Off Topic Political Debate

I would be surprised if anybody thought the council were not Tory controlled. Today I actually met a couple who were brought by the builder to look around my house. They told me they had just been charge £7.5k for a similar job to move a pole.

 

Well I know where SH lives... very nice area too... never ever going to be anything other than blue. Nothing that isn't in the public domain (rightly in the public domain), it helps if you know how the planning system works. SH has been kind enough to mention the planning history in open forum and the parish in various threads, which really narrowed it down. As to the house, it's gonna be palatial… very nice indeed, he's obviously done financially well for himself over the years.
Other than that, my lips are sealed as a matter of principle and courtesy.

 

I would hardly describe it as palatial Fez, you must have the wrong building. Anyway look me up if you are in the area, I'm quite a down to earth chappie, really.

 

Thanks, I don't want the clique coming after me with pickaxe handles

 

An odd one has cropped up today. Hunt informs us that an extra 1,000 diplomatic staff are to be hired to man our embassies around the world. He then tells us that he doesn't have sufficient money to pay competitive salaries to keep staff. So he is going to employ staff at non-competitive salaries?

 

Yes and no. He'll probably employ locals so the salaries will, in some cases be competitive depending on the cities in question and not in others.

British diplomatic staff, in general, have never been driven by money - it's the kudos, the potential earning power when they leave, having had a great career working with other countries and the increased likelihood of a KBE or Peerage. For those of us not in the diplomatic corps we do it because we have no better options, the work is enjoyable and varied, the pension whilst not as good as it was is still excellent or because we got tipsy one night, filled the application out and fluked the interview. I'd tell you I do it for the love of my country - but I wouldn't expect any of you to believe that for a minute!

 

great post Dan You are making too much sense for this forum!! New viewers might start thinking we are normal.

 

I believe you Dan..

Great to know that the UK can become an “invisible chain that links the world’s democracies”.

 

An interesting development in Westminster today when it comes down to a money over morals situation. The budget shows that the reduction in stakes on gambling machines was to be reduced from £100 down to £2 from next October, whereas everyone was of the impression it would be next April. MPs on both sides of the chamber are not happy about this, and a Minister has resigned over the matter. The government minister replying when this was raised rather gave the game away when he said that the government had to raise the tax somehow, although he tried to dress it up as a concern about job losses. Liz Truss tried to say that no year had been been mentioned, and the government was actually bringing the measure forward. This was met with disbelief. As these machines can create huge problems for some resulting in two suicides every day, something acknowledged by government as it agreed to change the legislation, it seems that the government is putting money ahead of peoples lives.

 

Just to move away from UK politics to those in France, there is an undoubted resistance to the increase in fuel duty by the government. There has been a huge rise in the cost of petrol and diesel since the summer, one third caused by an increase in tax and two thirds by the increase in the cost of crude oil. Overall it has put the cost up by 25% and it is not going down well as shown in government approval polls. The increase in tax is being used for climate control schemes it is said, but it is hitting the people in the rural areas who have no public transport the hardest. The autoroutes that were privatised have been doing very well for the shareholders, providing a return of more than 20%. The state sold them off to private companies around 2005-6 just as they were about to show a return for the public. Unfortunately the government of the day was lured into receiving €14.8 billions, an underestimation of their worth by about €10 billion. The call today is that some form of tax on these more than healthy dividends should be imposed to reduce the cost of fuel.
There has also been a social cost of people in the toll booths being replaced by machines. About 80% of the workforce has been put out of a job. The government does not have the profits from the users of these autoroutes so has to rely on private companies to improve the infrastructure, who in turn charge well above inflation rates to do any work. What we have is a glorified PFI situation, something that people in the UK now realise is a bad deal for the public. It shows that when a country gets hard up, selling off anything of worth will eventually come back to bite the government, or more likely the consumer. It is not too late to pull back from the brink as the country still has a good manufacturing base with some government involvement. Sell everything in sight to foreign companies and it will be far too reliant on things beyond its control.

 

No chance. Keep posting.

 

I do find it strange, this idea that a country can’t afford something short-term so it goes to the private sector to finance it. It’s bizarre. The government has so many choices available to raise the initial capital, it just seems political expediency, trying to pretend they haven’t spent any money, because as we know from the 1980s (), “government spending bad, tax cuts good.”

 

This is the other thing about Brexit - we are over run by consultants project managing the life out of us. I had a meeting with one the other day. He had the hump that I couldn't confirm whether we would have a March 2019no deal, an implementation period or a December 2020 no deal. He said "you're not giving me any certainty". Yes I bloody well know that which is why we are looking at three scenarios. I didn't have the heart to explain that we are also looking at an extended Ip to December 2021 plus a no deal then It's like playing the world's biggest game of snakes and ladders

 

It was a joy to by chance find ourselves standing outside that bastion of truth and free speech in the Western world., the hq of the Guardian and Observer [emoji438] this morning... Quite a profound moment... [emoji41][emoji6]

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What? You mean not the Torygraph, Daily Fail, Express, and murdoch's dark towers? Those bastions of unbiased, level headed, non-sensationalist, balanced, journalism?? Fake News!

 

Been a week end of memorable encounters. A BBC weather man, a silent witness actress, the lights at the tower of London commemoration, Tina the musical.. And above all the Guardian building.. Simply the best!

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I have been enjoying the three parter on the Foreign office which gives a great insight into the running of our overseas division so to speak...... and of course the truly great work done by our civil servants...

The facial expressions of the civil servant discussing with Boris were a picture of stoic professionalism....

 

Can the last person leaving the country turn the lights out?

Who would ever let McDonnell loose to do such damage.?

Labour Party plots overthrow of capitalism

 

Everything is relative. More money to be reclaimed by closing tax avoidance loopholes (Lewis Hamilton and the VAT (not) on his plane, for example) and going after the tax evaders rather than screwing down the working classes. There are new EU rules on tax avoidance and this is the reason that the Barclay brothers, Murdoch and their ilk want to leave. W*****s, the lot of them.