Steady on lad!! Two of the longest posts appeared to have come from opposite sides of the political spectrum so am I right or wrong? And could you politely explain in what way my post contained Daily Mail inspired hatred nonsense? I thought I was giving an unbiased opinion based on facts. Please educate me!
When they've all fled to safe havens in the Caribbean and resume their political experiments! I bet Jacob Rees Mogg will still wear a suit every day.
Foodbanks returned in around 2004 - pre this government, pre 2008 recession, the rise in numbers and geographic spread has been a upward spike over the last decade - but they are not a Tory invention. They are a by product of non existent government policy/poor investment/poor execution in areas that had heavy industry - hence the map. Any UK government recognises London as a power house - what is unique to the UK is the continual investment in to one City. Factually, globally, all cities of 1 million and above are financial and creative powerhouses. If I recall, china has well over 100 such cities. The UK has one. I'd like to believe HS2 is a step in forming other power house cities - but listening to the zeitgeist - its merely a way of shipping in labour to London and paying them less to live outside. The question is - why do the UK pretty much uniquely see no value in powerhouse cities? I suspect the no voters in that location, no point in trying is a factor. I'd nominate that there is many a trust fund and pension powered by huge property prices in London - and we wouldn't want that spread around now would we. Regarding the ONS - unsure why they don't report it, suspect its because its actually hard to measure and if anything, the ONS is drawn to anything that lends itself to be measured like a moth to a light, no matter how irrelevant that figure might be e.g. trying to equate staff churn to how 'good' a company is to work for. The gender pay gap solely measured on two vectors - actual wage, actual gender and nothing else. As mentioned, I don't know either way. I've not encountered an equity per capita distributing method of disbursing actual funds - I've only seen it as a way of measuring debt. Thinking about it, how could you award funds to Cornwall for example with a population of half a million people but a geographic spread of 2000 ish square miles with say East Ham in London with 76,000 residents but maybe a 10 square mile area with each resident getting the same amount? The need to schools, supported housing, hospitals etc is very different for each, not even touching things like other amenities, infrastructure etc. I have no clue how they award funding - but suspect that its 'equity' rating is literally no more complex that X People divided by Y Amount of spend. I don't see how it can be equal at all tbh. Hence why Wales get to pay £6billion for HS2 that no only doesn't come within 40 miles of Wales, but as they won't fund electrification past Bristol, actively damaging our economy. We have a population of 3 million over 18,000 miles, each is 'awarded' a debt of £2000 per person for something we literally have no benefit of. I think its alchemy to make figures look less onerous and bias, a pipe dream of equity which allows those that need to sleep easy at night a way of saying we all get the same so they somehow fail despite a level playing field. I suspect there are far more than one field, just some are hidden from most of us. Part 1 of 3 - sorry to those not interested.
Well, the Tory's do love that whole Turkeys for the poor at Christmas victorian benefactor vibe - it makes them look good in polite company. Stigmatising - come off it, they love it, its in their nature and has been for decades. Except its not 'their' money. Its 'ours'. It isn't Rishi Sunacks 'generosity' (https://www.ft.com/content/9fea2282-35d5-46b8-9d34-099f3ce7f327) - it is 'OUR' money ffs. We actually agree on this not being a permanent government policy (though compared to many of the stipends awarded to ex pats abroad, mates in business from other countries that have turned in to an ongoing gravy train, it wouldn't be alone). It should not be in any way permanent. What should be permanent is government policy that ceases to whip the poor with such glorious brio by those whose one notable accomplishment is being born in to privilege (see twitter feeds from Ben Bradley, and just yesterday from the Tory MP husband of Baroness Harding of Winscombe, you know the woman buggering up track and trace with such elan, her husband blamed 'chaotic parents'). He's married to a woman, a published author to boot (it was a book about race horses, I kid you not) whose 'career' notable highs include being asked to resign for huge data leaks in companies she was in charge of. JUST the person for track and trace I hear you say. But I digress, don't be fooled by all this - yes there are drug abusers, alcoholics and people that shouldn't have kids - and yes, the Daily Mail et al always go after our survivalist worst fears and portray these people as wholly deserving of circumstance. But 10 of thousands aren't like this, they have come from modest backgrounds and don't want to sponge and rob benefits. They don't want to be locked in to benefits that trap them - the huge majority want a better life for their kids than they have. And its the governments responsibility to facilitate that - as mentioned before - by incentive's businesses to set up in those areas, but not sending the likes of Prince Paedophile mates to other countries to sell our capability. All of this is at a macro level no ordinary citizen can influence - it is 100% the job of government. But they distract us from all this with nonsense because this lot, more than any in history I imagine, want to sort their mates and benefactors first. Did you see the Matt Hancock/Rishi Sunak flare up over the 'funding already in place'. Its lies. Feed the kids and sort the rest of it in parallel. The government doing their job will prevent this being permanent - so yes, we very much agree. Part 2 of 3 - yes, there is more.
