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.

And the tories are controlling immigration?

What are you sniffing?

Max,

The price of fuel doesn't particularly affect the treasury. Fuel tax is charged at a flat rate (it's about 58p a litre), regardless of the price paid for petrol or diesel at the pump. In addition, there's VAT, which is also charged on top of the fuel duty. So, the treasury get a minimum of around 70p a litre, regardless of the price paid at the pump.

If the price charged at the pump fluctuates, treasury income fluctuates only by the VAT charged on the element between their guaranteed 70p and the sales price.

In addition, oil is traded universally in USD. When the price of oil falls, cable also tends to fall, and the sterling equivalent price of crude tends to stay the same. That, coupled with the high fixed taxation element, means that prices at the pump fluctuate disproportionately to the price of crude.

But that also works in your favour. When China were blowing massive smoke plumes over Beijing during the 2008 Olympics, and crude was sitting around the $150/barrel level, whilst the price of fuel at the pump went up, it didn't go up by a proportionate amount because cable being at 2 bucks kept the sterling price down.

The next leader of the looney right.

While Cameron remains in charge.

Haze,

Don't panic, Don't panic!

Your dear leader is in charge!

.

high street rejuvenation
i see mary portas is ranting on about how the gov't should do more and more, but she misses an essential element ......

if high street shops do not offer the goods and services that the locals want, and in turn, if the locals do not support those enterprises, then of course they collapse and die

we have seen this in our lovely town where there is no longer a book shop, a butcher or fishmonger (he has now relocated about a mile out of town), greengrocer, delicatessen or hardware shop (he's now moved to a tertiary site on the perimeter)

in all cases, the locals wrung their hands when these shops disappeared, but frankly, they did not support them when they were there, even though, by and large, the products and service were good, though of course a little more expensive (but better quality) than the supermarket

Anyway, our one poll so far this Monday is Populus’s, with topline figures of CON 34%, LAB 36%, LDEM 10%, UKIP 12%, GRN 5%. Tabs are here.
UPDATE: The daily YouGov/Sun poll today has toplines of CON 32%, LAB 34%, LDEM 6%, UKIP 14%, GRN 8%. YouGov have had the Greens sneaking ahead of the Lib Dems quite a few times lately, but until today it’s only been by a single point.
Meanwhile the monthly ComRes/Indy telephone poll has topline figures of CON 29%(+1), LAB 32%(+1), LDEM 12%(+3), UKIP 16%(-2), GRN 5%(-2).

Local shops are always better quality. And fresher.

Mind you cant find a traditional British shop in most Northern towns as the Asians have taken over the High Street with take aways.

I prefer my beef stale for about 3-4 weeks,

And I like old dates.

My wife doesn't!

8~)

6:25AM GMT 16 Dec 2014
Ed Miliband cannot be trusted either on the economy or on immigration

Hot on the heels of Ed Miliband’s speech on the deficit last week comes another exercise in self-delusion and wilful obfuscation. Just as the Labour leader wants the country to trust his party with the economy once again, so he now invites voters to believe he intends to get to grips with immigration. Mr Miliband said there can be “no doubting” how seriously Labour is taking immigration as an issue. Actually, there is no doubting that the Opposition leader is taking the nation for fools.

Only hours earlier, this newspaper had disclosed the contents of a confidential dossier issued to Labour candidates in which they were advised to “move the conversation” away from immigration if it came up on the doorstep. Is that taking the matter seriously or running away from a subject on which the party is especially vulnerable to Ukip?

The reason why immigration is so high up the list of voter concerns is because the Labour government made such a hash of controlling the borders and was responsible for a number of decisions that helped trigger the biggest inflow of migrants in the nation’s history. Some Labour insiders have said this was done deliberately in order to make Britain a “more diverse place”. Others say it was part of a plan to fuel the economic boom when Gordon Brown was Chancellor. As Peter Mandelson once put it: “We were sending out search parties for people.” Mr Miliband would now have us believe that it was all a dreadful mistake and Labour has learned the requisite lessons. In other words, asked to choose between being a fool or a knave, he has opted for the fool.


So let us look at Labour’s latest ideas. Mr Miliband promised that he would not make easy promises or offer false solutions and then proceeded to do precisely that by proposing to make it a crime to employ cheap foreign workers rather than British staff. How would that be policed? If the workers were self-employed contractors from the EU, they could not be stopped unless Labour is also proposing to leave the European Union. Also, what would constitute undercutting British workers? A gang of builders from Poland, living together in rented accommodation with few overheads, are always going to charge less than their British counterparts. Will that be unlawful?

Just as on the economy, Labour has absolutely no credibility where immigration is concerned. Yet another speech, far too late in the day, claiming that the penny has finally dropped, is not going to restore the confidence of voters – not least among those who traditionally supported Mr Miliband’s party. It is they who have been hit hardest by the impact of mass immigration.

Telegraph

Beef stale Fred, bygum lad some of these asian take aways will do just right for you then.

fred's (almost) right . .... beef carcasses should be hung for at least 28 days and certainly up to 45 ..... i think lamb is best after about 14 days and even chix are best hung for 2/3 days after gutting

dover sole is also an oddity in that it also benefits from at least 2/3 days from fresh-caught

Dont know what its like down south but the once tight knit community as gone forever up North here.

Most people havent a clue who lives next door anymore, never mind across the road.

We have a local community centre and Ive devoted this xmas to help out, but the vast number of people here come from a radius of about 10 mile. No longer the streets around you attending.

Very sad indeed.

glad you're back to "normal" this morning :-)

you're quite right, and i confess that i find it somewhat annoying that we do not not entertain even on an informal basis ...... Beloved doesn't enjoy it :-(

however, and as i mentioned before, my mother who died only a few years ago, lived in a road which was very much like an old-fashioned community, even though many of them will commute daily
because it is mentioned, it just shows how relatively rare that set-up now is

Manuel,

Buy better lamb!

makes no odds, except perhaps with very early season, though even then, several days hanging will benefit

PS.

I hope the summer isn't too warm, when you hang your meat, or you have a large refrigerator.

How long for dry curing?

Although many benefits, some peoples use of the car and it's convenience has a lot to answer for.

The falling Rouble due to the oil price collapse has made Russia raise interest rates from 10.5% to 17% in the middle of the night last night.