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.

i still fail to see why stamp duty isn't staggered like income tax
the present system is iniquitous and deemed so to be by a great many, but there's no will to change it
why on earth not?

Stamp Duty.........cant see it not under the coalition.

Certainly under the new government elect labour.

Let's see what Boris has to say:

telegraph.co.uk

You kip if you want to - but only one party can offer real change
The Tories will give people the vote they are crying out for, and lead reform of the EU
by Boris Johnson May 18, 2014

There is an awful lot of resentful talk these days about the baby-boomer generation – people who became adults in the Sixties and Seventies – and how jammy their lives are compared with those of the younger generation.

They could afford to buy their own homes in parts of London that are now completely out of reach. They were able to go to university without paying a penny. They were allowed to pay towards luscious final salary pension schemes. They took part in the summer of love; they tuned in, turned on, dropped out in a way that was somehow not possible for those of us who came of age in the Eighties or later.

And yet of all the cool, groovy and psychedelic things they got up to, there is only one that could be easily re-enacted today. They were able to vote on whether or not Britain should remain a member of what was then called the Common Market – and speaking on behalf of all those aged 57 or under, I think it outrageous that we have not yet been given the chance to do the same. By the time we get a referendum on Europe, it will be more than 40 years since the British people were asked their view. Most of those who took part in the last poll will no longer be with us, and the Common Market has become unrecognisable since the electorate was last consulted.

The Tories will give people the vote they are crying out for, and lead reform of the EU

There are 28 countries now, not nine, and the customs union has evolved into a gigantic dysfunctional superstate with its own currency, its own directly elected parliament and its own (mysterious and mainly useless) foreign policy. The institutions of the European Union regulate everything from the hours we can work to the price of our food to the width of our condoms; not forgetting whether or not we can expunge our misdemeanours from the databanks of Google (we can, says the European Court, in what may be the prelude – who knows – to a wholesale removal of all the embarrassing bits from 20th-century European history).

The so-called acquis communautaire now bulks up to 150,000 pages of law. The EU institutions have vastly increased in power since we joined in the mid-Seventies, with more and more votes taken by a majority, and with Britain now accounting for only 8 per cent of the weighted voting system.

Ours is a country that prides itself on being the home of democracy and the mother of parliaments. It is incredible that our leaders have never once had the guts to put these changes to the people – despite the many opportunities to do so. We have had the treaties of Maastricht, Nice, Amsterdam, Lisbon – and while plenty of other European countries have invited their electorates to ratify these pacts, the British people have been deemed to be somehow too rude and undisciplined to have a say.

So I find it utterly amazing that we are now approaching the climax of this so-called Euro-election campaign, yet there has been hardly a mention of this central question: the democratic question, the only question worth asking. After almost four decades as members of this club, do you want to stay in? Do you want reform? Or do you want to come out?

There is only one party that is seriously offering you any options at all. The Labour party makes no mention of a referendum in its leaflets, because it would only allow the British people to speak if there were to be “further transfers” of sovereignty – as if there had not been enough already. That means there will be no referendum under Labour.

The Lib Dems are total federalists, and think that everything emanating from Brussels is basically terrific. There will be no referendum if the Lib Dems have anything to do with it. I am not sure of the Green position, but I think it is roughly the same and is in any case irrelevant. Then there is Ukip, and their general demand that we leave the EU yesterday – a stipulation that they have absolutely no hope of turning into reality.

There is only one party with any hope of both forming the government of this country and giving the people the debate and the vote we are crying out for – and that is David Cameron’s Conservative Party. There is a chance now for the British Government to lead the reform of the EU, and to capture the support of millions of people around the entire continent.

Why is it that we are seeing this upsurge of anti-European parties across the EU? Because the euro has been a disaster, of course; but the problem is not only a function of the euro. Growth and employment in Europe is now consistently lower than in the US and in Asia; and indeed, growth in the heart of the EU is consistently lower than in Britain. Over the years 1980 to 2012, the six original signatories of the Treaty of Rome grew at a mere 1.6 per cent, while even the UK grew at 2 per cent.

We should go into those renegotiations with a clear agenda: to root out the nonsense of the social chapter – the working time directive and the atypical work directive and other job-destroying regulations. We should kill the remainder of the Common Agricultural Policy and the external tariffs. We should insist on a proper free market in services of the kind in which this country excels, not just in our own interests, but in the interests of the whole EU. If we fail to get what we want, then we should recognise that the cost of leaving – political and economic – is much lower now than it was 40 years ago.

