POLITICS CORNER

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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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IFS says pensioners least affected by yesterday's budget

Real losers are families with children.
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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I'm intrigued by the gimmick of a minimum price for a unit of alcohol. How can it work? Who gets the extra money charged? Will it ever become an effective tool for lowering consumption?
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

Post by Tripps »

"Who gets the extra money charged? "
That's the bit that I've been puzzling over since the announcement. Will it be a new tax, or just more profit for the retailer / manufacturer? I don't think they've even thought about it. They'd be better employed getting attitudes to binge drinking changed to 'uncool' , as seems to have been done to smoking. They could start with the soaps. Never see a character in Emmerdale or Coronation Street without a large drink close to hand, either in the pub or at home. Is it coincidence that my Morrisons shares went up quite nicely yesterday?
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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Supermarkets, who are the culprits here, are able to sell alcohol below cost price as a loss leader to bring people into the store. So currently the supermarkets are funding the promotions to a large extent, although the breweries will offer major discount incentives for volume. So it is sales on other goods thatis subsiding these special offers on booze

What strikes me as odd, however, is that there is already a law in place.

It stops publicans selling too much alcohol, but apparently you can go into a supermarket and buy any quantity without anyone raising a question about sobriety.
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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Local politics:

Earby Town Council meeting on Monday night

West Craven Area Committee (Pendle) on Tuesday

http://www.pendle.gov.uk/meetings/meeti ... _committee

Salterforth Parish Council Wednesday

Barnoldswick Town Council Thursday
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When a tax on fatty foods was mooted an American friend of mine who's a professor of nutrition and fields questions and interviews on TV and radio simply said "Didn't work for cigarettes, won't work for fatty foods". I'm sure she'd say the same now about raising the price of alcoholic drinks. And a lot of the people who are binging on alcohol have plenty of money and can afford to pay more - it's wrong to think they are all teenagers, down-and-outs and poor folk.
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You will see from the West Craven documents that there is a report about the memorial gardens and the spending envisaged.

Can't help thinking that £44k would be better spent on services
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Well, David Cameron was right when he said the next big scandal was lobbying and political donations. See this LINK
One good thing about this is that the Tories will find it harder to criticise the transparent and heavily regulated system of political donations by Trades Unions.....
Some things never change......
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The storm gets worse... Interesting thing is that it was a Murdoch paper that did the sting and much of the criticism is coming from Tory commentators. This is not simply an expose of Tory shenanigans. There is little doubt that Blair et al were up to the same tricks when New Labour was in power, remember the strange meetings on yachts? It reveals the extent to which lobbying by large financial interests has penetrated and devalued our governmental system. This is only the tip of the iceberg, look at the number of 'advisers' seconded from large accountancy forms and the investment banks embedded in Downing Street. Remember the number of Goldman Sachs advisers in the US treasury in 2008? One US senator described it as a financial coup d'etat. Party funding and lobbying is a cancer at the heart of governance and it's high time it was addressed across all the parties. It also casts light on Cameron's arrogance and political ineptitude. The Coulson Affair, the Chipping Norton set, the 'Rich Man's Budget'.... All the signs of a cynical attitude completely dismissive of the vast majority of the electorate. This is even more serious than the Parliamentary Expenses scandal and strikes at the heart of our political systems.
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Look at all that inflation:

Under Bliar, £100k bought you a seat in the Lords.

Under Cameroon £250k might get you an invite to a dinner!
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Am I alone in thinking that Cruddas is a rather unfortunate name .....?

