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.

Childcare plans dismissed as 'au pair subsidy' for rich families

Labour says families with expensive nannies will benefit most from planned tax break, which offers 20% off cost of childcare


David Cameron visits Coin Street nursery in London. The PM will not benefit from the scheme himself but his spokesman would not say whether this was because his family income was more than £300,000 a year. Photograph: Pool/Reuters



Rowena Mason, Nicholas Watt and Patrick Wintour


theguardian.com, Tuesday 18 March 2014 13.04 GMT


David Cameron and Nick Clegg's plans to offer discounted childcare have been branded an "au pair subsidy" as families earning up to £300,000 will be eligible for the new scheme.

Labour said the richest families with expensive nannies would benefit most from the tax break, which offers 20% off the cost of childcare up to a maximum of £2,000 per child. To get this top amount, they would need to be spending £10,000 per child per year.

In contrast, the average family helped under the proposals will only get around £400 off their costs, based on estimates of 1.9 million families claiming under the £750m scheme.

Lucy Powell, the shadow childcare minister, said this would not compensate families for previous cuts to childcare schemes under the coalition.

"The scheme will benefit the most those who have the highest childcare costs. They tend to be the highest earners," she told the Guardian. "The government is implying everyone will be £2,000 a year better off. But for the average family it will be less than £500. It will be only those with the highest childcare costs, like expensive nannies, who will get the full amount. It's a missed opportunity to create a system that is more progressive."



More: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/mar/18/childcare-plans-dismissed-au-pair-subsidy-labour

Ronnie Corbett A NATIONAL INSTITUTION.

Saw him with Des Oconor on the pier at Blackpool about 12 years ago.

Fantastic show.

Fish supper afterwards.

They were the days.

Max glad you posted that. Massive political news coming out.

Got an early look.

Isn't call me Dave a bit old for a nursery.



Perhaps, not!

=====

It is a subsidy for the rich.

The income bands are London based.

The one's who need subsidising are the lower income groups not those on above £40000 per year who want another income of £40000-£100000 a year to live on.

If they can't live on their incomes in London move out.

One the basis for the problems in London was London weighting.

This policy is another distortion.

It is another insulting policy to the majority of "workers" outside London.

Wait for the U-turn!

Looks like the death throes of a drowning government.

Child Care Plans announced today by the coalition.

FRED1 SAID..........

It is a subsidy for the rich.

The income bands are London based.

The one's who need subsidising are the lower income groups not those on above £40000 per year who want another income of £40000-£100000 a year to live on.

If they can't live on their incomes in London move out.

One the basis for the problems in London was London weighting.

This policy is another distortion.

It is another insulting policy to the majority of "workers" outside London.

Wait for the U-turn!

Looks like the death throes of a drowning government.......................ends


Couldnt agree more Fred........BUT WAIT theirs more. (need Manuel to be here for this.)

Just a wild card.

Since the Russians have "imprisoned" the "Ukrainian" troops "illegally" in the Crimea, would it be possible in retaliation to surround Russian Embassies, preventing access or exit, in USA and EUROPE.

Just another thought! (MAD)

Don't all scream at the same time.

I think it is time to return to the Chequered Board!

8-(

Just what are the sanctions that have been imposed Fred???

Ive been a bit busy over last few days so havent had time to read papers watch much new etc, etc.

eg, how are we going about imposing sanctions on the Chelski football team boss??

They "West" have basically clipped the wings of a few members of the Russian and Ex-Ukrainian Mafia who they have known about for years and previously dealt with, when it suited them!

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/17/eu-imposes-sanctions-21-russian-ukrainian-officials-crimea


Chelki?

Is that a soft ball club?

at the moment, the sanctions are no more or effective than a wet cottonwool ball
whether tougher sanctions - heaven knows quite what - can or will be imposed remains to be seen
G7 will allegedly discuss the situation within the next day or two ..... perhaps it will be decided to nuke the kremlin; that would get attention for sure!

Breaking News....... I mentioned this earlier......

Labour leads Tories by 17% – new poll shows Labour the party of hard workers 18/March/2014......by polling company Survation.

44% of people in full or part-time employment said Labour were the party for hard-working people as opposed to just 27% for the Conservatives.

The Budget 2014 – For Hardworking People?
March 17th, 2014


73% of UK workers told Survation they have seen wages fall relative to the cost of living over the last two years; just 4% have seen them rise
Only 40% of UK workers believe the UK economy is recovering
Almost 60% believe that those on high incomes are benefiting most from whatever economic recovery is taking place
4 in 10 workers are concerned that they may lose their job
Workers are nearly 5 times as likely to identify job security as a priority for politicians, even at the expense of increasing GDP, than the reverse
42% of part-time workers told Survation they would prefer to work full-time
5% of people told us they were on a zero-hours contract or equivalent (which would correspond to approximately 1.5 million people nationwide).

Amidst the announced extension of government Help to Buy scheme, and continuing house price inflation, 69% of workers tell Survation the economy would be better off if house prices stayed the same or fell
There is a clear compelling political incentive to win over the votes of working people. Our poll found that 44% of people in full or part time work would vote Labour if there were a general election tomorrow while 27% who would vote Conservative. George Osborne needs to pay close attention to the attitudes of workers if his budget is to have any effect on closing this gap.