It is only the Conservatives who are offering this real prospect of change; and so I say to all those toying with another self-styled Euro-sceptic party, whose MEPs notoriously slumber and snore through Strasbourg debates: You kip if you want to – the Tories are giving us the first chance to vote on Europe in my adult lifetime. That matters a great deal, and it would be an utter disaster if we were to miss this chance by inadvertently ushering Miliband into power.

Say no to no say!

Inflation climbs to 1.8pc in April
Squeeze on households continues as inflation climbs to 1.8pc in April, from 1.6pc in March
By Szu Ping Chan10:19AM BST 20 May 2014

Inflation rose in April as a jump in air fares and higher clothing prices weakened household spending power and stalled hopes for a pick-up in real wages.
The consumer prices index (CPI) rose at an annual rate of 1.8pc last month, up from a four-year low of 1.6pc in March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

By Szu Ping Chan10:19AM BST 20 May 2014 Comments61 Comments
Inflation rose in April as a jump in air fares and higher clothing prices weakened household spending power and stalled hopes for a pick-up in real wages.
The consumer prices index (CPI) rose at an annual rate of 1.8pc last month, up from a four-year low of 1.6pc in March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Tuesday's data ended a six month run of falling inflation figures, as prices accelerated for the first time in 10 months. It also means prices are rising faster than wages again. Total pay increases including bonuses grew by 1.7pc in the period January to March compared with a year earlier.
Economists said higher inflation in April did not signal the start of a broader upward trend, Most expect CPI inflation to stay close to the Bank of England's 2pc target this year.
"Inflation should stay between 1.5pc and 2pc this year, as higher sterling and commodity prices bear down on import costs, and a tightening economy should then push inflation back up to the 2pc inflation target by the end of 2015," said Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Berenberg Bank.
Analysts also noted that a supermarket price war had escalated in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Morrisons said the price of 1,200 products across its stores would be cut by an average of 17pc, while Tesco has announced it is cutting prices on more than 30 basic goods.
"At first glance it should be hard for food price inflation to fall again next month having shown such a big fall today, but there is good reason for this to happen," said Alan Clarke, a strategist at Scotiabank.
Core inflation, which strips out energy and food price rises, jumped to 2pc in April, from 1.6pc in March, representing the fastest increase since September 2013. However, experts said the increase largely reflected April's higher air fares.
Meanwhile, the retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation, which is no longer classed as an official statistic by the ONS, but is still used to calculate pay deals and fare increases, remained at 2.5pc last month.

Prices rising faster than wages again, ONS to warn
Expected increase in inflation tempers claims by Mark Carney, the Bank of England governor, that the cost-of-living crisis is over.
By James Kirkup10:30PM BST 19 May 2014

Prices are rising faster than wages again, official figures could show on Tuesday, days after Mark Carney, the Bank of England governor, said that the cost of living crisis was over.
Inflation on the CPI measure was 1.8 per cent in April, the Office for National Statistics is expected to report, according to forecasts from City economists.
That figure, an increase on the March reading, would temper hopes that a long period of wages falling in real terms is over.
Earlier this week, Mr Carney suggested Britain was about to experience “sustained real wage growth”.
Wages including bonuses grew by 1.7 per cent in the period January to March against a year earlier. That was higher than March’s inflation figure of 1.6 per cent.

An inflation figure of 1.7 per cent or above on Tuesday would mark the end of a six-month period of falling inflation figures.

Borrowers risk unaffordable payments when rates rise, warns think-tank
Resolution Foundation urges borrowers to prepare now for rate rises by "locking-in" current low rates
By Szu Ping Chan6:00AM BST 20 May 2014

Interest rate rises will leave more than a quarter of all mortgage holders facing unaffordable payments unless they take action to "lock-in" current low rates, a think-tank has warned.

More than two million of Britain's 8.4 million mortgagors will be forced to spend more than a third of their post-tax income on mortgage repayments if rates rise to 3pc from 0.5pc by 2018 in line with market expectations, according to analysis by the Resolution Foundation.
This is more than double the current level of 13pc, leaving a household with a £100,000 mortgage around £4,400 worse off by the end of 2018.
Economists said it was important for borrowers to prepare now for rate rises by "locking-in" current low rates. "There is still a window of opportunity to think creatively about the best way of reducing the risk to this vulnerable group while we still have ultra-low interest rates," said Matthew Whittaker, chief economist at the Resolution Foundation.
"But that era is coming to an end relatively soon and the legacy of easy credit and the associated debt-overhang will have to be reckoned with."

