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.

FOOD BANKS
given the virtual monopoly of this thread by the rabids, i have no doubt that this little thought for the day will get quickly swamped, but hey ho

are food banks required?
it's an unfortunate fact, but yes they are

were food banks required say 12 years ago?
almost certainly - but they didn't even come into existence until 10 years ago

are an increasing number of people now availing themselves of food banks?
yes - patently so

does that mean that there is a growing proportion of the population that needs food banks?
not quite as simple an answer as you might think
food banks have only recently been given substantial airing
it is a matter of fact that the creation of food banks and their recent publicity has in itself created a growing demand for them as more and more people wake up to the fact they may be entitled to use them

is this growing demand or need the "fault" of the present government?
the rabids would give an affirmative knee-jerk answer
those who stop to think may register that 4 years ago this country was effectively bankrupt, so much of this increased demand can reasonably be said to be a direct or indirect lag effect of that situation

has this government exacerbated this situation?
the rabids would give an affirmative knee-jerk answer
those who stop to think may conclude that this government could possibly have done more for the lower echelons of society, but how that might have been sensibly achieved is virtually impossible to determine

would the previous incumbents have made a better job of this situation?
on their dismal record of managing the economy over the 10/12 years in which they were in power, the answer is almost certainly not

The present mob in control has done more harm to the economy and society in 4 years than the previous government did in 13years.

Look at the figures and start DYOH.

i see that as usual you do not answer or even contradict the Q's posed above, but just go off on some airy-fairy, sweeping statement tangent - but of course you don't/won't/never vote, so your opinion is of even less value than it might be

at least you managed to be succinct for a change

I was an observer for a large part of my life and highly paid for the few opinions I gave!

Consider yourself lucky that you have them now for nothing.

(Probably, what your and my opinions are worth.)


8-)

we'll agree on that for a once!

It's a fact that food banks exist.

It's a sad fact that food banks are required.

It's a shamefull fact that the politicians, both present and the last lot don't seem to give a toss.

Gotta say those foodbank thingies sound like a very good idea. Anyone happen to know if they've got one in the Illiez Valley?

And how do they work exactly? Is there a number to phone your order through? Do they deliver? And would they send someone along to do the cooking and wash up afterwards?

Hils,

I have a recipe for old tarts, if you feel a little underdone!

I am sure it would be sufficient for the ingredients you have,

Goldie

One for you and Fred


DJ Chris Moyles claimed to be a second-hand car dealer in a bid to save up to £1 million in tax, a tribunal has found. A tax court named Moyles and two other men as having taking part in a scheme called "working wheels" which counted "450 fund managers, celebrities and other high earners between 2006 and 2008" as members.

The scheme worked by allowing its members to say they had incurred large fees while working in the second-hand car trade which they could claim back against their tax bill. A published judgment from the Tax Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal said Moyles's self-assessment tax return for the financial year ending on April 5, 2008, when he was presenting Radio One's Breakfast Show, said he "had engaged in self-employment as a used car trader".

Moyles did not give evidence directly to the tribunal but did submit "a brief witness statement". The tribunal, under Judge Colin Bishopp, described that evidence as "very brief and rather uninformative". The judgment said: "It is however quite clear from the statement that he too entered the scheme for no purpose other than to achieve a tax saving, and that he took no interest in the trade."

It went on to say that Moyles was "anxious to be reassured that the scheme was lawful, and that he would not have to undertake any trading himself". It said his accountant, a Mr Smith, had "agreed that the scale of Moyles's borrowing was driven solely by the amount of the tax loss he wanted to achieve, in his case £1 million, and that the trading was not carried on for its own sake but was merely a means to an end".

Exchequer Secretary David Gauke said: "This case is another example of why taxpayers should not fall for the promises of promoters selling schemes that are all too often too good to be true. Not only will the taxpayer waste money on the fees for these failed schemes, they will still have to pay all the tax, interest and penalties that are due.

"This Government has provided HMRC with the resources to tackle these avoidance schemes and HMRC will now pursue the other users of the scheme to make sure all the taxes that are due are paid."

Moyles later took to Twitter to give his side of the story. He said: "I want to comment about a recent tribunal tax ruling.
"Upon advice, I signed up to a scheme which I was assured was legal. Despite this, my knowledge of the dealings of the scheme were naive.

"I'm not a tax expert and acted on advice I was given. This was a mistake and I accept the ruling without reservation. I take full responsibility and have learnt a valuable lesson."

Nigel Farage will take on Nick Clegg in a debate on the European Union after the Ukip leader accepted a challenge from the Deputy Prime Minister.


Clegg think's he is going to win that debate , like he did in the last election debate on tv , i think he is in for a surprise.

Fred1new - 21 Feb 2014 16:56 - 37005 of 37011

I was an observer for a large part of my life and highly paid for the few opinions I gave!


I hope it wasn't another case of Labour wasting tax payers money

Well done to Wales tonight, I hope England does as well tomorrow.

NAH.

Wales for the championship.

Cynic re to food banks where on earth do you get these silly assholic ideas from????????? I think you make it up as you go along...

See report out today(comissioned by government)..............here below.

