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.

This article tells you what you need to know about Cameroon...



David Cameron cools on pledge to cut net migration to tens of thousands by May 2015

David Cameron declines five times in Sky News interview to say that he wanted to achieve this by 2015, preferring to insist that the Conservatives were “working towards” the target.



David Cameron speaks in Glasgow yesterday (PA)


Christopher Hope
By Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent

4:58PM BST 18 May 2014


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10839268/David-Cameron-cools-on-pledge-to-cut-net-migration-to-tens-of-thousands-by-May-2015.html



David Cameron has apparently cooled on his party’s pledge to cut net migration to tens of thousands of people by next May’s general election.


The Prime Minister was repeatedly asked in a television interview if he was sticking to his commitment to cut the number coming to the UK to fewer than 100,000.


However he declined five times specifically to say that he wanted to achieve this by 2015, preferring to insist that the Conservatives were “working towards” the target.


Interviewed on Sky News’ Murnaghan programme, Mr Cameron said: “We are working towards it, we are doing everything we can to deliver on it and we should continue to do that.”


Asked again if the figure was still a target for the general election, Mr Cameron said: “I want to see net migration down to the tens of thousands not only because it is right for the British economy because we should be training our own people for these jobs.


“But also if you look back to the 1980s when net migration was in the tens of thousands, we were an open economy then.

“But do you know what, immigration wasn’t a big political issue because it was properly under control and that’s what I want to achieve again.”

The pledge to cut net migration to fewer than 100,000 was made in the Conservative manifesto in May 2010.

However the Liberal Democrats resisted including the specific target in the Government’s Coalition agreement which set out what ministers would do.

The comments represent an apparent shift from last week when Mr Cameron told MPs in the Commons that the May 2015 target was “perfectly feasible”.

He continued: “We have brought net migration into the UK down by a fifth under this Government – not as much as I’d like.”

Net migration - the number coming to the UK for at least a year, less the numbers leaving - rose 58,000 to 212,000 in the year to September 2013.

Mr Cameron said that Britain had taken in people from the stricken Eurozone.

Speaking a day after Mr Cameron, Anna Soubry, a Government minister, admitted that the target looked set to be missed. Miss Soubry – a defence minister – said: “At the moment we don’t seem to be on course.”

a somewhat slithery politician's answer! :-)

i don't think it would have opened any pit if he had said that <100k remained the target, though it's obvious that this is taking far longer then hoped

more importantly, a couple of days ago, i think i heard him upholding the rights of all eu citizens to transmigrate
whether that means eu citizens would have an automatic and immediate right to uk's generous benefit and health system is another matter, but even that seems to be a difficult leak to plug

The Grocer

Despite the current furore over halal, the vast majority of UK shoppers are not prepared to pay more to ensure they do not eat religiously slaughtered meat, exclusive research for The Grocer has shown.

Recent media reports about supermarkets and foodservice chains ‘secretly’ selling halal meat - including lamb from New Zealand - have prompted calls for better labelling, but industry experts have warned this could add significant costs to the supply chain and drive up prices.

A survey of 1,977 UK consumers, conducted for The Grocer by YouGov, suggests few shoppers would be prepared to pay extra: 68% of meat eaters said they would not pay more to guarantee meat had not been religiously slaughtered, with just 17% willing to pay extra; 15% said ‘don’t know’.

Asked about retailer labelling policies on halal meat, 40% said they were not particularly concerned about their supermarket’s policy on labelling halal meat. Twenty nine percent said they have or intend to find out more about their supermarket’s policy on labelling, while 11% said they were already aware of halal labelling policies.

Overall, the survey found just over 50% of consumers were prepared to buy religiously slaughtered meat in some form - 21% said they would buy it provided the animal was stunned before being killed, and 32% said they did not care about slaughter methods at all, citing price or the quality of the meat as more important.

A quarter of British consumers said they would not buy or eat any type of religiously slaughtered meat, regardless of whether the animal was stunned or not.

Younger consumers were generally more relaxed about religious slaughter than older demographics.

i'ld far rather see crated-veal production banned ....

that most assuredly has to be a truly inhumane way of raising young calves, and is probably why, at least in uk, we are seeing more and more "rose veal" for sale as opposed to the white version imported from holland

In my view it's all about the Islamification if there's such a word, things get accepted then become the norm ,in a few years before you know it we're half Islamic. This is Britain and we are Christian. I feel we are being brainwashed slowly.

victim - total rubbish! .....

because it's useful in promoting further islam-demonisation, the press chooses to focus on halal slaughter, which is truthfully done for "good" religious reasons - i won't bore you as to why the procedure - but jewish kosher butchering, which is effectively the same, has been pushed to the far rear

in fact, when done in a properly controlled environment, it is questionable that it is any more stressful for the cattle and poultry than in many or perhaps most of "normal" abattoirs

===============

by the way, from where did you glean the illusion that britain is a christian nation?
how often do you and your neighbours go to church?

I prefer to think we are a secular country. Certainly Christianity has done more harm over the years than Islam.

depends how you define christianity of course, but equally don't forget the very bloody and brutal wars and crusades in the middle-ages between christians and islam

christians of course don't have too hot a reputation for tolerance of other religions and beliefs, despite that the Good Book tells them .... the inquisition comes to mind

Labour Wants To Link Minimum Wage To Earnings
sounds good and of course the unions will love it
BUT
the consequences for a multitude of small businesses and certainly the catering industry and all sorts of others, and thus the economy, will be badly hit

============

i'm afraid it's something of just a populist politician's soundbite, without the consequences being properly thought through ..... but then when you're in opposition, you don't need to

a good scrubber
or doesn't she scrub up well :-)

Very nice... :-)

cynic

Veal grates have been banned in the UK for years now , same in the EU i think

and 32% said they did not care about slaughter methods at all, Thought we were a country of animal lovers, maybe a lot of the 32% were non British.

Thought for today

Do Fred and Stan wear cloth caps and go wippit racing together

i've checked and you're right; banned in whole eu since 2007 but still allowed in usa

meanwhile, you can create the same result as below ...
Formula-fed ("white" or "milk-fed") veal, from calves that are raised on a milk formula supplement. The meat colour is ivory or creamy pink, with a firm, fine, and velvety appearance. They are usually slaughtered when they reach 18–20 weeks of age, 450 to 500 pounds (200 to 230 kg).

Many people won't eat veal at all and think there shouldn't be any. They forget the link with their fresh milk which would disappear.

Beloved won't though she'll eat calve's liver!
don't even think of asking for the logic!!!

Pleasure over principle.