Research by Survation to be has investigated the views of working people on a wide range of issues, painting a picture of working life in Britain today. We have gauged the opinions of some of the people who will be most directly affected by the announcements Osborne will make at the dispatch box.

GDP: the only priority?

Our polling suggests that working people do not have the same view as the government about what economic recovery means in practice. Fewer than 1 in 10 people told Survation that a higher rate of GDP was the most important thing to be improved in the UK economy. More likely than GDP growth to be chosen as the most important measure of economic improvement were a higher proportion of people in secure full time work (36%) and wages increasing higher than inflation (28%).

Strikingly, 57% of working people would prefer politicians to focus on bringing about higher wages, even if this means accepting lower GDP. In the case of a trade-off between GDP and job security, the contrast is even starker: 69% would prefer politicians to be focusing on better job security, even if this means accepting lower GDP.

This may explain why 46% of the workers we polled do not believe the UK economy is recovering (compared to 40% who thought that is was), and 59% believe that it is those on high incomes who are benefiting from whatever economic recovery may be taking place.

In order to convince these working people that there is a recovering and that it is ‘for hardworking people’, Osborne will need to show that he is working towards wider economic goals than GDP growth alone.

Wages and the cost of living

Worryingly, 73% of working people told Survation that they have seen their wages fall relative to the cost of living with only 4% saying that wages had kept up with or exceeded the cost of living.

On the key cost of living issue of housing, our poll found that only 14% of working people think that the economy benefits from continued rises in house prices and 32% think it would be best if they remained about the same. 37% think that the economy would be better off if house prices fell.

Underemployment

The number of people claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance is falling, but – as with GDP – this indicator only tells part of the story, and findings from our poll provide greater insight into the issue of underemployment. 5% of people told us they were on a zero-hours contract or equivalent (which would correspond to approximately 1.5 million people nationwide). 42% of those working part time said they would prefer to be full-time. 39% of people we polled said they were concerned they might lose their job, and nearly 1 in 3 said they felt less secure at work compared to 2010.


Who will deliver for “hard working people”?

Both Labour, with their traditional union links, and the Conservatives, with their latest conference pitch “for hard working people” are attempting to claim the mantle of championing workers’ interests. Our polling shows that Labour currently has the advantage; among those in full and part time employment they lead the Conservatives 44% to 27%. This is a 17 point lead, compared with the 4 point lead that they enjoyed among the electorate at large in our national poll the month before, which had Labour on 34% and the Conservatives on 30%. 12% of workers who had voted Conservative in 2010 would now vote Labour, whilst more 2010 Liberal Democrat voting workers would now vote Labour (40%) than would still vote Liberal Democrat (35%).

If George Osborne wants to win over the votes of working people to the Conservative Party, he will need to work hard himself to address the key concerns of workers that have been highlighted through this work. The budget always creates headlines and is one of the most important dates in the political calendar. The last half decade of economic crisis and recession have made it even more relevant to lives of working people who will be looking to Osborne for evidence that an economic recovery will not just consist of an increase in GDP, but a more tangible recovery that will provide workers with fair wages, job security, and rising living standards.

By Nicholas Barker, Researcher. Additional content by Lucy Makinson

Survation is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

This is striking and one would have to ask JUST WHAT HAS GONE WRONG WITH THE TORIES........................

Our polling shows that Labour currently has the advantage; among those in full and part time employment they lead the Conservatives 44% to 27%. This is a 17 point lead, compared with the 4 point lead that they enjoyed among the electorate at large in our national poll the month before, which had Labour on 34% and the Conservatives on 30%. 12% of workers who had voted Conservative in 2010 would now vote Labour, whilst more 2010 Liberal Democrat voting workers would now vote Labour (40%) than would still vote Liberal Democrat (35%).

Another striking point here..........

12% of workers who had voted Conservative in 2010 would now vote Labour, whilst more 2010 Liberal Democrat voting workers would now vote Labour (40%) than would still vote Liberal Democrat (35%).------------ends.

Looks like Milly at last is putting the boot into the Tory Vote.

I said he would time it just right.

HAYS HAYS HAYS HAYS.......the chickens are coming home to roost.

What no posts by the Chuckle Brothers??????? mind having said that Cynic as tap danced around this thread ever since Hays mentioned Micro Penis on here yesterday evening and Cynic got very hot under the colar.

You know what they say dont you................

.........'if the cap fits'

I wondered why Hazy One had evaporated.

Manuel must have shown him the menu for the day!
===========

GF.

Results below not quite the same, but suspect yours to be true.


Update - Labour lead at 8
by YouGov in Politics
Tue March 18, 2014 6 a.m. GMT


17th YouGov / Con 32%, Lab 40%, LD 9%, UKIP 11%

Wonder what Labour will do with a majority of 100?

having banked a very juicy profit on ASC, I played golf until mid afternoon and then drove up to London, where I am now
meanwhile, I notice the usual suspects have been weaving several more yards of nonsense, so clearly didn't miss much

Has Stan snuffed it? :-))

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26418558