Thursday 14th January 2016

[refitman]

Morning all.

[yahyah]

Morning.

Warning to anyone reading last night's post and following the link to the appalling Camilla Long's Twitter account.

Her banner pic, an attempt to look sexy with a fake fingernail covered in caviar poking into her gob, will put you off your porridge.
Or put you off your baked goods if you are one of a ''London-centric hard left political class who sit around in their £1 million mansions eating their croissants at breakfast and seeking to lay the foundations for a socialist revolution.''

[RogerOThornhill]

Morning all.

Curious that we've now had three stories about the lack of school places - all with "statistics provided by the New Schools network" in recent weeks.



So where's this coming from?

Here's a theory...No 10 getting frustrated by lack of movement by Morgan in opening enough free schools to make that "500 new free schools" promise stick.

No 10 asks their edu advisor Rachel Wolf -who just happens to have been the head of the NSN- to get in touch with them and get some tame media stories done to give her a public boot up the backside.

[StephenDolan]

Morning all.

Tom Harris still being helpful. Sigh.

https://www.politicshome.com/party-poli ... croissants" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


As Grayling has started the gun for ministers for Brexit to go public, I wonder if this means Cameron's cabinet is 'fixed' until after the referendum? The demotion of any explicitly for Brexit or promotion of those for staying could cause an image issue.

[rebeccariots2]

Morning all.

The Telegraph ran an article yesterday about Corbyn - allegedly - seeking to impose a candidate for an Ogmore by-election should Huw Irranca-Davies MP be elected to the Welsh Assembly this May and stand down from his Westminster seat. I say allegedly because Corbyn has apparently said he has no plans to do so - but the NEC is the body cited as having the power to do so. The article says that Irranca-Davies has already warned Corbyn that any attempts to impose a candidate (Katy Clark who lost her seat in Scotland is being suggested) would be very damaging.

I'll go further than that and say that it would be the most stupid and destructive thing they could do. As someone else in the article says - in a by-election in particular you need a good local figure with some recognition.

Irranca-Davies has a huge following / support base both in his constituency and across Wales. To mess with that would be a real kick in the teeth for the membership and local people.

If there is any truth to this report - and I hope there isn't - I expect a huge fuss to be made both locally and nationally in the press. Remember the focus on Oldham .... don't do it. Let the locals find a good candidate. And there will be one

[refitman]

Morning all.

The Telegraph ran an article yesterday about Corbyn - allegedly - seeking to impose a candidate for an Ogmore by-election should Huw Irranca-Davies MP be elected to the Welsh Assembly this May and stand down from his Westminster seat. I say allegedly because Corbyn has apparently said he has no plans to do so - but the NEC is the body cited as having the power to do so. The article says that Irranca-Davies has already warned Corbyn that any attempts to impose a candidate (Katy Clark who lost her seat in Scotland is being suggested) would be very damaging.

I'll go further than that and say that it would be the most stupid and destructive thing they could do. As someone else in the article says - in a by-election in particular you need a good local figure with some recognition.

Irranca-Davies has a huge following / support base both in his constituency and across Wales. To mess with that would be a real kick in the teeth for the membership and local people.

If there is any truth to this report - and I hope there isn't - I expect a huge fuss to be made both locally and nationally in the press. Remember the focus on Oldham .... don't do it. Let the locals find a good candidate. And there will be one

After the success of the locally selected candidate in Oldham, I can't see a reason to parachute someone in.

[TobyLatimer]

Good piece on Doughtygate

http://medialens.org/index.php/alerts/a ... -news.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ScreenShot01402.jpg (77.99 KiB) Viewed 7055 times

[rebeccariots2]

UK housebuilding held up by lack of bricklayers, says report
Construction skills shortages, including lack of quantity surveyors, could threaten work on new homes and infrastructure projects
http://www.theguardian.com/business/201 ... eport-rics" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TobyLatimer]

Wonder if Cameron would allow this to happen to any of his family.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... l-care#_=_" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ScreenShot01403.jpg (73.01 KiB) Viewed 7038 times

[rebeccariots2]

@ refit and RobertSnozers

Thanks for your views re the Ogmore by-election rumours. My thoughts exactly. But such is my level of disgust with the 'moderate sources' that seem to be constantly feeding such rumours - I have wondered if they actually want to cause the very bad feeling they are talking about and subsequent poor - or disastrous - showing at the by-election.

[PorFavor]

Good morfternoon.

