POLITICS CORNER

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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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Stanley wrote: 25 Sep 2021, 03:06 Problem there Ken is that the National Living Wage has no relation to real life. For one thing it uses the official figures for inflation which are themselves nothing to do with the rise in the cost of living of the poorest people because their money is spent on services, housing, food and energy all of which carry inflation rates far greater than the official average figure.
See THIS for a good estimate of families in poverty.
Yes, minimum wage and inflation are 'part of the three card trick to confuse people with figures. A dead cat thrown on the table in current jargon.
A simple explanation that exposes all this smoke and mirrors is..
A person on £500 a week may spend 15% on food. Someone on £100 spends 75% on food buying the same amount.
If food spending increases by 5% for man 'A' to 20% then man 'B' rises to 100% Not much left for yachts and world tours.

Priti Horrible considering temporary work visas for foreign lorry drivers. Another cuckoo land bit of thinking. After being p----d off and told "we don't want you" do they think these drivers are sat there wringing their hands saying what are we to do. Then being given the offer "we'll give you a temporary visa, se faire bourrer to you.
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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plaques wrote: 25 Sep 2021, 08:02 Priti Horrible considering temporary work visas for foreign lorry drivers. Another cuckoo land bit of thinking. After being p----d off and told "we don't want you" do they think these drivers are sat there wringing their hands saying what are we to do. Then being given the offer "we'll give you a temporary visa, se faire bourrer to you.
I'm of the understanding the shortage of HGV drivers isn't restricted to the UK, the situation is the same across Europe. I can't see drivers travelling here when there's work available locally.
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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Big Kev wrote: 25 Sep 2021, 08:09 I'm of the understanding the shortage of HGV drivers isn't restricted to the UK, the situation is the same across Europe. I can't see drivers travelling here when there's work available locally.
Exactly Kev. The biggest shortages in Germany and Poland. The big foreign logistics companies that normally feed the UK have turned volte-face (Sue would be proud of me) and gone where there is least hassle. Control our borders, Global Britain. wave the flag, toot toot.
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Big Kev wrote: 25 Sep 2021, 08:09 I'm of the understanding the shortage of HGV drivers isn't restricted to the UK, the situation is the same across Europe. I can't see drivers travelling here when there's work available locally.
Spot on, Kev. Do the government think we are fools - or is it simply because they are fools?

I was disappointed to hear Angela Rayner failing to give a clear answer this morning on `Today' when asked whether or not she supported safe places for women. This has become a big issue and at present only the Tories are in favour, all other parties are either against or, in the case of Rayner, won't say. It's obviously an issue for women but it's also relevant for all of us because it's part of a bigger issue - do we base our society, medicine, science, economics etc on facts (in this case what constitutes a woman) or on what someone says (in this case self-identification as a woman), regardless of the facts?
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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Peter, some matters like those connected with LGBT matters are so far outside my experience I don't attempt to analyse them.
As for all the guff that's being spouted about HGV drivers. The politicians seem to think you can make a person into a competent HGV driver by sending them on a course and giving them a test. I must have been a bit slow because it took me over three years of varied experience from driving a car in a field through tractor work on the farm and driving wagons under supervision before I became competent enough to feel comfortable taking a job picking milk up from farms and carrying bottles. That's where I really honed my skills and went on to learn more from every job I did. That was added to by learning the roads, the different types of traffic and eventually the management of cattle riding long distances. There is no way I could have been produced in a few months by some instructors.
Despite this they are talking about remedying the situation in time for Xmas. Dream on you useless buggers! It's too late already!
I'm not going to fall into the trap of calling them fools, MPs are quite smart when it comes to politics and planning career paths but in terms of practical skills they are largely useless. Most of them have no concept of the skills needed to do even a menial job (in their terms). And as for skills, why do they think it takes about seven years to produce a journeyman?
I predict that their dramatic U turns will not dramatically solve the HGV driver problem. They have given way to a temper tantrum by Johnson who imagines he has the power to change things simply by issuing an instruction to his underlings. This is not going to do anything for his ratings within the Party or the Country.
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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I see the `Oh, Jeremy Corbyn' chant is being used at the Labour Conference again and that he's been allowed in. As Tripps would say, `Get the popcorn in!'
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Never mind the private grief that is the current Labour Party. Keep your eye on the jerks who actually have hold of the reins of power. We are approaching a very dangerous point in the affairs of the UK. A lot of cans that were kicked down the road are coming back to bite us. We are in for a rough ride and the present shortages are nothing compared to what is coming.
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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Stanley wrote: 27 Sep 2021, 02:46 A lot of cans that were kicked down the road are coming back to bite us. We are in for a rough ride...
Nothing like a few mixed metaphors when one is getting angry! :smile:

