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.

Manuel.

Many of society think the same as stated above about this present detached, self interested bunch of adolescents of this coalition government, and many would suggest the leadership is sociopathic, or at the least psychopathic in their thinking and policies.

The results of the inept economic and social policies are coming home for the country to see and will be borne in mind at the next election.



It would seem to me you are the buffoon once again .

Why not go an play another round of golf and have a stroke or two.

Glad we have Cynics support.......

cynic 20 Feb 2014 15:27 - 36924 of 36930

The task now is to remind people on the street of this fact - as often as is necessary to cement in the knowledge that a vote for the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats is a betrayal of the most vulnerable people in the UK today. After all, what kind of psychopath wants their vote to condemn an innocent person to destitution – and possibly even death?

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2014

David Cameron's Orwellian word games




In February 2014 the Archbishop of Westminster spoke out against the so-called "welfare reforms" being conducted by the Conservative party (and their ever wiling Lib-Dem enablers). Vincent Nichols is the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and has recently been brought into the inner circle of cardinals by Pope Francis. Here's a quote:
"The voices that I hear express anger and despair … Something is going seriously wrong when, in a country as affluent as ours, people are left in that destitute situation and depend solely on the handouts of the charity of food banks."
Nichols is by no means the first religious person to speak out against the immorality of imposing ideological austerity and cuts on the poorest and most vulnerable people in society whilst ever more wealth gets distributed to the tiny establishment minority. The Church of England has criticised "welfare reform"; At Easter 2013 a coalition of smaller churches spoke out against attacks on the poor by Tory ministers and the mainstream media; and other groups such as the Quakers have been constant champions of social justice. It's not just religious people that are complaining either. Countless charities, voluntary organisations, anti-poverty campaign groups and social activists have spoken out too.

David Cameron's riposte to this latest condemnation of his government's attacks on the poor and vulnerable was absolutely extraordinary. He claimed that the sustained attacks on the social safety net his government have been conducting (which affect far more working people than unemployed) are part of a "moral mission" aimed at giving "hope" and "opportunity" to "people who had previously been written off with no chance".

Given the appalling history of the Catholic church, even after Pope Francis has begun steering the institution towards the path of social justice, few people would accept a high ranking Catholic as an perfect moral arbiter. However, nobody in their right mind could accept the leader of a political party which is absolutely obsessed with their bankrupt "greed-is-a-virtue" neoliberal economic ideology speaking as a moral arbiter on their own brutal welfare policies.

If the religious organisations of the nation, charities and the voluntary sector are speaking with one voice to condemn Tory "welfare reform" as immoral, it is absolutely extraordinary that Cameron could attempt to defend his attacks on the poor and vulnerable by describing them as being part of a "moral mission".

The idea that Tory welfare reforms bring "hope" and "opportunity" to the poor and vulnerable is yet another extraordinary assertion. Here are a dozen facts about this supposedly "hope" inspiring welfare system.
The DWP admitted that between January and November 2011 at least 10,600 people died within six weeks of being declared fit to return to work under the Atos administered WCA regime.
The DWP is currently stonewalling Freedom of Information requests to ascertain how many people have died in similar circumstances since November 2011.
The DWP didn't even count how many people had died within weeks of being declared fully fit for work and thrown off benefits entirely.
The Atos administered WCA regime has been condemned as discriminatory by the courts on two occasions, the DWP have ignored these court judgements and refused to abandon their discriminatory assessment regime.
The number of people stripped of their social security entirely per year via sanctions has soared to an all time record high of 897,690.
Tory ministers and DWP officials repeatedly lied that there were no league tables for imposing sanctions until the league tables were leaked to the press in March 2013.
Hundreds of thousands of people are being compelled under threat of absolute destitution to give up their labour rights and work for free on Stalinist style compulsory labour projects. Even though these people are still in receipt of unemployment benefits, the government excludes them all from the official unemployment statistics.
Comparison between the official Labour Market Statistics published in February 2014 and the same period in 2010, we can see that the Tory welfare reforms have been an absolute disaster. The total number of people out of work for more than two years has skyrocketed from 250,000 to 448,000 and the number of 18-24 year olds out of work for more than two years has more than doubled from 55,000 to 114,000.
4 million children in the UK are growing up in poverty, and this number is increasing all the time as a result of "austerity" and "welfare reform".
The number of people living in such dire poverty that they are reliant upon food banks has grown exponentially. Studies have linked this rise in food bank dependency to Tory "welfare reforms".
The majority of people to have been made poorer by Tory benefits cuts are not unemployed, they are the working poor and their families.
Between 2009 and 2013 the number of working people claiming benefits to keep their heads above water rose by a staggering 104%.
You may have noticed that I didn't even mention Bedroom Tax in these twelve points, so here are a few articles on that particularly vile demonstration of Tory malice against the poor and vulnerable:
Driven to suicide by the Tories deadly "Bedroom Tax" blundering
"Bedroom Tax": Impoverishing the poor to subsidise the rich
The "Bedroom Tax" and Tory hypocrisy
The flawed "Bedroom Tax" justification narrative
Why I oppose "Bedroom Tax"
Returning to David Cameron's attempted justification for his so-called "welfare reforms", it is clear that he is using Orwellian language. Recall the slogans from 1984 "War is Peace", "Freedom is Slavery", "Ignorance is Strength". Well David Cameron's defence of the Tory attacks on the welfare system are remarkably similar, the two over-riding themes being that "Morality is Immorality", "Opportunity is Destitution" and "Hope is Fear".