On Newsnight last night Ken Livingstone, the Labour former mayor of London and co-chair of the party’s defence review, said that it may produce a new policy on Trident by Easter. The defence review as a whole will not be ready until later in the year, but the bit covering the nuclear deterrent will be fast-tracked, he said.

We will desperately try and do it as rapidly as possible. So we will focus on the Trident issue ahead of the rest of the defence review ... With a bit of luck that can be done in eight to 10 weeks. It will take a lot of work for me and Emily [Thornberry, shadow defence secretary and co-chair of the defence review] but that’s good. (Guardian, Politics Live - my emphasis)

Poor choice of words (the bolded bit) - especially the "desperately".

[nickyinnorfolk]

Clegg was paid £150 a minute by Goldman Sachs for a recent talk he gave. That's Clegg who once claimed to want to 'wring the bankers' necks', and yet also kept blaming Labour for a global banking crash. It was the same evening that he also managed to vote to bomb Syria, although he's otherwise been noticeable by his absence in the HoC.

He really is beneath contempt ....

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ni ... an-7174707" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[nickyinnorfolk]

Another thing about Clegg ... he's been complaining about child poverty, as if he hadn't recently been a major player in a government that worsened child poverty.

[nickyinnorfolk]

The Daily Mash on Cameron's entirely coherent plans for so called sink estates:

Sink estate residents to be re-housed in underground tunnel network


DAVID Cameron has revealed that residents of demolished council estates will be re-housed in a vast network of underground tunnels.

The prime minister revealed plans to flatten ‘sink’ estates, claiming that they are a depressing environment compared to an exciting subterranean world under a Welsh mountain.

He said: “We need to take people out of these failing litter-strewn estates and let them feel the radiant warmth of the Earth’s core in their new cave-like home.

“Relocated to labyrinthine tunnel systems in a remote rural location, council tenants can scurry freely among wildlife, specifically rats and moles, while enjoying the fresh damp air.

“There will be ample burrowing work to keep them occupied, and at night the big wooden doors will be opened to allow them out to forage for mushrooms.”

“Over several generations the former tower block residents will lose all skin pigmentation, developing an aversion to sunlight as well as hunched posture from low ceilings.

“They will be happy in their tribal groups, while the tall slender surface people sit in big-windowed cafes chatting about podcasts and camper vans.”

[PorFavor]

The Daily Mash on Cameron's entirely coherent plans for so called sink estates:

Sink estate residents to be re-housed in underground tunnel network


DAVID Cameron has revealed that residents of demolished council estates will be re-housed in a vast network of underground tunnels.

The prime minister revealed plans to flatten ‘sink’ estates, claiming that they are a depressing environment compared to an exciting subterranean world under a Welsh mountain.

He said: “We need to take people out of these failing litter-strewn estates and let them feel the radiant warmth of the Earth’s core in their new cave-like home.

“Relocated to labyrinthine tunnel systems in a remote rural location, council tenants can scurry freely among wildlife, specifically rats and moles, while enjoying the fresh damp air.

“There will be ample burrowing work to keep them occupied, and at night the big wooden doors will be opened to allow them out to forage for mushrooms.”

“Over several generations the former tower block residents will lose all skin pigmentation, developing an aversion to sunlight as well as hunched posture from low ceilings.

“They will be happy in their tribal groups, while the tall slender surface people sit in big-windowed cafes chatting about podcasts and camper vans.”

Underground? It's feasible . . . .

[citizenJA]

Good-morning, everyone.
It's snowing lightly here in Stoke.

[rebeccariots2]

There's a comment just gone up BTL on the withdrawal of student grants story on the G that pretty much nails the Tory attitude and where they are taking us:

Hippaferalkus 14 Jan 2016 10:46
Why bother with that annoying parliament thing, the British public overwhelmingly handed the Tories with a mandate to govern last May. Why bother even going to the polls again in 2020? The Tories were put in power to rule the little people and what will have changed in the next four years?
Next, the Tories will put a property owning or financial qualification on whether people are allowed on to the electoral roll, maybe even make it by invitation only?

Mr Riots - who doesn't usually talk politics with me - sat at the kitchen table last night and said that he hadn't been living in the UK in the early Thatcher years so hadn't experienced it first hand - but he felt as though we were back there and more now and it was very frightening to him. He's beginning to feel like an alien in a country that is shifting in a way he finds utterly abhorrent (and he certainly doesn't mean immigrants). I was in the UK in the early Thatcher years and we talked about how toxic so many things were then. Put simply Mr Riots would like to leave if he could - he'd like to go back to Greece and live out his years without the constant vilification and destruction of anything that doesn't fit with a Tory mindset.

