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.

Ohhh no HAYS you posted this dont deny its been captured........

"Haystack - 18 Dec 2014 20:39 - 53319 of 53333

There is a lot of stuff about Dolphin Square. I lived in the next street, St Georges Square, and drank in the bar at Dolphin Square most evenings in the early 80s. I had a lot of friends who lived in DS, but never heard of anything funny going on. David Steel had a flat there as dozens of other MPs. I used to drink regularly with Lord Long, who was the Conservative whip in the Lords. There was plenty of heterosexual goings on, but no funny stuff that I came across. I knew of a handful of MPs who kept mistresses there."

Anyway Hays Ill leave you to do the right thing, if you dont I will have to do it for you.

Dont forget 3 innocent young children were aledgedly sexualy abused and murdered. Maybe more.

You cant keep things like that quiet.

How long before the Army is forced to recruit overweight people?

The purpose of the Army is the defence of the United Kingdom. It is not a sub office of the Equal Opportunities Commission




By Norman Tebbit

3:50PM GMT 19 Dec 2014

CommentsComments





John Humphrys conducted some very good interviews on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme this morning on the proposal to field women soldiers in front-line infantry combat units.


There was much discussion about the relative weights and physical strengths of men and women and the ability of women to carry heavy packs over difficult country, such as "yomping" across the Falklands.


That was all good and relevant stuff, but the main point was never raised at all, not even by the Secretary of State for Defence. Surely all that sexist stuff should take second place to the question of whether putting women soldiers into such a fighting unit would make it stronger and more capable of destroying an opposing enemy unit.


The purpose of the Army is the defence of the United Kingdom. It is not a sub office of the Equal Opportunities Commission. If an individual female candidate is more likely to strengthen the fighting unit, in she should go. If not, out she should go.


Anything else surely constitutes unfair discrimination on the grounds of sex, which we are told we must abhor.




The Army has more than enough on its hands these days. The scandalous invention of the allegations of murder and torture of Iraqi prisoners has hung over good and brave men who were sent to fight in Blair's War for decades whilst a firm of lawyers has become very wealthy by pursing them in the face of the facts. It now remains only to establish whether those lawyers conspired with their clients to falsify the evidence.

I hope that does not take as long as it is taking to reveal the truth about how Mr Blair deceived us about our entry into his Iraq War.

Of course, it could get worse. The half-baked nonsense from the European Court of Human Rights about the rights of very fat people is already bad enough, but perhaps the Army will soon be called upon to put more fat people into the front line.

How did we get into that mess? Well that was Blair's Human Rights Act ... but then, he was, we are told "The Master" whose example we should all follow.

Tony Blair gets sweaty over Wendi Deng question

The former Prime Minister denies any impropriety when asked about the affair rumours




By Rosa Silverman

8:31AM GMT 19 Dec 2014

Follow





Tony Blair has said he will never discuss the nature of his relations with Wendi Deng, the ex-wife of Rupert Murdoch.


The former Prime Minister lost his cool when questioned on the subject in a recent interview, banging his coffee cup “so loudly into its saucer that it spills and everyone in the room jumps.”


Probed by The Economist magazine about whether he had been at the very least “careless about his reputation”, he is said to have broken out in a sweat.


During a wide-ranging interview with the former Labour leader, he denied any “impropriety” vis-à-vis Mrs Deng, adding that it was “not something I will ever talk about. I haven’t and I won’t.”


The report continues: “But did he find himself in a tangle over his friendship with Ms Deng? A large, dark pool of sweat has suddenly appeared under his armpit, spreading across an expensive blue shirt.”




Mr Murdoch has been more forthcoming on the topic, however.

In April, the media mogul spoke for the first time about his divorce and how he first learned about his then wife’s secret weekends with Mr Blair at his family’s California ranch.

He said he had been in Australia at the time but immediately flew back to the ranch to question the staff.

He revealed to Fortune magazine that he had been “shocked” when he first read Mrs Deng’s diary entries in which she described having “warm feelings” comparable to a “crush” on Mr Blair, who allegedly stayed at the ranch with her in October 2012 and April 2013 while her husband was overseas.

Mr Murdoch is understood to have since ended his friendship with Mr Blair, who is godfather to one of the former couple’s daughters.

Mr Blair has always denied having an affair with Mrs Deng and there is no evidence to suggest he did.

Elsewhere in the Economist interview, he remained defiant about the decision to go to war in Iraq, insisting he would not “until my dying day” concede it was wrong to remove Saddam Hussein.