If we look through David Cameron's extensive back catalogue of lies and distortions we can find many other examples of this kind of Orwellian use of language. Cameron's pre-election lies about the NHS are some of his most famous, so we'll start there and move on to some of his other lies.
Cameron said that he'd cut the budget deficit, not the NHS, then imposed £20 billion worth of austerity cuts on the NHS: "Cutting is Not Cutting".

Cameron said that the NHS would be safe in his hands, then he carved it open for the private sector and fed £1.5 billion worth of NHS contracts to Tory party donors: "Safe is Not Safe".

Cameron promised "no more top down reorganisations of the NHS" then pushed through the biggest and most controversial top-down reorganisation in the entire history of the organisaation: "No More is Another"

Cameron claimed in a 2013 party political broadcast that the Tories are "paying down Britain's debts" when the reality is that they have increased the debt by more in their first 3.5 years than New Labour did in the previous 13: "Paying Down is Dramatically Increasing".

In October 2013 Cameron claimed in parliament that Labour "bankrupted Britain" even though the UK kept their AAA credit ratings until George Osborne lost them due to his blundering economic mismanagement several years later: "Bankrupted is Investment Grade"
David Cameon's long track record of subverting the meanings of words means that we shouldn't be surprised that he is at it again with his "Morality is Immorality", "Opportunity is Destitution" and "Hope is Fear" nonsense, but it is enough to make us wonder whether this is some Old Etonian game to test how much cognitive dissonance "the lower orders" can endure.

I can't help thinking that this is some kind of game, like the England footballers at the 1998 World Cup trying to sneak song titles into their interviews with the press, David Cameron is perhaps trying to impress some of his Old Etonian chums with his Orwellian word games.

i suppose you support the loony animal liberation front as well

off you go then and man the barricades .... perhaps throw a few flagstones or molotovs too to stop getting too bored and cold

"The DWP admitted that between January and November 2011 at least 10,600 people died within six weeks of being declared fit to return to work under the Atos administered WCA regime."

The welfare cuts are a VERY popular policy.

Manuel.

Well he responds to you.

I would think that is too far down the tree for many!

Comparison between the official Labour Market Statistics published in February 2014 and the same period in 2010, we can see that the Tory welfare reforms have been an absolute disaster. The total number of people out of work for more than two years has skyrocketed from 250,000 to 448,000 and the number of 18-24 year olds out of work for more than two years has more than doubled from 55,000 to 114,000.

In October 2013 Cameron claimed in parliament that Labour "bankrupted Britain" even though the UK kept their AAA credit ratings until George Osborne lost them due to his blundering economic mismanagement several years later: "Bankrupted is Investment Grade"

To be expected in the fallout of a recession.

Another one to save that Fred.

Will come in handy in future.

to mention something much more constructive and interesting .....

St Mary's Paddington - NHS
we, and especially you lot, are rarely happier than when slinging brickbats at the NHS and our hospitals in general
it is therefore very pleasurable to pass on credit where it's due, for some outstanding service
my daughter was flown back from china in a very poorly way
the following day, she went to St Mary's A&E, where admittedly she had to do her share of waiting
however, once seen, she was passed across to the phlebotomy department where the staff and testing procedure was exemplary in every way

the powers that be are being made very aware of the above by way of a formal letter

Hays Ive got a mate who denys everything thats comes his way. Reminds me of you.

Poor lad is a psychopath, probably brought on by his heavy alcohol drinking.

George Osborne's "all in this together" fallacy

The "All in this together" fallacy is one of the most brazenly untruthful Tory party propaganda narratives in a shocking litany of utterly deceitful Tory public misdirection strategies.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the man behind this "All in this together" narrative, designed to deceive the gullible into thinking that everyone is making sacrifices in "Austerity Britain".