Ministers can no longer deny the link between food banks and benefit cuts......
The long-delayed government-commissioned report slipped out today contradicts claims by ministers that food bank usage is driven by supply.
BY MOUSSA HADDAD PUBLISHED 21 FEBRUARY 2014

People, it turns out, are going to food banks because they’re hungry and in need. This finding, which chimes with the experiences of those of us with on-the-ground experience (including prominent members of the Catholic Church), emerges from a long-delayed report commissioned by ministers at Defra, and quietly slipped out today. It contradicts welfare reform minister Lord Freud’s assertion that food bank usage is driven by supply (if you build food banks, people will come for the free food).

In fact, as well as finding "no systematic evidence on the impact of increased supply" and that "hypotheses of its potential effects are not based on robust evidence", the report found that food bank use is "a strategy of last resort". People are proud, the evidence shows, and will tend to use them only once they’ve cut back on everything they can, and exhausted all other possible avenues of support. Indeed, food bank use is probably the tip of the iceberg: the report finds that, internationally, only one in five of those who are food insecure will tend to use emergency food support. Unfortunately, we don’t measure food insecurity in this country, but with food banks springing up across the country, from those linked to big national networks to small independent operations, perhaps we should.

The research looked at various sources as to why people are seeking food aid. In order of ranking, they found that reasons included: "loss of, reductions in or problems associated with, social security payments; low income; indebtedness; homelessness". A study the report cites from Citizens Advice found that the two main reasons for referrals for a food parcel were benefit delays and benefit sanctions. With sanctions at an all-time high, and the government proposing to make people wait for seven days to claim JSA after losing their jobs, these issues are only going to get worse.

The Defra pocket book (2012) highlights the compounded effects of falling income and rising food prices over recent years, which had "produced a double effect of reducing food affordability by over 20 per cent for households in the lowest income decile". Overall, the report makes clear that people go to food banks for both reasons of short-term crisis – job loss or problems with the social security system – and of long-term poverty – low income or indebtedness.

The report also bemoans the lack of systematic UK evidence of why people go to food banks. We, like many others, are seeing the urgency of the issue daily in our work, and policy makers need to gain far greater understanding of the growing food poverty crisis. The explosion in food bank use is a national emergency, and it is imperative that we understand its causes so that we can eliminate hunger from British children’s lives.

In the meantime, there is a lot that can be done to tackle the issues we already know about. Jobcentre Plus advisers need to start making much better use of short-term benefit advances. To tackle the longer-term causes of food poverty, we need more action on the inadequacy of incomes, on supporting people into work that pays enough to live on, backed up by high-quality, affordable childcare, and on the structural problems in the social security system that are edging many towards destitution.

Ultimately, food banks are a symptom of deeper problems. No child should be going hungry, and no child should be living in poverty. As part of its legal obligation to end child poverty by 2020, the government must publish its new Child Poverty Strategy by early April, and will be consulting on it shortly. It is a great opportunity for them to set out their roadmap to giving every child the nourishment they need, and the start in life they deserve.

heres part of Cynics post..........

"it is a matter of fact that the creation of food banks and their recent publicity has in itself created a growing demand for them as more and more people wake up to the fact they may be entitled to use them"............ends

The report quite clearly says this is utter tosh.........

here...The long-delayed government-commissioned report slipped out today contradicts claims by ministers that food bank usage is driven by supply.

and here....It contradicts welfare reform minister Lord Freud’s assertion that food bank usage is driven by supply (if you build food banks, people will come for the free food)..

Obviously usual Tory ignorance associated with Cynic, hays and that ignoramous Chris Carson. (Hays blue nun)

Further more from the report..........

In fact, as well as finding "no systematic evidence on the impact of increased supply" and that "hypotheses of its potential effects are not based on robust evidence", the report found that food bank use is "a strategy of last resort". People are proud, the evidence shows, and will tend to use them only once they’ve cut back on everything they can, and exhausted all other possible avenues of support.

And yet we have Cynic making snidey complaints about this thread ALL WEEK and then we get as per norm the usual non researched and idle none sensical bull shit from him as per his piece on food banks.

Time you took a good look at yourself cynic.

Lets face it the 2 threads YOU have created are falling apart its only intervention by myself and Fred today that as got some action going on them at last.

no i didn't make any of that up .... i was listening to a balanced discussion on radio 4 yesterday morning, which was assuredly much more interesting (because it was balanced) than very occasionally reading the rabids' diatribes

as for your other comment - you really are or even have become a puffed-up, egotistical ass
please revert to your former more personable persona asap

Hey GF...... take a look at post 117 on COOK thread:-

Haystack - Rice bran oil has almost the highest smoking point. It is mild and relieves hot flushes in menopausel women. Give it a go, might calm you down you tart. :O)

Wealthy Chinese interested in moving their riches out of the country are doing so with help from an unusual cast of characters: sculptors, painters and calligraphers.
Fine art buys are all the rage in the shadowy world of Chinese offshore money laundering

really!
i am staggered; they'll be telling us next that all these massive mansions being built in certain "unnamed" locations for russian clients are also a means of laundering
i suppose buying launderettes, now almost disappeared, was the original format of choice