UK Politics Thread [Archive] - Page 31 - SUBSIM Radio Room Forums

STEED

12-23-17, 10:16 AM

:doh:

Taking into account we could have kept the blue passport in the first place. :doh: :doh:

The blue passport is taking back control? No, it was first imposed on us from abroad

On Thursday the Home Office announced the return of the blue British passport, to a chorus of approval from Brexiter newspapers and politicians. The irony is that the UK could have had a blue passport while an EU member. EU member state Croatia currently has a blue passport, after all. In any case – the “iconic” blue passport was imposed from abroad back in 1920 – thanks to the the League of Nations.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/22/blue-passports-taking-back-control-imposed-league-of-nations-burgundy-passport-eu

German
https://www.passport-collector.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Nazi-Germany-1946.jpg

Sorry wrong ere..

German post erased history ere. i think.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Old_German_passport.jpg/220px-Old_German_passport.jpg

french
http://french-genealogy.typepad.com/.a/6a01156f3ad8b4970c0147e151c4df970b-pi

Catfish

12-23-17, 10:32 AM

^ :haha:
Well not every german was a diplomat holding a blue pp back then, the usual passports were a boring gray. But maybe you could choose between ash-grey, stone-grey and brownish-mouse-grey, depending on your committment to the state.
The recently invented national passports for the german imperial (illegal) Reichsbuerger of 2017 though are blue, maybe coincidence.. :hmmm:

edit: where did you hide the blue Reichspass, Steed?

I guess the youngsters in England are baffled of what the brexiteers will think of next.
As Nigel said, Happy Brexmas.

STEED

12-23-17, 10:51 AM

Here is mind..

https://aipetcher.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/old-style-british-passport.jpg

Black cover. :yep:

Jimbuna

12-23-17, 11:32 AM

I remember the stiff card variant that was only valid for one year.

STEED

12-25-17, 07:14 AM

EU negotiator Guy Verhofstadt mocks Brexiteers with offer of blue passports
The former Belgian prime minister responds on Twitter, criticising the UK Government's decision to revert back to blue passports.https://news.sky.com/story/eu-negotiator-guy-verhofstadt-mocks-brexiteers-with-offer-of-blue-passports-11184118

As pointed out we did not need to change the colour and now the EU gets the last laugh.

STEED

12-25-17, 07:19 AM

Legal action to see whether UK could unilaterally stop Brexit gets go-ahead

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - A group of anti-Brexit Scottish members of parliament has been given the go-ahead to pursue legal action to establish whether the United Kingdom can unilaterally stop the process of leaving the EU, a Scottish court said on Friday.https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-article50/legal-action-to-see-whether-uk-could-unilaterally-stop-brexit-gets-go-ahead-idUKKBN1EG1MB

Relax, we will be out but still obeying all the rules and regulations without any say on the matter.

Catfish

12-25-17, 07:20 AM

*In basics* The UK is a 'NET' payer so the sums are simple, the UK will save money.

Most importantly though, and I make no apologies for my British mentality which has seen us through pretty well in history thus far....we regain control of our borders and our courts and laws and are no longer prepared to be dictated to by a bunch of predominantly unelected beurocrats.

Really, simply look at the nationalities of some of them....they hardly fill the UK population with any measure of confidence.

Of course, I may be too muddled on previous historic events of the past hundred years or so but many Brits like myself take pride in what we achieved and quite simply, that is how we'll always be.

Whilst not intended as a slur (by me at least) on any other country, I agree with that below.

https://i.imgur.com/RFJySlf.jpg

Ah i oversaw this.
Since i commented to those opinions before i will not do it again. You prefer to believe the Sun, Daily Express and Farage, so good luck with it.

STEED

12-25-17, 07:25 AM

Ah i oversaw this.
Since i commented to those opinions before i will not do it again. You prefer to believe the Sun, Daily Express and Farage, so good luck with it.

You forgot the Daily Mail Catfish. :haha:

BTW: I don't read newspapers just a wast of money. Give me a good book any day. :)

STEED

12-25-17, 01:52 PM

Political review of 2017: May, Corbyn, Brexit and election
Going back over the politics of 2017, where a surprise general election confounded pollsters, journalists and voters.
Political reporter Ellie Price examines a year dominated by the fallout from Brexit and the election campaign.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-42431933/political-review-of-2017-may-corbyn-brexit-and-election

A bad year for Maybot and just hanging on the side of the boat while Jezzer rides the wave but for how much longer?

Jimbuna

12-26-17, 07:18 AM

Ah i oversaw this.
Since i commented to those opinions before i will not do it again. You prefer to believe the Sun, Daily Express and Farage, so good luck with it.

Yes, I thought you did indeed 'overlook' this but as I posted originally, it was not intended as a 'slur' on any other countries.

As for the Sun etc. I am hoping they will shift their business operations over to mainland Europe where they deserve to be and remain in appropriate 'good,appropriate,fitting' company.

STEED

12-26-17, 07:57 AM

WHAT!

THAT BUFOON!

Nick Clegg to be knighted in New Year's Honours listhttps://news.sky.com/story/nick-clegg-to-receive-knighthood-in-new-years-honours-list-11184639

Jimbuna

12-26-17, 10:25 AM

Jealousy gets you nowhere.

Catfish

12-26-17, 01:59 PM

Yes, I thought you did indeed 'overlook' this but as I posted originally, it was not intended as a 'slur' on any other countries. [...]

I have exactly understood what you wrote. Still, all the best. :03:

Jimbuna

12-26-17, 02:02 PM

I have exactly understood what you wrote. Still, all the best. :03:

And to you and yours matey :salute:

STEED

12-26-17, 05:11 PM

Jealousy gets you nowhere.

Far from it jim, I like to see the whole rotten system swept away. If any gong/title came my way I would say bog off.

Moving on to prisons, sorry i mean holiday camps..

Prisoners get hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for lost property

More than £850,000 was awarded over the last four years for items including a dressing gown, hair clippers and trainers.

Prisoners have received hundreds of thousands of pounds in taxpayer-funded compensation for lost or damaged property.
Over 10,000 payouts have been made since 2013 for items including a dressing gown, hair clippers and trainers.

A Freedom of Information request from the Press Association showed more than £850,000 was awarded in the last four years.
https://news.sky.com/story/prisoners-get-hundreds-of-thousands-of-pounds-in-compensation-for-lost-property-11184501

Jimbuna

12-27-17, 07:44 AM

If you ever visited a one you would see the other side and it ain't very pretty.

Trust me on that.

STEED

12-27-17, 08:15 AM

If you ever visited a one you would see the other side and it ain't very pretty.

Trust me on that.

I know a Prison guard and he would disagree with you. He has to call them Sir and not by their names as this could land him in hot water. He has said they have more rights than him.

Jimbuna

12-27-17, 11:05 AM

I know a Prison guard and he would disagree with you. He has to call them Sir and not by their names as this could land him in hot water. He has said they have more rights than him.

A couple I would visit meant because of the uniform I was wearing there was a requirement to be accompanied by a dog and its handler plus the fact I was expected to leave my 'hardware in a secure box prior to entering.

STEED

12-27-17, 07:56 PM

A conservative think tank is calling for Tory grandee Lord Heseltine to have the whip withdrawn for his "sniping" about Brexit.

Members of the Bow Group have accused the former deputy prime minister of "outright sabotage" and want him expelled from the Tories' Lords group.
It comes after he suggested a Labour government would be preferable to the "long-term disaster" of Brexit.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42493735

Bah..Spineless lot, no one has the guts to take on Tarzan.:03:

Jimbuna

12-28-17, 06:45 AM

Tarzan? More like Quisling.

STEED

12-29-17, 06:35 AM

Drunk tanks may have to become the norm in towns and cities to keep "selfish" revellers out of A&E, the head of the NHS in England says.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42506706

More like hose them down with cold water.

Jimbuna

12-29-17, 07:31 AM

A date for a fresh round of political talks to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland will be set in the next few days, a DUP MP has said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-42504012

Not before time....these talks are long overdue.

kraznyi_oktjabr

12-29-17, 10:45 AM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42506706

More like hose them down with cold water.Why are you wasting medical resources to dealing with drunks? Here in Finland occasional drunks and professional boozers belong to police unless they have injury which requires medical treatment.

Police wake them up and evaluate if they can be trusted to continue on their merry way without interference. If not they are loaded into police van and hauled into jail or 'sobering station' which ever is more appropriate.

In those cases where drunk person has injuries they are either treated on scene by ambulance staff or transported by police or ambulance into hospital A&E for treatment.

A&E is last resort option for those who really need their assistance, not adult nursery.

Eichhörnchen

12-29-17, 01:40 PM

If only Professor Stanley Unwin had gone into politics... he made everything so clear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBJJ6I5a5pk

Catfish

12-29-17, 05:06 PM

^ :haha:
Very good, but too late. The explanation for an easier "entry into the common market" will be history, and you will soon have it all back, threepence, sixpence, shilling, florin and all :03:

Which will be fine by me, at least i can then get all the nuts, bolts and all that for british cars by their original designation, without having to tell Rimmer brs. that i need a bearing with a diametre of 68,85 millimeters, when 2 3/4 inch will do :D

Jimbuna

12-30-17, 06:46 AM

The latest one to jump ship....jumped before he was pushed morelike.

Lord Adonis has said he was forced to resign as an independent advisor after the government "tried to silence" him.

The former Labour minister quit his role as chairman of the government's Infrastructure Commission with an attack on Theresa May's government.

He said it had become "hyper sensitive to any criticism" as Brexit was "infecting" the whole conduct of government - including infrastructure.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42520480

STEED

12-30-17, 05:01 PM

As we near the end of 2017 over all I feel the Government has been bloody awful and the Opposition even worst. As we head into 2018 I see no hope what so ever and the down hill slide will continual. We need a big clean up at Westminster with almighty broom that will not be.

Catfish

12-30-17, 05:22 PM

How i see it with an of course outlandish point of view (not that i really know so much about political logic in my country :doh: ), i indeed think that England (which also means the UK, but England setting the course) has bigger problems than "brexit". Some of it is mentioned here in this article:

This is what we really think about Brexit in Germany (http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-germany-germans-reaction-britain-uk-scotland-leaving-european-union-nationalism-separation-a7885931.html)

"The biggest challenge for me was to try and understand those Brexiteers who enjoy all of the advantages that come with belonging to the EU but still decided to demonise it for being either a socialist conspiracy or a particularly grotesque embodiment of capitalism."

"We travelled through Northern Ireland, Scotland, the South of England and the Midlands, where very often not a single person had anything positive to say about the EU and believed it was responsible for all problems facing the UK – unemployment, lack of integration, low wages, overcrowded schools and hospitals, traffic and the downfall of British industry."