Oh - and it was the sly abolition of the student grants - with no debate, no inclusion in the manifesto, and done via a bit of secondary legislation amending - that prompted Mr Riots into discussion.

[rebeccariots2]

Good-morning, everyone.
It's snowing lightly here in Stoke.

Good morning citizen. Good to see you here - we missed you yesterday.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Ogmore will have a local candidate for any by-election if that is what the members there want. There really is nothing more to be said on the subject.

[gilsey]

There's a comment just gone up BTL on the withdrawal of student grants story on the G that pretty much nails the Tory attitude and where they are taking us:

Hippaferalkus 14 Jan 2016 10:46
Why bother with that annoying parliament thing, the British public overwhelmingly handed the Tories with a mandate to govern last May. Why bother even going to the polls again in 2020? The Tories were put in power to rule the little people and what will have changed in the next four years?
Next, the Tories will put a property owning or financial qualification on whether people are allowed on to the electoral roll, maybe even make it by invitation only?

Mr Riots - who doesn't usually talk politics with me - sat at the kitchen table last night and said that he hadn't been living in the UK in the early Thatcher years so hadn't experienced it first hand - but he felt as though we were back there and more now and it was very frightening to him. He's beginning to feel like an alien in a country that is shifting in a way he finds utterly abhorrent (and he certainly doesn't mean immigrants). I was in the UK in the early Thatcher years and we talked about how toxic so many things were then. Put simply Mr Riots would like to leave if he could - he'd like to go back to Greece and live out his years without the constant vilification and destruction of anything that doesn't fit with a Tory mindset.

Oh - and it was the sly abolition of the student grants - with no debate, no inclusion in the manifesto, and done via a bit of secondary legislation amending - that prompted Mr Riots into discussion.

During the Thatcher years I was very busy working and not taking much notice of politics, except to note that I was way out to the left of everyone I encountered in private industry. I didn't think much about that because I worked for the Council for a couple of years when I first left school, and there I was relatively right-wing.

Anyway, I was wondering just last night how it came about that the poll tax was so fatal for Thatcher? I know people say it's because it affected everyone, but it made no difference to us, we paid about the same.
I know there were massive demonstrations, but there were those over Iraq as well and though they might have contributed to bringing down Blair eventually, they didn't stop the war.
I think now that even if similar sized protests were mobilised over the NHS, it wouldn't change anything. It is profoundly depressing to think that the country has changed so much.

[Lonewolfie]

Morfternoon....

So then...

Was The Sun Hacking Phones?

How many claims are we talking about? “The 16 claims are due to go to trial in April. The court heard that there are another 25 claimants in addition to this 16 … The court heard that five new defence witnesses have come forward with phone-hacking allegations dating back to 1998 and that a number of these were former NGN journalists”

...and...

Ominously, the Independent has warned “If five of the claimants are successful and they are allowed to amend their claims to include phone hacking at to include phone hacking at The Sun, lawyers representing victims say a potential 60 cases could follow”. That would take the number of cases into three figures.


http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2016/ ... hones.html

...which has prompted this...

Maria Eagle MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, responding to today’s reported allegations of phone hacking said:

“These allegations of endemic phone hacking at The Sun and the News of the World are deeply worrying.

“It is time David Cameron delivered on his clear promises to the British public, to Parliament and directly to the victims of phone hacking and fully implemented the cross-party agreement on Leveson’s recommendations. The Government must now get on with the second part of the inquiry.

"Anything else would be a betrayal of the phone hacking victims and their families.”

http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1372758 ... s-promises



...and a bit of (lengthy) analysis of the MSM vs Corbyn/the Left...

It is difficult to be a pacifist and love terrorists, but then logic and accuracy are not required in media attacks on Jeremy Corbyn. While some political leaders can simply re–order their front bench to improve competence or coherence, for Corbyn the motive is said to be ‘revenge’. Some commentators, from the Guardian to the Telegraph saw the New Year reshuffle as effective in establishing his authority, but the BBC which shouldn't be taking sides, dismissed it as, "a political pantomime", which, "has again exposed his team’s lack of know–how in just getting things done", with "days of concern and chaos" (BBC Radio 4 News, 6th January 2016). The concern has very largely been with the BBC and the right–wing media, but as Martin Kettle in the Guardian notes, Corbyn has actually stabilised his position, "His project… is about control of the Labour party and by that yardstick… this has been a good week" (6th January 2016).

https://opendemocracy.net/uk/greg-philo ... ainst-left

Apologies - linkmonkeying again...

ttfn

[gilsey]

My point is, this is not like the 80s, it is much worse.

