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.

don't be a naughty tease sticky
i take it you don't think as much fun as a target :-)

H/T to Aleman on afn.


Aleman
10 Mar'14 - 00:10 - 64124 of 64147 0 0


HTTP://www.measuringworth.com/ukgdp/

UK GDP per capita in 2008 pounds:


2000 20,128.81
2001 20,683.27
2002 21,159.19
2003 21,819.27
2004 22,355.24
2005 22,672.62
2006 23,129.70
2007 23,773.67
2008 23,353.71
2009 22,189.98
2010 22,439.52
2011 22,448.99
2012 22,175.00

Speaks for itself really, doesn't it

electionista ‏@electionista
UK - YouGov/Sun poll:

CON 32%
LAB 39%
LDEM 8%
UKIP 13%

Anyway...Murray nearly got beaten last night by unknown Jiri Vesely...(could be a star later)......He's a bit like... a "stretch-limo Nadal" !....weird !....

off topic, goldie

ABG , Placed at 275p ? are you still bullish. High volume this morning 4 m

Westhouse securites don't seem to be very good at picking share targets

Bob Crow has died. Always a shame when a figure of fun and ridicule passes away.

Nadal did lose.

Haze,

I wonder if they will dance or P. on your grave when you are dead!

Would seem a suitable exit for you!

Just how thick are the writers on the inde?





Political sculptor creates novelty sex toy that allows you to stick it to Vladimir Putin



Graphic designer has created a novelty sex toy designed to look like Putin




Rob Williams Author Biography




Monday 10 March 2014



http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/political-sculptor-creates-novelty-sex-toy-that-allows-you-to-stick-it-to-vladimir-putin-9181356.html

Its not a sex toy , it looks more like a Chess piece

haystack



Always a shame when a figure of fun and ridicule passes away.

I thought for a moment you were talking about Fred

Some as dumb as some of its readers.

I always wondered what the tory whips got up to at the club!

======

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-26518718



MP goes on trial for sex offences
The former deputy speaker of the House of Commons sexually abused young men in Parliament and at the Conservative Party conference, a court has heard.

MP Nigel Evans, 56, used his "powerful" influence to attack seven men from 2002 to 2013, Preston Crown Court was told.

In 2009, one alleged victim told two Conservative MPs of an assault at Mr Evans' home, the jury heard.

The former Tory MP denies one count of rape, two of indecent assault and six of sexual assault.

Mr Evans resigned as deputy speaker in September after he was charged.

'Often in drink'
The jury was told the independent Ribble Valley MP had the "ability to make or break" the careers of those who wished to work in Westminster.

Mr Evans was "often in drink" when he was "using or trading his position of influence" to attack young men, the prosecution claimed.

The jury of seven men and five women heard his behaviour was "repeated over time, despite warnings of respected colleagues".

Prosecutor Mark Heywood QC said: "It has also escalated in seriousness, no doubt because he believed that his position made it less than likely that someone would complain.

"The prosecution alleges that he, on separate occasions over many years, has sexually assaulted young men, both in public situations and in private.
----------

Is it another case of abuse of position?

Another illustration of how Labour just throw tax payers' money at problems which won't work, but at the same time, sound to be extremely idealistically pure at heart and therefore garner popular support with the voters.

God help the economy if they ever get in power again!

Labour’s job scheme won’t fool the voters

Labour in office will behave just as before – taking money from savings to throw at schemes that will not work

Telegraph 10 Mar 2014

Long-term unemployment remains a serious problem in this country. Even as the economy recovers and the number of those out of work continues to decline, persistent joblessness is hard to shift, especially among the young. The mainstream political parties no longer seem inclined to connect this directly to the unprecedented levels of immigration we have seen in recent years, not least because they are powerless to prevent young Eastern Europeans travelling here to work.

Labour, therefore, wishes to address this issue in its time-honoured way – by getting taxpayers to underwrite a job guarantee scheme for people who are unemployed for more than two years, with the Government picking up the tab for the minimum wage and national insurance costs. The jobs in the private or voluntary sector would last six months and those who refused to take part would face penalties.

Labour did try similar schemes when it was last in office — only for long-term unemployment to increase. But what is really problematic is the proposed financing of this programme. Rather than paying for it by spending less, Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, proposes to restrict the tax relief on pension contributions for those who pay the 45p top rate of income tax to 20p. At present, relief is available at the same rate as the tax paid.