"I was genuinely shocked by the state of some of the towns, and by the many people I met who felt neglected and who were now driven by resentment. It made me feel very German because I longingly thought of the bundesfinanzausgleich (equalisation payment mechanism), a system that aims at balancing the wealth of the Bundesländer and leads to a fairer distribution of funds throughout the country."

"In a more or less desperate attempt to view the situation more objectively, I visualised to what extent the EU is an institution particularly profitable to Germany, politically and economically, and the way it has been glorified by the Germans throughout recent history. I came to realise how distorted the German view of the EU is – distorted by affection, as opposed to the hostility I was observing in the UK."

Also, that: What do Germans think about Brexit? They pity us. (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/28/philip-oltermann-brexit-germans-pragmatic-cautious-british-character-leave-vote)

"A couple of Germans will have raised a glass to the British flipping the bird at the EU establishment on Thursday night. But politically that sentiment has been voiced only in minority fringes, such as the Anti-capitalist Left group of the German Left party, or the wilder edges of Alternative für Deutschland, the party that was founded on an anti-euro ticket in 2013 and has since grown on the back of populist anti-refugee messages."

The latter is not what Germany thinks now though, i think. But the shock and disbelief was indeed present and felt here.
Unfortunately, like in Germany, the big clean up mentioned by Steed will probably never come :shifty:

STEED

12-31-17, 06:50 AM

Britons will feel "renewed confidence and pride" in 2018, Theresa May has said in her new year message.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42523607

:har: :har:

Labour is "staking out the new centre ground in British politics", Jeremy Corbyn has said in a new year message.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42524076

:har: :har: :har: :har:

LibDems next...:03:

STEED

12-31-17, 06:55 AM

Jimbuna

12-31-17, 07:02 AM

Britons will feel "renewed confidence and pride" in 2018, Theresa May has said in her new year message.

I'll believe that if and only when I personally feel that way.

STEED

12-31-17, 07:07 AM

I'll believe that if and only when I personally feel that way.

Welcome to STEED's world. :Kaleun_Smile::Kaleun_Wink::Kaleun_Applaud:

Jimbuna

12-31-17, 07:25 AM

Welcome to STEED's world. :Kaleun_Smile::Kaleun_Wink::Kaleun_Applaud:

Oh, no thanks :o

Skybird

12-31-17, 08:28 AM

What many people do not understand, foreigners and Germans alike, is to what degree WWII has destroyed any German self-identity, and wish for it. The German idealization of the big, nation-less continental supertstate is owed to the fact that Germans want to melt into this big community for one reason only: to no longer be German. this wish is due to two reasons: lacking knowledge of German history which is much more than just one and a half decade of Nazi terror, and the devastation that the experience of the nazi regime has left in the German psyche (that now is almost non-existent).

Instead of concluding that next time Germans need to fight, they should make sure they fight for the right and the lawful, for justice and for freedom, they said: "Never no fighting again never no more, no matter what" ("Nie wieder Krieg"). Which of course then necessarily implies that it is better to tolerate evil than to confront it and actively stand up against it with more than just love parades and public igniting of candles.

At the same time there is this German, still present, missonary spirit, the belief that the world just sits in waiting to follow the idealistic exampels set by Germany. Our forefathers were the perfect monsters, now we want to be the perfect penitents and the perfetc world-improvers. But in a way this attitude is not different from the supremacist belief that the Nazis based their ideology on.

This often gets not understood by non-Germans . And not by most Germans anyway. But it explains why Germany gets pulled over the table in the EU so often, and why it accepts and allows it, and why the views on power and EU are so different in the UK and Germany.

I stick to it: the germans are hysterical romanticists.

I read some months ago a quote by Napoleon, where he said, in his time already, that although the Germans sentmentally are one of the most sympathetic people in Europe, they probbaly also are the dumbest of them all: you only need to throw them any parole you imagine, and then you can see them going after each other in most merciless, brutal fashion, and no mere claim can be absurd enough as if Germans neverthelss would not most enthusiastically believe it. Considering the many, partially already spoiled, claims and promises made about the EU and other things like certain practical implications of environment or alternative agricultural policies, especially the last part of Napoleons assessment is still so very much true.

Hysterical romanticists. Mark my words: Germany still is dangerous to the world, and especially Europe. Not militarily, but it again leads the continent into its demise. By other means than by war, but still.

"Identity" is something that has historically grown, it cannot be artificially prescribed and commanded for and replaced by bureaucrats according to their latest, newest, coolest short time ideology. That is what the EU rejects to understand. Because it would be a death sentence to its high-flying plans.

STEED

12-31-17, 08:44 AM

Oh, no thanks :o

You can not resist free beer and a good laugh.:haha:

And now prediction time...

Local elections will see a up turn for Labour and a down turn for the conservatives.

Round two of Brexit will weaken Maybot even more but she will remain as PM.

Old JC will continual to declare he is ready for government. While that dodgy movement takes charge of the Labour party.

LibDems will in most part will be lost in the maze and from time to time pop their head up to prove they are still here.

SNP may step up more pressure on PM May and the DUP will get its way on getting more money.

More resignations and sacking in the government go without saying and scandals you can bet your ass there will be.

STEED

12-31-17, 07:37 PM

2018 is here so lets get stuck in...

Beer all round. :)

Normal service will resume soon.

STEED

01-01-18, 06:24 AM

CARE TO NOTE YOU WILL NEED TO LOG IN TO THE TIMES TO READ THE FULL STORY
Most Britons believe that their job will be safe in 2018 and house prices will rise, according to a wide-ranging poll for The Times

I find that hard to believe about jobs and if house prices rise the bubble could burst.

Here's the Mail's take on this story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5225565/UK-says-2018-bring-job-security-rising-house-prices.html?ITO=1490

Brexit boost my arse.

Jimbuna

01-01-18, 03:19 PM

CARE TO NOTE YOU WILL NEED TO LOG IN TO THE TIMES TO READ THE FULL STORY

I find that hard to believe about jobs and if house prices rise the bubble could burst.

Here's the Mail's take on this story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5225565/UK-says-2018-bring-job-security-rising-house-prices.html?ITO=1490

Brexit boost my arse.

Quoted for posterity.

Jimbuna

01-01-18, 03:21 PM

The UK's aid budget will be shifted to projects that promote its interests, the foreign secretary has said.

Boris Johnson said the money will be "more sensibly distributed" to support foreign policy aims such as denying safe havens to Islamist militants.

His comments came as Penny Mordaunt, the international development secretary, said the UK will provide a £21m boost to an emergency aid fund.

The UK currently spends £13bn on aid each year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42528712

Now this is a seismic shift in the right direction.

STEED

01-02-18, 06:40 AM

FAT CATS STRIKE BACK...

Rail fare rises: Commuters 'priced off' UK trains, protestors say

Average rail ticket prices have risen by 3.4% across the UK, in the biggest increase to fares since 2013.
Protests are under way at some 40 stations, as many commuters see their season tickets go up by more than £100.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42536159

Fatcats will always win unless you rise up and they know that will not happen.

Chris Grayling has insisted he is not "shirking" his job by travelling to Qatar on the day the biggest rise in UK rail fares since 2013 came into effect.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42540370

Oh come off it with that old one.

STEED

01-02-18, 06:47 PM

Theresa May declares 'personal mission' to fix housing crisis

The PM promises to "restore the dream of home ownership" - but Labour says she has "no plans to fix the housing crisis".
https://news.sky.com/story/theresa-may-declares-personal-mission-to-fix-housing-crisis-11193361

I get the impression from all of them that none of them know how to fix this problem.

Skybird

01-02-18, 07:05 PM

What was it that started the outbreak of the US debt crsis before 2007 - wasn't it about Clintonian order for banks giving credit to buyers of houses who by their income could not afford to buy houses or pay back credits...? :hmmm:

In 2000, I moved into my current flat, as a leaseholder. Four years later, I bought it. I paid the price in full in cash, so to speak, did not take any credit. I still think this is trhe only way to realyl, honestly buy things of material value. You cannot buy what you cannot afford. That simple. Cannot pay the price? Get somethign else that is cheaper, or save more money. Nobody would ever have needed to "save my dream" - by triggering a mortgage crisis.

Dreams do not give you claim. Realising them for you is not something the others owe to you. You have to realise your dream by yourself.

Jimbuna

01-03-18, 07:49 AM

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has apologised to patients in England affected by a decision to postpone tens of thousands of operations in January.

Non-urgent treatments had already been postponed until mid-January, but NHS England said on Tuesday that would now be extended to the end of the month.

It came after hospitals reported they were struggling to cope with the surge in patients being seen since Christmas.

Mr Hunt said it was "absolutely not what I want".

But he said the move was needed given the pressure hospitals were under.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42552267

This situation at this time of year is predictable but Mr Hunt has been the Health Secretary for quite a while now improvements are long overdue.

He's also got the thickest teflon coat in the cabinet.

STEED

01-03-18, 05:06 PM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42552267

This situation at this time of year is predictable but Mr Hunt has been the Health Secretary for quite a while now improvements are long overdue.

He's also got the thickest teflon coat in the cabinet.

Some one is telling a load of BS, PM May states there is no crises and on the other side some one said there is a crisis. Therefore some one is telling a pack of lies as both sides can not be right.

Jimbuna

01-03-18, 05:34 PM

Politics that is.

STEED

01-03-18, 05:41 PM

Politics that is.

Or to put it another way the truth will never come out. If PM May is telling lies she should step down. If it's from the other side who is this invisible person telling lies. The NHS is not a point scoring banter game, people are dying. About time the press stopped farting around and lay it on the line.

STEED

01-03-18, 07:14 PM

Teflon Tony is back again...

Tony Blair has attacked Labour's "timidity" on Brexit, saying it would deliver a departure from the EU designed by the "Tory right".http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42558162

I don't think people have forgiven him so his comments will fall on deaf ears.

STEED

01-03-18, 07:26 PM

UKIP NEWS

Old 54 year old Henry Bolton leader of UKIP dumps his wife for a 25 year old dolly bird. You dirty old man you are, as for you Jo Marney he is old enough to be your father!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5233291/Ukip-leader-54-admits-leaving-wife-model-aged-25.html

Jimbuna

01-04-18, 09:23 AM

Plans for the way farming subsidies will be dealt with after Brexit have been set out by Michael Gove.

Farmers will receive payments for "public goods", such as access to the countryside and planting meadows.

The environment secretary told farmers the government would guarantee subsidies at the current EU level until the 2022 election. There would then be a "transitional period" in England.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42559845

Well, this is a start, just fisheries and a host of other subjects to cover but if subsidies are being guaranteed at the current EU level then there is some hope for those who would be most at risk.

Jimbuna

01-05-18, 09:25 AM

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage is to meet the EU's chief Brexit negotiator in Brussels next Monday.

He wrote to Michel Barnier in October to request a meeting, the day after Mr Barnier met three high-profile pro-EU politicians from the UK.

Mr Farage said Mr Barnier was listening to people "who want to stop or delay Brexit" while he would represent the 17.4 million who voted for it.