There is no opposition, I don't mean Labour, I mean the press and general public opinion. In the 80s there was opposition even within the Conservatives. Someone here said the public are asleep at the wheel? Yes.

[ohsocynical]

The Daily Mash on Cameron's entirely coherent plans for so called sink estates:

Sink estate residents to be re-housed in underground tunnel network


DAVID Cameron has revealed that residents of demolished council estates will be re-housed in a vast network of underground tunnels.

The prime minister revealed plans to flatten ‘sink’ estates, claiming that they are a depressing environment compared to an exciting subterranean world under a Welsh mountain.

He said: “We need to take people out of these failing litter-strewn estates and let them feel the radiant warmth of the Earth’s core in their new cave-like home.

“Relocated to labyrinthine tunnel systems in a remote rural location, council tenants can scurry freely among wildlife, specifically rats and moles, while enjoying the fresh damp air.

“There will be ample burrowing work to keep them occupied, and at night the big wooden doors will be opened to allow them out to forage for mushrooms.”

“Over several generations the former tower block residents will lose all skin pigmentation, developing an aversion to sunlight as well as hunched posture from low ceilings.

“They will be happy in their tribal groups, while the tall slender surface people sit in big-windowed cafes chatting about podcasts and camper vans.”

Underground? It's feasible . . . .

[AnatolyKasparov]

My point is, this is not like the 80s, it is much worse.

There is no opposition, I don't mean Labour, I mean the press and general public opinion. In the 80s there was opposition even within the Conservatives. Someone here said the public are asleep at the wheel? Yes.

There was quite a lot of vocal opposition after the 2010 GE, of course. These things run in cycles to some extent.

Pundits commented at the time on how quiescent the public were in the late 1980s - just before the poll tax........

[ohsocynical]

There's a comment just gone up BTL on the withdrawal of student grants story on the G that pretty much nails the Tory attitude and where they are taking us:

Hippaferalkus 14 Jan 2016 10:46
Why bother with that annoying parliament thing, the British public overwhelmingly handed the Tories with a mandate to govern last May. Why bother even going to the polls again in 2020? The Tories were put in power to rule the little people and what will have changed in the next four years?
Next, the Tories will put a property owning or financial qualification on whether people are allowed on to the electoral roll, maybe even make it by invitation only?

Mr Riots - who doesn't usually talk politics with me - sat at the kitchen table last night and said that he hadn't been living in the UK in the early Thatcher years so hadn't experienced it first hand - but he felt as though we were back there and more now and it was very frightening to him. He's beginning to feel like an alien in a country that is shifting in a way he finds utterly abhorrent (and he certainly doesn't mean immigrants). I was in the UK in the early Thatcher years and we talked about how toxic so many things were then. Put simply Mr Riots would like to leave if he could - he'd like to go back to Greece and live out his years without the constant vilification and destruction of anything that doesn't fit with a Tory mindset.

Oh - and it was the sly abolition of the student grants - with no debate, no inclusion in the manifesto, and done via a bit of secondary legislation amending - that prompted Mr Riots into discussion.

During the Thatcher years I was very busy working and not taking much notice of politics, except to note that I was way out to the left of everyone I encountered in private industry. I didn't think much about that because I worked for the Council for a couple of years when I first left school, and there I was relatively right-wing.

Anyway, I was wondering just last night how it came about that the poll tax was so fatal for Thatcher? I know people say it's because it affected everyone, but it made no difference to us, we paid about the same.
I know there were massive demonstrations, but there were those over Iraq as well and though they might have contributed to bringing down Blair eventually, they didn't stop the war.
I think now that even if similar sized protests were mobilised over the NHS, it wouldn't change anything. It is profoundly depressing to think that the country has changed so much.

It affected me. I had two working children at home. Our son hadn't been at work long and although they both contributed, suddenly I was faced with finding something like £90 a month. It scared the life out of me.

