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.

I'm sure Boris will make a worthy successor to "call me dave" after the next election.

For sure, he cant be any worse.

Iain Duncan Smith is no longer fit-for-work


.By Ian Dunt | Talking Politics – 18 hours ago...

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/comment/talking-politics/iain-duncan-smith-no-longer-fit-160838915.html#cy5Zh60





What are Iain Duncan Smith's redeeming qualities?




Today's public accounts committee report shines a spotlight on a department which is out of control. Bad news is ignored. Vast sums of money are authorised by personal assistants for work which has not always been specified. Up to £425 million has been wasted and may need to be written-off, including £140 million on IT equipment which is no longer suitable for the project. The left hand does not know, or even seem to care, what the right hand is doing.

Duncan Smith has undertaken the most ambitious restructuring of the welfare system in a generation and it is blowing up in his face. The report was one of the most damning to be published this year. Duncan Smith's response, according to the Times, was to demand MPs on the committee pin the blame on his permanent secretary, Robert Devereux.

It's all a day in the life for the work and pensions secretary, whose relationship with the truth is as tenuous as George Best's relationship with sobriety.

He claimed the benefits cap had forced 8,000 people into work. This earned a slap on the wrist from the Office for National Statistics, which said it was not possible to find any causal link between the cap and those finding work. His response was very revealing.

"I have a belief I am right," he told Radio 4.


"You cannot absolutely prove those two things are connected – you cannot disprove what I said. I believe this to be right. I believe we are already seeing people going back to work who were not going back to work until this group were capped."

It's worth reading that quote twice. It is the product of a mind which is fundamentally unconcerned by reality, a loop playing constantly to itself.

It's just the tip of the iceberg. He said that every week half a million new jobs come through at the Jobcentre. This was false. He said Britain had the highest rate of jobless households in Europe. This was false. He said 70% of the four million jobs created when Labour was in office were taken by people from overseas. This was false. He claimed Shelter defined homelessness as two children sharing a room. This was false.


The list goes on and on.


It's all part of a pattern that goes back to the start of his career, when Michael Crick found several inaccuracies in his CV. He said he had attended the University of Perugia, when it was in fact the Università per Stranieri – an institution which did not grant degrees. He said he attended Dunchurch College of Management, when in fact it was weekend courses at GEC Marconi's staff college.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled Duncan Smith's back-to-work programme, which forced claimants to work for high street chains like Poundland for free, was illegal following a government appeal. It had failed to give recipients enough information about sanctions faced by people being told they had to work without a wage.

His response was to say that he was "very pleased that the supreme court unanimously upheld" his programme. "Ultimately, this judgment confirms that it is right that we expect people to take getting into work seriously," he added. Surely the British public are entitled to something less misleading than that? Is it too much to ask for even a hint of contrition for having broken the law, rather than rank evasion and a steadfast refusal to accept fault?


He went out of his way to smear the reputation of Cait Reilly, a 24-year-old who brought the case. Reilly had been volunteering at a Birmingham museum, hoping it would one day turn into a paid position. She was not overly keen on dropping that voluntary role to work for free in Poundland. Duncan Smith went on television and suggested she was part of "a group of people out there who think they are too good for this kind of stuff". For a secretary of state to treat a young person in this way is unspeakable.

Cynicism and Machiavellianism are common traits in politics. Many of the greatest politicians, from Churchill downwards, have been quite capable of making a case by focusing relentlessly on the attributes which most flatter them. But the smears against young people trying to make their way, the casual misuse of the facts, the glib indifference to the proper functioning of a system which affects the lives of the least privileged, is of a different magnitude altogether.


He's not even smart enough to pull it off. Matthew D'Ancona's history of the coalition sees George Osborne comment that "you see Iain giving presentations and realise he's just not clever enough". Last month John Major warned that the work and pensions secretary's welfare reform programme was "enormously complicated".


He went on: "Unless he is very lucky, which he may not be, or a genius, which the last time I looked was unproven, he may get some of it wrong."



Duncan Smith's reply was belligerent, inelegant and supremely thin-skinned. "Well, as I say, I never really get too fussed about what people think about their own intellects," he said. It is, you may have noticed, a sentence which means nothing. Or, at best, is so lacking in meaning as to not be worth saying. "I'm always happy to be in awe of someone whose own intellect delivered us the cones hotline, I must say." The reference to Major's silliest policy was childlike and out of place. Barely anyone even remembers the cone hotline. But seeing as he wishes to reflect on the past, perhaps his audience should do so too.


Think back. When did Iain Duncan Smith ever achieve anything? Even Osborne, who plunged this country back into recession, can at least point to that time he called Gordon Brown's bluff on an election. Duncan Smith has been at the frontline of British politics for years and he has nothing to show for it.


He was the most incapable leader of the Conservative party in recent memory. He was inadequate in PMQs and his conference flourish that "the quiet man is turning up the volume" is still the butt of jokes a decade later. His comment to the mutineers in his own party was just as weird, but a little darker: "My message is simple and stark, unite or die". They chose to do neither.


Expelled from the leadership, he seduced the easily seduced by using the words 'social justice' while promoting an aggressive Victorian-era programme which had more to do with a glorified notion of the Protestant work ethic than practical solutions to poverty and welfare-dependency. And now he smears his opponents, whether they be MPs, young women trying to find work or the massed ranks of the unemployed recast as feckless scroungers.


We might worry less about his own personal failings if they were not being replicated with such uncanny precision at his department. But the refusal to hear bad news, the siege mentality, the waste of funds, the arrogance and bullying with which welfare reform is being pursued are all indistinguishable from the character of the man presiding over it.