PS Murdoch's out for revenge........
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Yes, I have read Mr Murdoch's tweets. Quite sharp

My friends across the pond are saying that $250k might not even get you a hand shake from Obama :surprised:
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Brad, that thought occurred to me as well. Did you watch Panorama last night about the way On-digital was sabotaged by hacking its cards? James Murdoch was a director of the Israeli security firm alleged to be behind the attack. One thing certain, it took the pressure off Sky..... See LINK
Did you hear Francis Maude struggling to divert attention from Cruddas and Tory funding to Labour and the Union Levy? Pathetic. What strikes me is that the most serious matter mentioned by Cruddas was that foreign donations (illegal) could be laundered. This was the ploy used by the Noble Lord Ashcroft to channel the money to the marginal constituencies like Pendle.
Dominic Strauss Karn is under investigation for complicity in a prostitution ring. He says he is innocent. I still think about that poor lady in NY who was steam-rollered by his lawyers.
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I'm watching Ossie struggling to explain the anomalies created by bad drafting in the budget in the section on VAT on warm take-away food. The problem seems to be that apart from trying to define 'bread' which is exempt, the wording as it stands means that VAT will have to be charged on other goods if they are warm from the oven. It's a mess and reminds us crumblies of the interminable arguments in Parliament over the classification of goods for the old Purchase Tax. There was a different rate for 'luxury goods' and the problem was defining what was a luxury.
I agree with the main conclusions of the panel which has been looking at the causes of the August riots last year. Whilst not excusing the behaviour they draw attention to the widely held view in the poorer communities that they are excluded from society, have less opportunities and are being ignored. I said at the time that it wasn't surprising if humans excluded from society reacted. Remember the riots in Oldham? Put down exclusively to racial tension but in fact that was the same syndrome and I said so at the time. If excluded, frustration grows, crime rates rise and the 'haves' froth about the 'have-nots'. We live in a society where worth is seen to be delineated by the ability to consume. A recipe for disaster.
Mervyn King draws our attention to the dangers to the economy from long term and youth unemployment and the fact that the cuts are damaging our ability to improve growth. He is right, read the history!
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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Cllr Whipp submitted a different bid for funds for the refurbishment of the memorial Gardens last night at the west Craven Area Committee, which I have attached:

£8,500 for lighting sounds like they want to ensure it becomes even more a gathering spot for the youths who like to drink. I have visions of floodlights which probably isn't valid. For that many lights I wonder what the ongoing electricity cost is, as the note does not mention any renewables and the area is already subject to vandalism on a regular basis.

£40k is still a lot of money for a very small area
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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Tardis wrote:Cllr Whipp submitted a different bid for funds for the refurbishment of the memorial Gardens last night at the west Craven Area Committee, which I have attached:

£8,500 for lighting sounds like they want to ensure it becomes even more a gathering spot for the youths who like to drink. I have visions of floodlights which probably isn't valid. For that many lights I wonder what the ongoing electricity cost is, as the note does not mention any renewables and the area is already subject to vandalism on a regular basis.

£40k is still a lot of money for a very small area
It's probably subject to vandalism in the dark. Surely lighting would discourage this as the vandals will be visible.
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I say , Chums ....What a jolly stroke of luck , don'cha know.....
Just when it's getting a bit warm round the old collar , re "Cash for access", along comes a simply splendid opportunity to start a "Fuel Panic"....
One couldn't make it up...eh !
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Big Kev wrote:
Tardis wrote:Cllr Whipp submitted a different bid for funds for the refurbishment of the memorial Gardens last night at the west Craven Area Committee, which I have attached:

£8,500 for lighting sounds like they want to ensure it becomes even more a gathering spot for the youths who like to drink. I have visions of floodlights which probably isn't valid. For that many lights I wonder what the ongoing electricity cost is, as the note does not mention any renewables and the area is already subject to vandalism on a regular basis.

£40k is still a lot of money for a very small area
It's probably subject to vandalism in the dark. Surely lighting would discourage this as the vandals will be visible.
Might be me, but someone has to see and then comment on the fact that it is happening to the relevant authorities who have to be somewhere nearby. If the locals aren't doing it now, why will that behaviour change if you light up the area?

I believe that you mistake causation for correlation.

Not asking for vigilantes, just people who do actually care about their environment and have the support they need to ensure that they can enjoy it.

I would suggest that the easiest way to stop the drinking and vandalism is for the locals to reclaim the area by sitting in every one of the seats every night for a fortnight or two. The youths will go elsewhere.

