|
Post by birdseye on Jan 25, 2024 14:54:45 GMT
Those Brexit bonuses keep on coming. "IFS says next UK government faces worst fiscal inheritance in 70 years" To be fair, it was a choice to have a covid recession caused by world lockdowns. We could have simply carried on and not had that cut to output plus piling up of debt. And the evidence is the outcome would have been much the same except for less debt and more growth. Right from the beginning there was a better solution to isolate as far as possible and quarantine those over 65 and those with serious health issues letting the rest just continue as normal. We knew that mortality was hugely limited to the elderly and infirm. Not only that but most elderly would have actually taken notice of what they were told to do. That would have cut the economic damage but not totally.
|
|
steve
Member
Posts: 12,333
Member is Online
|
Post by steve on Jan 25, 2024 14:59:14 GMT
|
|
domjg
Member
Posts: 5,106
|
Post by domjg on Jan 25, 2024 15:18:56 GMT
On the subject of austerity and infrastructure I had to drop meetings and pick up my daughter and her friend from school at very short notice as it needed to close immediately as the water supply had failed. This is a large primary and secondary. It was chaos, no-one knew what was going on.
I don't know if this is due to cuts in maintenance due to austerity but for all parents involved in trying to support a crumbling school it certainly fits the narrative. Precious few tory voters there I suspect (for many reasons).
|
|
steve
Member
Posts: 12,333
Member is Online
|
Post by steve on Jan 25, 2024 15:21:50 GMT
Something that I think illustrates the total disregard for truth from the far right. On Monday the traitors " lawyer" Alina Hanna told the federal judge Lewis Kaplan in his second defamation hearing for raping E Jean Carroll *that her parents had tested positive for covid and she was feeling unwell. Kaplan agreed to suspend the case until today in order that she could recover. The very next day Habba was filmed partying at the traitors bizarre celebration of his new Hampshire primary win. The individual filming , a long term maga cult member who told police during the insurrection to "fuck off and hang themselves" was immediately thrown out by security , but too late the video was already on social media. It's likely that judge Kaplan won't be best pleased at being lied to by Habba,again! youtu.be/aFa5bOuDN3k?si=UAU3uLQHXT0JhMOd* Number 45 has already been found liable for his sexual assault the trial is simply to set damages which are likely to run to the tens of millions
|
|
|
Post by crossbat11 on Jan 25, 2024 16:32:20 GMT
Sda The first police vehicle I was allowed to drive, feel the speed! View AttachmentIs that a Morris Marina? That reminds me of the question the Production Manager on the Marina assembly line at the Cowley Plant quite often used to ask his Quality Control team. ππ«
|
|
|
Post by steamdrivenandy on Jan 25, 2024 17:06:21 GMT
I must admit, I tend to be a YouGov man rather than a Savanta one. Lingering affection for Anthony Wells, possibly, but more likely to be something more to do with the scores on the doors they are now regularly producing for our predilection They'm a warmin' the cockles of me art as they say in these parts. Evershum, that is. π€£π Dun the Vale.
|
|
|
Post by steamdrivenandy on Jan 25, 2024 17:09:09 GMT
For Batters
I saw a further piece of useless info today, in that my team and thy team share the player who holds the record for the most own goals scored in the Premier League, one Mr Richard Dunne with 10.
|
|
|
Post by crossbat11 on Jan 25, 2024 17:22:59 GMT
For Batters I saw a further piece of useless info today, in that my team and thy team share the player who holds the record for the most own goals scored in the Premier League, one Mr Richard Dunne with 10. sda So old Dunney has rocked up at Loftus Road has he? Player or coach??? When we signed him from Man City, I think he already held the own goal individual record. Still didn't stop him firing a few more past the Villa keeper over the three seasons or so he was with us. Decent player on his day, but well past bis best by the time he came to us. Got in a few bust-ups with training staff on club "team bonding away days". After over re-hydrating, I think. Gordon Cowans usually involved. Good job he left the club before Jack Grealish reached drinking age!!!