Many in this group will be further clobbered by a proposed levy on executive bonuses to pay for the rest of Labour’s back-to-work scheme. In total, around 300,000 taxpayers are being targeted to fund the programme. These are the same people who currently contribute 30 per cent of all income taxes. They also face an increase in the top rate to 50p, also promised by Labour – along with, for good measure, a mansion tax on their properties.

Doubtless this plays very well among voters who cannot dream of such wealth. But Labour’s reliance on a relatively tiny group of people to fund the bulk of its social spending is pernicious. Moreover, to target pensions yet again – as Gordon Brown did in his first Budget in 1997 – sends a clear message across the income spectrum: don’t bother to accumulate any savings because the Government will eventually come after them.

Had Mr Balls unveiled plans to abolish the employers’ NI contribution for young workers, for instance, then we might be inclined to believe that he had some new ideas. But he hasn’t. This is a signal that Labour in office will behave just as before – taking money from savings to throw at schemes that will not work, while asking voters to judge it on the purity of its intentions. We must not be taken in again.

There were interviews on Sky and BBC last night with potential employers for Miliband's scheme. There was no liking for it from any of them. The reaction was the same from each that they would take on people when they needed them as they expanded. There is a requirement in the scheme that the jobs cannot be preexisting vacancies or just to get people to do mundane tasks. How are they going to police the system without an army of civil servants to administer it.

The only companies that will be interested will be mass retailers to get people to stack shelves and unload products.

ahem! rather what I wrote yesterday, but then not exactly rocket science
you can't create jobs from thin air

on a first hand knowledge basis ......
I was delighted to hear that a young chap who I know has been sent on an English and maths course to improve his chances of being employed .... as with so many, he completely screwed up his time at school, and without this enforced "course for benefits" he would have remained pretty much unemployable
even better, his self-esteem has now been boosted for, as he said, "I'm not nearly as thick as everyone has said for years that I am."

bob crow
I dare say one is only meant to speak well of the dead, but I shall not
the politest thing I can say of him is that he was a humourless shit when he was alive so hope he finds something to laugh about now he's dead
I shall not remotely mourn his passing, any more than I would arthur scargill

a side benefit is that there may well be one more property to add to the impoverished council housing stock

Alders left holding the baby............................ABG. Usually get a couple of PWs per year so thats one out of the way.

Flogged the lot.

Not getting emotionally attached I always sell up and move on take note what Id done wrong and look for next winner.

Must add that news seemed to come from nowhere but a bloke posted on advfn thread they were going to sell after the market closed yesterday.

Dont know where the news came from.

Not a big loss as I had a nice little profit until this morning.

Going to concentrate on Cheltnham now this week.

cynic
Crow's extended family live in the council property so they will continue with it.

ohhhhhhhhhhh dear ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh dear TORIES AT IT YET AGAIN.

Is their anyone in that party that tells the truth.?????????????????????????????

Nigel Evans sex abuse trial: Tories ‘knew about senior MP’s gay sex assault, but kept it quiet before election’



The former Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans was warned by senior Conservative Party figures including its then Chief Whip, Patrick McLoughlin, to modify his drinking and predatory sexual behaviour four years before he was charged with the alleged rape of a student, a court heard on Monday.


Mr Evans, 56, who is accused of sexually assaulting seven men, was described as a “very well-known and powerful individual” who would prey on young people with ambitions in politics.

Preston Crown Court heard the attacks happened at a variety of locations around the Palace of Westminster.

Although allegations were aired at the most senior levels of the Tory party, police were not called until the alleged rape of the student in March 2013 was drawn to the attention of the Speaker, John Bercow, who alerted detectives.

A year before the 2010 general election, Mr Evans was advised by Mr McLoughlin, now a minister for transport, to come out as gay, the court heard. This followed an alleged assault on a parliamentary aide who claimed the Tory grabbed hold of his penis as he slept at his home in Pendleton, Lancashire, which was also reported to Tory whip Michael Fabricant.


The alleged incident was also discussed with Iain Corby, Corby, managing director of the Policy Research Unit, Mr McLoughlin and his deputy John Randall. The jury was told that the timing was considered “unfortunate” because it was less than a year before a general election.

