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.

Who are those emerging countries going to sell to?

.

go to your supermarket and look to see the provenance of the likes of asparagus, snap peas, french beans etc

==========

as an important aside, it's fresh water that is already a problem and it will get much worse
however, i note that vast reservoirs have been found beneath the sahara

It has been mooted that the reservoirs was one of the reasons G'daffy was bumped off.

Does Mick Jagger wear a wig.

MK - unlikely; many things going for libya like that unfashionable commodity known black gold ..... i doubt that the reservoir(s) are just restricted to libya, and i'm sure it'll be many years before that resource is exploited anyway - ok; developed so the sensitivities of some poor souls here are not offended ..... i'm sure it will also be on the cutting edge of present technology

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03gm0ym/This_World_Worlds_Busiest_Maternity_Ward/

The interesting part of the film is about the Philippines being the fastest growing economy second only to China.

My pal Rachel having a go at the grusome twosome......


Universal Credit - Cameron needs to start taking responsibility for this fiasco unfolding under his watch - Rachel Reeves and Chris Bryant


Labour has today called for David Cameron to take responsibility for the developing chaos at the Department for Work and Pensions and address unanswered questions about the design and delivery of his flagship welfare reform, Universal Credit.

In a joint letter sent to the Prime Minister, Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Chris Bryant MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform, express serious concerns about the way the project is being implemented and set out a serious of critical questions that they say the Prime Minister needs to answer.

Rachel Reeves MP said:

“David Cameron needs to start taking responsibility for this fiasco unfolding under his watch. Despite repeated warnings that Universal Credit had not been thought through properly and that costs were getting out of control, we were promised again and again that it would be delivered on time and on budget.

“But after the NAO revealed last month that already £34 million spent on this project is effectively money down the drain, we now learn that the only options on the table involve millions more being committed with no certainty of when or whether this project will ever be properly rolled out. This is scandalous mismanagement of taxpayers’ money.

“David Cameron has serious questions to answer about how he has allowed things to get to this stage and how his complacent, incompetent and out-of-touch government has wasted scandalous amounts of money on a half-baked plan IT now can’t deliver.”

The full text of the letter is below:

Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA
1 November 2013


Universal Credit

Dear Prime Minister

Following reports in today’s press, we are writing to express serious concerns about the way in which Universal Credit is being implemented.

In September the National Audit Office stated that your Government has already “delayed rolling out Universal Credit nationally”. The expected roll-out to all new claimants across the country which was meant to occur last month hasn’t happened and £34 million of IT costs have already been written off. Despite this, the Secretary of State continues to claim the roll out of this important reform will be “on time and within budget”.

Today we have heard that the options the Government are now considering involve further expenditure write-offs and millions more of taxpayers’ money being spent with no certainty of when or whether this project will ever be properly rolled out.

Given the vital importance to the public of getting this welfare reform right and the vast sums of taxpayers’ money at stake there is a clear public interest in understanding exactly what is going on. Despite repeated requests in Parliament Ministers are failing to give adequate answers to basic questions about Universal Credit’s design and delivery. For this reason we would be grateful if you could address some of the major areas of concern.

Today’s reports suggest that one option being considered by your Government involves write down costs of £119 million with further running costs of £96 million, at a time when budgets are already significantly squeezed. Please could you confirm:

1. What is the total amount of IT assets the Government expects to be written off?

2. What is the total additional cost of the plans that will be outlined in the reset?

3. What other options had been considered for the reset, and how much did they cost?

The initial timetable set out by the Department for Work and Pensions said that from last month new claims for out-of-work benefits would be for Universal Credit and that no new JSA, ESA, Income Support and Housing Benefit claims would be accepted, while by April 2014 no new claims would be made for tax credits. This poses several questions:

4. When will all new claims for out-of-work benefits be for Universal Credit across the country?

5. At what date will no new claims be made for tax credits across the country?

Ministers initially said that a million people would be on Universal Credit by April 2014 but the ‘national roll out’ so far only involves 10 jobcentres:

6. When will Universal Credit be available in every jobcentre in the UK?

7. How many people will be on Universal Credit by April 2014?

8. How many working people will be claiming Universal Credit in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017?

In August the Minister for Welfare Reform wrote to Local Authority Chief Executives to confirm that the six new jobcentres involved in the rollout would only begin to accept new claims from “unemployed single claimants”:

9. When will claimants with families be able to claim Universal Credit?

Finally, those families with children face even greater uncertainty. Three and a half years after Labour first raised the issue, Ministers have confirmed that they have “not yet made final decisions on what the entitlement criteria for free school meals under Universal Credit will be.” The lack of progress on this issue is extremely alarming and must be addressed as soon as possible:

10. When will Ministers set out how Universal Credit will interact with passported benefits, including free school meals?

Labour is supportive of the principle of Universal Credit but it is imperative that its implementation is carried out carefully and effectively. However, what we have seen is an ongoing waste of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and ongoing delays creating huge uncertainties for families. Combined with a complete lack of clarity on the timetable from your Government, this is also undermining public confidence in this project as a whole. It is essential that these vital questions are addressed as quickly as possible.

We look forward to your response.


Rachel Reeves MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Chris Bryant MP
Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform





November 1, 2013 (2:23 pm)

Cyners have you bought it yet???

Here it is cynic..........

A picture of the much trumpeted padded armchair of Alf's imagination.

love it! .... from where did you dig that up?

i think fred's armchair will have a dralon cover :-)

Just plucked out of the air -):

LOL......watch out Fred will be counter attacking.

Hide behind that armchair Sticky SNR.

fred may be a cactus or even a venus flytrap but he's no triffid, let alone a dalek!

You could be right



Fred likes the swamp and hangs out with other carnivorous friends, like the alligator-seeing who can open their mouth wider. He is too busy eating bugs to get out much but he loves to play with his fly trap friends in bogs and woods.

Manuel,

I sometimes I think you are an economic ostrich stuck with your head in the sand, but on other occasions just escaped from a padded cell.

Mind I do have very comfortable padded armchair.

Again, I am lucky, my pads are in the chair, yours are probably still in your pants.

=========

Hays.

I agree that sometimes I do wander into the your swamp and also I find some posters seem silly buggers. Again, I find fly traps plants are sometimes attractive, as long as you don't get stuck in their mucky expressions.


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Bye the way, is it true (from HQ) that the cons are trying to flog off more of the NHS in paper wrappers before they collapse this winter.

you're older than me i think, so the incontinence pads may well be yours :-)

btw, are you an advocate or even a supporter of 75% tax as in france?

let me try again - sticky might care to answer too .....

are you an advocate or even a supporter of 75% tax as in france?