The two men will meet on Monday at the European Commission headquarters.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42569888

I'd love to be a fly on the wall at that meeting.

Catfish

01-05-18, 10:22 AM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42569888

I'd love to be a fly on the wall at that meeting.

I would like to be an armed drone on the wall :haha:
I wonder what Farage says alone, without his usual audience.

STEED

01-05-18, 03:17 PM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42569888

I'd love to be a fly on the wall at that meeting.

It will be all over his radio show the day after. :03:

The Conservative Party should "come clean" about how many members it has, its former chairman has said.

Grant Shapps said "transparency" on membership numbers was vital even if the figure appeared to be "embarrassing".
The party last published figures in 2013, when it had 149,800 members but has refused to publish an update since then.
Activists and academics have estimated it has fallen to 100,000, or less.
That would make the Conservatives the fourth largest party in the UK, behind Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, according to politics professor and party membership expert Tim Bale, assuming their rivals have "held above 100,000".http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42565294

OK jim left the Labour party and clearly looks like not joining the tories or the SNP. This leaves the LibDems and the Greens and UKIP so UKIP are like the Tories so there out and hippy greens must be out as well...Jim must have joined the LibDems! :03:

A leading member of Jeremy Corbyn's top team has described Labour's spending plans as a "bit of a high-risk s*** or bust strategy".

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner told The Spectator that the UK was crying out for investment, adding that great strides had been made in the past when politicians were ready to take risks.

But the Conservatives were quick to seize on the comments, with the party accusing Labour of economic recklessness.https://news.sky.com/story/labours-spending-plans-are-a-bit-of-a-s-or-bust-strategy-shadow-minister-says-11195726

So that means clueless. :doh: :haha:

Jimbuna

01-05-18, 09:02 PM

It certainly does :yep:

Jimbuna

01-09-18, 11:37 AM

Theresa May's cabinet has met for the first time after a reshuffle that triggered a resignation and was called a "lacklustre PR exercise" by Labour.

Justine Greening quit after refusing to move departments, and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt persuaded the PM to keep him in post with a beefed-up role.

The most high-profile cabinet ministers all kept their jobs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42619018

The PM is strengthening the support around her in preparation of the mammoth tasks ahead for the government.

STEED

01-09-18, 12:23 PM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42619018

The PM is strengthening the support around her in preparation of the mammoth tasks ahead for the government.

What a load of tosh. :haha:

It has now become clear PM May has no crown, her cabinet calls the shots. :har:

That swine Hunt remains in Health with more power, Greening to be downgraded said no thank you and leaves. And the BITCH QUEEN OF HATRED is back in Work and Pensions!!! All unemployed and pensioners start praying....FAST.

STEED

01-09-18, 12:41 PM

I listening to the radio the other day since the general election MP's have carried out 26,000 searches for PORN!

Clearly getting their jolly fill is far more important to them than serving the very people who voted for them. :doh:

Jimbuna

01-09-18, 01:25 PM

Theresa May's cabinet: Who's who and how diverse are they?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42615109

STEED

01-09-18, 01:32 PM

Watch out Jim the BITCH is back, Esther McVey the heartless bitch ever there was one.

She will probably recommend a cut in pensions or a freeze. :shifty:

Jimbuna

01-09-18, 01:46 PM

Whatever if ever can't be anywhere as bad as the six year hike on my wifes pension.

STEED

01-09-18, 02:41 PM

Esther McVey back in 2013 Moday 30th Dec

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkjM6nvIMAEl4WT.jpg

And that is a Tory rag!

Jimbuna

01-09-18, 02:47 PM

People in glass houses...

STEED

01-09-18, 02:52 PM

I fear for those who are making the effort to getting back to work and the sick along with pensioners. This woman is nasty and that is putting it in a way Bossmark would say is too nice for her.

Jimbuna

01-09-18, 03:16 PM

Just as well we have an alternative 'government in waiting' :haha:

STEED

01-09-18, 05:33 PM

Just as well we have an alternative 'government in waiting' :haha:

I was not aware we had one, the whole lot in opposition are unfit and so is the one that is pretending to be the government. You may as well put a brick wall in charge, at lease we can bulldoze that down after five years if it failed.:03:

Jimbuna

01-10-18, 07:26 AM

Nice to see the same old, same old PMQ's back :zzz:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-parliaments-42607811

STEED

01-10-18, 07:44 AM

Welcome to STEED's new PMQ score card.

Every PMQ's all leaders stand on 0 points they gain points for good questions and answers. They loose points for bad questions, answers, evasion and cheap shots. The weekly points will be added up as the year goes on. I will not be making any more comments on PMQ's.

PM Theresa May (Conservatives) 0 +1 +1 -1 +1 -1 +1 -1 +1 +1

Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) 0 +1 +1 +1 +1 -1 -1

Vince Cable (LibDems) 0

Ian Blackford (SNP) 0 +1 -1

Caroline Lucas (Greens) 0

ON GOING SCORE CARD

PM Theresa May (Conservatives) 3

Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) 2

Vince Cable (LibDems) 0

Ian Blackford (SNP) 0

Caroline Lucas (Greens) 0

STEED

01-10-18, 10:31 AM

Universal Credit: More than one million calls to helpline abandonedhttps://news.sky.com/story/over-one-million-calls-to-universal-credit-helpline-abandoned-11202183

I can not comment on the here and now, around 2012 I had to call the helpline which was not free and I could be waiting on the phone more than 45 minutes! It sounds to me there is not enough operators/advisor's at the other end then and now.

Jimbuna

01-10-18, 11:08 AM

Prime Minister's Questions: The key bits and the verdict on the BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42635355

Fubar2Niner

01-10-18, 01:17 PM

Esther McVey back in 2013 Moday 30th Dec

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkjM6nvIMAEl4WT.jpg

And that is a Tory rag!

This popped up on FB today

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sack-esther-mcvey?bucket&source=facebook-share-button&time=1515493788

STEED

01-10-18, 02:30 PM

This popped up on FB today

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sack-esther-mcvey?bucket&source=facebook-share-button&time=1515493788

Problem is the cabinet is pulling PM May's strings. I would not rule out that woman throwing her hat in the ring when May steps down.

Fubar2Niner

01-10-18, 02:40 PM

Agreed mate, if ever there was a Thatcher clone, by God she's it :/\\!!:/\\!!

Jimbuna

01-10-18, 05:58 PM

Agreed mate, if ever there was a Thatcher clone, by God she's it :/\\!!:/\\!!

Call Thatcher if you must but at least she had a backbone when it came to defending Britains interests.

Economics and defence are worlds apart.

Jimbuna

01-11-18, 09:48 AM

Patients 'dying in hospital corridors'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42572116

There are some seriously worrying statistics in the above.

STEED

01-12-18, 05:57 PM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42572116

There are some seriously worrying statistics in the above.

Clearly Hunt and May must go...

FAKE NEWS, the government knows best.

Jimbuna

01-13-18, 07:50 AM

Labour has stepped up its investigations into two MPs accused of sexual harassment.

The cases of Ivan Lewis and Kelvin Hopkins have both been referred to an internal disciplinary committee.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42664917

I'd rather cases like this went to an independent source.

STEED

01-14-18, 07:05 AM

UKIP NEWS

54 year old Henry Bolton leader of UKIP dumps his wife for a 25 year old dolly bird. You dirty old man you are, as for you Jo Marney he is old enough to be your father!

Looks like OLD Henry's bit on the side has caused him problems..

UKIP has suspended the girlfriend of party leader Henry Bolton after she apparently made racist remarks about Prince Harry's fiancee Meghan Markle.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42679187

You are a dirty old foolish man now Henry and unfit to be leader. :doh:

Serves you right. :O:

STEED

01-14-18, 07:10 AM

The Conservatives need to take the fight to Labour on social media, the party's new chairman has said.

Brandon Lewis said the Tories intended to use Twitter, Facebook and Instagram more to "talk" to voters.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42680375

Agreed, Labour have already done well in that area but the question is are you going to get down with the young or put them down in your normal snooty way? :hmmm:

Jimbuna

01-14-18, 07:58 AM

Looks like OLD Henry's bit on the side has caused him problems..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42679187

You are a dirty old foolish man now Henry and unfit to be leader. :doh:

Serves you right. :O:

Some might say 'dirty lucky old man'.

Jimbuna

01-14-18, 07:59 AM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42680375

Agreed, Labour have already done well in that area but the question is are you going to get down with the young or put them down in your normal snooty way? :hmmm:

I doubt some of them can actually show respect to themselves.

STEED

01-15-18, 06:30 AM

UKIP leader Henry Bolton says he has ended his relationship with his girlfriend after she reportedly made racist comments about Meghan Markle.

He said their romance was "obviously quite incompatible" with his role as party leader but he had no intention of resigning.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42686932

Sounds like her sexual appetite was too much for a old sod like you.

Jimbuna

01-16-18, 10:59 AM

Donald Tusk: EU's 'heart still open to UK' over Brexit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42702065

I think someones having a larf :hmmm:

Catfish

01-16-18, 01:53 PM

Manchester.

Jimbuna

01-17-18, 08:34 AM

Manchester.

??? :hmmm:

Jimbuna

01-17-18, 08:36 AM

The NHS is "haemorrhaging" nurses with one in 10 now leaving the NHS in England each year, figures show.

More than 33,000 walked away last year, piling pressure on understaffed hospitals and community services.

The figures - provided to the BBC by NHS Digital - represent a rise of 20% since 2012-13, and mean there are now more leavers than joiners.

Nurse leaders said it was a "dangerous and downward spiral", but NHS bosses said the problem was being tackled.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42653542

Now this troubles me greatly.

STEED

01-17-18, 11:51 AM

STEED's new PMQ score card.

PM Theresa May (Conservatives) 4

Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) 4

Vince Cable (LibDems) 0

Ian Blackford (SNP) 2

Caroline Lucas (Greens) 0

ON GOING SCORE CARD AFTER 2 PMQ's

PM Theresa May (Conservatives) 7

Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) 6

Vince Cable (LibDems) 0

Ian Blackford (SNP) 2

Caroline Lucas (Greens) 0

STEED

01-17-18, 12:12 PM

Now this troubles me greatly.

Don't panic illegal immigrants and the unemployed will fill the gaps, the Tories have all the answers. :03:

Jimbuna

01-17-18, 08:08 PM

Well Corbyn certainly doesn't.

Catfish

01-18-18, 04:38 AM

Maybe Johnson and Farage have all the answers :hmmm:

Jimbuna

01-18-18, 08:00 AM

I doubt anyone on either side of the divide can honestly say they have the answer/s.

Meanwhile, Britain stumps up a further £44 million for Channel border security.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42723401

Jimbuna

01-18-18, 08:05 AM

A fresh round of talks aimed at restoring devolution in Northern Ireland has been announced by the secretary of state.