Cost = people's time donated to the wider community, not spending council tax on schemes that are not self sustaining

result: everyone benefits
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Great 'fun' with the coalition today. The PM, on the back of 'Pastygate', waded in to note he personally loves a Cornish Pasty, holidays in Cornwall, and recalls the last one he had was bought on Leeds Station. Que an eruption on Twitter, noting there hasn't been a pasty shop on Leeds Station since 2007. So he likes them so much he's not had one for 5 years. Or he's a fibber. You takes your pick.

Meanwhile Mr Maude encourages panic and shortages by telling people to stock up on petrol and store in the garage, whilst warning of deaths. Yes, I can see what he means, but not in the way he intended. Petrol in your garage? Dear me. Somewhat worryingly, Mr Maude is described as one of the brightest members of the Government...

You know, this is quite interesting. There are laws on the storage of petrol. Health and safety laws. What I think is known these days as 'Red Tape' (though the legislation on petrol has been around since the late 1920s, so not part of the EU paper-storm). The argument is that red tape subverts common sense - on health and safety, the argument goes, we all know such-and-such is potentially high risk, it's just common sense. Well, here we have a good example of why trusting to common sense is not a good idea on occasions. And also why we need some 'red tape' as there are seemingly bright people who think storing 20+ litres of petrol in their garage is a good idea. Trust me, it really isn't.

I recall too at Royal Wedding time the 'common sense' view from the PM that we should just ignore the Council and 'health and safety' and organise a street party. Yes, well you see, its very useful for the Council to know which streets are having a street party as they then know which streets the emergency services can't use. So when the bloke in the street down the road has the heart attack and the quickest route to hospital is up your street, we all need to know there's not one going on in your street to avoid the ambulances charging straight into it.

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Brad and Richard, you have both spoken for me and saved time. The Coalition are caught with their fingers in the till and there is an immediate flood of announcements and a meeting of COBRA. (Does it make them feel macho having a meeting in the bunker?)
The signal that these 'bleeding obvious' and mistaken statements give to me is that the politicians who initiate them have a very low opinion of our intelligence and a very high opinion of their own importance. Francis Maude has had to apologise for his jerry-can announcement on the simple grounds that they hold 5 gallons, more than the legal limit. The forecourt proprietors report that there was no fuel panic until the announcement, there is no shortage of fuel. Do they really think that we haven't enough sense to keep the car tank topped up?
I am reminded of Naomi Klein's wonderful book, 'The Shock Doctrine' which charts the use of crisis as a political tool. If you haven't read it, get hold of it.
Have a look at this LINK for the history of the jerry can. An inspired creation, still manufactured in exactly the same way as the original German 1930 design.
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Post by Bruff »

For the sake of accuracy, I should make clear that the PM noted he last bought a pasty at the West Cornwall Pasty Company on Leeds Station, and there hasn't been a West Cornwall Pasty Company outlet on Leeds Station since 2007. I understand there is another pasty outlet there. I guess when you're such a fan of the pasty and it's your go-to takeaway of choice, you can easily confuse your pasty outlets (ahem....).

Me, I'm not such a fan and so can clearly remember that my last pasty was bought at the West Cornwall Pasty on Euston Station 1 February this year at about 18:45, just prior to jumping on the next train back to Liverpool. And rather nice too, it was.

Large queues at the pumps here on Wirral last night; I imagine it'll be the same today. I shall do the stupid thing and pop out to fill up as I usually would, avoiding the sensible option of panicking and buying now. If there's none about I suppose I should blame the Unions. Oh, and Gordon Brown.