It was agreed that Mr Evans should not resign – despite the wishes of the alleged victim that he do so – but would seek help for his drinking and that he should “not put himself in situations which could be misconstrued”. He was then told that he should come out as gay, said Mark Heywood QC, for the prosecution.

Mr Evans was warned a second time about his behaviour, this time in 2010, by fellow MP Conor Burns around the time of the Speaker’s election. “It was suggested that he socialise with MPs and not with young people or researchers,” the court heard.

It was alleged that parliamentary aides and party workers were sexually abused over a period of 10 years. The alleged attacks took place at the Tory party conference, in a bar, corridor and office of the House of Commons as well as at Mr Evans’ Lancashire constituency home.

Opening its case at the start of the five-week trial, the prosecution said Mr Evans, who denies all the charges against him, was often drunk and would trade on his influence to press home his sexual attentions. “Part of his influence included the ability to make, or to break, the careers of young people who would be politicians or work for those who govern,” Mr Heywood said. His actions were “repeated over time, despite warnings”, he added.

It was alleged the first indecent assault occurred between 2002-03 and involved an openly gay 27-year-old man. At the time Mr Evans was shadow Welsh Secretary and it was claimed he put his hands down the trousers of the younger man in a Soho bar.

The second incident was said to have taken place in the early hours at the Number 10 bar of the Imperial Hotel in Blackpool during the 2003 Tory party conference. The alleged victim was drinking with a journalist friend when a “plastered” Mr Evans approached them and again put his hands down his trousers. The matter was reported to a member of the Conservative Party Board and Mr Evans was escorted to bed by Mr Burns, who later became an MP, and Nirj Deva MEP.

The matter was referred to Mark Hoban, then a junior whip. Although the party worker was “clearly upset and considered that he was a victim of a sexual assault”, he did not want the matter referred to the police or to become a disciplinary matter.

A third alleged attack occurred between 2009 and 2010 and involved a 21-year-old bisexual student who, it was claimed, was confronted by Mr Evans in a corridor outside the Strangers Bar in the House of Commons. He was beckoned behind a curtain where the older man tried to kiss him. No further complaint was made.

The jury also heard that in the summer of 2009 a young man, who had initially contacted Mr Evans on Facebook while he was a student studying politics, accompanied the MP to his constituency home. On the second night of his stay he had been with Mr Evans and an aide at his local pub before returning to his home with a group of others. During the night it is alleged that Mr Evans fondled the young man as he slept under a blanket on the sofa. He pushed him away and the MP apologised. The matter was later referred to Mr McLoughlin, then the Tory Chief Whip – described by the prosecution as “the man in charge” – the court heard.

A fifth alleged victim claimed he was sexually assaulted shortly after the general election after drinking in a bar at the Commons. It was around the time Mr Evans was fighting his successful campaign to become Deputy Speaker and he was part of a group of MPs drinking.

Mr Heywood said: “Suddenly without warning, invitation or cause the defendant reached out with his right hand and physically cupped [his] genitals through his clothing,” he said. “The defendant did not seem to react and just carried on as if nothing had happened,” he added.

The sixth sexual assault was alleged to have occurred in 2011 in Mr Evans’ speaker’s office where he had a small bedroom. The alleged victim and a number of MPs were present. The younger man was lured by “a ruse” to a kitchenette where, Mr Heywood said, he grabbed his hand and forced it on to his erect penis.

The final incident involved a student who had first met Mr Evans when he was aged 15. He was invited in 2013 to dinner with other guests at Mr Evans’ constituency home. When the others left it is alleged he was groped by the MP, who then followed him upstairs and guided him into his bedroom.

There, it was claimed, he tried to kiss and fondle the younger man, who repeatedly tried to move and brush his hand away. The prosecution said he feared confrontation and locked himself in the toilet where he sent a series of text messages to another of Mr Evans’ alleged victims.

One said: “Help me.” Another said: “Nigel has tried to stick his tongue down my throat three times,” while the other said “100 per cent penis grabbing”. Later in the night he awoke to find Mr Evans astride his back. The younger man “froze in shock” and he was raped, the court heard.

“Mr Evans was not aggressive or particularly forceful,” Mr Heywood claimed, adding that he had been wearing a condom. He then allegedly tried to force him into performing oral sex. “I’m really, really tired and you have church,” he is alleged to have told the older man.

The trial continues.