Yes - difficult, no question. Difficult for every country around the world - agreed. £12billion and climbing on a Trace app that doesn't work, 7 months later. Ireland spent less than £800m on theirs, that does work. The procurement of PPE kit on contracts that pay 75% in advance of delivery, that isn't fit for purpose or comes in such incredible numbers that we would need 30 years to use it all, but then have insufficient numbers of things that we need daily? I won't get started on Cummings etc. as its not worth my breath. Hard - yes. But it's hard to sympathise when someone goes out to buy a gun they don't need, puts bullets in it that they have no cause to own, and then insists on pointing at their own foot and playing Russian roulette, over and over. Would a different party have coped better - its academic. Would you prefer Thatcher, Major or Johnson in charge of us at this time? - its academic. Corbyn and Abott - academic, but yes, probably a disaster too. 4 years of farce over Brexit has little to do with Covid 19, same for austerity measures, same for billions wasted with mismanagement of government contracts for NHS systems etc. All of that is on this governments watch. No excuses. Please see my next thread - its a doozy it really is. He is one of the 'doo gooder' 'lefty lawyers' that I can only conclude leaves our government not looking dissimilar to villain in an Scooby Doo cartoon - if it wasn't for those meddling doo gooder lawyers - please see a follow on post, though it might not be today with work etc. Again, our PM and his attack dog Home Secretary (a person whose own modus operandi has seen a bullying complaint from one of the most senior civil servants ignored, he also quit over it) use devise language around the legal profession which is largely unnecessary: https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/johnson-opens-new-front-in-war-on-lefty-lawyers/5105891.article Lets remember, the governments most senior legal advisor quit over its plans to break international law at the start of October - please read that again - BREAK international law an unpick the Good Friday agreement. You know, the one that stopped our troops getting killed in Northern Ireland. The same sort of International Law that has been broken over the last couple of decades by countries that WE then bombed or invaded, citing breaking that very law as justification. I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief that that was both Labour, coalition and Tory governments - we cause humanitarian crisis's whatever our political leaning. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54687081 https://www.irishnews.com/news/nort...insidious-assault-on-the-rule-of-law-2092129/ https://www.heraldscotland.com/news...boris-johnsons-vilification-legal-profession/ Twitter and media outlets are awash with similar articles, I've tried to not stick to 'red' sources. It's a serious matter, and a very Trump like approach. I can't comment on your assertions on Jolyon Maugham - I only pay attention to facts that I can check myself - and his on the PPE stuff is verified by me on sample data. You mean Europe? We are mostly aligned, I am circumspect about Europe - however, Wales, and many more deprived areas in England have seen far investment using European fund money that comes from Westminster. I do wonder, emphasise that word, if the Tory 'chasm' might be due to Europe not allowing the flagrant channeling of funds by Tory MP's in their constituencies or marginal seats - I do recognise that Labour might not be innocent of this too, however my entire life sees Wales loose out whenever their is a blue government. Maybe that is why they want us to be 'sovereign' - its puts them back in charge doesn't it. We agree. Its interesting on what is an equitable wage isn't it. I constantly read a diatribe of what these people are worth in other industries and am perplexed as I believe many are genuinely unemployable anywhere else - they have no experience, education or aspiration other than politics - who would want such as person as that? Plainly there are exceptions, just not many. So what is an equitable wage in the public sector for what I believe are some pretty low level talent? Nurses wage, police officers, infantry soldiers? All of those people are multi talented though, eminently employable. The irony on employing sons, daughters, wives etc. and paying them approx £160k a year, many 'part time' shouldn't be lost on the self employed, especially those accused of deliberate tax evasion by HMRC. My only observation is - how can your wife, who runs your 'office' be paid double what you earn as an MP, if she is part time? How can that be? We concur completely - I appreciate I come across as anti Blue - I am anti THIS blue, and I assert that many blue supporters, when they lift the lid on these last few months will be appalled. Are we lucky to live in the UK?, the trajectory we are on would make me think this might be a past tense sentence very soon. I'll bow to you knowledge on other countries. However, our government should not be allowed to compare itself to other countries, many of whom are relatively immature by comparison in terms of democracy etc. We should aspire to be the best we can be and be allowed only to compare with our peers. You don't become king by beating peasants, you become king by beating other kings. Or these days, by merely being born to the right person.
For me - I put effort in to what I post, when someone says they can't be arsed to read it then that is more than fair - there is no onus on anyone to entertain my ramblings. What I don't understand is why a person chooses to tell everyone else - it it to devalue the post, it it to subconsciously nudge people such as me, who is at times a touch over zealous with posting length to cease? Only you can answer that. I'm a long form person - as are we all no doubt on things that interest us. I don't tell other people I can't be bothered to read their thoughts, I simply don't read them and find stuff I am interested in. A good way of killing any form of discourse (this is not personal to you, please don't take it thus) is vocal apathy - its what kills many forums dead or we end up with a hugely populist view that everyone can sit comfortably with - hence why facebook is awash with pictures of dinners and cats.
Why are you labour people so stressy and angry , have a Jamaican woodbine and chill out for ***** sake ,Boris will get it done
I'm probably one of the most prolific moaner of spending my tax money on the benefits class. Note not working class, that's what I am. But how can anyone begrudge a child food EVERYDAY. There are many many thousands of adults who are not capable of looking after themselves unfortunately, so what hope for the kids? Lets feed the kids. I cant see any squint of a hope of seeing a valid argument against that. So for clarity. Free school meals for every kid every day.No stigma!
Well I'm sorry but some people do go rambling on a bit banging their political drums (I mentioned none of them by name) and I actually do find it rather tedious being a person with no affiliation to any party. There are times when a funny picture of a cat is a welcome relief and I'm a dog person!
Just occurred to be that this cat is doing Vegas baby! So he'll be loosing a few thousand and be snorting coke off of local ladies of the night abdomens later on....
My point was that a common state of mind appears to be objecting to something while doing nothing, but assuming other peoples inaction signals their acceptance. I would rather think we are a nation of mostly frustrated but moral people who do object (to whatever it is) concious or unconcious that any ways of making that objection count have been eroded to zero.
