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.

BREAKING NEWS........

Visit Labour.org.uk

Labour turns up the heat on Cameron over Lord Freud

Following the news that the Government has cancelled Lord Freud’s planned appearances in the House of Lords today, Labour is demanding that he make a statement to Parliament.

Labour is also calling on David Cameron to release all details of any government consideration given to limiting disabled people’s entitlement to the national minimum wage.

Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Rachel Reeves MP has written to David Cameron demanding that he answer the following questions:

- Will he confirm that, despite having given him a clean bill of health, he has not personally spoken to Lord Freud to discuss his views?

- Will he release all details of work commissioned within government on reducing disabled people’s entitlement to the national minimum wage?

- Will he release all internal government papers relating to disabled people’s entitlement to the national minimum wage?

- Will he join Labour in calling on Lord Freud to make a full statement to Parliament today to explain his comments?

Rachel Reeves MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, in a letter to David Cameron sent this morning, said:


Dear Prime Minister,

Your Minister for Welfare Reform has said that he believes some disabled people are “not worth the full wage”. Despite outrage on all benches, including from senior Conservatives, and from charity leaders, you have failed to act.

Lord Freud’s remarks were completely unacceptable, and it is also unacceptable that someone with these views remains in charge of such an important post in your government.

It is now vital that you publicly confront the following issues.

After learning of the comments, your spokesman said you would “want to hear what Lord Freud is going to say”. Can you confirm that you have personally not spoken to Lord Freud to discuss his views, and yet you have given him a clean bill of health?

Lord Freud said in relation to disabled people being paid less than the national minimum wage that he was “going to go and think about that particular issue, whether there is something we can do nationally”. It is essential that you now release details of all work which has been commissioned within the Department for Work and Pensions and other government departments relating to this issue in the last 12 months. Will you now publish all details of such work, and will you release all internal papers which cover this topic?

Finally, Lord Freud was today supposed to be speaking in the ‘Social Justice Strategy’ debate in the House of Lords, yet he has been ‘pulled’ in a sign that you do not in fact have full confidence in his position. Given he is a government minister and a peer, it is only right that he be subject to public accountability. Will you and your Leader in the House of Lords therefore join me in calling on him to today come to the House of Lords and make a full statement to explain his comments, what action he has taken in this policy area and respond to the many questions parliamentary colleagues will have?

If you cannot agree to this people will only conclude that your government has something to hide, that you cannot publicly defend your position in relation to disabled people’s entitlement to the minimum wage, and your inaction will haunt you.

Charities yesterday said that Lord Freud’s comments were offensive and shocking. Mencap said that he should “reflect on his position”. It is unclear, however, how far a member of your government would have to go in offending disabled people in order to lose their job, when in many other walks of life the comments by Lord Freud would have led to a resignation.

You said in the House of Commons yesterday that Lord Freud’s views are “not the views of anyone in the government”, and yet his continued presence in the DWP suggests otherwise.

Yours sincerely,

Rachel Reeves MP
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary

"The sage is bailing out." Incorrect - but close.

"The sage has totally bailed out." would be more accurate.

Alex Lawson ‏@MrAlexLawson 9m9 minutes ago
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owned more than 5% of #Tesco in 2012, now down to less than 3%

Has he flogged the lot EL?

It says less than 3%...which of course could mean gone with the wads (all the way)

The position before the triggering transaction says Berkshire Hathaway owned approx 250m shares. ie. more than 3% of the stock.

The position after the triggering transaction shows Berkshire Hathaway does not now own any stock (NB. This area of the form is entirely blank). ie. less than 3% of the stock (NB. 'Less than 3%' can of course, also mean zilch!

EXEC Ive seen somewhere where it says he still owns 2.8% or something like that Ill try and find it on twitter.

Has Mili-Bland got nothing better to do than continue his smear of Lord Freud... I think his time would be better spent concentrating on the substance of his manifesto... Mind you it wouldn't surprise me if Mili managed to hang himself with all the rope he's been given..