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The last pasty I had was from the shop near the iron Bridge in Ironbridge. They make their own and they're good!
Wonderful day for an observer of politics.... Let's start with the Coalition (Tories in particular I suspect) and the 'FUEL CRISIS' that never was. Reports coming in that fuel sales on forecourts spiked 80% yesterday due to the rash use of the threat of the tanker driver's strike as a political weapon to bash the unions, Labour and the concept of collective bargaining. (One of the main beefs of the drivers is the erosion of collective bargaining and the owners of the distribution firms forcing local agreements which the drivers say is increasing working hours, cutting wages and eroding safety). This has backfired completely on the Coalition and it becomes obvious that this was an ill-advised and badly briefed ploy to divert attention from the budget and 'Cruddas gate'. One wonders about the quality of the research and advice in Downing Street. Cisis management politics is dangerous stuff and has to be handled with care. In the long run it is always self-defeating as the spurious base of the actions becomes obvious. The electorate are not daft!
Big news is George Galloway taking Bradford West from Labour with a swing of over 10,000 on a high turn out of 51%. Lib Dems lose deposit and Tories clock only 2,000 votes. I have always had a soft spot for George even in the days when he was being smeared by all sorts of weird allegations which of course never came to anything. I don't agree with everything he stands for but love the way he stands up and defends his corner. He won the by-election by old fashioned hard, focussed campaigning and he is right, this is a very significant result which is the tip of the iceberg. The electorate is fed up of all the parties and are looking for a new path. Respect may not be the route in the long run but the message is clear, the pathetic policies and attitudes of the three major parties are losing traction and they have to change. Like him or loathe him, this is a significant result and gives clear messages to the other parties. It remains to be seen whether they take notice. Well done George, I look forward to hearing him in the House!
Care Quality Commission comes under attack again from Margaret Hodge and her committee. The CQC hasn't the resources to cover all its responsibilities and are about to have to register and supervise 10,000 general medical practices. They are failing to inspect properly now without any extra responsibilities. Another disaster waiting to happen. She is specifically targeting the 'new arrangements' for whistle blowers. CQC itself makes staff sign gagging clauses.
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Cameron in full retreat over the fuel debacle. Aggravated by the poor woman who made the stupid mistake of decanting petrol next to a naked flame. They now say there is no need to top-up. If they'd kept quiet and allowed common sense to operate there would be no queues or shortages. A cunning political wheeze that backfired comprehensively. One wonders about how far from reality Downing Street is and the quality of research and advice available. The bottom line is that even though a disaster, the shenanigans have knocked Cruddas Gate off the news pages.
Milliband says that he is going to visit Bradford to find out where the Labour majority went. He needn't bother, if he had any political nouse at all he would realise it's because the party is divorced from reality and not acting as a viable opposition. He is a weak and ineffectual leader who inspires no confidence. They need a George Galloway! Uncomfortable to have around but has an unerring political instinct for the jugular. Not Eton and Oxford of course.....
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The issues that struck me about the possible fuel dispute was that the government would have put in place drivers from the MoD who regularly drive in Afghanistan etc. Their salary is £17,000 basic.

The basic salary of some of these UK tanker drivers about to strike was reported as £34,000, and I wonder where priority values lay because surely the MoD personnel have much greater H&S issues.

Then you have a just in time industry that has become so "efficient" that there is no longer any flexibility in its operation as the EU driving restrictions had to be relaxed to ensure that more deliveries could take place.

I agree about the political clusterf**k but, if the government hadn't told the populace they would have been told by the MSM that they were complacent. Actual advice from civil servants.

Bad week for the coalition, but a truely horrendous one for wierd Ed
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Just as well to remember the news items that have been 'managed' out of existence. The report on the riots of August last year which whilst not excusing the looters placed the blame squarely on lack of support and opportunity for the young in deprived circumstances. Cruddas-Gate. The cynical use of a possible (legitimate) strike by oil distribution drivers and the damage this has done. The 'Rich Man's Budget. The ongoing disaster in Afghanistan. Any mention of our biggest problem, lack of growth, rising unemployment and the still ongoing problems in Europe. Question.... Which planet are our masters living on? Are they listening to anyone outside the magic circle? Is it any wonder that George Galloway won Bradford West? This has been described as a wake-up call for Labour but this misses the point, it was a protest against the way we are being governed and should be noted by all the parties.
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