Indeed. Enough people voted on such shallow reasoning that I suspect a change to blue before the referendum might have swung it. The thing I find tragic is that people consider this important. I've read some real bollocks on the subject today. Lowest common demoninator politics pandering to the old farts who voted for Brexit. Nothing more. Vin
The Liberian election result has still not reached a conclusion. The turn out seems surprising low but I hope they get a fair result. Ex footballing hero George Weah v vice president Joseph Boakia. Not sure who will be best for the country. I hear that George Weah has a cousin who is a political mastermind who could step in, called something like Ali Dia???
Just waiting on a supreme court ruling that there has not Been massive fraud and irregularities in the scoring and that I have a license to continue. Otherwise translated to drank a fair bit over Christmas and forced to spend time with family. Will get results up tomorrow
The South Thanet Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay is suggesting funding a new Royal Yacht via a National lottery. Labour don't like the idea. Are they missing the boat? How about funding all the essentials, NHS, roads, trains, housing etc. through your taxes and funding the less essentials, Royal family, nuclear weapons etc. by a national lottery? Then the people who want them can pay for them? https://theisleofthanetnews.com/sou...-a-new-lottery-to-pay-for-a-120m-royal-yacht/
I suppose funding the Royal yacht through the lottery is preferable to funding it through direct taxation. But lottery funding was meant to be for good causes. Is a new Royal yacht a good cause during a period of prolonged austerity and with schools, hospitals and the police all facing govt imposed funding crises?
No it's not a good cause, that's my point. I don't think good causes should have to rely on the lottery
I think it’s ok to fund this yacht, just as long as every week the Queen isn’t using it (and I’m assuming that gives us 51 weeks) the public can apply to use it for a week at a time. I quite fancy that as a package holiday.
Yes like this idea that would be good. As long as our Rt honourable thanet MP friend doesn't also proposed its docked in Thanet. A cruise around Margate and ramsgate not so good. Whatever next though? At some point in the future taxpayers money could be used to subsidize funding for a premier league football team for a former Olympic venue. Sorry please ignore me that would be ludicrous, must still be a bit drunk.
If anyone wants to get behind a campaign, they might consider this one. A campaign to get rid of hospital car park fees. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tax-sick-hospital-parking-charges-11764895 I’m not totally against them, as money will be needed for repairs and running costs, etc, but I am against the exorbitant costs and the fact that so many of the car parks are privatised, and as such, run for profit. Of the £175m spent on nhs car parking, it is claimed that only 0.001% of it is used for medical purposes. Again, I am not against having to pay a nominal amount, but I would prefer all excess to be used for the running of the hospital and hospital services, than for it to be given out in share dividends etc. As a regular visitor to the oncology department, at the General Hospital with my wife, we are “fortunate” (if I can use that word) in that we benefit from a discount, by having a parking ticket “stamped” reducing the fee to £2 per visit, regardless of how many hours we are there for. I’m not sure that this discount is known to everyone, or how many departments have the facility. I know of two machines, both related to cancer treatment wards (chemotherapy and radiotherapy), where visits can last for hours, but I would advise anyone who needs to attend hospital for regular and lengthy treatment, to ask if they qualify for discount. This facility doesn’t appear to be available for oncology outpatient, X-Ray or MRI scan appointments, being in different areas, where you regularly have to pay more than necessary, simply because of appointments running late. On those occasions, I will exit via the radiotherapy department and get my ticket stamped, simply because all of the visits are cancer related.
I couldn’t agree more with this campaign. No way should patients or visitors have to pay to park, but it’s not widely appreciated that staff have to pay as well. I’ve said this before but before I retired just over 4 years ago I had £35 a month deducted from my salary for parking, even though I didn’t have a guaranteed space.
I absolutely agree with you in principal. However, it's important to appreciate the extent to which chronically underfunded hospitals have come to rely on this source of revenue.
Except the car parks are privatised with most of the takings going to private operators. As Badger says above, a minuscule percentage goes back into patient care.
The claim I saw states just 0.001% of the £175m goes to medical support. If 1% of £175m is £1.75m, then 0.001, by my reckoning is considerably less. £1750.00?
Someone's bought a patch of land opposite our hospital and is charging 50p for 4 hours on it. Much cheaper than the hospital charge.............which I agree should not be in existence in the first place.
Patient parking situations are silly, period. I'm not in the UK, but a year ago I had to go in for testing (the result of an all-acid diet and a decade of ignoring that acid eating into various bits of soft tissue), and the pay-to-park lot of the hospital I was heading to was full. Not "circle a couple times and find a spot"...I circled for an hour, gave up (which meant that I paid for parking without ever parking), drove several blocks away, and parked in an unrelated pay lot. Had to explain to the nurse that my blood pressure and heart rate were abnormally high because I had just ran 2kms to get to my appointment. Luckily, I'm in my early 30s and in fairly good shape; cannot imagine a 60-something with serious ailments going for a brisk jog for testing. And this isn't a pay-for-service country. We also believe strongly that health care is a right, but apparently being able to physically access health care will cost you. and even paying is hardly a guarantee.