Talks involving all five main parties will begin next Wednesday, 24 January.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-42721153

At long last and hopefully they will lead to a resumption of some level of 'normality'.

Catfish

01-18-18, 08:48 AM

I doubt anyone on either side of the divide can honestly say they have the answer/s. [...]

I agree.
However when i create a situation on one certain "side of the divide", i should a) stay in office and take responsibility and b) have maybe at least one answer. But it is all a game, for them. And their pensions are solid.

Not that Germany's politicians are any better right now.. :D

Jimbuna

01-18-18, 08:58 AM

True that :yep:

STEED

01-18-18, 07:06 PM

STEED

01-18-18, 07:16 PM

But it is all a game, for them. And their pensions are solid.

Of course it is, I hate career politician's who are a load of B'stards. The whole political system is out of date and needs a big broom to sweep away the rotten system that suites this lot. But I know it will never ever happen and it's only going to get worst. As for their pensions they have to win two elections that don't have to be back to back, once they done that they are set up to the day they snuff it.

Skybird

01-19-18, 07:42 AM

Society will develop a new kind of servitude which covers the surface of society with a network of complicated rules, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate. It does not tyrannise but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.
(...)
Tyranny in democratic republics does not proceed in the same way, however. It ignores the body and goes straight for the soul. The master no longer says: You will think as I do or die. He says: You are free not to think as I do. You may keep your life, your property, and everything else. But from this day forth you shall be as a stranger among us. You will retain your civic privileges, but they will be of no use to you. For if you seek the votes of your fellow citizens, they will withhold them, and if you seek only their esteem, they will feign to refuse even that. You will remain among men, but you will forfeit your rights to humanity. When you approach your fellow creatures, they will shun you as one who is impure. And even those who believe in your innocence will abandon you, lest they, too, be shunned in turn. Go in peace, I will not take your life, but the life I leave you with is worse than death.
(...)
It's not an endlessly expanding list of rights — the 'right' to education, the 'right' to health care, the 'right' to food and housing. That's not freedom, that's dependency. Those aren't rights, those are the rations of slavery — hay and a barn for human cattle.

- Alexis de Tocqueville -

Jimbuna

01-19-18, 10:28 AM

Downing Street has said there are "no specific plans" for a bridge between the UK and France after Boris Johnson floated the idea of a "fixed link".

The UK foreign secretary reportedly ran the idea past French President Emmanuel Macron at a summit on Thursday.

But Downing Street said he had been referring to a panel looking at Anglo-French major projects.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42743909

Boris at it again!! :hmmm:

There's never a show without Punch :)

Moonlight

01-19-18, 11:03 AM

Migrants in Calais will be fast-tracked to the UK after PM bows to the French: Visa applications will now take just one month after May and Macron agree 'Sandhurst Treaty' shake up

Theresa May is not content with getting shafted enough at home so she went out and got herself a French toyboy to shaft her as well, a bloody whore would be prosecuted for dropping her panties in public like Theresa has but that won't happen to this tory bitch will it.
I hope those who voted for her can see her for what she really is, an appeaser with no backbone and the morals of a bleeding alley cat, I'll bet the tory voters were wetting themselves at the prospect of having another Maggie Thatcher on their hands but instead they've got this hunt.
Hmmmmm, I've spelled that last word wrong.

Jimbuna

01-19-18, 11:07 AM

Theresa May is not content with getting shafted enough at home so she went out and got herself a French toyboy to shaft her as well, a bloody whore would be prosecuted for dropping her panties in public like Theresa has but that won't happen to this tory bitch will it.
I hope those who voted for her can see her for what she really is, an appeaser with no backbone and the morals of a bleeding alley cat, I'll bet the tory voters were wetting themselves at the prospect of having another Maggie Thatcher on their hands but instead they've got this hunt.
Hmmmmm, I've spelled that last word wrong.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42723401

Moonlight

01-19-18, 05:29 PM

^Thank you for that link old boy, I'm getting senile in my old age. :yep:

STEED

01-20-18, 07:44 AM

Theresa May is not content with getting shafted enough at home so she went out and got herself a French toyboy to shaft her as well, a bloody whore would be prosecuted for dropping her panties in public like Theresa has

Send that to the PM, and post her reply here. :03:

I suspect it will probably read..

Dear Mr Moonlight

Thank you for your letter, unfortunately the PM is very busy with matter of state and is unavailable to read your letter at the present time. On behalf of her Majority's government thank you for your letter.

No.10

Jimbuna

01-20-18, 08:10 AM

French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested the UK could get a special trade deal with the EU after Brexit.

But he warned that Britain would not have full access to the single market without accepting its rules.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42757026

Oui :hmmm:

STEED

01-20-18, 08:13 AM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42757026

Oui :hmmm:

This seems to suggest they are trying to keep us in the EU framework.

Jimbuna

01-20-18, 08:15 AM

I doubt either side is finished with the horsetrading yet...the day is still young.

STEED

01-20-18, 08:20 AM

I doubt either side is finished with the horsetrading yet...the day is still young.

Time for some...

https://i0.wp.com/www.techjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/popcorn-1085072_1280.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1

Jimbuna

01-20-18, 08:45 AM

https://i.imgur.com/6lpmyb4.gif

STEED

01-20-18, 01:36 PM

Meanwhile in UKIP land..

A leading UKIP politician has quit the party saying its leader Henry Bolton is "not the right person for the job" and its influence over Brexit is waning.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42745613

Big deal, another B'stard who thinks he has the right to walk over the voters who voted for him by staying on as an Independent. I don't give a toss what party these people represent, if you disagree with the party by leaving you should step down outright from the position you hold.

There should be a election, once again these politicians crave power and money without a care to the voters. :nope:

STEED

01-21-18, 06:08 AM

The future of UKIP leader Henry Bolton will be up for discussion when the party's national executive committee (NEC) holds an emergency meeting later.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42764822

I hear from the news there has been threats of party members cancelling their memberships along with other threats.

This one is for you Henry..:03:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN1WwnEDWAM

STEED

01-21-18, 06:20 AM

Repeated bail-outs to help the NHS cope with pressure on services and finances could become the "new normal", the National Audit Office has said.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42718510

Here is a good idea, count every penny spent and where it was spent. As I said before way back in the 1990's I worked in the NHS and clearly saw money being diverted to management so they can purchase a new expensive car every year. Fair enough to say I do not know what it is like now but I bet money is going into areas it should not.

Jimbuna

01-21-18, 08:53 AM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42764822

I hear from the news there has been threats of party members cancelling their memberships along with other threats.

This one is for you Henry..:03:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN1WwnEDWAM

That happens in any politicial party.

I left Labour the day after the 'unelectable' came to power.

Jimbuna

01-21-18, 08:59 AM

CBI calls for UK to remain in a customs union with EU

CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn said there was a "lack of clarity" surrounding ongoing talks about the future of UK-EU trade.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42765661

Nothing beats stating the obvious :doh:

STEED

01-22-18, 07:17 AM

DEAD MAN WALKING

Henry Bolten the party is over for you.

UKIP leader Henry Bolton has been hit by resignations from his front bench team as pressure mounts on him to quit.

Assistant deputy leader Mike Hookem joined trade and industry spokesman William Dartmouth, deputy leader Margot Parker and immigration spokesman John Bickley in resigning.

Mr Hookem said: "The story has become about the leader's personal life."http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42770361

STEED

01-22-18, 07:28 AM

Labour's candidates for general election target seats revealedhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42735945

I'm safe. :)

Jimbuna

01-22-18, 07:43 AM

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has been warned of a "substantial" revolt by Tory MPs in the event of more cuts to army numbers and naval capability.

Ex-minister James Gray urged ministers not to use a security review next year as "camouflage" for a cut in manpower.

Some Tory MPs have spoken out to warn the UK is at a defence crossroads.

In his first Commons outing since he took the job, Mr Williamson said he was "in awe" of British troops and would do everything he could to support them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42142390

Cut overseas aid as an alternative.

STEED

01-22-18, 07:49 AM

Cut overseas aid as an alternative.

It should be stopped if the country states thanks for your help but we are all right now as India said some years ago. And yet we still give them money. :rolleyes:

Jimbuna

01-22-18, 07:54 AM

Hard to believe Syria is one of the top ten recipients :hmmm:

STEED

01-22-18, 11:10 AM

I hear 12 have now resigned in UKIP! The rats are leaving the sinking ship as HMS Henry the people love me and I will not accept the truth Bolton slowly sinks to the murky bottom of the sea.

Jimbuna

01-22-18, 12:19 PM

Henry Bolton has insisted he will not quit as UKIP leader, saying it is "time to drain the swamp" of malcontents within the party.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42770361

I wonder where I've heard that one before :hmmm:

STEED

01-22-18, 12:27 PM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42770361

I wonder where I've heard that one before :hmmm:

ME...I SAID IT, TRUMP STOLE IT. :03:

Tune into LBC 7pm as Nigel talks to or about Henry. This should be interesting or dull, beer on stand by.

Fubar2Niner

01-22-18, 04:43 PM

.............. This should be interesting or dull, beer on stand by.

:har::har::har::har:

Oh the implications, my guess is it will be horse dung spouted by the usual horse dung spouters. Beer sounds good tho mate ;) :Kaleun_Cheers:

Jimbuna

01-23-18, 08:18 AM

Theresa May has called for discussions about future NHS funding to remain private after Boris Johnson publicly called for more money after Brexit.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42783247

Can't say I disagree with him but Boris must be the loosest cannon in the cabinet.

STEED

01-23-18, 09:54 AM

Nigel Farage last night on LBC gave UKIP 18 months before it's fall and end. :hmmm:

Jimbuna

01-23-18, 10:34 AM

That's being a tad generous.

Catfish

01-24-18, 04:36 AM

STEED

01-24-18, 07:01 AM

A lot of media here see Carillion as a foretaste of brexit, now i see the english Guardian also does:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/15/jobs-carillion-liquidation-construction-hs2

“What’s happening with Carillion yet again shows the perils of allowing privatisation to run rampant in our schools, our hospitals and our prisons.”

Same as in Germany, privatization is always regarded as the solution for all problems by "conservative" (lmao) politicians, but it is not. Here, all transportation systems and infrastructure, trains, rails, electricity, powerplants, information exchange has initially all been built and run by Germany, initially paid for by german taxpayers.

Now amost all has been privatized, with a lot of services now being stalled, abandoned or the companies just taking the money and then quitting. With catastrophic results to rails infrastructue, powerlines and so forth. Lack of maintenance everywhere. While the government has sold all its "silverware" to companies, the latter just take all and have a good laugh. It is all about disappropriating people.

Losses are socialised, profits are privatised.

On topic again: Will the english government now take back all those contracts and run the services by government action again? I cannot say i expect that, from the Tories :hmmm:

All our utility company's that I am where of like gas water electricity were all privatised. You have to keep shopping around every year to get a good deal for a year and its hard work. Most people will not do this and once they fall out of contract their bills go sky high.