When President Barack Obama first spoke about Ebola after an American aid worker was flown to Atlanta for treatment having contracted the disease in West Africa, he said the risk of an outbreak was small in the extreme. It was all about containment.
Spool forward to today, and let's just look at the maths for Texas alone.
The Dallas Presbyterian Hospital treated one Liberian, Thomas Duncan, who died. From caring for him, two nurses have now contracted the disease.
Nearly 80 health workers are under observation. It is claimed by the biggest nursing union that those charged with his care did not have the right protective clothing, flesh was exposed, there were no clear guidelines of what to wear, how to wear it, and how to disrobe.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concedes that it is possible flesh was left exposed when treating Duncan. And that is why among those nearly 80 still under observation, no one can rule out the possibility that there will be further cases.
This is a crude, and damning, statistic but so far Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) has treated thousands of people in West Africa with Ebola, and has seen 16 medical workers contract the disease. This hospital in Dallas has treated just one patient, and has two sick healthcare staff.

In the country with the most advanced healthcare of anywhere in the world, with the best trained health workers, with resources that any third world medical centre would kill for, the question that - not surprisingly - is being asked is how in the name of God is this possible.
Now if this bit causes you to arch an eyebrow, the next bit has caused many jaws to hit the floor. The day before the second nurse was diagnosed she flew on a commercial flight from Cleveland, Ohio, back to Dallas.
The CDC is now trying to reach 132 passengers who were on the plane with her as a matter of urgency. The CDC has said it was a clear breach of guidelines and protocol for a health worker under observation to fly, or travel on a bus or a train. But did the nurse herself know this?

The infected nurse flew on Frontier Airlines the evening before diagnosis
Remember that word containment? It seems to be quite the reverse. It is as though someone has taken Steven Soderbergh's script from the film Contagion and decided to try to make it reality - what is it they say about life imitating art?
Of course, there is no serious outbreak in the US - there are two healthcare workers who've contracted the disease and are receiving the best possible treatment, and it may be that these will be the first and last cases contracted in the country.
But no wonder the president has cancelled his scheduled trips to New Jersey and Connecticut today. The public like to see their political leaders "gripping" a crisis. What has been seen so far is a crisis being fumbled.

Exec this might help.........Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway investment company has sold more than 245 million shares in supermarket giant Tesco.

The sale brings Berkshire's holding to below 3%.

It could only happen in America

Could it ? or Spain. It seems the UK as got its act together and is well prepared

GF

Going upwards instead of downwards, he does not have to report until he actually does pass the 3% level of ownership..

I don't actually know if he has to report exactly what shares he still owns if the percentage of shares actually does drop below the 3% level.

However, there is a space on the form to do this and it has been left blank. In doing so, one interpretation to readers is that 'blank=NIL'

cynic unlike you I am a very honest person and my family diea fighting to make the uk great . they did not run away . they would now turn in their graves to se the uk today . they died for nothing buried in Poland . the uk is dumping ground for all the scum from other countries . all those that died fighting for peace died for nothing
you will not agree that is fact .

the people of the uk are going to vote ukip make no mistake we have had enough of the eu scum

GF

You say: "Exec this might help.........Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway investment company has sold more than 245 million shares in supermarket giant Tesco.

The sale brings Berkshire's holding to below 3%."

That is all very well, but what is the source of your copy and paste? Is it a reliable one or just someone's opinion? You don't actually say.

if eblola is not airborne why I they breaking their necks to find the 130 people on were on a flight in the usa

They all touched the tops of the backs of the seats on their way down the aisle of the plane.

Exec yep your probably right Ive seen another tweet that says the company have NOT DISCLOSED how much stock they still own, so that looks to me like they still have some (below 3%) .......but for how long.

TANKER they were sat in the plane not on the wings.

GF

I found your posting excerpt from the BBC's site.

Just as I suspected, the reporter merely has an opinion on things and has given it. It is just a journalist's 'opinion' and not the 'fact' and so could be totally incorrect.

Some of these RNS announcements are so bad and so misleading they are not worth the paper they are written on.

If the sage has dumped ALL his shares, then that fact is extremely important.

If he has retained a holding but kept it below 3%, then that is also important.

Tanker,post 47788, possibly because people use toilets in planes!

I fly a lot and never touch anyone or seats that I do not seat but always have the exit seats or I do not fly do not like anyone infront of myself . 11e 11d