Off Topic Political Debate

Didn't take long to flush you out !!

 

Anyone else dreading the next four months? I cannot imagine the "popular" debate will rise much above "we don't want a load of foreigners making our laws" and "only racists want to leave".
The interference from the likes of Obama and Merkel will be a huge boon for the out campaign as we really don't like being told what to do by others.

 

You put your whole self in
your whole self out
In, out, in, ooh, out, ooh
You shake it all about.
You do the Europe question and you turn around
That's what it's all about..

Dont you just... erm... lurv.... politicians!

 

One aspect that I am beginning to see discussed is a follow on vote - say if the vote is to exit and we need to negotiate a new treaty with the EU - will there be a vote on that treaty.
I also caught a glimpse of a discussion on the impact on other non Euro Zone countries is there is a Brexit, will they start to demand changes or threaten their own exit? Could see the whole corrupt house of cards fall in around their gravy train ears.

 

When the vote does take place expect the largest ever postal vote as the 2.5 million ex-pats are signing up in their droves to have their say. I have never wished to influence the result of UK elections since I left, but this time I will as it will directly have a bearing on me.

 

Any thoughts on the potential impact for people such as yourself.. me to a degree.... and those Europeans living in the UK?

 

Personally , I'm really looking forward to the next 4 months ..spring is on its way ... Watford should finish well in the League and possibly do very well in the cup . ..plus there is a holiday or 2 in the offering with my beloved .
I'm now coming up for 53 , so eyes , ears and body are in general decline . There is just not enough time left ahead to waste getting annoyed about politics and folk like Superhorns .
TV and Radio news will be kept to a minimum .. Democracy is an illusion . As per form , the loathsome Tories are going about their evil ways destroying all that is good within our society and spouting lies . As we all know , in this world money is power and that power within this society resides with a greedy , self serving , devious , highly organised group called the Conservative party . ( feel much better for once more getting that mantra off my chest )

Back to mucking the roses .

 

Oh yes..... the roses

 

How long have you got, and will the site function long enough to cope with it? I think I will save details for later, but just to get rid of one myth, in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, France and Ireland the number of Britons banking unemployment cheques is almost three times as high as the nationals of those countries receiving parallel UK benefits – 23,011 Britons to 8,720 nationals of those nine countries in the UK. About 2.5% of Britons in other EU countries are claiming unemployment benefits – the same level as the roughly 65,000 EU nationals claiming jobseeker’s allowance in the UK.

 

Given what looks like sheer panic from some partners it does seem Cameron set the bar too low and also rushed into the referendum too quickly. He may have been able to extarct a lot more had he thought about it. Personally i don't entirely go with the line that they need us more than we need them but I certainly think now the light has been shone they realise they are better with us than without.

 

Morning yorkie , re roses ..I'm really chomping at the bit to do final pruning , it's been an extremely mild winter , I usually do mine mid march . Have you tackled yours yet ?
I wonder if there is an official European directive ..Any idea Cologne ?

 

Hopefully you are not boring the poor roses with this rant!

 

Yes...... I am getting growth too..... I normally do mine mid Feb.... but may wait a week or two in the expectation of a cold spell. I am a bit of a hard pruner, except for my climbers. Mme Yorkie favours more delicate pruning...

 

I'm sure absent mindedly the roses get exposed to chants heard at the Vic .... classic ear worms such as " when I was young " , "Elton John's Taylor made Army " and my favorite " Ighalo "
I'm a cheerful chappy today ...picking up a brand new car ( well pre Reg in Dec with 10 miles on clock ) ...13 year old Ford Ka going to the scrap yard , only worth £25 !!! Scrap now £25 per ton .
After my past Audi and BMW rants , almost ashamed to admit new wheels will be a fellow German vehicle .
Come on you horns !

 

There was a whole school of thought about talking to plants etc eh..... I think it probably an early warning sign for dementia

 

Oh course there is a EU directive, but on the slim chance they have missed it - just drop a note to your MEP and he can get on it in between "doing" his expense claim.

 

Sorry about the cut n paste ... but this is worth a read:

Ministers have launched an urgent inquiry into the practice of NHS staff being paid by drugs companies, following a Telegraph investigation.

This newspaper has revealed that more than 130 NHS officials involved in assessing which drugs are given to patients are also acting as paid consultants to pharmaceutical companies.

Scores of health service staff, most of whom are managers or other senior officials, are receiving generous fees to sit on “advisory boards” for drugs firms whose products they are responsible for considering on behalf of the NHS.