Privatising British Rail was a massive mistake. I just don't understand why people pay those sky high rocket prices. Every new year train companies put the prices up the people complain the news reports it and that is it until next year. I got relatives up North and I just can not afford the cost to visit them on the railway. I'm looking into going up by coach later this year to see them as they are getting on in age.

The Tories dare not for the moment privatise the whole of the NHS on the back of Labour's back door sell off of certain sections to the private sector that has come back to haunt them. The NHS is in a mess which both the Tories and Labour don't have the answer for.

Jimbuna

01-24-18, 07:10 AM

On topic again: Will the english government now take back all those contracts and run the services by government action again? I cannot say i expect that, from the Tories :hmmm:

Labour are on record as saying they would but the cost would be possibly billions and thus far they aren't saying who they would borrow the vast sums from or the potential consequences to the British economy.

STEED

01-24-18, 07:44 AM

STEED's new PMQ score card.

PM Theresa May (Conservatives) 0

Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) 0

Vince Cable (LibDems) 0

Ian Blackford (SNP) 0

Caroline Lucas (Greens) 0

ON GOING SCORE CARD AFTER 3 PMQ's

PM Theresa May (Conservatives) 7

Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) 6

Vince Cable (LibDems) 0

Ian Blackford (SNP) 2

Caroline Lucas (Greens) 0

Jimbuna

01-24-18, 08:02 AM

The former head of the Commons expenses watchdog has accused MPs who blocked his appointment to a new job of a "squalid vendetta".

Sir Ian Kennedy said a "rump" of MPs opposed his attempts to "clean up" the expenses rules and "simply want the old system back".

He was responding to a vote on Tuesday where MPs rejected his appointment as an electoral commissioner.

Sir Ian had already been recommended by an independent panel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42798205

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

STEED

01-24-18, 07:31 PM

David Cameron: Brexit's turned out 'less badly than first thought'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42806207

Nice one dodgy dave. :har: :har:

Skybird

01-25-18, 07:01 AM

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42805485

So Johnson descends from a mummy. That explains a lot in his odd behaviour. If you compare pictures showing their skull content, the resemblance strikes the eye.

:D

Jimbuna

01-25-18, 08:59 AM

Related to Boris eh? :hmmm:

The lady has my sympathies :O:

Jimbuna

01-25-18, 09:12 AM

A government minister has been reprimanded by No 10 for attending a men-only gala that led to allegations of sexual harassment and groping.

Children and families minister Nadhim Zahawi said he attended The Presidents Club fundraiser but left early.

The Presidents Club said it was closing and would no longer hold events after an undercover reporter for the Financial Times revealed hostesses were subject to groping and lewd comments.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42813873

Totally unacceptable and only right that he should be reprimanded :yep:

Catfish

01-25-18, 10:26 AM

^ i thought all of those english clubs are private.. :03:

Jimbuna

01-25-18, 10:34 AM

Nothing remains private for long after an undercover visit from the press.

STEED

01-25-18, 06:55 PM

STEED

01-25-18, 07:09 PM

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has called for a fundamental change in ministers' tone on Brexit, accusing UK negotiators of being "cowed by the EU".http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42823654

Only the Mogg will deliver, get rid of the wets.

Jimbuna

01-26-18, 07:52 AM

Yet another backbencher speaking out in an effort not to be forgotten about.

STEED

01-27-18, 07:02 AM

Grass roots UKIP goes EX-UKIP in Thurrock as the cracks get bigger.

All 17 UKIP councillors in Thurrock - including an MEP - have resigned from the party and formed a new group.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-42830757

Jimbuna

01-27-18, 07:34 AM

David Davis has said there is "no difference" between him, the chancellor and prime minister following a Tory row over the terms of a Brexit transition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42827270

Well, you could have fooled me :hmmm:

STEED

01-27-18, 01:17 PM

The Momentum-backed chairwoman of a London Labour Party branch called for Donald Trump to be assassinated before he could be inaugurated as president.

The day after Mr Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in November 2016, Caragh Skipper wrote in a public Facebook post: “Ok, who’s shooting Trump before January?”

At the time Ms Skipper was an officer of the Croydon branch of Momentum, the activist group set up to support Jeremy Corbyn after his leadership victory in 2015. She has since become chairwoman of the local party in Croydon Central, a seat that Labour won in Junehttps://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/momentum-official-caragh-skipper-called-for-president-trump-s-assassination-xkf9vlrvw

I would have liked to read all of this but you have to log in to The Times these days.

STEED

01-27-18, 01:58 PM

British officials are in discussions with Brussels about extending the Brexit transition period to almost three years, The Telegraph has learnt.

The official Government target for transition is “around two years” but many senior Whitehall officials remain privately concerned about the practicality of such a short transition, given potentially massive changes that would be required by a “hard” Brexit.

The Telegraph understands that although it is not formally Government policy, Britain has discreetly begun sounding out senior EU figures over whether transition could be extended amid growing disarray within the Cabinet over the ultimate terms of a long-term deal with the EU.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/01/26/british-officials-secret-discussions-brussels-extend-brexit/

Like the Times you have to log in for the full story.

Here is the Express point of view..

Brexit BETRAYAL: UK working to EXTEND transition to THREE YEARS
BRITISH officials are secretly talking to EU officials about the possibility of extending the Brexit transition period to almost three years.https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/910630/brexit-eu-david-davis-theresa-may-uk-transition-period-michel-barnier-guy-verhofstadt

Jimbuna

01-28-18, 07:50 AM

Trump: 'I would have taken a tougher stand in getting out'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-42850362/trump-i-would-have-taken-a-tougher-stand-in-getting-out

Jimbuna

01-28-18, 07:54 AM

Meanwhile, Jeremy has the answer to homelessness.

A Labour government would "immediately" buy 8,000 homes and help councils "take over" empty properties, Jeremy Corbyn has said.

The Labour leader told the BBC the scale of homelessness in the UK was "disgusting" and "wholly unnecessary".

Powers to take over properties that were kept vacant deliberately would be given to councils, he said.

On the prospect of another general election, he told The Andrew Marr Show: "Bring it on."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42851024

Moonlight

01-28-18, 09:24 AM

^Theresa May hasn't got one though has she? hold on a minute, that would be a radical step in the right direction wouldn't it, an actual caring Tory prime minister, nah not a chance. :haha:

Meanwhile poor Theresa has other more pressing matters on her hands, a possible leadership challenge amongst her Tory faithful, whoa, she won't like that on her political CV will she?. Mind you, it will fit right in alongside the worst Home Secretary there's ever been one and below the worst Tory leader they've had for bleeding decades one won't it. :har:

Stressful times Theresa, stressful times.............. its all your own fault you muppet. :yep:

The stormclouds are gathering above the Brexit Tory backbenchers and they'll need to act now and elect a new leader before she hands the country back into the clenched fist of the EU.
Theresa May needs consigning to the dustbin of British political history where she belongs or those Brexit MPs will all be smeared in the same excrement that she bathes in.

Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn is playing the smart game, he understands that you don't interrupt an enemy while they're playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded revolver.
Some MPs going to take a big fall soon and the only 2 questions that needs asking are, who will it be and when will it happen. :O:

Jimbuna

01-29-18, 07:20 AM

Carillion "wriggled out" of payments into its company pension schemes as its troubles grew, while it carried on paying shareholder dividends and bosses' bonuses, say MPs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42853895

Pension payments should never be allowed to be deferred under any circumstances whilst an employer is still operating/trading and the above isn't the first in recent times...BHS anybody?

STEED

01-29-18, 08:39 AM

It looks like old Jezzer has been kissing the wrong butts. Getting down with the young voters turns out it was the 30 plus group that gave Labour the boost at the last GE.

Theresa May should blame people in their 30s, rather than the youngest voters, for the loss of her parliamentary majority, a new study suggests.

"Youthquake" was the Oxford English dictionary's "word of the year" for 2017, after a surge in turnout among 18-24 year-olds in last year's general election was claimed by some as boosting Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party.

But academics from the "gold standard" British Election Study say that was not the case.https://news.sky.com/story/was-the-youthquake-at-the-2017-general-election-a-myth-11227634

STEED

01-29-18, 08:52 AM

Angela Merkel 'ridicules Theresa May's Brexit demands during "secret" press briefing'
Chancellor claims British Prime Minister has repeatedly asked Germany to 'make me an offer'http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/angela-merkel-theresa-may-brexit-demands-press-briefing-davos-eu-talks-a8183436.html?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter

Theresa the appeaser getting weaker.

Angela Merkel reportedly left journalists “laughing uproariously” after mocking Theresa May‘s attempts to negotiate a trading relationship post-Brexit.

The German chancellor said she had been trapped in a recurring conversation with the British Prime Minister since the EU referendum in 2016.

Speaking to a “secret” press meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ms Merkel claimed Ms May had repeatedly asked her to “make me an offer”, according to a report by ITV political pundit Robert Peston.

STEED

01-29-18, 10:20 AM

I am listening to this now, will post a comment later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20VBbd4AGqs

STEED

01-29-18, 11:08 AM

I think the up coming local elections the Tories will take a hit and if that hit is hard enough it could trigger a leadership challenge to Mrs May. The Tories could face a defeat at the next general election from their own Brexit voters by voting Labour. I think the political front is warming up but I'm not placing any bets to early for that.

Jimbuna

01-29-18, 11:25 AM

The former possibly but the latter, very doubtful.

Catfish

01-29-18, 03:25 PM

In a world where England flips the bird to the EU and Trump can become president of the US, nothing is impossible.

STEED

01-29-18, 06:11 PM

In a world where England flips the bird to the EU and Trump can become president of the US, nothing is impossible. And catfish puts this on your face..:)

https://media.makeameme.org/created/when-you-look-5a6fa9.jpg

Jimbuna

01-30-18, 09:02 AM

In a world where England flips the bird to the EU and Trump can become president of the US, nothing is impossible.

You forget to include Merkel performing one of the most astonishing electoral defeat survival stunts western europe has ever witnessed :03:

Jimbuna

01-30-18, 09:08 AM

Ministers have sought to play down the leak of a government document predicting an economic hit from Brexit.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42867668

For what is probably the first time ever, I find myself agreeing with Iain Duncan Smith when he says "It's an incomplete report... deliberately leaked because it gives a bad view,"

Catfish

01-30-18, 10:21 AM

You forget to include Merkel performing one of the most astonishing electoral defeat survival stunts western europe has ever witnessed :03:

You forgot "she" (the CDU) still got 33 percent, more than any other party.
The voters taught a lesson, but their mandate is still clear.

Jimbuna

01-30-18, 03:03 PM

Well, that doesn't make much difference in my book, the evil Mays party received over 45% (more than any other party) and she doesn't know when she's not wanted either.