The think-tank also warned that 770,000 borrowers - representing 9pc of all mortgagors - could be thrown into financial disaster once rates began to rise. It said tighter monetary policy could leave borrowers who were self-employed, had very low equity in their home, or those who took out an interest-only deal, classed as "mortgage prisoners" because they would be unable to switch to a better deal. It added that stricter rules introduced by the Mortgage Market review in April could make it even harder for these borrowers to insulate themselves against future rate rises.
Borrowers in London were most exposed to affordability risks, with 35pc of mortgagors classed as "highly geared", compared with 18pc in Scotland. However, the Foundation highlighted that just 2pc of borrowers in the capital had less than 10pc equity in their home, compared with 35pc in Northern Ireland.
Bank of England data suggest higher interest rates could affect consumers more than previous cycles because around 65pc of mortgages are now linked directly to Bank Rate, compared with 38pc before the financial crisis.

Bank of England data suggest higher interest rates could affect consumers more than previous cycles because around 65pc of mortgages are now linked directly to Bank Rate, compared with 38pc before the financial crisis.

It is going to be such a trauma for you when you are proved to be wrong!

interesting how the nub is almost buried .... if rates rise to 3pc from 0.5pc by 2018
no one even knows when the NEXT rate rise will be, though it is certainly likely to be by mid 2015, so how these buffoons can think they know where rates will or might or just hypothetically may be in 3-4 years time merely goes to show that the whole article is just a load of nonsense taking up space in some journal

From post 40987 - "Earlier this week, Mr Carney suggested Britain was about to experience “sustained real wage growth”.
Wages including bonuses grew by 1.7 per cent in the period January to March against a year earlier. That was higher than March’s inflation figure of 1.6 per cent."

Pass the pipe Carney, I wanna be in your world!! Just good buttering figures these for his Conservative mate Osborne... All helps to sow the seeds early prior to a General Election..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0AGUooNdPk&feature=player_embedded

I think we all know where the wage growth came from..


"Wages including bonuses grew by 1.7 per cent in the period January to March against a year earlier"

As for the Abu Hamza al-Masri situation if the shoe was on the other foot things would have got done a hell of alot quicker! Utter one word against Islam publically and your branded a racist, up infront of a judge and thrown the book at.... Personally I think people like him should have been dealt with under the old https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/268021/oathofallegiance.pdf Nationality Act, whereby if your not a citizen of this country and you've offened those that are, then, you have just one right, and that is to fuck off to another country more in keeping with your mind set. The amount of money this one person has cost us is an offence in itself.

similar thoughts have crossed my mind from to time for fred!

Carneys getting a reputation for missing his targets just like Osbourne as done in the past. Lets face it if he had kept to his original target of unemployment at 7% or lower we'd have already had an interest rate rise.

Hays can you really trust a bloke like this with your interest rates???.

I dont think so.

And Shorties spot on.........

Shortie - 20 May 2014 16:41 - 40992 of 40995

From post 40987 - "Earlier this week, Mr Carney suggested Britain was about to experience “sustained real wage growth”.
Wages including bonuses grew by 1.7 per cent in the period January to March against a year earlier. That was higher than March’s inflation figure of 1.6 per cent."

Pass the pipe Carney, I wanna be in your world!! Just good buttering figures these for his Conservative mate Osborne... All helps to sow the seeds early prior to a General Election..

it really is blissful being "filtered" by sticky

first the silly sod makes nonsense capital that interest rates will most assuredly and absolutely and 120% certainly will rise "any day now" and at least once more before year end - which of course they did not and never looked likely to ......

and then he grizzles further when his "told you so" goes awry when it is decided that there is actually no need to raise rates at this juncture

and if it happens that rates are in fact not even raised before next june, then most assuredly he'll be whingeing again ..... as of course he will if they do go up!

The Conservatives will stand prior to the election saying that they have achieved this and that with figures to back it all up. Carney will make sure they have the figures required, this is what he's really doing in the BofE. All these unchallenged reports are just dress rehersal before the main event.

Lets face it, the BofE can produce pretty much any figures it wants unchallenged...

Do you really believe our growth figures when our main trading countries are not experiencing the same?

you cynical old fart you :-)

perhaps you can remind us all where and when the previous incumbents wrung their hands and hung their heads in shame and admitted they'd made a complete horlicks of virtually everything before the last GE :-)

So true Cynic, proves one point only though, that there all at it...

"you cynical old fart you :-)"..... lol, I think I've read too many of your posts...