He said: “What annoys people is my refusal to change my mind. I don’t shut up about it and I know that strikes some people as provocative.

“But it is much more progressive to get rid of Saddam than leave Bashar Assad to murder 200,000 of his own people in Syria.”

Labour MPs who criticised leaked strategy doc had not read it, claims campaign chief who circulated advice

Lucy Powell, vice-chair of the party's election campaign, defends leaked strategy revealed by The Telegraph which tells MPs not to campaign on immigration




2:31PM GMT 19 Dec 2014





Labour MPs who criticised a leaked strategy document ordering them not to campaign on immigration "probably haven't read it", the party's embattled campaign chief who circulated the advice has claimed.


Lucy Powell said she took was "happy to take responsibility" for the controversial guidance which was publicly criticised by Ed Miliband and Yvette Cooper after being revealed by The Telegraph.


The Labour MP and vice-chair of the party's general election campaign repeatedly dismissed questions about who signed off the document as "irrelevant" during a heated interview on BBC Two's Daily Politics.


She also defend her competency after parliamentary colleagues briefed some journalists against her, saying they should either "have that conversation with me" or let her get on with the job.


The fightback comes after Ms Powell was blamed by Labour aides for circulating a document outlining advice on tackling immigration that jarred with the party's public stance.


Related Articles

Labour leader Ed Miliband speaking about immigration in Great Yarmouth
Ed Miliband criticises own party's immigration advice to MPs
15 Dec 2014
Labour’s secret strategy: full details of what the party admits
14 Dec 2014
Labour MPs to avoid immigration in secret Ukip strategy document
14 Dec 2014
Out of context? Read all 34 mentions of 'immigration' in Labour's leaked Ukip strategy
15 Dec 2014


The guidance, which was published by this newspaper, urged parliamentary candidates to focus on "moving the conversation on" from immigration to topics better suited to Labour such as the NHS and housing if mentioned by voters.

Discussing the leaked strategy, Ms Powell said: "I sent an email with that briefing document out there and I'm happy to take responsibility for that."

Asked about suggestions from anonymous Labour MPs that the document was "cack-handed" and "b******", Ms Powell said: "Well, they probably haven't read it."

She continued: "What people should focus on is what is our strategy, what are our policies on immigration.

"You can pick out little paragraphs, half sentences out of any document that's a very long one and spin it both ways, all ways, whichever way you want. But the point is we have very clear, practical policies on immigration."

Ms Powell's failure to distance herself contrasts with very public criticism from her party leader and shadow home secretary, who within 24 hours of publication had respectively called the leaked strategy "not very well drafted" and "wrong".

During the broadcast Ms Powell, who was recently handed the senior campaign role by Mr Miliband, was told Labour MPs had been calling into question her credentials for mapping the party's road to Number 10.

Andrew Neil, the Daily Politics presenter, said Labour MPs had noted she lost her seat to the Liberal Democrats in 2010 and returned to parliament in a 2012 by-election with a "historically low" turnout.

She responded: "If any of them wants to have that conversation with me they're perfectly welcome to. But what I do is I get on with my job.

"I think people can see that since I've take on this position that we have moved things forward, we've got a lot more energy in what we're doing, we're out there."

Ms Powell quoted a phrase favoured by her mother – "them who do nowt, do nowt wrong" - and said any Labour MP who did not think she was doing a good job could telephone.

During the interview she also failed to name any of the six specific pledges Mr Miliband gave during his conference speech – though she did name some of the correct topics they addressed.

I don't expect any sensible comment on that by our lefties on this thread Chris! Fred defies logic at the best of times and gf sounds totally manic before he even starts on the Stella!

I agree db, nutters. GF is in a league of his own. Out of interest and because he never stops banging on about it I checked out his twitter blog mick 'tarquin' kipper LOL! 3 followers on average (probably pissed) and a daily mention of a good comment by Mike740 on the ADVFN bulletin board. Is he really that thick that even twitter followers (all three of them in his case) haven't yet twigged that Mike740 is infact their very own mick tarquin kipper, purple, goldfinfer etc? Unbelievable!

North Sea oil industry will recover - Ian Wood




by SCOTT MACNAB







Published on the
19 December
2014
16:39











Tweet






Print this




7 comments
Have your say!



ONE of Scotland’s leading oil and gas industry figures says that growing fears for its future are “over the top.”


Sir Ian Wood insists the industry will eventually recover - but says thousands of jobs could be lost in the next year as oil prices remain below £60 a barrel.

It follows concerns by the explorers’ association that the industry was “close to collapse”.