In 2009 George Osborne used the expression "we're all in this together" at the Tory Party Conference to justify his plans to launch savage attacks on public sector wages, and despite near constant criticism of the phrase in the intervening years, he regurgitated it as "we are all still in this together" during his speech to the 2012 Tory party conference.

The problem is of course, is that from an evidence based point of view, "all in it together" is transparently counter-factual nonsense. There are many, many examples to illustrate the fact that we are not "all in this together". In this article I'll go through just a few of them.

Perhaps the most high profile illustration that we are not all in this together came in April 2013 when the Tory led coalition launched a "Bedroom Tax" scheme designed to further impoverish hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable families in the UK, and in the very same week handed an average £100,000 a year tax cut to the 13,000 British income millionaires.

Another glaring illustration of the fact that we're not all in it together can be seen in the fact that George Osborne has enforced below inflation 1% pay raises on public sector workers for three consecutive years, yet there is one small group of public sector workers that have been made exempt from this real terms pay cut. That group is George Osborne and his fellow MPs who will get a 12% pay rise, worth £10,000 a year. If we were actually "all in this together" then surely MPs would be treated like any other public sector worker and be made to endure year after year of below inflation pay increases like the rest?

Another example can be seen in the wildly different attitudes to unpaid work. In April 2013 Iain Duncan Smith botched together a ridiculous piece of retroactive legislation in order to undermine an Appeal Court ruling that his mandatory unpaid labour ("Workfare") schemes for the unemployed were unlawful and undemocratic. With direct support from the Liberal-Democrats and de facto support from the Labour so-called opposition the Tory led coalition managed to rush this atrocious piece of legislation through parliament in a matter of hours, meaning that they could continue compelling the unemployed to do unpaid work for corporate interests, all paid for at the taxpayers' expense. Now contrast this with the Liberal Democrat stance on unpaid "internships". The Lib-Dems want to end the practice of giving unpaid internships to youngsters from affluent backgrounds. Thus, if you are poor and desperate, you will be forced to give up your labour rights and work for no wages by legislation passed with Liberal Democrat votes. However if you are lucky enough to come from a wealthy family that can cover your living costs whilst you work for no wage for a massive corporation, national newspaper or major political party, the Liberal Democrats will claim that they are determined to protect you from this kind of exploitation (despite using unpaid interns themselves!).

The most compelling evidence that we are not all in this together can be found when we look at wages. If we were "all in this together", one would expect every sector of society to have endured similarly low increases in their salaries. However the evidence shows us that the opposite is happening. Since the Tories came to power the super-rich have been getting richer at a faster rate than ever, whilst the vast majority of people have seen their wages fall in real terms month, after month, after month.

It should be headline news that the average wage has failed to keep pace with inflation every single month since the Tories came to power (except for one single month - April 2013, when the average wage was dramatically skewed upwards by the £billions in corporate remuneration deferred until after the 50p tax cut came into effect), but the corporate media seem totally disinterested in telling the British people that they are being terribly ripped off.

In 2010 the average salary rose just 0.3%, whilst inflation was measured at 3.3%. In 2011 the average wage rose 1.4%, whilst inflation was measured at 4.5%. In 2012 wages fell in real terms once again, with the average wage increasing by just 1.4%, whilst inflation was measured at 2.8%.

If we take these figures cumulatively, the average wage has increased by just 3.1% since Labour's last full year in office, whilst prices have risen by a supposed 10.1% (I say "supposed" because it is absolutely clear that inflation is a lot higher than the official figures claim). Even if the extremely conservative inflation figures are accepted at face value, this means that the average British family had had 7% of their income eroded away by inflation between January 2010 and December 2012.


Now lets contrast the fortunes of the extremely wealthy. One particularly wealthy group is the corporate executive class. In 2010 executives at the FTSE 100 companies enjoyed average pay raises of 33%, in 2011 they took home record breaking average salary hikes of 49%, and in 2012 the trend of enormous, inflation busting pay hikes continued with average pay increases of 27% for the corporate executive class. [for sources to back these statistics see this article on Wage Repression]

Taken cumulatively, these figures demonstrate that the average corporate executive has more than doubled their salary since the Tories came to power. In fact they are now taking home 251% of what they made during Labour's last full year in office.

In real terms (adjusted for the effect of inflation), the salary of the average worker has fallen by 7%, whilst the salary of the average corporate executive has increased by 141%. Does this seem like everyone is "all in this together" to you?