Alistair Burt, the health minister, said: “These are very serious allegations – an urgent investigation is under way and action will be taken against any NHS staff attempting to influence purchasing decisions in return for payment, gifts or hospitality.

“Our new Sunshine Rule, which comes into force later this year, will require staff to record and submit all dealings with pharmaceutical companies and medical device sectors.”

A spokesman for NHS England said that the behaviour reported by the Telegraph was “unacceptable”.

The NHS added that a proposed new standard contract for staff would introduce a requirement for any gifts and hospitality from drugs firms to be declared.

The move "will make it easier to spot when NHS staff have a conflict of interest" and allow those in breach of the rules to face disciplinary and possibly criminal action.

The proposed new contract comes after this newspaper previously exposed two officials being paid as middle-men to arrange lucrative advisory board meetings attended by NHS staff.

Today's investigation, involving information from whistle-blowers and hundreds of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, reveals that the practice of officials taking prescribing and “medicines management” roles while acting as consultants to drugs firms is systemic within the NHS.

MPs said the practice appeared “murky” because of the potential conflict of interest if the firms paying officials were also attempting to market their products. Several companies have been flying NHS staff abroad and hosting meetings in luxury hotels

In some cases, senior officials are attending more than 20 paid advisory boards each year and doing other pieces of consultancy work on top of their NHS jobs. Staff involved in assessing drugs for trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are referred to by pharmaceutical firms as “payers” because many help control multi-million-pound budgets. A trawl of minutes of meetings, as well as emails obtained under FOI, has shown how several officials have gone on to take part in decisions about adopting the drugs on which they had been paid to advise the manufacturers.

In many cases the payments have not been formally declared, and in others CCGs and trusts have refused to give details of the amounts. The number of officials receiving funds from drugs firms is therefore likely to be higher than the FOI responses suggest.

Meg Hillier, chairman of the public accounts committee, said: “This shows a very worrying relationship between the people who decide which drugs to buy and their relationships with pharmaceutical companies. I am pleased that the Telegraph has shone some light on it. I will be suggesting to my committee that we look at it further.”

The investigation found:

- Individual “payers” are earning up to £1,250 per day advising pharmaceutical firms on selling their products to the NHS, in addition to flights and hotel costs for “meetings” held abroad.

- Three officials at one CCG, Luton, were flown separately to a German spa town for paid advisory board meetings. In December the industry regulator found that the company, Stirling Anglian, had lavished “unacceptable” levels of hospitality on NHS officials.

- Another firm, Hospira, hosted officials in the five-star Esplanade hotel in Zagreb, which has a spa and a casino.

- The industry is spending £30  million a year employing officials and doctors as consultants, and another £10 million sponsoring their attendance at events. In total, 138 officials responsible for advising or making decisions on drugs adopted by the

NHS were found to have been receiving payments from pharmaceutical firms, based on financial links that were formally registered.

In some cases, trusts and CCGs denied their staff had carried out consultancy work, before later admitting they had, when the Telegraph passed specific names to the organisations. The consultancy work ranges from taking part in teleconferences to attending advisory board meetings in locations including Munich, Amsterdam and Paris. Fees for the meetings are often between £700 and £1,000. One firm offered officials £1,250 for a four-hour meeting in Paris, as well as funding flight and hotel costs – equivalent to more than £300 per hour.

Ben Woodhouse, medicines optimisation lead at Bolton CCG, carried out 31 pieces of advisory work for pharmaceutical firms during 2014-15. He said the work, done around his 30-hour NHS week, helped “make best use” of funds as he could provide advice and ensure drugs comply with guidance.

One CCG banned its officials from taking part in advisory boards after being contacted about the outside work of staff. GlaxoSmithKline has quietly stopped using “payers” as consultants.

The NHS fraud watchdog is carrying out a criminal investigation into several officials and trusts at the centre of the Telegraph’s disclosures last year. One senior official, Paul Jerram of Isle of Wight CCG, who insisted he acted in the best interests of the NHS, has been sacked.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), is due to create a database showing payments to doctors and officials in cases where the individuals have agreed to “opt in”.

Luton CCG said advisory board work was routinely declared and that it had “rigorous policies and procedures in place around the recommendation of any medicines

 

No problem Yorkie, this is pure corruption...

I will have to tell #'1 son. One of his mates is a rep for a Pharma company and would cover the Luton CCG - my son calls him his "drug dealer mate". Still he does support "them" - no surprise really.

 

No surprise to me after what I have known for years. It is not only the bosses involved in this.