|
|
|
Post by steamdrivenandy on Jan 25, 2024 17:34:05 GMT
For Batters I saw a further piece of useless info today, in that my team and thy team share the player who holds the record for the most own goals scored in the Premier League, one Mr Richard Dunne with 10. sda So old Dunney has rocked up at Loftus Road has he? Player or coach??? When we signed him from Man City, I think he already held the own goal individual record. Still didn't stop him firing a few more past the Villa keeper over the three seasons or so he was with us. Decent player on his day, but well past bis best by the time he came to us. Got in a few bust-ups with training staff on club "team bonding away days". After over re-hydrating, I think. Gordon Cowans usually involved. Good job he left the club before Jack Grealish reached drinking age!!! He was with QPR for two years 'til 2015 when he retired. According to Wiki his 10th OG was against Liverpool when Rangers scored two own goals and lost 3-2. Disgusting really we scored 4 goals and Liverpool only scored 1. According to Wiki he now lives in Monte Carlo.
|
|
|
Post by barbara on Jan 25, 2024 17:48:34 GMT
If you give me half an hour I could produce a dozen more. That's the problem with selfish older people with ZERO empathy who don't have young children, don't need social services, have an untouched pension, drive everywhere so don't use busses or pavements etc etc "I'm All Right Jack" in its reductive state. Sorry if I upset you, I'm just not involved with the things you mentioned. I do object to being called selfish though. I won't go into detail but I'm pretty generous in private life and when the occasion arises help strangers who need it. I plead guilty to being unaware. mercian - I withdraw the word 'selfish'. I don't think you are actually. But I do think that you just don't exercise your empathy gene enough. Not everything can be assessed in how it applies to you and your nearest and dearest. A little bit of thought about how other people live and those who need all the services you don't and can't afford to simply pay for something that used to be provided etc. would really assist you in understanding a whole lot more about the country you live in in 2024.
|
|
Danny
Member
Posts: 9,904
|
Post by Danny on Jan 25, 2024 17:49:05 GMT
No one's going to escape this - /photo/1 The growth in the cost of disability benefits since 2021 has been astonishing, and that's just one of the economic hits from covid. Th graphic quotes an increas in spending on disability benefits of 20% over the last three years. Wouldnt that be approximately the same as the rate if inflation for those services over that time? So what is surprising? How do you reckon that has anything to do with covid? Brexit, perhaps. lockdown, certainly, because of the inflation it created.
|
|
neilj
Member
Posts: 6,080
|
Post by neilj on Jan 25, 2024 17:54:13 GMT
NHS consultants vote AGAINST Sunakβs pay deal More problems for the Government
|
|
|
Post by mercian on Jan 25, 2024 18:03:30 GMT
Sorry if I upset you, I'm just not involved with the things you mentioned. I do object to being called selfish though. I won't go into detail but I'm pretty generous in private life and when the occasion arises help strangers who need it. I plead guilty to being unaware. mercian - I withdraw the word 'selfish'. I don't think you are actually. But I do think that you just don't exercise your empathy gene enough. Not everything can be assessed in how it applies to you and your nearest and dearest. A little bit of thought about how other people live and those who need all the services you don't and can't afford to simply pay for something that used to be provided etc. would really assist you in understanding a whole lot more about the country you live in in 2024. Thanks. Despite my dad teaching me not to trust anyone (by saying he'd catch me if I jumped off a wall and then moving away when I did), I have been too trusting on a number of occasions in my life and have been taken advantage of (Β£12000 worth of work not paid for once). This has made me quite wary of people. Having said that, from hints I've picked up about folks on here I may mix more with the disadvantaged than most posters.
|
|
Danny
Member
Posts: 9,904
|
Post by Danny on Jan 25, 2024 18:11:01 GMT
I have noticed potholes, though the council fixes them when they get reported. They dont here, or at least not as fast as new ones appear.
|
|
|
Post by alec on Jan 25, 2024 18:21:02 GMT
Danny - "Wouldnt that be approximately the same as the rate if inflation for those services over that time?" Look at the label on the Y axis. Doh!