In light of these facts. How is it possible for anyone to believe the Tory "all in this together" propaganda narrative?

Even though economic demand has been stagnant for years, and the economy still hasn't recovered to pre-crisis levels, it isn't difficult to explain where all the extra cash is coming from to allow these corporate executives to gorge themselves on inflation busting pay hikes every year.

Since George Osborne became chancellor he has cut the rate of corporation tax from 28% to 24% (with an announcement in the 2013 budget that it will be further slashed to just 20%), but instead of investing this tax giveaway in creating jobs or improving infrastructure, the major corporations have used this flow of extra cash to generate shareholder profits (creating the artificial stock market boom) and to fuel the ludicrous inflation of corporate remuneration.

Where has George Osborne found the money necessary to hand out such massive corporate tax breaks? The answer is that he hasn't. He's giving these lavish tax handouts despite running up more additional debt in the last three years than Labour ran up in 13 years in office (which included, lets not forget, the biggest financial sector meltdown since 1929).

Whilst George Osborne has been using the national debt, and the budget deficit as excuses for public sector pay freezes, savage attacks on the welfare state and drastic cuts in public services (police, fire services, local government, libraries, the justice system, the NHS ...) he has simultaneously been lavishing tax cuts upon the corporate classes.

If we can't afford to keep public sector workers salaries from in line with inflation, if we can't afford a humane welfare system and we can't afford things like libraries, bobbies on the beat and local A&E services, how on earth can we afford such lavish corporation tax cuts?

Just think about it for a minute. By 2015 Britain's major corporations will have had their rate of tax cut from 28% to 20% (a 40% tax cut), and the salaries of their corporate directors (if the ludicrous inflation of executive salaries continues as it has), will have more than quadrupled (461%) by the end of 2014.

Ask yourself this: Have you had a 20% tax cut since the Tories came to power, with another 20% tax cut in the pipeline? Has your salary more than doubled since the Tories came to power, and does it look set to near enough double again by Christmas next year? Or are you one of the millions of people that are still paying massive chunks of their salary in regressive taxes (such as Council Tax, fuel duty and VAT) and have seen prices soar way above the rate at which your salary is increasing?

Are you one of the favoured minority that is getting richer at a faster rate than ever in "Austerity Britain"? Or are you one of the suffering majority?

Whichever group you find yourself in, surely you're not credulous enough to take George Osborne's ludicrously counter-factual "all in it together" propaganda at face value are you?

Just think about it for a minute. By 2015 Britain's major corporations will have had their rate of tax cut from 28% to 20% (a 40% tax cut), and the salaries of their corporate directors (if the ludicrous inflation of executive salaries continues as it has), will have more than quadrupled (461%) by the end of 2014.

Ask yourself this: Have you had a 20% tax cut since the Tories came to power, with another 20% tax cut in the pipeline? Has your salary more than doubled since the Tories came to power, and does it look set to near enough double again by Christmas next year? Or are you one of the millions of people that are still paying massive chunks of their salary in regressive taxes (such as Council Tax, fuel duty and VAT) and have seen prices soar way above the rate at which your salary is increasing?

oh for goodness sake .... this verbal diarrhea is clearly catching and best avoided for a while

but i'll re-post my little bit before it gets totally swamped by yet another flurry of slurry ......

to mention something much more constructive and interesting .....

St Mary's Paddington - NHS
we, and especially you lot, are rarely happier than when slinging brickbats at the NHS and our hospitals in general
it is therefore very pleasurable to pass on credit where it's due, for some outstanding service
my daughter was flown back from china in a very poorly way
the following day, she went to St Mary's A&E, where admittedly she had to do her share of waiting
however, once seen, she was passed across to the phlebotomy department where the staff and testing procedure was exemplary in every way

the powers that be are being made very aware of the above by way of a formal letter

Osborne could be considered for the post of a phlebotomist!


He has suck out a look of the blood from the defenseless.

Mind Manuel has probably sold all of his.

Well Im glad to hear about your daughter Cyners positive NHS experience, but for every positive theirs 9 negatives.

Bloke down my local pub a NHS nurse says the system is falling apart here in Kirklees.

Says theirs far too many changes taking place and all at the same time.

Loads of patients left on beds in corridors. A@E like a riot room with lots of foreigners all with rest of their family taking up room and causing slowdowns.

I dare say it isnt like this all over and their will be regional differences but the picture he paints isnt a nice one.

This thread used to be a good and enjoyable read. Not any more, pages and pages of left wing shite. GF are you enjoying your role as Fred the Red's bitch? Come back mate all is forgiven :O)

Fred the Red's bitch

Lol