STEED

01-30-18, 03:30 PM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42867668

For what is probably the first time ever, I find myself agreeing with Iain Duncan Smith when he says "It's an incomplete report... deliberately leaked because it gives a bad view,"

Who cares, this was dragged out during the referendum, so what's new? Oh a different report saying the same thing as before. :haha:

Jimbuna

01-30-18, 03:37 PM

Deliberately leaked to serve one side of a debate that was decided by the British voters on the day.

STEED

01-30-18, 03:43 PM

Sent to me via email. :haha:

https://media.makeameme.org/created/yes-i-leaked.jpg

Jimbuna

01-30-18, 03:46 PM

Spineless, just like a jellyfish.

STEED

01-30-18, 03:49 PM

This one is mind. :03: :haha:

https://media.makeameme.org/created/philip-hammond-leakeddid.jpg

STEED

01-30-18, 04:39 PM

I hear jim is putting the beer in the fridge over night and a curry delivered 11:50 tomorrow morning. PMQ's..:hmmm: Not sure that dotty old bat is in China.

We've been here before. A Tory Prime Minister thousands of miles away in the Far East on a trade mission while Conservative Cabinet ministers and MPs are in open revolt back home.https://news.sky.com/story/trouble-brews-for-prime-ministers-escaping-party-meltdown-at-home-11229551

:hmmm:

Skybird

01-30-18, 06:20 PM

You forget to include Merkel performing one of the most astonishing electoral defeat survival stunts western europe has ever witnessed :03:
She will not survive this. She already is significantly weakened, and more and more Germans realise what a mess she has brought over Germany with her mass migration policy.

The latest thoery by a Berlin politivcal "wsacientist" is that Merkel only commanded - in person - that the constitituoon shall be iognored and the broder shoudl stay open in 2015, becaseu there were so many mirgant sin Greece that they threatened the existenc eof the mere Greek state, which would have meant an end to the illusion she sells to the germans that the German leased mioney to Greece will ever come back. To protect Greece against that collapse, she instead accepted that the masses of people get flushed into Germany instead.

All for the illusion of a successful Euro-rescue for Greece. Whoich in the end is a bank-rescue at the costs of the tax cattle.

She has no future here anymore. In two years at the latest she will retire or get the boot from her own party - if all goes optimal for her. If things go less optimal for her, she will be gone already summer this year. In Europe, her authority will never recover.

Catfish

01-31-18, 04:08 AM

What has the competence of a person to do with whether, and why, he/she is being elected? :haha:
It is the other way round, more and more people realize how bigmouths are trying to bend the truth towards their liking, by picking populistic themes, abusing them. "Fascist word seizure strategy" indeed. I am concerned that just of all some english citizens seem to fall for this.

Normal and civil life is so boring with a working government doing its job without showing off all the time, especially when led by those uncharismatic persons like Merkel, or Juncker. It seems demagogues like Farage or Trump are more interesting. So much more fun with villains and liars, we want show-offers and showstars, not silent and efficient bureaucrats doing their work! Soap opera and "Die Geissens" for all!

This may either lead to a dark age if people like Farage, Kaczinsky or Erdoghan really have their say, or to an entirely opposing behaviour of the people, towards those types. We will see.
Whatever, I would not advise to believe the bull Skybird writes all the time, even if it suits some's vanity, and xenophobia :yep:

STEED

01-31-18, 06:57 AM

STEED's new PMQ score card.

PM Theresa May (Conservatives) 0 <NO SHOW>

Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) 0 <NO SHOW>

Vince Cable (LibDems) 0

Ian Blackford (SNP) 1

Caroline Lucas (Greens) 0

ON GOING SCORE CARD AFTER 4 PMQ's

PM Theresa May (Conservatives) 7

Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) 6

Vince Cable (LibDems) 0

Ian Blackford (SNP) 3

Caroline Lucas (Greens) 0

STEED

01-31-18, 08:32 AM

As the two big shots were not in the House I shall make a comment on PMQ's

Emily Thornberry shut up.

Jimbuna

01-31-18, 08:50 AM

I'm not a quitter, says Theresa May amid leadership questions

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42882832

Didn't Maggie once say similarly? :hmmm:

Jimbuna

01-31-18, 10:45 AM

Ministers agree to publish Brexit report if requested by MPs

Leaked studies on the economic impact of Brexit will be released if MPs back the move in a vote later.

No 10 said it would allow MPs and peers to see the report on a confidential basis if directed to do so.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42884610

So the voters wouldn't get a look :hmmm:

STEED

02-02-18, 06:37 AM

What saves her is that the deeply divided party seem unable to agree on a better successor.
https://news.sky.com/story/sky-views-to-govern-is-to-choose-time-running-out-for-timorous-may-11232738

The Tories are ripping themselves apart slowly without some one coming forward to topple MayBot and steady the ship why? They are a divided party at war with itself to busy sniping and point scoring off each other to notice the cliff edge.

Jimbuna

02-02-18, 07:06 AM

Pretty much like Labour actually.

STEED

02-02-18, 05:48 PM

Pretty much like Labour actually.

That leaves us with lost in the woods LibDems.

Tree hugging smoke dope hippy Greens two leaders party.

What a shower UKIP and goodnight.

Jimbuna

02-03-18, 07:48 AM

Prominent Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has accused Treasury officials of "fiddling the figures" on Brexit to keep the UK in the European Union customs union.

It comes amid claims, which the Treasury has denied, that it had deliberately created an economic model that made all other options look bad.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42929071

Now it is the turn of the Treasury to take some flak....whose next? :hmmm:

STEED

02-04-18, 05:27 AM

^Talking about the Mogg I hear the man who who he had a scuffle with is a member of Momentum, why is Old Jezzer saying nothing? :hmmm:

STEED

02-04-18, 05:30 AM

LIVE: Tory splits 'prompt dream team plan'

The PM is reportedly facing a coup plot with MPs wanting Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg to take over.

KEY POINTS:

Tory MPs reportedly planning to put 'three Brexiteers' in charge
Senior backbencher urges PM to defy Chancellor

https://news.sky.com/story/live-tory-splits-prompt-dream-team-plan-11236239

If true this is bad news for Maybot.

Catfish

02-04-18, 06:03 AM

"The PM is reportedly facing a coup plot with MPs wanting Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg to take over."

Add Farage to that mix. Ask them all why they ran away, when they now want to grab power and take reponsibility for the brexit crash :hmmm:

I guess it's all still a power game, for them. Let May handle an impossible situation and see her fail, and then come back as the minister of Singapore on Thames and say "we would have done it better"?

STEED

02-04-18, 06:16 AM

I don't believe its for real as you don't go around telling the press your plans. :doh:

Moonlight

02-04-18, 08:49 AM

Those 3 buffoons leading a coup against Theresa May, she'll be wetting her knickers with laugher at the thought of that, and when and if that does happen their hopes of being declared the leader of the tory party will be dashed forever.
I'm no fan of Theresa May but she is the best the tory party have got at the moment so they should either put up or shut up.

Jimbuna

02-04-18, 08:57 AM

Jimbuna

02-04-18, 09:01 AM

Amber Rudd hits back at Tory Brexiteers

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42935058

The fightback commences.

STEED

02-04-18, 09:46 AM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42935058

The fightback commences.

Just another one voted remain backing a remainder and probably being groomed for the top job when MayBot caves in.

Well balanced pro EU cabinet I see.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVNH_CXW0AEtMES.jpg

Emailed to me.

Catfish

02-04-18, 02:33 PM

http://i.imgur.com/KcZqhLF.jpg (https://imgur.com/KcZqhLF)

Catfish

02-05-18, 04:45 AM

"UK rules out any form of customs union with the EU after brexit"

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-trade/uk-rules-out-any-form-of-customs-union-with-the-eu-after-brexit-source-idUKKBN1FP0SK

Well, why stop there? :haha:

Jimbuna

02-05-18, 06:56 AM

Speculation is all well and good but the final/if necessary option will be to walk away and let the good old 'net payers' pick up the tab.

After that, any and every punishment possible will be enacted upon the UK, mostly in the form of tariffs. The UK will reciprocate in kind, knowing she imports more than she exports so the sums will be balanced in her favour.

The outcome....both sides of the Channel bleed one another and hopefully will eventually come to their senses.

But hey!!....this is politics right?

Could be a totally different outcome then :hmmm:

I know I've posted this before but there is a ring of truth in it as well as a widespread growing of support in the UK for its content.

https://i.imgur.com/tktmios.jpg

Perhaps I'm a little too patriotic but having worn the Queens uniform I take a great sense of pride in much of what my country has achieved on the world stage over the last century in particular.

Catfish

02-05-18, 07:34 AM

The Uk is punishing itself. Will you please stop to blame the EU, or Hitler :)
The text you already posted is not entirely wrong, but it's not quite true likewise. Regarding a growing support for this kind of "statement" i think you are wrong. First, a new referendum would stop brexit in its tracks, second just of all young people dislike it, and they are the future. Freedom of movement anyone?

"... every punishment possible will be enacted upon the UK, mostly in the form of tariffs. The UK will reciprocate in kind, knowing she imports more than she exports so the sums will be balanced in her favour. ..."

You say you get out of the custom union, and at the same time complain about tarriffs that may or may not be established. This is what the customs union was intended for: No tariffs. What do you expect when leaving?

Whether there really will be tarriffs harming the UK or not – i don't even think so. Maybe someone's a bit paranoid. Since you like this war comparisons all the time, the EU will not unmoth its secret squadrons of 109s to "punish" the UK.
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2018/01/eu-not-punishing-uk-brexit

I also think this move was done to stop the rioters in the Tory's own fraction, to support May and help to keep her in power.

What happens to Ireland and Scotland, when this will be forced through?

Catfish

02-05-18, 09:40 AM

Regarding this paper:
Before and during the war, in England there was an immigration stop for jews and other persecuted people seeking asylum.
History is becoming blurred, but there have been some publications http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/221
After the war, rebuilding of Germany. Marshal plan? Who paid for this?
Rebuilding of Germany was almost entirely paid for with the US-initiated Marshal plan. After it was allowed to produce and trade again from 1950 on, it bypassed England financially, and stopped the rationing of food before England.
England allowed a lot of immigrants from the commonwealth:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/zxm6pv4
Also some insightful reports of english officers serving in Germany after the war, about economy and management of resources in comparison.

imho this paper is nothing short of chauvinism.

MGR1

02-05-18, 11:19 AM

What happens to Ireland and Scotland, when this will be forced through?

