I wouldn’t say they are terribly complicated. At least the headlines we see aren’t, and intentionally so. GDP, for example, is a fairly awful measure of a nation’s prosperity but it makes for a snazzy headline that we serfs can grip onto and praise or savage. The detail behind it can be interesting if it’s your sort of thing but not enough people care about that for it to be as freely available and shared as a nice one sentence headline.
No sorry Ellers but what has recently happened in the U.K. is a complete joke No one can defend that in their right minds It’s stupid to even try It’s OK for you to peddle our rubbish re the EU so expect some back from a firm supporter The U.K. is not what it used to be no way am I having that and I am 100% right Mate I ain’t got time to be bored too much on as it’s havest time plus I have a walnut orchard to keep up and my river beach to finish off It’s paradise here shops don’t open like in the U.K. they are kept respectful real life comes first ... living real living You still have a holiday head mate I think I could easily challenge the dross you find re Brexit but there is little point you lot voted for this mess and look at it now! Plus not a clue what to do afterwards not an ideas at all ?
Long-time reader, rarely post. However, this post sparked my interest. I'd challenge the assertion that 'ordinary people feel proud about a rise in GDP', employment figures etc. In fact, I very much doubt that if you surveyed 10,000 people in the street, more than a handful would know what the latest figures are. What I think is interesting, is that there is a school of thought within psephology which suggests that an election result is tied to whether real wages [in terms of purchasing power] are rising or falling. So while the polls look tight in 2015, real wages were growing very strongly, hence Cameron's surprise majority. By contrast, despite the polls starting heavily in May's favour, real wages had been falling for some time ahead of the 2017 election, and we all know what happened there, despite some encouraging headline figures (GDP partially, but more so inflation & employment). Similarly, the election in 2010 was a little closer than many might have expected, as while real wages fell quite sharply in 08/09, they were relatively flat in early 2010. Falling slightly, hence the Tories (sort of) won, but not by a distance. It's not always true to say that increasing real wages = Govt win (see 1997), but it is true to say that falling real wages has always historically resulted in Govt defeat or loss of majority (1910, 1922, 1923, 1945, 2010, 2017). What's my point? I think there is evidence to suggest that people do care about if their purchasing power is increasing, irrespective as to if that is quicker or slower growth in relative terms to the super-rich '1%', but I don't think there is much evidence to suggest people care about headline economic figures.
Paul, what’s this story I read about hundreds of bridges in France ‘ at risk of collapse’? Seems a shocking revelation that didn’t get much press over here. Any truth or more media BS ?
France or Italy? Loads of Italian bridges and other infrastructure at risk after the Genoa collapse, and the speculation is that the Mafia controlled concrete suppliers cut corners.
Carry on like that and come the glorious revolution I may have you up against the wall with your last cigar after all
Never really got on with cigars, always tried to smoke them like gaspers ended up with a raw throat sounding like Clint Eastwood if he was from NW10. So I’ll settle for a glass of Taliskers while hurling abuse at the firing squad.
Pondered which thread to put this on, but I think this one is the place. Archaeologists in South Africa have discovered a couple of rocks in a cave with cross hatched marks clearly drawn on them by some unknown person. They are the first examples of abstract art (actually any art) and date to 70,000 years ago, 30,000 more than the previously known earliest art works, from the caves in France. For me this is what humanity is all about, people who, compared to us had literally nothing, creating stuff for no reason other than (presumably) pleasure and curiosity. How the **** with the millennia of knowledge we have accrued since then have we ended up where we are now?
please log in to view this image Mogg: We have solved NI border unlocking real Brexit by Westmonster Brexit September 12, 2018 Created with Snap FacebookTwitterWhatsApp 4,069 shares A document put forward by the pro-Brexit group of Tory MPs, the ERG, has claimed to solve the NI border issue in the Brexit negotiations. Westmonster’s Steven Edginton went to the release of the paper attended by former Brexit Secretary David Davis, head of the ERG Jacob Rees Mogg and several other senior Tory MPs. Former Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers told Westmonster: “It is the big blockage which is preventing progress on the sort of Canada style FTA that Donald Tusk himself raised just a few months ago. The paper we published today demonstrates that we can use existing technologies, existing administrative techniques all of which are consistent with EU law and still maintain an open and free-flowing border in Northern Ireland.” In response to Westmonster’s question on whether the ERG has let down Brexit voters by allowing Chequers to go through and for Britain to be run by a Remainer PM, Jacob Rees-Mogg responded: “Here we are the ERG has a solution to the problem, we have lots of important steps in this way. “The ERG has been plugging away consistently at putting the argument for the Brexit that 17.4m people voted for… We model ourselves on Alastair Cook, we are still scoring centuries even if we’ve been going for some time.” When asking Andrea Jenkyns whether she urges her colleagues to put their letters in to call a no-confidence vote in Theresa May she told us: “I’ll always urge because my letter is in there so of course.” Watch our full report here:
DT What you call 'stupid' others call 'great'. Stop worrying about us here, we will be just fine. You worry about your walnuts in your orchard and let us get on with stuff here.
We have all been ill-informed Ellers and there lies the problem. There is not one single expert on brexit, the consequences or potential consequences. It could be a disaster, it could be ok or it could be great. NOBODY knows
So why all the project fear posts? Funnily there are European countries that are not in the EU and seem to be able to survive.
48% of the spirit is looking at the 52% and thinking what next? The EU army border thing is again cobblers The EU is bigger than Juncker yet you focus on one man each time that to me still shows a total lack of real understanding and reflects the U.K. blame culture Pick any one U.K. politician and you will have a field day if you want to talk about incompetence... a total mess and embarrassment imo