Interesting fact: When Labour were in power, they sold a huge amount of the It's gold, at a price that was close to all time low. Possibly one of the worst financial decisions I've ever heard.
Don't have me locked up Ian, free the Jabbo1! I've spent most of my working life self employed or running a small limited company, using an accountant to do the returns but doing the day to day book keeping myself. The accountant's advice has saved me more than the fees. I've paid what's due, avoided paying more than that but not evaded. Also had several visits from VAT to examine my books. Always convivial and constructive in pointing out where I'd overpaid and giving book keeping tips. Evasion vs Avoidance "Tax evasion is the illegal evasion of taxes by individuals, corporations, and trusts." "In contrast, tax avoidance is the legal use of tax laws to reduce one's tax burden." Loadsa info here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_evasion
So we are governed by gold!! We keep our gold but let our services run down, eh? Brown needed money in order to keep up with the investment in the public services, or would it have been prudent to do as the AfUK party have done since 2010 and virtually squeeezed the country dry?
The selling off of the UKs gold reserves looks like a very bad decision in hindsight. The price of gold has been high ever since for one reason only - that the world's economy has been on it's arse ever since the 2008 crash; a crash and prolonged fallout very few people saw coming.
In hindsight, the biggest mistake of the Blair/Brown era was not joining the euro at its inception!!!! Look how right I am about that, with sterling going up and down. So how can businesses prepare properly in an unstable currrency. I know the euro goes up and down as well, but as nearly 50% of our business is with the EU, and most people holiday in the EU it would have had no impact.
I have just sent the following email to my (Conservative) MP. I urge all of you who believe in Parliamentary democracy to send something similar to your own MP. Johnson is engaging in a coup d’etat and it must be prevented: “I was shocked and outraged this morning to learn that a Prime Minister with no mandate from the electorate and no majority in the House of Commons plans to suspend Parliament to pursue a no-deal Brexit, which not a single person in the UK voted for. I demand as my MP that you convey my displeasure to the Prime Minister immediately. Thank you”
Draw any line you like mate. I guarantee you Boris Johnson won’t hesitate to cross it if it suits him. In fact he’s just crossed The Rubicon.
I will do a simple copy and paste and get right on it. And I would assume anyone witha sitting Tory MP will do the same.
Ms Nokes is probably reading my email at this very moment regarding a despot who has scant regard for the principles of parliamentary democracy.
Here’s a petition organised by Best for Britain which will be sent to the Queen. Whatever your views on the monarchy, she might be the only person who can save democracy in this country. It really has come down to that. https://www.bestforbritain.org/queenproroguepetition
Let´s think this through guys!! Johnson is creating a trap for the opposition parties to fall into as soon as they return next week. They manage to pass a vote of "no confidence," Johnson immediately calls an election for mid October. He will hammer home the concept that the oppostion parties have stopped democracy by trying to thwart Brexit, emotions run high, the right-media really lay it on about a Corbyn led Government being a threat to the economy as well as all the other things. During the election process, the more thoughtful MPs in the Conservative party are de-selected and replaced by hard liners. So even if there is a hung Parliament, the Tories will be obliged to following the party line, no dissent allowed. Even worse is the thought of a Tory majority. OK, they can dispense with the DUP. I just hope I have got this wrong, and as in 1964, Labour squeeze home with a majority.
The opposition parties are not going for a no-confidence vote. I posted two articles a couple of days ago reporting their strategy. They will use a no-confidence vote as a back-stop.
Firstly, the joint statement yesterday by opposition leaders doesn’t put a VNC top of the agenda, for that very reason. They know that if an election was forced, it wouldn’t be until after we have left the EU, because Johnson could do just that. The opposition parties will aim to take control of HoC business so that legislation can be passed forcing Johnson to seek an extension to Article 50 instead of leaving with no deal. The Vote of No Confidence would be a last resort, followed hopefully by a Government of National Unity, provided they can all swallow their egos and agree on a leader.
Done Chilcs. I'm an overseas voter registered in the Henley on Thames ward. I had to copy the email address from the contact details and paste into my personal email as the pro forma on my MP John Howell's website doesn't recognised my overseas postcode. Time to man the barricades!