As always when it comes to public opinion in Scotland, it's neither simple nor clear cut:

http://blog.whatscotlandthinks.org/2018/01/time-for-some-rethinking-in-scotlands-brexit-debate/

The salient points appear to be:

On the one hand, we find that there continues to be relatively little support for the idea that Scotland might have a closer trading relationship with the EU or a more liberal immigration policy for EU migrants than the rest of the UK. As many as 63% say that the rules for EU migrants coming to Scotland should be the same as for those wishing to come to any other part of the UK, while 67% feel that the rules on EU trade should be the same in Scotland as elsewhere in the UK. Only 30% think it should be easier for EU companies to do business in Scotland than elsewhere, while just 24% feel it should be easier for a EU migrant to settle north of the border. These figures are much the same as they were when we first addressed the issue (https://whatukthinks.org/eu/analysis/does-scotland-want-a-different-kind-of-brexit/) at the beginning of 2017. It seems that the Scottish Government has made little headway in persuading voters of the merits of having a closer relationship with the EU than that enjoyed by the rest of the UK.

On the other hand, around three in five voters believe that all the decisions about fishing (62%) and farming (59%) that are currently made by the EU should be made in future by the Scottish government. Only around three in ten think that decision-making should be shared between the UK and the Scottish governments, as apparently envisaged by the UK government’s proposal for a ‘common framework’. Even amongst those who voted No in the September 2014 independence referendum, at least two in five think that all of the decisions currently made by Europe should be made by the Scottish Government. It would seem that the UK government would be wise to amend the EU (Withdrawal) Bill so that current EU responsibilities for fishing and farming are devolved, perhaps with some provision for the development of a ‘common framework’ that is hammered out with the participation and consent of the devolved administrations rather than by the UK government alone.
It's the usual Scottish dichotomy, don't want to be treated differently in some areas, but wish to be so in others. It's an argument that's existed since 1707. Check for the "Scotland vs North Britain" identity contest.

As for the actual independence debate, the two sides are still at the same level as in 2014. What appears to the main concern for the Unionist side is that support for independence hasn't receded substantially from what was recorded in the IndyRef. The Nats are quite happy the situation as they still have generally higher levels of support than their opponent parties do individually.

Now, going onto domestic matters, since I haven't been able to log in for sometime (an issue which appears to have resolved itself!:doh:) I'll post what has been the biggest issue (aside from Brexit!) north of the border - the Scottish Government's budget for the coming year and the SNP's decision to actually use Holyrood's powers over taxation:

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/12/8959

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-42876065

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-42358522

In short, Scotland will have a different set of tax bands from the rest of the UK and those earning more than £35,000 per annum will pay more than if they lived elsewhere in the UK.

How can the Scottish Parliament do this? Simple - it gained full control of income tax rates and bands, with the exception of the tax free allowance (which is reserved to Westminster), last year. In very simple terms that means that when it comes to income tax specifically, Scots are no longer direct UK taxpayers and the money raised in that tax in Scotland will no longer go directly into the UK taxation pot.

For the majority of other taxation, like National Insurance, Corporation Tax etc, etc Scots are still UK taxpayers. So we're in a partly-out, partly-in sort of situation.

Mike.:hmmm:

MGR1

02-05-18, 11:51 AM

For those who think the "Scottish Problem" is recent, here's a 1967 article from the Spectator:

"Down with North Britain (http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/17th-november-1967/12/down-with-north-britain)" by Denis Brogan.

It was written in the wake of the SNP's election breakthrough in the 1967 Hamilton by-election (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_by-election,_1967) courtesy of Winnie Ewing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie_Ewing).

It will be said (it has been said) that many of the Scottish grievances are sentimental. They are. But sentimental grievances, as we should have learned in this modern world, are ex- tremely powerful. The Conservative party, or the Unionist party, or the Tory party as run from London, is psychologically unsuited to deal with these sentimental grievances.As true now as it was in 1967 - English Tories have no idea on how to deal with Scotland.

Mike.:hmmm:

STEED

02-07-18, 06:56 AM

STEED's new PMQ score card.

PM Theresa May (Conservatives) 0

Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) 2

Vince Cable (LibDems) 1

Ian Blackford (SNP) 0

Caroline Lucas (Greens) 0

ON GOING SCORE CARD AFTER 5 PMQ's

PM Theresa May (Conservatives) 7

Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) 8

Vince Cable (LibDems) 1

Ian Blackford (SNP) 3

Caroline Lucas (Greens) 0

Jimbuna

02-07-18, 06:56 AM

Theresa May is to chair the first of two key Brexit meetings with her senior ministers as the government faces more calls to clarify the UK's position.

The Brexit cabinet committee is to sketch out what the future relationship between the UK and EU might look like.

It will focus on Northern Ireland and immigration, and on trade on Thursday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42969000

Hopefully this will lead to a united agreement on a way forward but I'm not overly confident.

MGR1

02-07-18, 02:20 PM

So, these official forecasts have finally been revealed:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42977967

Every nation and region of the UK would see slower economic growth as a result of Brexit, according to estimates by government officials.
The forecasts, seen by MPs, model the 15-year impact of the UK staying in the single market, doing a trade deal with the EU or leaving without a deal.
In each scenario, growth would be lower, by 2%, 5% and 8% respectively, compared with current forecasts.
The government says it does not cover all outcomes.
I do find it very ironic that the hard-line Brexiteers like Mogg and Redwood have treated these figures in almost the exact same way that equally hardline SNP supporters treat the GERS (http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/GERS) figures.:hmmm:

My own view is that these and GERS have a core of truth, but need to be treated with caution rather than taken as gospel.

In the meantime, one of Labour's Scottish contingent finds himself in a spot of bother:

Labour MP Hugh Gaffney sorry for 'deeply offensive' Burns Supper remarks (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-42975528)

A Labour MP has apologised after making "deeply offensive and unacceptable" remarks at a Burns Supper in Edinburgh.
Hugh Gaffney said he would undergo equality and diversity training following the comments about the LGBT community and Chinese people.
Mr Gaffney, who is MP for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, made the comments at a Labour students' eventA bit of pot calling the kettle black, Mr Postman MP?

Scottish Labour MP Hugh Gaffney 'heckled over weight and accent' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-42683752)

Unfortunately this does highlight the primary deficiency of Labour's Scottish Branch Office: not only lacking in talent, but in brains as well.

Little wonder that Nat One (Sturgeon) regularly stomps on Richard Leonard during FMQ's!

Mike.

Catfish

02-08-18, 04:50 AM

The pound does not seem to be disturbed at all, but then it reacts to the outcome of negotiations, not to the word 'brexit'.

However if the blockchain really succeeds (and it has to, in the end), it will destroy a lot of banks.
Amazon is already planning to give out those credits, that banks would not. And it is well-planned, Amazon can do exact calculations what the market and smaller business will be like tomorrow, something that banks do not bother with.
With the introduction of bitcoin or other internationally accepted currencies, banks will be a thing of the past. Which includes financial centers.

Jimbuna

02-08-18, 07:52 AM

Shouldn't bother Merkel and co, Germany won't have much money to save anyway :O:

Meanwhile......The Bank of England has indicated that the pace of interest rate increases could accelerate if the economy remains on its current track.

Bank policymakers voted unanimously to keep interest rates on hold at 0.5% at their latest meeting.

However, they said rates would need to rise "earlier" and by a "somewhat greater extent" than they thought at their last review in November.

Economists think the next rate rise could come as soon as May.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42986729

Catfish

02-08-18, 08:40 AM

[...] Economists think the next rate rise could come as soon as May.

Pun? :O:

:hmmm: They say June will be the end, of May

Jimbuna

02-08-18, 09:15 AM

Pun? :O:

:hmmm: They say June will be the end, of May

:):up:

Jimbuna

02-09-18, 07:55 AM

EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has warned that a transition period immediately after Brexit in 2019 is "not a given".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43001931

I'm growing to like this guy....he speaks a lot of common sense, so hopefully Merkel and Macron in particular will heed his advice because nor is the reported £40 billion plus they seek to take some of the burdon off their respective budgets 'a given'.

Jimbuna

02-11-18, 07:36 AM

UKIP leader Henry Bolton is confident he will win the backing of his party in a vote of members next weekend, he told the BBC's Andrew Marr.

Mr Bolton suggested he was still in a relationship with Jo Marney, whose racist texts about Meghan Markle sparked a no-confidence vote in him.

"There are strong affections there, yes," he told Andrew Marr.

But he said the party had to reform under his leadership or continue to be on the sidelines in the Brexit debate.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43023050

Setting politics aside for a moment, I'm beginning to admire this guy for taking/making a stand for what he believes is right.

STEED

02-12-18, 06:23 PM

UKIP is finished and after this weekend if Henry remains as leader that will seal there fate.

Jimbuna

02-13-18, 06:36 AM

The UK and Irish governments have been "left embarrassed" after leaving Belfast without a deal to restore devolution.

Theresa May and Leo Varadkar attended talks with Northern Ireland's main political parties on Monday.

It was widely anticipated that the DUP and Sinn Féin were close to ending their 13-month stalemate.

But a DUP source told the BBC a deal was "not likely" on Monday and both leaders left empty handed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-43037508

Still no deal in sight :nope:

STEED

02-13-18, 09:06 AM

^Egg on May's face. :03:

STEED

02-13-18, 09:12 AM

I know this is late but I want to say it anyway.

Sling your hook Soros and clear off.

George Soros defends £400,000 donation to pro-EU campaign Best for Britainhttps://news.sky.com/story/george-soros-defends-400000-donation-to-pro-eu-campaign-best-for-britain-11246436

Always sticking your big nose in where is not needed.

Jimbuna

02-13-18, 12:35 PM

Opposite poles in this instance which actually repel one another.

Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster has said there will be no free-standing Irish Language act.

However, Sinn Féin said an Irish Language act is "essential" to any deal that restores the power-sharing executive at Stormont.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-43048025

STEED

02-14-18, 06:22 AM

Theresa May calls for 'final push' on Northern Ireland power-sharing dealhttps://news.sky.com/story/good-progress-but-no-northern-ireland-power-sharing-deal-yet-11248057

Why don't you butt out of it Maybot and let them get on with it. They don't need you rushing over to NI holding press conferences like some kind of control freak.

Jimbuna

02-14-18, 06:38 AM

^ There lies the problem, both sides are refusing to 'get on with it' and this has been going on for thirteen months now, hence NI is currently being run by civil servants.

Jimbuna

02-14-18, 06:41 AM

Soon the clown will hold centre stage and sort out all the Brexit fears :doh:

Boris Johnson is attempting to reassure voters who are angry and alienated by Brexit that the UK's split from the EU is a cause for "hope not fear".

The foreign secretary is using a speech to try to build bridges with those who voted to remain in the EU, saying their belief in European solidarity is based on "noble sentiments".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43045553

STEED

02-14-18, 06:41 AM

At the end of the day civil servants run the country, make me wonder why we need politician's. :roll:

Jimbuna

02-14-18, 06:42 AM

One less thing for you to moan on about then :hmmm:

STEED

02-14-18, 06:44 AM

One less thing for you to moan on about then :hmmm:

Are you suggesting we're all be betting off without politicians? :hmmm:

If so..:yeah:

Jimbuna

02-14-18, 06:46 AM

Are you suggesting we're all be betting off without politicians? :hmmm:

If so..:yeah:

No big fan of politicians despite my 'insider' experiences and acquaintances over past years but who else would run the country?