Sir Ian said: “These comments are over the top for an industry which thinks and plans long term, has significant momentum from current production and from major investments made over the last two or three years, and where the operators make their investment decisions based on the anticipated price of oil in two to three years’ time.




“It’s important to have a balanced perspective at this time. The UKCS does face a very difficult year to 18 months which will see a slowdown in investment, the loss of some offshore production, up to 10 per cent, and the possible loss of around 15,000 jobs within an industry which employs 375,000, although this is difficult to estimate.

“It will be a tough time for the industry and the people that work in it, but we are entering a downturn from which we will recover.”

The price of oil is ‘likely to recover in 2015 or early 2016’, he added

LOL Chris. Fishfinger's trading system has only 3 followers on Twitter?

Correct. The World Famous Mick Tarquin(pretentious twat) Kipper System at the last count three (3) followers. Immense! :0)

Russell Brand read his best Question Time lines off a cue card, Nigel Farage claims

Ukip leader says comedian's quips during an appearance on BBC debating show were pre-prepared as row between the pair rumbles on




By Ben Riley-Smith, Political Correspondent

10:55AM GMT 19 Dec 2014

Follow





Russell Brand pre-prepared his best lines when appearing on Question Time and read them off cue cards, Nigel Farage has said as fallout from the pair's on-screen clash continued to rumble on.


The UK Independence Party leader praised the BBC One programme's audience as "one of the best" he had seen after they rounded on Brand over his refusal to stand for Parliament.


Mr Farage also said he "deliberately" refused to challenge Brand as directly as he otherwise might have to avoid turning the show into a "ridiculous public punch-up".


The jibes are the latest in a prolonged back-and-forth between the pair after they appeared together in a much-hyped edition of the show last week.


Brand called Mr Farage a "pound shop Enoch Powell" on the show while Mr Farage later claimed the comedian's chest hair had been straightened by a stylist before the broadcast.




Speaking to LBC Radio about the clash, Mr Farage said: "I didn't confront him on the programme quite deliberately. I wasn't going to turn it into a sort of ridiculous public punch-up."

"He threw his terms of abuse at me, including the fact that I was against disabled people and all sorts of stuff. All read out from cue cards! Quite extraordinary."

"So I tried my best not to get engaged in fisticuffs with him. I didn't need to because the audience did. It got pretty heated, but in the main it was one of the best Question Time audiences that I've seen in a very long while."

He added: "As far as Mr Brand's concerned, I understand when he talks about the disadvantaged and people in Britain not feeling the democratic process represents them. I get that Russell.

"What I don't get is this attack on capitalism. It's corporatism that he should be attacking. It's that relationship between the giant multinationals and government at all levels that he should be attacking."

Russell Brand film on RBS bankers funded by City investors - including former RBS banker

Russell Brand's film about 'financial inequality' is largely funded by high net worth City investors who were able to offset their investment against tax






By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter

6:00PM GMT 19 Dec 2014

Follow





When Russell Brand wanted to film himself confronting bankers about their bonuses, he chose to storm RBS, regarding the bank as the very embodiment of the capitalist system he so despises.


But, not for the first time, Brand has left himself open to accusations of hypocrisy after it emerged the film company he set up is largely funded by City investors - including a former RBS banker.


Brand raised almost £1 million by issuing shares in Mayfair Film Partnership Ltd, the production company making his next film, a documentary called Brand which will explore his ideas on the redistribution




At least 11 of the 21 main investors in the company are current or former employees of banks or other financial institutions, while a 12th is a pension fund.


They were all able to claim tax relief by offsetting the money they invested in the shares against their income tax, as part of a government scheme to attract investment in high risk start-up companies.




Brand has repeatedly argued that bankers should pay more tax, and has blamed them for much of the trouble faced by society’s poorest in the wake of the financial crash.

The investors in Mayfair Film Partnership include Tim Vaughan, who worked at RBS in 2007, the year the financial crisis began. According to an online biography of Mr Vaughan, he was part of the RBS Real Estate Syndicate Team, “responsible for structuring and distributing big ticket European real estate loans”. He invested £23,000 in Mayfair Film Partnership in 2009, the year he left RBS.

Mayfair is understood to have been set up to make a film called Happiness, which never got off the ground, before it switched its attention to the new film.

Mr Vaughan told The Telegraph: “I do not wish to comment on this investment nor on Mr Brand…Mr Brand is entitled to the views he had as much as you are entitled to yours. I have no issue with my investment or Mr Brand.”

Earlier this week Brand was accused of being a “bully” by an RBS back office worker after he and a film crew tried to get into an RBS office in London saying he was making a film about “financial inequality”.