I was also running my own business then. Had a little shop selling antiques and collectibles that I opened three days a week. Never made a fortune, but being self employed meant I could fit in looking after mum and dad.
There'd be a steady stream of customers on Saturday; none of them spent huge amounts of money but they'd buy little bits and pieces to add to their collections.
It was as if someone abruptly chopped that day out of the week. I just didn't see my regulars any more. I'd go hours without a customer.
Some weeks later one of them came in. I asked was she okay because I'd missed seeing her. She apologised and said she couldn't afford to buy any more jugs [what she collected] and had been taking a different route rather than walk past without coming in.

I remember there was an awful lot of anger from fellow shopkeepers.

The bad thing was when they got rid of the Poll Tax, business was never as good...

[StephenDolan]

Woodcock, Austin and Kevan Jones etc. Can they manage a fortnight without being critical of the leadership of the Labour Party?

[AnatolyKasparov]

If I was looking for people to provide a "balanced" view of Mr Tony, it is fair to say Ren-tool would not be near the top of my list

[ohsocynical]

My point is, this is not like the 80s, it is much worse.

There is no opposition, I don't mean Labour, I mean the press and general public opinion. In the 80s there was opposition even within the Conservatives. Someone here said the public are asleep at the wheel? Yes.

There was quite a lot of vocal opposition after the 2010 GE, of course. These things run in cycles to some extent.

Pundits commented at the time on how quiescent the public were in the late 1980s - just before the poll tax........

If I remember correctly, there was a lot more investigation into the affects of redundancy on families. Male suicides shot up.
Far fewer women worked in those days, but many of them found it easier to get a job when the man lost his, so became the wage earner. Men from an older generation found that hard to live with and if the woman was earning, the mans dole money was reduced, which made him feel even more inadequate.
Unemployment benefits were always impossible to live on, as were sickness benefits.

At least older men if they lost their job, were able to take early retirement and get their State Pension. Others, especially if they'd been in physically demanding jobs, were put on the 'long term sick.'

Younger fit men were basically thrown to the wolves.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Woodcock, Austin and Kevan Jones etc. Can they manage a fortnight without being critical of the leadership of the Labour Party?

John Woodcock has just managed to write a column in the local paper that didn't mention Jez once. Must have been a genuine trial for him

[StephenDolan]

If I was looking for people to provide a "balanced" view of Mr Tony, it is fair to say Ren-tool would not be near the top of my list

He only said that to highlight misogyny apparently...

[ohsocynical]

It's very easy to see why government is trying to break the Social Security system. I bet it's rankled for years that employers have been unable to screw workers to the wall on low pay, if SS keeps topping them up.

When Maggie had smashed as many industries as she could the service sector grew, and there were plenty of jobs on offer, but the snag was they were very low paid. In fact a bloke with kids got more money on the dole, so quite rightly, although they were struggling, they refused to work for less, and with such a huge pool of desperate unemployed to choose from companies had no cause to raise wages.

Tax credits filled the gap. A man could take home more if he worked.

[refitman]

RIP Alan Rickman

[mbc1955]

RIP Alan Rickman

Oh no, no no no. Not again. Not so bloody quickly.

[rebeccariots2]

RIP Alan Rickman

Oh no, no no no. Not again. Not so bloody quickly.

Wonderful things being said about him BTL at the G. Good to see.

I met his long term partner - Rima Horton - when she interviewed me for a post grad course in Public Sector Economics and Strategy. She was lovely - incredibly supportive and encouraging when I confessed to not thinking I would be able to get through the statistics component. I was always very glad to see they were still together.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Horton once stood as a Labour GE candidate (Chelsea in 1992)

[NonOxCol]

RIP Alan Rickman

I'd quite like to be back in 2015 again. Fourteen days of utter rubbish so far.

[mbc1955]

RIP Alan Rickman

I'd quite like to be back in 2015 again. Fourteen days of utter rubbish so far.

As it happens, I have a week off work next week. Nothing planned, just a break. But I will now re-watch The Barchester Chronicles and watch the pools of slime develop under the TV set whenever Alan Rickman is on screen as the Reverend Obadiah Slope.

[rebeccariots2]

Manns Mansion Tax.jpg (48.82 KiB) Viewed 6629 times

[Willow904]

If 69 years are all you're going to get, at least David Bowie and Alan Rickman managed to pack a lot in. Not much compensation for their families, of course, who no doubt hoped to spend many more years with them, but at least they got to do something they loved. For those of us slaving away in dead end, low paid drudgery as the pension goalposts are moved ever further away, these early celebrity deaths are a sign that we heading once again to a time when for many retirement is a luxury never to be achieved.