|
|
Danny
Member
Posts: 9,904
|
Post by Danny on Jan 25, 2024 18:39:25 GMT
Danny - "Wouldnt that be approximately the same as the rate if inflation for those services over that time?" Look at the label on the Y axis.Doh! I looked at the caption which said 20% increase in three years. There is then a projection forward of costs...but thats just a projection. Is that on the assumption inflation is about to take off again and so costs will rise with it again? If its just a projection of the past three years where rising costs matched the rate of inflation...well you cannot make such a projection if you believe inflation has peaked (as the government claims). If inflation does soar, then the silver lining for government is that tax take will also soar and debt not indexed to inflation. Are you suggesting the approx 60% increase in costs between 2002 and 2020 was due to covid??? Ironically, that rather suggests the covid years had rather lower increase in underlying demand, once you take out the inflationary rises than did the years before covid. If covid bumped off 150,000 people mostly already claiming benefits 6 months earlier than their otherwise expected deaths, that could explain how covid cut the increase in disability benefits which have leaped ahead throughout the con term. Admittedly the graph suggests the increase dates from 2008, not the election, which perhaps suggests it is somehow linked to the 2008 world economic recession. (from which the Uk economy performance never recovered. Step change to lower growth thereafter, another step change to lower growth post brexit) Perhaps then, soaring bill for disability benefits is because in a declining economy it is harder for such people to get well paid jobs instead of relying on benefits?
|
|
oldnat
Member
Extremist - Undermining the UK state and its institutions
Posts: 6,122
|
Post by oldnat on Jan 25, 2024 18:48:58 GMT
Those age cross-breaks quoted above are intersting too, especially in comparison to YG's figures for 2019: 18-24 Con 9% (-12) Lab 60% (+4) Swing 8% 25-49 Con 14% (-19) Lab 57% (+14) Swing 16.5% 50-64 Con 20% (-31) Lab 49% (+22) Swing 26% 65+ Con 35% (-29) Lab 25% (+9) Swing 19% Crossbreaks often have wide variations (where there is a real lack of certainty) between polls. Is this true of the age bands as well? Over the last 6 Scots crossbreaks, SNP have ranged from 29-37 while Lab has 28-39. The average seems likely to be reasonably accurate - SNP 34% : Lab 32%.
With that in mind, and being Burns night [1] Labour partisans may enjoy the 3rd verse of "Address to the Haggis" -
"His knife see rustic Labour dight, An cut you up wi ready slight, Trenching your gushing entrails bright, Like onie ditch; And then, O what a glorious sight, Warm-reekin, rich!"
[1] We are having Haggis, Bashed Neeps and Champit Tatties tonight - Tradition! (Looks up to see the Fiddlers on the Roof, but it's just Barrowman, Mone and assorted other Tory criminals).
|
|
|
Post by moby on Jan 25, 2024 18:49:08 GMT
For Batters I saw a further piece of useless info today, in that my team and thy team share the player who holds the record for the most own goals scored in the Premier League, one Mr Richard Dunne with 10. He started his career with my team, the Toffees. I think he also has the joint record for the number of sending offs, along with another one of our famous illuminaries, Duncan Ferguson.
|
|
|
Post by Rafwan on Jan 25, 2024 18:55:15 GMT
mercianβ β¦. saying he'd catch me if I jumped off a wall and then moving away when I did.β That explains a lot. That may sound a bit cruel and vindictive but I promise that is not intended. That is not the sort of thing any parent should do.
|
|
|
Post by peterbell on Jan 25, 2024 19:04:33 GMT
On the Politics Hub (Sky) the subject is "the plot against Sunak"
|
|
|
Post by athena on Jan 25, 2024 19:06:51 GMT
Since it seems no one else is going to support the crusty old general I'll offer my heavily qualified support, although what I have in mind is a universal citizen or national service. The general, from his vantage point on the right of the political spectrum, is thinking about how the UK can cope with geopolitical threats over the coming decades, whereas I'm taking an egalitarian perspective and thinking more about the social contract and the threadbare fabric of society.
Let's start with a couple of arguments against a voluntary army: 1. It's not voluntary, in the strict sense. This is clearest if you look at the US. University education in the US is frighteningly expensive and completely out of reach of lots of young people because of that. Their only chance of getting a degree and getting on in life is to get the armed forces to pay - and in return the armed forces will expect them to do s several-years stint as cannon fodder. An army of people (disproportionately black) who're risking their lives so that they can finish their education isn't a volunteer army. Things aren't yet quite that bad in the UK, but an awful lot of people sign up because it's their last or best chance. Some sign up early on, having taken a look at what awaits kids who don't have the potential to go to university, some after flirting with unemployment, crime or drugs, because they realise the next stop is likely to be prison or a life on the dole. That's not much of a choice either.