Joseph Kynaston Reeves, who found himself locked out with his lunch going cold after security staff locked the doors to keep Brand’s film crew out of the building, wrote a blog describing Brand as a “prancing millionaire” which became an internet sensation.

Mr Kynaston Reeves pointed out that Brand, who is making his film with the director Michael Winterbottom, had picked the wrong building, as the traders he was targeting worked elsewhere. He also pointed out that Brand, with a personal fortune of between £9 million and £15m, was far wealthier than him or any of his colleagues.


Brand threatened to sue the Sun newspaper earlier this month after it accused him of hypocrisy for paying around £76,000 a year in rent for his London home to a company based in the British Virgin Islands.

A spokesman for Brand said he was unavailable for comment.

Meanwhile another of Brand's campaigns appeared to be paying dividends, as the US investors who planned to evict scores of families from the New Era estate in east London are on the verge of pulling out.

Brand joined protestors against the plans by Westbrook Partners, which is now said to be close to selling the estate to an affordable housing provider.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ed-miliband/11301145/Tony-Booth-Will-Ed-Miliband-win-the-election-In-your-f-dreams.html

Tony Booth: Will Ed Miliband win the election? ‘In your f****** dreams

Cherie Blair’s father says suggestion Labour Leader could become Prime Minister is ‘play school

Tony Booth, the veteran actor and father of Cherie Blair, has bluntly dismissed the idea that Ed Miliband could become prime minister.

In an interview with Newsweek, Tony Blair’s father-in-law laughed off the suggestion that Labour could win the General Election under their current leader, saying “'In your f****** dreams. This is not play school.'”

The 83-year-old said that Labour would have more chance at on polling day in May if Mr Blair made a surprise return to power.

He said: “Funnily enough, I think he might have an outside chance. “Because people would say: ‘Well, at least he is the devil we know.’

“And with Miliband, you find yourself thinking, ‘This is a good kid, but when is he going to get into long pants? Are we just putting him up as a dummy until we find the right person?’”

Mr Booth also said that it was time for Labour to choose a woman for a leader, and named Barbara Castle, who was employment secretary under Harold Wilson, as a role model.

“I hope that, lurking somewhere in the Labour ranks, is a female politician who will emerge and speak the truth," he said.

“The one thing the Tories really don't like is a nanny. Nannies frighten them. We need somebody in the mould of Barbara Castle.”

The 83-year-old, best known for his role in the 1960s comedy Till Death Do Us Part, is said to be suffering from dementia, but was described by his interviewer, Robert Chalmers, as “more coherent than most serving MPs I have met.”

goldfinger , making a mountain out of a mole hill again

Goldfinger says he has 900 followers on Twitter and it turns out that he has 3. You could say he is prone to fantasy.

Why is that a surprise?

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2878106/ALEX-BRUMMER-Farewell-zero-society-Ed-Miliband-s-judgements-appear-running-steam.html

Farewell to the zero society as Ed Miliband's job claims debunked

The underlying numbers, however, are greatly encouraging. The number of people in work in the last year has increased by 588,000 and 95 per cent of the jobs are full-time.

So this is not the zero economy of Miliband’s fevered imagination. It is also worth noting that the claimant count, the best forward indicator of the jobs market, fell by another 26,900 in November – a helpful precursor of the future.

What also is significant is the trend in real wages. It may be a long time before the £1,600 fall in living standards during the recession years, part of Labour’s standard rhetoric, is eliminated.

No one should lose sight of the fact that in Britain the jobless rate is half that of our eurozone partners. That partly reflects the choice of British workers to be in a job, rather than on the dole even if the pay isn’t as good as it should be.

What it is certainly not is George Orwell’s ‘Road to Wigan Pier’.

The truth is that the wage data is encouraging. Headline pay growth climbed 1.4pc in the three months to October and with inflation falling to just 1pc, it means that real wages are heading in the right direction. Over the last two months the annualised wage data climbed by 4pc.

That should be better both for households, with more spending power, and for HMRC because it conceivably might push some people into a higher tax bracket.This may all feel a little academic down the Pig & Whistle.

What is very real will be filling up the car to set off on the final round of Christmas shopping with prices at the pump rapidly descending to the £1 mark according to the RAC’s latest forecasts. That is real money in the pocket and immediately.

Zero society, forget it.

http://swintoncircle.org.uk/

So how many of you right wing low life on here are members of this shower of Sh*t then?

Oh no not me Stan, they wouldn't let a Scot be part of that elite! : -)