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.

Telegraph today

Consider Labour's position. Today's YouGov figures are Conservatives 35%, Labour 37%, Liberal Democrats 8%, and Ukip 12%. Ed Miliband's approval ratings are dire, while Labour lag, badly, on the all important issue of economic competence. Meanwhile, for all the recent rows at the top of the party, the economy is picking up speed and the government's agenda is – mostly – on track.

It gets worse for Labour when you remember that, at this point in 2009, David Cameron had an average lead of fifteen points to an average Labour lead of four today. No opposition has won from where Labour is now. That's the background to today's warning from the Fabian Society, Labour's oldest think tank, in this morning's Indy, that the party is losing working-class voters to Ukip. Add that to Charles Clarke's warning on the Daily Politics yesterday that Ed Miliband's cost-of-living crisis agenda was, in itself, in crisis, and you can see a party that is starting to realise it is in a bad position that is likely to get worse. As I said, it's a quiet day, and, as the World Cup gets underway, likely to get quieter over the coming weeks. Mr Miliband could be in for an uncomfortable summer.

37% gives Labour an EASY overal majority because of the voting structure and you know that Hays.

Not only that but Lord Ashcroft gives labour a comfourtable lead in the key margins and add to the fact that we face a SUMMER OF DISCONTENTie,.....

1. Education Row

2.Hundreds of thousands hit by benefits backlog

3. Up to 300,000 passports hit by delays, says David Cameron

4. London's anti-Uber taxi protest brings traffic to standstill

5. Phone-hacking trial: Jury starts deliberations

6. Wages fall well behind Inflation again

7. Interest rates could increase this side of Christmas

8. Armed Force Cheifs unrest at staff cuts

Is it little wonder Camoron is getting tooled up for RIOTS

Prime Minister David Cameron supports water cannon purchase.

Prime Minister David Cameron supports water cannon purchase



Boris Johnson approved the purchase of three cannon without the Home Office's approval

The use of water cannon on the streets of Britain has been backed by the prime minister.

A Number 10 spokesman said David Cameron believed the police should have the resources they wanted.

On Tuesday, it emerged London Mayor Boris Johnson authorised the Metropolitan Police to buy three cannon for £218,000.

The water cannon will not be deployed until the home secretary authorises their use in England and Wales.

A Number 10 spokesman said the prime minister supported the decision in principle.

Stand in front
Number 10 said there was still "a process of licensing and regulation to be completed and a final decision will be taken by the home secretary".

Speaking at Mayor's Question Time at city Hall, Mr Johnson said: "My view is we need to get on and equip the police with the water cannon they need, or might need."

Talking on LBC radio earlier, he said: "I'm entirely prepared to do anything to show that they're safe within reason.

"I'm not quite sure whether I want to stand in front of a water cannon....[but] if it will really make you happy I will investigate the whys and wherefores whether I can stand in front of a water cannon.

"I suppose I'm going to have to do it now."

In a statement, the mayor's office said purchasing the cannon now for just over £218,000, before Theresa May approves them, meant they could be bought at a "considerably reduced rate".

The cannon will be purchased for £30,000 each plus an additional £127,000 for them to be made "fit for purpose" for use in London, as opposed to the cost of a single new one at £870,000.

Mr Johnson said: "I think it's highly likely approval will be granted and the problem was if we waited we would have missed the window to buy them for the very good price that we've got."

Remember you saw it here first..................


A SUMMER OF DISCONTENT.

Fred.

I owned a camper van a few years ago, but got rid of it because it wasn't being used (good idea that got overtaken by events)


I lived in La belle France for about 6 years, but got cheesed off with it. Came down to buying another clunker or not, decided not to buy any more props....too expensive for what they were....and a lucky decision that was.

GF - Good old Boris attempting at least to keep anarchy off the streets. If you need any proof of the sort of cretins walking around watch the programme starting shortly at 9.00pm on Channel 5 "Football Hooligan & Proud"

the tax system in france - pro-socialists please note - is both punitive and counter-productive ... and that was one of the reasons Beloved and i have never bought any property abroad

Chris they are all scousers .......wink.

Made good money on the frog props c...paid a lorra tax as well, but you gotta earn it to pay it.

It is 30,000 passports and the backlog will be cleared.

The water canons are a good idea. Can we test them on a few northern lefty union members!

No education row.

Phonehacking is fuss about nothing and not a government problem.

Interest rates are not gong to rise this side of the GE.

Armed forces always bitch about cuts. Nothing new.

Uber taxi a good idea.

Uber taxi a good idea....And now they have taken the mini cab biz to another level, fully checked drivers etc...great!

But not if you are a cabby!

However, it's more than past time on the black cab tossers, they have sown the seeds of their own destruction.

Why does Boris feel the need for water cannon?

Does he know something we don't about "vibrant, multi-culti Londonistan"??

The police wanted them. There were three going cheap. He decided to buy them as the price new is huge. Useful for giving the Socialist Worker Party a good soaking if they get a bit upperty during their demos.

i certainly see nothing wrong with either the concept or having them in reserve ..... anyway, it'll be a good, unusual and salutary experience for the great unwashed

The funny thing is that the taxi demo has caused an 850% increase in sign ups for Uber taxi. Many people only heard about the Uber app because of the black cabs gridlock today. Many people are going to use it because of the traffic jams that the cabs caused. Uber is cheaper as well.

Max,

Campers etc. are expensive unless being used frequently.

Mine was bought after I retired and allowed me to do what I had promised myself to do 50 years earlier.