2. If service is compulsory then everyone has skin in the game when the armed forces are deployed, which might make voters and governments think more carefully about military interventions and lead to better decisions. We may not like what the Israeli armed forces are doing, but every Jewish Israeli family will have a son or daughter, brother or sister, nephew or niece in the firing line and Israeli citizens will hold their government to account for how and why those lives are being risked, at the ballot box. I don't think it's coincidence that the most militaristic segment of Israeli society is the ultra-Orthodox Jews, who have an (increasingly controversial) exemption from military service.
|
|
|
Post by athena on Jan 25, 2024 19:10:59 GMT
I'm suggesting a sort of obligatory, universal citizen service, with military and civil options and a fairly wide window (say 18-30 years) in which to complete it. This is very approximately the system they used to have (probably still do) in France, although they do penalise conscientious objectors quite severely (the civilian alternative is several months longer than military service and stigmatised in some quarters). Many, many years ago I spent my gap year in France, volunteering with the LPO (League pour la Protection des Oiseaux). It was in its infancy and a much smaller organisation than the RSPB and its handful of reserves had, at most, one paid warden, all the other work was done by conscientious objectors and the occasional volunteer like me.
So I'm envisaging a system where citizen servants choose military or civil service (no penalty for choosing the civilian option) and have a wide range of options available. Probably three pay rates, civil, military and highly qualified (for anyone doing a role that requires a university-level qualification). Budding professionals (medics, lawyers, engineers, coders, whatever) could choose to gain some work experience or opt for something completely different and spend their service providing care to older people, building flood defences, assessing homes for retro-fitting as part of the energy transition, restoring upland forests, working as a research technician etc. etc. All the people for whom formal education isn't a success would get another chance to get training and experience (that might lead to a career) in a different context that might suit them better than school or college did. They wouldn't face a choice between the military or the scrapheap. No stigma and plenty of opportunity to network with people from different backgrounds, on different career paths.
Everyone (male and female) would be expected to contribute something to their society, in one way or another. Obviously government adjusts the mix of placements according to what it judges we need. And in a crisis we could call up people with relevant citizen service experience to help out (would have been very handy during the pandemic...).
|
|
|
Post by athena on Jan 25, 2024 19:19:17 GMT
We are having Haggis, Bashed Neeps and Champit Tatties tonight - Tradition! And a wee whisky or two? We used to have the neeps and tatties mashed together, don't know if that's traditional or not, but it tastes good.
|
|
oldnat
Member
Extremist - Undermining the UK state and its institutions
Posts: 6,122
|
Post by oldnat on Jan 25, 2024 19:24:17 GMT
mercian β β¦. saying he'd catch me if I jumped off a wall and then moving away when I did.β That explains a lot. That may sound a bit cruel and vindictive but I promise that is not intended. That is not the sort of thing any parent should do. I think mercian was adopting an old Jewish joke, and it should not be taken literally! Like much Jewish humour (often mirrored in other minority communities) it is self-deprecatory and designed to show that the group aren't really a threat to the dominant people.
|
|
oldnat
Member
Extremist - Undermining the UK state and its institutions
Posts: 6,122
|
Post by oldnat on Jan 25, 2024 19:26:43 GMT
We are having Haggis, Bashed Neeps and Champit Tatties tonight - Tradition! And a wee whisky or two? We used to have the neeps and tatties mashed together, don't know if that's traditional or not, but it tastes good. No. The traditional Scots accompaniment to food is claret (which was the term used for any French red wine).
|
|
|
Post by James E on Jan 25, 2024 19:33:39 GMT
Those age cross-breaks quoted above are intersting too, especially in comparison to YG's figures for 2019: 18-24 Con 9% (-12) Lab 60% (+4) Swing 8% 25-49 Con 14% (-19) Lab 57% (+14) Swing 16.5% 50-64 Con 20% (-31) Lab 49% (+22) Swing 26% 65+ Con 35% (-29) Lab 25% (+9) Swing 19% Crossbreaks often have wide variations (where there is a real lack of certainty) between polls. Is this true of the age bands as well? Over the last 6 Scots crossbreaks, SNP have ranged from 29-37 while Lab has 28-39. The average seems likely to be reasonably accurate - SNP 34% : Lab 32%.