I adored Alan Rickman. Just now on the TV they were talking about his very varied career, including the little gems I'd forgotten, like Galaxy Quest. You don't get to be that accomplished as an actor without a great deal of empathy and he will be as much a loss to the left wing cause as he will be to the world of entertainment. It's very sad.

[rebeccariots2]

David Cameron ‘facing major rebellion’ over council cuts
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics ... 56646.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

... David Cameron is facing his first major rebellion of 2016 as angry Tories threaten to oppose swingeing funding cuts for councils.

One potential rebel told the Standard there are a “significant number” of Conservative MPs prepared for a fight.

Graham Stuart MP also warned ministers it was important to improve their offer when the Government “has a majority of 12”.

The row centres on a historic funding gap between urban and rural councils, with rural areas represented by dozens of Tory MPs arguing they are not treated fairly.

The new settlement to be voted on in February will make the situation substantially worse, the MPs claim. ...

[Willow904]

RIP Alan Rickman

I'd quite like to be back in 2015 again. Fourteen days of utter rubbish so far.

I think it's only going to get worse, unfortunately.

[HindleA]

Indeed,my better half died with renal failure,but it was cancer that ensured that dialysis,which would have been painful for her was of dubious worth merely stalling the inevitable at best.Brave doesn't adequately describe the decision not to continue dialysis but I am (with hindsight)glad she did.


In reply to "Fuck cancer" I take so long to reply,sometimes my posts make less sense than normally (if that is possible)

[rebeccariots2]

Mirror PoliticsVerified account
‏@MirrorPolitics
Mum's fury as she's forced to pay Bedroom Tax while her son trains in the Army
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mu ... ay-7178957" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

... Rebecca Turner, from Hinckley, has slammed council bosses as she has had to pay the hated charge for her son's room since he left school and started training in the army in 2014.

Government legislation rules that Bedroom Tax does not have to be paid on rooms occupied by those serving or training in the forces.

But Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council has refused to refund the £850 that Rebecca has so far paid in tax, and have also requested that she keeps on paying while 17-year-old Elliott is away...

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council is Conservative controlled. But I wish she wasn't just slamming the council - aim the anger at the Westminster Tories (and Lib Dems of course) who brought this vile tax in.

[citizenJA]

Good-morning, everyone.
It's snowing lightly here in Stoke.

Good morning citizen. Good to see you here - we missed you yesterday.

Thank you for your welcome.
I caught up on flythenest news - thank you for helping me catch up on news from the last two days.
It's taken me this long to get back to the thread.
I've missed you all too.
Very kind of you, PorFavor, to ask for me specifically on yesterday's thread.

[NonOxCol]

RIP Alan Rickman

I'd quite like to be back in 2015 again. Fourteen days of utter rubbish so far.

I think it's only going to get worse, unfortunately.

I don't doubt it.

[refitman]

Manns Mansion Tax.jpg

I'm not sure where to even start with how dumb this is.

I really, really hope he's taking the piss.

[HindleA]

Of course you wouldn't have this ping pong between national and local government as to interpretation/application of guidelines and/or use of discretionary payments if the stupidiest policy you could think of didn't exist.So the main blame should be apportioned to the last Government,however,given that it does exist doesn't abrogate at least some responsibility from councils,regardless of hue.

[rebeccariots2]

Manns Mansion Tax.jpg

I'm not sure where to even start with how dumb this is.

It's why I couldn't find the words to put under it.

[Rebecca]

It's foul outside today.The dogs love it,so,sadly,I still get to take them out for 2 hrs min each day.I've been putting off walk no 2 for the past hour,but heyho,off we go again.
Blimey,sad about Alan Rickman.What the hell's going on?Bowie dead and that repulsive Murdoch ,83 or whatever,skipping around like a viagra fuelled goat with Jerry Hall.It's like a sick joke.
I hate January.My daughter,with true autistic good sense,simply hibernates.She's only been out once this month,then came straight home and changed into pjs.
Hope everyone here is managing to stay warm and dry.

[gilsey]

RIP Alan Rickman

I'd quite like to be back in 2015 again. Fourteen days of utter rubbish so far.

Ben Stokes.

I'm very sad about Alan Rickman, he was brilliant. Sheriff of Nottingham.