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.

that bit i realised and hence my last comment and also earlier re risk/reward

Same here Cyners..... PayPal......... blimey its like a Maze.

All you want to do is transfer money to an agent who isnt big enough to pay for a credit card.

What a farce it is trying to set up an account.

Sorry Exec but my dealings with this lot have been to put it bluntly......TITS.

You only use 'an' where the 'h' is not normally pronounced, such as honouourable or honest. The 'h' in high is pronounced, that is unless you are a cockney, drop your hs and say 'igh tea'.

Cyners True, thats why your best PAYING UP.

Do you really think the top government department is going to take a loss in the courts.

NO CHANCE......... even though you may be right.

Look we can debate this all night but I say Barlow and co are cheats, and dont forget the more they dodge the more we have ALL to pay.

AYS FO.

other than in common parlance, you're wrong for otherwise it would not be grammatically correct to say an historical novel or an hotel, both of which are most certainly so even if marginally pedantic

HMRC gets beaten up in court quite often or is forced to settled beforehand i'm happy to say

ehhhhhhhhh?

for Fs sake.

Reality please.

True Cyners but small cases.

a matter of degree .... anyway, in this case, it is a very interesting one to follow, or at least i think so

There are exceptions to the 'an' rules. 'Hotel' is one that is often said both ways. The real difference is how strongly the 'h' is pronounced.

Right be honest now , Cyners do you really think Barlow and Co are going to get there money Back?????????????


5 years at least in court and hes bankrupt.

Wheres his costs going forward going to come from?????????????

They dont stand a 'cat in hells' chance of winning.

They shouldnt have cheated in the first place.

From the BBC World Service web site for learning English

an hour and a half

Note that with most adjectives and nouns beginning with the letter h, the h is pronounced, making it a consonant sound. Where the h is silent as in honest and hour, these words start with a vowel sound, thus requiring an rather than a before the adjective or noun:

I hoped to find a hippo and an ostrich in the game park but there were none.

I think he's an honest and trustworthy man. He said he would meet me in an hour and a half.

If the case is won against HMRC thenBarlow etc won't have to go to court as the judgement will be a precedent and they will just get their money back.

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

Hays Ill save that to word.

Ohhhhhhhhh and by the way hes already appeared in court.

hays - don't confuse common parlance and grammatical correctness, just as different to is horribly wrong (it is different from) yet even to be heard on bbc news

Millibandus and nu Lab are toast!



Stamp duty changes boost housing market and push up prices


Buyers spend their savings making higher offers while estate agents see sales rise the morning after autumn statement


Hilary Osborne

Friday 5 December 2014 19.37 GMT



The traditional pre-Christmas lull in the housing market came to an abrupt end last week when the chancellor slashed stamp duty for all properties costing up to £937,000.

Estate agents reported renewed interest from buyers, with some putting their savings in to higher offers for homes. They predicted that the increased demand, together with a cash injection into the market, would lead to higher prices in the months ahead.

The chancellor’s announcement that the “slab structure” on the homebuyer’s tax would be scrapped and replaced with a progressive system had an immediate impact on the market, agents said, as would-be buyers realised they could increase their budgets.

The UK’s largest independent agency, Haart, said it had seen a 15% increase in inquiries on Thursday morning and a flurry of offers by clients who found they had more money to spend.

Russell Jervis, Haart’s managing director, said: “The change has generated new sales – there were people who suddenly could increase their offer and several new sales were agreed straight away.”

In north London Charlie Perdios, managing director of Anthony Pepe, an estate agency, said he had also been contacted by buyers who were willing to pay more. “There were a few deals where the buyers and sellers were about £5,000 to £10,000 apart; now the buyers are maybe saving £5,000, those deals can be resurrected.”

He added: “If people feel that they’ve got a few more thousand to spend, that will filter through to house prices.” Haart had been predicting a lull in activity in the runup to the general election but Jervis said branches are “optimistic about the start of 2015. I think we will continue to see growth in house prices.”



http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/dec/05/stamp-duty-changes-housing-market

"well hays, it's assuredly an historical novel, so why would an high tea be a grammatical inexactitude, for both have aspirated aitches?"

No. It is a historical novel unless you drop the aitch. The an version is common usage in speech but bad grammar. I was commenting on a written version which which was wrong.