With that in mind, and being Burns night [1] Labour partisans may enjoy the 3rd verse of "Address to the Haggis" -
"His knife see rustic Labour dight, An cut you up wi ready slight, Trenching your gushing entrails bright, Like onie ditch; And then, O what a glorious sight, Warm-reekin, rich!"
[1] We are having Haggis, Bashed Neeps and Champit Tatties tonight - Tradition! (Looks up to see the Fiddlers on the Roof, but it's just Barrowman, Mone and assorted other Tory criminals).You are right in this case, as the 50-64 age band here produced an unusually high Labour lead. The average of 8 YouGovs is Lab 42, Con 25, but that's still a swing of 20% on 2019, the highest . And the average for over 65s is Con 40, Lab 25, so a 16.5% swing. In the 2 younger groups, the averages are Lab 58, Con 9 for the 18-24s, and Lab 57, Con 13 for the 25-49s. So there, the figures in the latest poll are fairly normal. It looks like the difference in the latest poll is the increased rate of their older voters deserting the Conservatives for Reform UK. [We had (vegan) haggis tonight as well- quite nice!]
|
|
|
Post by alec on Jan 25, 2024 19:35:48 GMT
"Is that on the assumption inflation is about to take off again and so costs will rise with it again?" JHFC Danny - look at the label on the Y axis!!! For someone claiming to have a science background....
|
|
oldnat
Member
Extremist - Undermining the UK state and its institutions
Posts: 6,122
|
Post by oldnat on Jan 25, 2024 19:55:25 GMT
"Is that on the assumption inflation is about to take off again and so costs will rise with it again?" JHFC Danny - look at the label on the Y axis!!! For someone claiming to have a science background.... To be fair, "a science background" could include alchemy - in Hastings.
|
|
|
Post by John Chanin on Jan 25, 2024 19:59:00 GMT
Crossbreaks often have wide variations (where there is a real lack of certainty) between polls. Is this true of the age bands as well? Over the last 6 Scots crossbreaks, SNP have ranged from 29-37 while Lab has 28-39. The average seems likely to be reasonably accurate - SNP 34% : Lab 32%.
With that in mind, and being Burns night [1] Labour partisans may enjoy the 3rd verse of "Address to the Haggis" -
"His knife see rustic Labour dight, An cut you up wi ready slight, Trenching your gushing entrails bright, Like onie ditch; And then, O what a glorious sight, Warm-reekin, rich!"
[1] We are having Haggis, Bashed Neeps and Champit Tatties tonight - Tradition! (Looks up to see the Fiddlers on the Roof, but it's just Barrowman, Mone and assorted other Tory criminals). You are right in this case, as the 50-64 age band here produced an unusually high Labour lead. The average of 8 YouGovs is Lab 42, Con 25, but that's still a swing of 20% on 2019, the highest . And the average for over 65s is Con 40, Lab 25, so a 16.5% swing. In the 2 younger groups, the averages are Lab 58, Con 9 for the 18-24s, and Lab 57, Con 13 for the 21-49s. So there, the figures in the latest poll are fairly normal. It looks like the difference in the latest poll is the increased rate of their older voters deserting the Conservatives for Reform UK. [We had (vegan) haggis tonight as well- quite nice!] Vegan haggis? Good lord....
|
|
|
Post by mercian on Jan 25, 2024 20:17:29 GMT
mercian β β¦. saying he'd catch me if I jumped off a wall and then moving away when I did.β That explains a lot. That may sound a bit cruel and vindictive but I promise that is not intended. That is not the sort of thing any parent should do. Dad had been a regular soldier and he told me that's what sergeant-majors did to new recruits. I was about 7. Jumping 8-10 foot onto concrete left a bit of a mark physically and otherwise.
|
|