STEED

02-14-18, 06:50 AM

No big fan of politicians despite my 'insider' experiences and acquaintances over past years but who else would run the country?

I think you could jim. Level headed, laid back, likes a good beer and shoots down spambots. :) :up:

STEED

02-14-18, 07:11 AM

No PMQ's this week the lazy sods.

Jimbuna

02-14-18, 10:12 AM

Soon the clown will hold centre stage and sort out all the Brexit fears :doh:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43045553

I was positively underwhelmed by the speech and doubt there was much if anything at all in it that surprised anyone.

Catfish

02-14-18, 10:22 AM

"positively underwhelmed" :)

At least he's funny and entertaining, much better than .. uhh.. others :D

STEED

02-14-18, 10:33 AM

I was positively underwhelmed by the speech and doubt there was much if anything at all in it that surprised anyone.

You didn't listen to the whole speech! :doh:

One thing I know never ever do anything like that. :03:

Jimbuna

02-14-18, 10:51 AM

"positively underwhelmed" :)

At least he's funny and entertaining, much better than .. uhh.. others :D

https://i.imgur.com/UcKb1yM.jpg

Catfish

02-15-18, 05:25 AM

^ Maybe he has a future in MI6.. thinking of Smiley and the 'circus' :D

(i found a picture of Merkel as a clown.. i will spare you that..) :o

Jimbuna

02-15-18, 11:02 AM

(i found a picture of Merkel as a clown.. i will spare you that..) :o

Not even a smile :o

https://i.imgur.com/cO6knje.jpg

Jimbuna

02-16-18, 07:11 AM

Theresa May is due to hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she seeks to make progress on negotiating Brexit.

The PM will travel to Berlin for the meeting at the Chancellery.

It comes a day ahead of a speech on Saturday in which she is expected to set out the "security partnership" she wants to maintain with the EU.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43071696

I wonder if during the course of this meeting May will take the opportunity to say "Well, now you know what it feels like" :)

STEED

02-17-18, 08:15 AM

Will it be the end of old bed banger Henry as he faces a vote of no confidence at UKIP's EGM this weekend. :hmmm:

Bookies say...YES.

Even those within the party now think the party is over. :ping:

Jimbuna

02-17-18, 09:14 AM

I'll play devils advocate and say....does anyone really care?

STEED

02-17-18, 12:08 PM

UKIP members voted to sack embattled leader Henry Bolton

UKIP members have voted to sack leader Henry Bolton after controversy over racist messages sent by his partner.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43098646

UKIP members vote to sack leader Henry Bolton
Members backed a no confidence motion by 867 votes to 500, giving Mr Bolton a 37% share.https://news.sky.com/story/ukip-members-declare-no-confidence-in-henry-bolton-11254965

All rise for the UKIP anthem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC6S_VuRNGk

Jimbuna

02-18-18, 07:49 AM

Meanwhile, no change in the machinations of the 'unelectables'.

A row has broken out at Labour's National Policy Forum (NPF) gathering after a vote to elect a new chair was cancelled.

The winner of the election, expected to have been Ann Black, would have joined the eight-strong group of "(core) officers" within Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC), which is considered to have six pro-Corbyn members.

Despite being a left-winger, Ann Black does not enjoy the support of the pro-Corbyn Momentum group.

There are claims pro-Corbyn members stopped the vote as part of wider efforts to control Labour's NEC.

The official line is that insufficient notice had been given for the vote - but those angered by the decision say the rulebook doesn't specify how much there should be.

Jeremy Corbyn's office says it should be seven days, and rejects any suggestion that this is about anything other than due process taking place.

A spokesman stressed it would be wrong to suggest that the vote was blocked to prevent anyone obtaining a position amongst the NEC officers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43099581

Jimbuna

02-18-18, 08:03 AM

The European Parliament's Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt says that talks are dependent on the red lines already set by the UK government.

Mr Verhofstadt told the BBC's Andrew Marr programme that single market membership would be the "best solution" for British industry.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-43104378/single-market-is-best-solution-for-uk-guy-verhofstadt

The gross amount payed to the EU by the UK is the equivalent to the entire sum of payments by the thirteen member states that joined the EU since 2004, that's all of Central Eastern Europe, Malta, Cyprus and so on.

Countries such as Sweden and Denmark have already stated they won't pay a single cent more after the UK leaves and Germany and France are reluctant to fill the estimated £10 Billion per year black hole so isn't it time meaningful and fully transparent negotiations were entered ito instead of this 'tit for tat' we are currently witness to from both sides.

I've said it before and I'll say it again....the final option is always to simply walk away and if common sense is to prevail, we all know such a move will cause much damage to both sides and is actually very avoidable.

STEED

02-18-18, 08:08 AM

^Boths sides are thick as sticky mud prepare for a mess.

The Brexit/EU Song..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BmEGm-mraE

Jimbuna

02-19-18, 07:49 AM

The Treasury has moved to play down expectations of Chancellor Philip Hammond's Spring statement next month.

The statement will have "no red box, no official document, no spending increases, no tax changes" and will last 15-20 minutes, a spokesman said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43111032

Soooo, a bit of a non-event really :hmmm:

STEED

02-20-18, 10:56 AM

^ Wast of time, people are more interested in the budget.

STEED

02-20-18, 10:59 AM

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER CORORBYN

Jeremy Corbyn dismisses spy claim as 'nonsense'

"I am sorry the Daily Mail has reduced itself to reproducing some nonsense that was written in The Sun," the Labour leader says.https://news.sky.com/story/jeremy-corbyn-dismisses-spy-claim-as-nonsense-11259126

Sound like fake news to me. :haha:

Jimbuna

02-20-18, 11:12 AM

The newspaper's report said he was given the codename Cob :hmmm:

Nuggit would be more appropriate :haha:

STEED

02-21-18, 06:46 AM

Coming soon to the BBC a new spy series

CORORBYN'S PEOPLE

Cororby pops into sex show and is hit with the truth he's not in power. :03:

Jimbuna

02-21-18, 07:27 AM

PMQ's on now.

She ends with a gag on tabloid reports about Mr Corbyn's contacts with an eastern bloc spy during the Cold War, eliciting groans and cheers.

"Normally he stands up and asks me to sign a blank cheque, I know he likes Czechs but really that is terribly depressing.":har:

STEED

02-21-18, 07:38 AM

The Speaker of the House made the best comment early on in PMQ's. :up:

STEED

02-21-18, 07:45 AM

STEED's new PMQ score card.

PM Theresa May (Conservatives) 4

Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) 2

Vince Cable (LibDems) 0

Ian Blackford (SNP) 2

Caroline Lucas (Greens) 0

ON GOING SCORE CARD AFTER 6 PMQ's

PM Theresa May (Conservatives) 11

Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) 10

Vince Cable (LibDems) 1

Ian Blackford (SNP) 5

Caroline Lucas (Greens) 0

Jimbuna

02-21-18, 10:51 AM

Details of the UK's plans for a transition period of "around two years" immediately after Brexit have been revealed in a leaked document.

Due to be officially published later, it says there are "only a small number of areas" where the two sides disagree.

It says the period should last as long as it takes to "prepare and implement the new processes and new systems".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43139703

Once again we see the goalposts moved.

STEED

02-21-18, 11:10 AM

https://media.makeameme.org/created/one-does-not-5a8d99.jpg

STEED

02-21-18, 11:28 AM

Jeremy Corbyn accuses Government of being 'on road to nowhere' over Brexit

Do I have to do the punchline Jezzer? :roll:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWtCittJyr0

Jimbuna

02-22-18, 08:05 AM

Record numbers of EU nationals leaving UK

Not just EU nationals but Brits as well apparently :hmmm:

The number of EU citizens leaving the UK is at its highest level for a decade, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

It estimates that 130,000 EU nationals emigrated in the year to September, the highest number since 2008.

Meanwhile, 220,000 EU nationals came to live in the UK - 47,000 fewer than the previous year.

Net EU migration - the difference between arrivals and departures - was 90,000, the lowest for five years.

The figures also show that more British people are emigrating than are returning to live in the UK.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43154308

Catfish

02-22-18, 08:16 AM

But they promised unicorns.
I will visit England as soon as the first arrive. :)

Seriously, migration numbers depend on so many things, i do not suppose this is a trend or something to worry about.

Jimbuna

02-22-18, 08:43 AM

But they promised unicorns.
I will visit England as soon as the first arrive. :)

Seriously, migration numbers depend on so many things, i do not suppose this is a trend or something to worry about.

Me neither and especially for those already domiciled here because they have been told they can stay.

Jimbuna

02-23-18, 10:48 AM

Jeremy Hunt has said there is no possibility of the government backing a customs union with the EU after Brexit.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43167824

Jeremy should stick to trying to put right all the wrongs in the NHS but I suppose he does have a sense of loyalty toward the PM for her supporting him in a role he clearly underperforms in.

Jimbuna

02-25-18, 08:06 AM

Jeremy Corbyn is to confirm a shift in the Labour Party's position on remaining in the customs union after Brexit, Sir Keir Starmer has indicated.

The shadow Brexit secretary said Labour's front bench was "unanimous" in its backing for striking a new deal with the EU after Brexit.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43186005

Surely Corbyn isn't going to betray the principles he's stuck steadfastly to for most of his political life? :hmmm:

STEED

02-25-18, 10:55 AM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43186005

Surely Corbyn isn't going to betray the principles he's stuck steadfastly to for most of his political life? :hmmm:

The Monument movement as far as I can see now control the Labour party and old JC is there puppet. Labour are in denial and how many behind closed doors are with Monument who knows.

Jimbuna

02-25-18, 11:40 AM

That must be Corbyn and Macdonell then.

STEED

02-27-18, 09:00 AM

Tony Blair tells Sky News he's in favour of anti-Brexit Labour politicians joining forces with Tory rebels.https://news.sky.com/video/blair-join-forces-on-customs-union-bid-11263954

SHUT UP TEFLON TONY!

If you want back in politics I suggest you stand for a MP and stop mouthing off on the side line thinking you are still in Parliament.

Jimbuna

02-27-18, 12:41 PM

Any form of customs union with the EU after Brexit would be a "complete sellout" for the UK, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has said.

Sir Martin Donnelly, who was permanent secretary in the Department for International Trade until last year, said any deals done after Brexit would not compensate for leaving the single market and the customs union.

Giving up access to the EU market and its existing trade agreements was "rather like rejecting a three course meal now in favour of the promise of a packet of crisps later", he said.

And Mr Fox hit back at Sir Martin as he took questions after his speech, saying it was "unsurprising that those who spend a lifetime working in the European Union see moving away from the European Union as being threatening".

He added: "The UK Brexit process is, as we've all discovered, a little more complex than a packet of Walkers."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43204460

The toys are definitely being thrown out of the pram now.