New independent research shows there is strong public support for reducing under-occupation and overcrowding in social housing.

There is strong public support for reducing under-occupation and overcrowding in social housing, according to new independent research released today (8 November 2013).

In a poll conducted by Ipsos MORI, 78% of respondents said they thought it was important to tackle the problem, which has led to nearly one-third of social housing tenants who receive Housing Benefit, living in homes that are too big for their needs.

In comparison, just 14% disagreed, with a further 9% undecided.

The polling also found that 54% agreed that it is fair that people of working age, who live in social housing, should receive less Housing Benefit if they have more bedrooms than they need.

The study also revealed:

that the majority of people – 54% – believe the coalition government’s removal of the spare room subsidy policy will encourage those receiving less housing benefit to improve their personal situation by, for example, finding work.

60% believed that those affected by the policy should either find new or alternative work, or work longer hours.

The new policy is aimed at those of working age who live in social housing and have their rent paid through Housing Benefit.

The initiative is starting to yield positive results, with people now taking the opportunity to downsize.

I go away for a day, come back and there are 119 sodding posts on this thread! and most of them going over and over the same repetitive questions that you've been boring us more "Intelligent Members" with for some months now!... So for christ sake you lot... have you got C.B.A.D. or something?














































The definition of "Intelligent Members" list is available for a small or very large fee... depending who wants it -):

Stan

For once i do agree with you , so can you tell Fred to stop posting the same repetitive questions that his been boring us more "Intelligent Members" with for some months now!...

economy and standard of living discussion - radio 4 this morning
i wish i had heard far more, but there was a very intelligent discussion this morning with nigel lawson and some chap calld harrap (sorry, but don't know what he does or his first name)

they came from different sides of the political spectrum, but it was all properly balanced and intelligent (unlike me!) and well worth listening too

interestingly, and i have no reason to doubt it, lawson observed that the uk economy was already improving considerably, and not primarily through the services and financial sectors .... harrap did not dispute it either

both agreed that living standards inevitably lagged behind economic recovery

harrap stated that the gap between the lower paid and the better off had widened over the last 20 years, which is almost certainly true, though quite how that is measured it another matter for debate

how that gap could be narrowed without other important elements being wrecked - a bit strong - was left open

however, and in conclusion, it was the sensible and balanced discussion that was such a pleasure to listen to, unlike the one-sided ranters (no names!) on here

"unlike the one-sided ranters (no names!) on here" ... Oh your so modest Alf -):

for those whom the cap fits, let them wear it

None of us like the 'Law'. This is probably why.....

Here are some of the real laws:

1. Law of Mechanical Repair -
After your hands become coated with filthy grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll desperately need have to pee.

2. Law of Gravity -
Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

3. Law of Probability -
The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

4. Law of Random Numbers -
If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers.

5. Supermarket Law -
As soon as you get in the smallest line, the cashier will have to call for help.

6. Variation Law -
If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now.

7. Law of the Bath -
When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.

8. Law of Close Encounters -
The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

9. Law of the Result -
When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

10. Law of Biomechanics -
The severity of an itch is inversely proportional to the reach required to give it a scratch.

11. The Law of the Theatre & Sports Arena -
At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle, always arrive last. They are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, beer, or the toilet and who leave early before the end of the performance or the game is over. The folks in the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies and stay to the bitter end of the performance. The aisle people also are very surly folk.

12. The Coffee Law -
As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, someones will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

13. Murphy's Law of Health and Sports Club Lockers -
If there are only 2 people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

14. Law of Physical Surfaces -
The chances of an open-faced jam sandwich landing face down on a floor, are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet or rug.

15. Law of Logical Argument -
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

16. Brown's Law of Physical Appearance -
If the clothes fit, they're ugly.

17. Oliver's Law of Public Speaking -
A closed mouth gathers no feet.

18. Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy -
As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.

19. Doctors' Law -
If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better. Don't make an appointment, and you'll stay sick. This has been proven over and over with taking children to the pediatrician.

Thats Any Cap you mean then -):

Dunces cup for you Stan

any human that believes their is a GOD is a complete dimwit a simpleton
we live on a very small pebble flying round a massive solar system .
that one day will wipe it out .
Stephen Hawkins will give you the facts GOD is a fairy tale for the
low life of the earth giving them hope while they are raped murdered
and used for the rich .

god is a fairy tale and any one who thinks he is real is a dreamer
who as no life
get on with your short life and just enjoy it while you can

Spineless Anna Soubry spouts hypocritical bilge about immigration.

this is another reason the CONSERVATIVE party is going down the pan
another stupid dimwit of a woman who speaks shite a clown at best

ANNA SOUBRY YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE ONCE GREAT PARTY NOW
A JOKE OF A PARTY

vote UKIP

A slight improvement

Update - Labour lead at 5
by YouGov in Politics
Sun November 10, 2013 6 a.m. GMT

Latest YouGov / The Sunday Times results 8th November - Con 34%, Lab 39%, LD 10%, UKIP 11%;

Improvement?


8-)

Improvement in the polling figures, improvement in the economy, improvement in employment, improvement in immigration, improvement in UK faster than all of the EU.....

it doesn't say much for ed millipede and his bunch that despite the conservatives very best efforts, labour is still struggling badly to establish a meaningful poll lead, meaningless as those generally are

as it stands, another hung parliament must assuredly be on the cards, though it will also be interesting to see what backwash emanates from the unite / mcluskey "conspiracy" .... is it really any wonder that no one trusts labour any more than the present crew?