I can't see a future for the Labour Party remaining as one party so I'm hoping they'll split and then we can see what emerges. I feel the same about the Conservative Party too. Let's start afresh with a selection of small parties and see what the public really want.
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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I cant see a future for Starmer, conference have more or less rejected every single policy that he has proposed. A clear message I feel. If we end up with all the Softie Walters and watered down Tories in one party and the socialists in another I would have no problem with that, I think I already know which one would have the most members.
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I agree Ian and reading THIS BBC account of Andy McDonald's resignation over the minimum wage emphasises the point you make. Starmer is trying to do a Blair all over again by ditching what you and I see as a reasonably left wing stance which attempts to make things better for those who are worst off in society. What the Labour Party should be doing is fighting for the rights so rapidly being eroded by the present government's policies and actions. Step back and actually look at what they have done in the last ten years. Not one single policy has worked and Brexit is starting to show its true colours now, an unmitigated disaster. The first thing we need is a government that will take responsibility for public services instead of outsourcing and devolving them. Recognise that there is a difference between nationalisation and strong public control. Profits should not be taken out of health, education and the essential services.
Bevan is as pertinent today as he was when he said that the commanding heights of the economy should be controlled by the people, via the government they elected. A simple concept but one we have lost. Our present government governs to enhance and protect private wealth. Discuss.
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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BBC -
"Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said winning the next election is more important than party unity."

As noted from the latest set of door knocking out, the local party seems more interested in getting the vote than taking action on (Reasonable) socialist opinions.
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Starmer has a point if you are not in power then you can't do anything. Is he moving to the right or being realistic that unless he grabs a great pile of people who now think they are Tories who are sliding back into working class but won't admit it seems to be the most logical why to go. These people have been brought up on a diet of promises of better things to come. It doesn't seem to matter if they are lies they are looking towards a better future. The old Labour of nationalisation and socialism is seen as old hat that their parents lived in. Backward looking with no opportunity for private profit. They forget that the profit will be handed to the top 1%.
Starmer has to sound reasonable and not look backwards perhaps he should be telling lies like the Tories even though common sense says its wrong. Is he a very clever man playing to the crowds or another Tory pretending to be working class. To be honest I can't quite make my mind up.
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Nether can I Ken....
Did you hear David Lammy taking, I think it was Nick Robinson, to task this morning for asking him to make judgements about other politician's personal characteristics instead of asking him about policies. Quite right too. We don't want gossip and juicy scandal, we want factual reporting on politics.
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I just watched nearly all of Keir Starmers conference speech.

OK I confess - I was in my reclining chair and nodded off for a while, half way through. It was very long.

I've not seen a lot of him since he emerged, and I note that the left in his party have spent all week plotting against him, but he seemed to go down well with his audience. Standing ovation at the end. Shades of Anthony Charles Lynton Blair I'd say.