Allowed me to travel over France Spain Portugal and Belgium and spend long periods and meet old friends.

A very happy, or contented period.


=========


Water cannons.

Bloody stupid idea.

Good old British standards.

I wonder who Boris is appealing to with other peoples money.

He is a B. stuntman.

Probably this is my last year of using it, unless my grandson tells me to keep it for one more year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9XLWrCi6DE

Hays youve missed this one and 3 others.

2.Hundreds of thousands hit by benefits backlog

Anyway your answers were all silly.

Just ask the poor sods at the passport offices.
Moles leaking their is complete chaos in the department.

Ministers intervene to prevent relaxation of checks at Passport Office
Exclusive Ministers force U-turn by officials and order relaxation to be withdrawn after Guardian revelations

Rajeev Syal
The Guardian, Thursday 12 June 2014

Ministers were forced to intervene in the working of the chaotic Passport Office after the Guardian revealed that managers had ordered staff to relax security checks on applicants for British passports from abroad in an effort to reduce a backlog of at least 30,000 applications.

A briefing note sent to staff on Monday told Passport Office workers to drop checks on countersignatories, as well as requirements for evidence of addresses and letters of confirmation from employers and accountants.

An hour after the leaked document was published on the Guardian's website on Wednesday night, the Home Office issued a terse statement saying that ministers had no knowledge of the instructions and had ordered managers at the Passport Office to withdraw it immediately.

The intervention will be an acute embarrassment to the home secretary, Theresa May, who has until now tried to maintain that she has been on top of the situation within the Passport Office.

On Wednesday, David Cameron blamed the confusion on the fact that the Passport Office was facing 300,000 more applications than usual and told the Commons: "The Home Office has been on this from the very start."

The developments will also increase pressure on Paul Pugh, the interim head of the Office, who has until now maintained that there is no "backlog" of cases.

The Passport Office was on Wednesday given 100 more staff by the Home Office in an effort to clear its backlog of applications, which are causing people to delay or miss holidays unless they pay £55 to have their cases fast-tracked.

But the briefing note revealed that behind the scenes, processes are also being transformed to cut the delays. It says the changes are required to achieve the right balance between "customer service, public protection and organisational requirements", and that "these changes are being published now in light of the need to speed up turnaround times".

The briefing note, written by the Passport Office's policy team and entitled Overseas Policy and Procedure Changes, begins by listing a number of policy changes and informs staff that they can now relax checks if an applicant from abroad asks for a passport to be sent to an alternative address.

In these cases, evidence of a link to that address will no longer be mandatory and the applicant will no longer have to sign a disclaimer form. The document states: "It has been agreed that, where an applicant provides an alternative address, a separate 'disclaimer' and evidence of a link to that address will no longer be mandatory if there are no other concerns or fraud indicators."

Staff sources claim the change could aid a fraudster who has applied for a document. Checks on countersignatories – a person of good standing or in a recognised profession who vouches for an applicant – have also been relaxed. The note says that a photocopy or scan of national ID cards from many European countries or Hong Kong will now be allowed as proof of a countersignatory's identity.

"On a discretionary basis, a photocopy or emailed scan of a countersignatory's current valid national identity card can be accepted instead of a passport copy, if the card is issued from one of the countries listed below to one of their nationals," the document says.

According to the note, if an applicant is seeking a second passport – which many frequent flyers use so that they can travel on one document whilst applying for entry with another – staff no longer need to seek a letter confirming their status from an employer or accountant.

"For an application for a first additional passport where the applicant has provided their passport, the examiner can use their discretion to not seek a letter of confirmation from an employer where other information indicates that the applicant is eligible for an additional passport," it says.

Previously, the Passport Office has strictly enforced a requirement for a letter of confirmation from an employer or accountant. Sources say the change raises the possibility of identity theft because it could allow a fraudster who has stolen a UK passport to apply for a second.

Speaking before ministers intervened, Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said the briefing showed the government was in denial about the state of the crisis and had been reduced to scaling back vital checks. "This is seriously chaotic … If this is what the prime minister meant by getting a grip on the situation, he needs to think again," she said. Mark Serwotka, head of the PCS union, which represents many Passport Office staff, said: "The Home Office now has some very serious questions to answer about whether security is being compromised and whether passports could be more easily obtained by criminals."

The Home Office last year cut several passport offices within foreign embassies at an annual saving of £20m and moved work to centres in Liverpool, Durham and Belfast. The decision was also intended to boost security, as it was considered too risky to send blank passport books abroad.

Downing Street confirmed that hundreds of extra staff had been deployed to deal with the backlog and offices would open seven days a week from 7am until midnight, after leaked photographs showed boxes of applications piling up in temporary storage in the Liverpool office.

Last week the Guardian disclosed that a quarter of staff employed to detect fraud, as well as others who usually interview suspect applicants, had been asked to process the delayed applications.

Ed Miliband told the Commons on Wednesday that the problem had been caused by cuts and a failure by May to keep watch as she was bickering with the education secretary, Michael Gove. "Tens of thousands of people are finding their holidays are being cancelled because they are not actually getting a passport," he said.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Ministers were unaware of this document and have instructed Her Majesty's Passport Office to withdraw it immediately."

Ed Miliband told the Commons on Wednesday that the problem had been caused by cuts and a failure by May to keep watch as she was bickering with the education secretary, Michael Gove. "Tens of thousands of people are finding their holidays are being cancelled because they are not actually getting a passport," he said.