Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Your up late gf., or am I up early?

Darling urges spending caution

Former Chancellor Alistair Darling has urged Labour to be cautious about committing itself to future spending plans right now amid a growing debate in the party over the issue.

Reports that Labour has decided to go into the next general election pledging to spend more than the government have been dismissed by senior figures.

Ministers say Labour is "turning left".

for all that, both the tories and lib-dems will be walloped in the local elections ..... i suspect the fringe alternatives will fare well, as is so ofteh the case in mid-term elections anywhere in the world .... i doubt labour will have much justification in crowing either, though i'm sure they'll spin enough to do so

I hate that txat Suarez, to call him an animal is to insult animals. Dirty cheating little sxit. No doubt the FA will come up with the usual garbage. Typical Red Shite, "You'll Never Bite Alone"

You mean this Chewy Suarez, cc?

That's the one hils :O)

Oh, that's good. For a moment I though you mighta meant this one.

Suarez carrying his lunch

Posting 24197

He is almost as good looking a George.

When are the next economics figures out?

They should go down well before the local elections.

Here is another winner from the left wing Fabians/Labour

Pensioners should 'share the pain and pay more tax'

The high level of pensioner home ownership makes for an unfair housing market, says think-tank

Pensioners should share the pain of austerity cuts and pay more tax to make the housing market fairer, a think-tank has said.

As middle-income workers' wages stagnate and they can’t afford to buy a home, the Fabian Society claims high levels of home ownership among older people threaten fairness across generations.

The society argued that pensioners' taxes should increase, their benefits be cut, and a tax on property wealth should be introduced.

The key policy should be to raise taxes on pensioners so the 27% they pay as a portion of their gross income would rise to 33%, in line with working age households with the same income.

Ritchie Havens snuffs it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22259627

Happy St George' day!

St George's Day.com

Absolutely Skinny, Rule Britannia.. and all that -):

In New Mexico desert, U.S. drone pilots learn the new art of war

(Reuters) - The tide of war may be receding, as President Barack Obama is fond of saying, but U.S. military demand for unmanned drones and their remote pilots is growing.

UNITED champions again.

What a night.

A stonker.

First time in YEARS i got up later than 9am.

Thursday should be interesting. I bet Giddeon already knows were in the poo. Mind he'l do his best to fiddle the figures with the OBR. Like hes done with Scotland.

The OBR is not subject to political influence. They report and independently, that's the whole point of them. The OBR was set up in 2010 to stop government fudging the figures.

YEAH hays and if you believe that youl believe anything.

Fact is last time results were due Osborne knew 48 hours in front. Are you saying he didnt.

Pull the other one.

I see no reason for Osborne not to know the results, if that happened. The OBR uses mainly the standard Treasury model, so their conclusions can be pretty much guessed by the Treasury. The OBR is essentially civil servants with a governing committee controlling it. It is not part of the Treasury and buys resources from it.

It is an improvement on the previous system where governments could massage figures before they were published.

Agreed agreed Hays.

What economic background do you come from or is it like a hoby etc etc.

Seem to be well clued up.

It is just that I have had contact with the OBR and Treasury over the last year plus in connection with some research. There are very good briefing papers on the OBR and Treasury websites explaining the modelling process.