of it all.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:45 pm

Monique Charles ‏@Neake81 · 13m13 minutes ago
Channel 4's Ukip film attracts complaints before it even airs | @scoopit http://sco.lt/5nqgDZ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oops....

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:47 pm

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 17m17 minutes ago
A hint from @LordAshcroft about his latest national poll due at 4pm? He thinks ICM's 4% CON lead is an outlier.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:47 pm

Universal credit 'a nightmare', says claimant who advertised welfare reform
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ma ... r-31487792" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ErnstRemarx · Post by **ErnstRemarx** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:50 pm

mikems wrote:One wonders why the tories have raised over 30m for the election fund if they aren't bothering to fight in so many seats. Of course, there can be no suspicions of misuse when it comes to money and the tories, so no need for anyone to ask what they are doing with it all.

There could be that, but I think it's down to a lack of boots on the ground. I think they're fucked for troops and all that money's going to go on trying to out advertise Labour et al. And that's what happens when you allow your party to be hollowed out on the inside by losing members to (a) death - closer for most of them than they I think, (b) UKIP - which is where the insane activists have gone and (c) disillusionment - they don't listen to their grassroots (probably because they're barking mad), so it's the hedge funds and big business that dictate the policies and fund the campaign.

Their membership is below 100,000. Let's be generous and saying it's 90,000. There are, AFAIK, 635 constituencies. That's about 140 members per constituency. Let's assume - generously - that 1/3 of them are young, able, and keen enough to get out and campaign. That's less than 50 people per constituency, and that's with the optimistic slant on numbers. I've been a CLP Secretary, and I can tell you that in a 300+ membership in Bury North, the active membership is probably about 1/4, but with more members, that works. Apply that 1/4 figure to the Tories, and it becomes clear they're in the most terrible trouble WRT campaigning.

It's simple: they can't knock on enough doors to show people they're actually bothered, so they're on their core vote. And most of that is piled up the the Eshers (Surrey) of this world, rather than where it does them any good.

It's all a little 'last days of Rome/the Bunker' if you ask me (and nobody did...).

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:52 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:Universal credit 'a nightmare', says claimant who advertised welfare reform
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ma ... r-31487792" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Under universal credit, claimants are instead paid monthly and are expected to pay their rent themselves.

Housing Associations in Ashton-Under-Lyne say rent arrears and debt are on the rise amongst universal-credit claimants.

The chief executive of the National Housing Federation David Orr said: "This scheme isn't even ready to fully roll out in Ashton-Under-Lyne, where it's been piloted for two years, let alone the rest of the country."

The government says it is important for people to learn how to handle their own monthly budgets, as this replicates the world of work.

But Mr Pacey's new job in a call centre pays bi-weekly.

He said: "In my experience, most low-paid jobs pay weekly or every other week, not monthly. You can't make small sums of money last a month.

"It's not about dependency, it's about living, being able to get a bus to go to the job centre. The government needs to rethink this."

He's right. At the pub where I used to garden all the staff except the manager were paid weekly. So are all the staff at the various caravan parks, hotels, eco tourism venues, cafes etc etc that provide most of the jobs around here.

rearofthestore · Post by **rearofthestore** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 3:56 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:
TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
RobertSnozers wrote: Outlier. Polls don't move that much in one go however much the media might want them to.

On a more general note, when was the last time the Tories polled as high as their 2010 GE vote share? Because regardless of what Labour does, the Tories are going to have to score around 36% just to hold onto their current seat count.
I think they have done it twice in the past three years, single polls (which, of course, got numprty Nicky very excited), falling back to 32%-33% straightaway. I'm not going to get worked up about this, or Ashcroft's pile of poo later today, as it clearly is not credible especially (as I say) after the battering of the last week.
Ashcroft's polls are so wacky most of the time I wonder why anyone would take them seriously

Afternoon All
Stangely Ashcroft thinks that the ICM is an outlier!

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 25m25 minutes ago

A hint from @LordAshcroft about his latest national poll due at 4pm? He thinks ICM's 4% CON lead is an outlier.
0 replies 2 retweets 1 favorite

edited to say snap RR2!

Lord Ashcroft ‏@LordAshcroft 19s19 seconds ago

Ashcroft National Poll, 13-15 Feb: CON 30%, LAB 31%, LDEM 9%, UKIP 16%, GRN 8%. Full details on @ConHome, 4pm.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 4:03 pm

Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 5m 5 minutes ago
Now LAB go into lead for 1st time this year in this week's @LordAshcroft national phone poll

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 4:07 pm

There is a really interesting snippet from Ashcrofts poll & that's the 'swing' voters.

Since Nov, swing voters rate Labour up 5% & Cons down 8%

Swings like that will win Labour the GE in May

Post by **adam** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 4:08 pm

Questions for IDS - Given your comment this morning that it's quite all right to pay cash in hand for work done and not have any kind of a record of payment or receipt, are there any other laws or rules you recommend we can break?

You sniveling, spiteful, hell-bound little shit?

rearofthestore · Post by **rearofthestore** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 4:12 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 5m 5 minutes ago
Now LAB go into lead for 1st time this year in this week's @LordAshcroft national phone poll

Interesting to note (to me at least)
Labour lead 4% on 'weighted base' before 'Don't Knows/Won't says' are reallocated.

Rednorth · Post by **Rednorth** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 4:20 pm

No one wants to see the back of the Tories more than me but Labour's performance has been shambolic and has allowed a banking crisis to be flipped as a spending crisis. Just day-to-day piecemeal announcements.

There's no coherent narrative, no presentation skills. no chance.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 4:26 pm

Rednorth wrote:No one wants to see the back of the Tories more than me but Labour's performance has been shambolic and has allowed a banking crisis to be flipped as a spending crisis. Just day-to-day piecemeal announcements.

There's no coherent narrative, no presentation skills. no chance.

Try getting one past Mediamacro.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 16 Feb, 2015 4:27 pm

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 5 mins5 minutes ago
ENGLAND ONLY shares from @LordAshcroft
CON 31
LAB 31
LD 9
UKIP 18
GRN 9
At GE10 CON 11.4% ahead in England