That won't please everyone in the party - or on this board. :smile:
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It doesn't bother me for one over much David. What impressed me was the more the left loonies heckled him the more the body of the conference supported him. The time I would get worried would be if I saw a movement developing that couldn't be controlled by the internal mechanisms of the party. This is what happened with 'Momentum' and the Blairites. This will always mean that the party is divided and it may be that the changes Starmer wants are an effort to inject this strength into the system.
My firm belief is that Labour will never win power as long as it is divided. Far better to have a strong system and a night of the long knives now.
Incidentally, that was where Corbyn went wrong. Remember him leaving Blairites in the Cabinet? I said then, and still believe that less of Mr Nice Guy and more of the long knives would have served him and the party better.
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Is it my imagination or was there a procession of politicians yesterday assuring us that the end of furloughing, the dropping of Universal Credit by £20 a week, the resumption of evictions and the further cutting of benefits in the face of inflation is not going to affect the normal economic life of the nation?
There was the lone voice of IDS saying that the treasury have got it wrong and that the fund put in place to finance councils in alleviating poverty is totally inadequate. I would suggest it is also an effort to shift responsibility and criticism away from Sunak and his Treasury. We are being governed by the use of spin and dirty tricks whilst good people suffer. PM Johnson is noticeable by his absence. It's a disgrace....
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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Stanley wrote: 30 Sep 2021, 03:31 ncidentally, that was where Corbyn went wrong. Remember him leaving Blairites in the Cabinet? I said then, and still believe that less of Mr Nice Guy and more of the long knives would have served him and the party better.
We are the same on this Stanley and I also said so at the time. It backs up my belief that we should have been as revolting as the French a long time ago. I would have seen off all the hoity toity, landed gentry and associated hangers on permanently. We would not have the "Lords of the Universe" syndrome that we have now where the rich and privileged just get richer, jobs for the boys and all that is rotten but put over in the nicest possible way to placate the plebs.
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It's never changed and perhaps never will, Ian, because the English (note English, not British) are so fascinated and obsessed by wealth and celebrity. That's why we've still got a monarchy, the public love it. Same with Boris. You and I might like to see a big change but we're not typical and we're in a minority.
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Another shot in the foot. that's if we have a foot left. We the UK are insisting that foreigners (EU members) offer up a Passport rather than the ID card that's good enough to get round the EU countries. Now the lorry drivers that we could do without but have graciously allowed an extra three months visa have now to get a passport at extra cost plus the time to get one before they can work here. I'm not sure if this applies to tourists from the EU. But this is one of our Keep Out rules so anything could happen.
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Anyone who thinks the 10,000 entry visas is going to result in a bunch of HGV drivers and butchers making pigs in blankets until Xmas Eve is going to 'save Xmas' is as barking mad as the politicians who dreamed the idea up.
Where is Johnson as the economy crumbles?
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Johnson surfaced yesterday to tell the nation they should trust the police. Er, yes, right.....
Have you noticed that interest rates and inflation are getting more air time in debates?
Later.... I have never made any secret of the fact that I don't trust Rishi Sunak. It appears I am not alone. See THIS BBC report that some charities are accusing Rishi Sunak of a 'stealth raid' on overseas development funds.
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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Crisis what crisis.? The petrol delivery problem that was only going to last 3 days is now being supplemented by 100 army drivers. The visa requirements for the HGV drivers are being waved and they can stay much longer than Christmas eve. Not only that even more drivers are being allowed in the UK.
U-Turn
And who is to blame for this fiasco that every man and his dog predicted months ago. Not Buffoon Boris he is blaming the Home Office and who is in charge of the Home Office. Priti Horrible Patel who, you've guessed it, works for the Buffoon. Perhaps he doesn't know that !
Now we have accepted that this is one big cock up I wonder haw long it will be before they admit Brexit was a bigger mistake?
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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plaques wrote: 02 Oct 2021, 07:58 I wonder haw long it will be before they admit Brexit was a bigger mistake?
But the majority voted for it, how can it be a mistake? Surely things will be much better now we have our sovereignty back :biggrin2: :biggrin2: :biggrin2:
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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Some facts and figures from Chris Mason, Political correspondent for BBC News...
`Conservatives: Who funds them, and what's in it for them?' LINK
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Re: POLITICS CORNER

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Some quiet thoughts on the petrol fiasco.
There are 38,600,000 cars in the UK. (I'm ignoring the number of diesels but it doesn't matter for this observation) A small car will hold say 12 gallon of petrol. If the car users now feel that they need an extra 4 gallon in their tank to feel comfortable this is an extra (4 X 38,600,000) gallons to be supplied = 154,400,000 gallons. Should this amount take 2 months that equates to an EXTRA 19,300,000 gallons per week. A tanker hold between 4,580 to 9,660 gallons. Lets say an average of 7,000. Giving an approx 2,750 trips per week. Remember this has to be done EVERY week for two months.
Now I'm not a logistics expert but when you have already a shortage of drivers its hard to believe that it will all be sorted within a few days.
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