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.

By Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent
4:23PM GMT 12 Jan 2015
Despite the surge in Lord Ashcroft's poll that it would still leave the Conservatives two seats short of a majority

The Tories have grabbed a six point lead over Labour, according to a new poll.

The first national survey of the year commissioned by former Tory donor Lord Ashcroft has put the Conservatives ahead of Labour by six points.

The news was also tempered by poll by Populus, a rival pollster, which gave Labour a five point lead in the polls.

The Lord Ashcroft poll asked 1,002 respondents how they would vote “if there was a general election tomorrow” between Jan 9 and Jan 11.

The results put the Tories on 34 per cent, up four points, ahead of Labour on 28 per cent, down three points, compared with the same time last month.

However, even if the strong lead was mirrored in the polls, the Conservatives two seats short of a majority in an election were held tomorrow.

The UK Independence Party is on 16 per cent – down three points – ahead of the Liberal Democrats, unchanged on 8 per cent.

The survey is subject to 3pc a margin of error “meaning the Conservative share could be low enough, and the Labour score high enough, for the parties to be tied on 31 per cent”, Lord Ashcroft said.

“Alternatively, we could be seeing the start of a shift in opinion as the choice looms larger at the start of an election year. Let us see what future results tell us.”

The poll found that Labour was well behind in support north of the Border, with the SNP on 48pc ahead of Labour on 24pc. In England the Tories were backed by 37pc of voters, with Labour on 29pc.

There was better news for Labour from a Populus poll, also published earlier on Monday, which gave Labour a five point lead over the Conservatives.

It said that Labour was on 37pc, up three points, ahead of the Tories on 32pc, down one percent. Ukip was down one per cent on 13pc, with the Lib Dems on 10pc, up 2pc.

A third poll for ComRes and ITV News found that the National Health Service has now overtaken immigration as the top concern for voters for the first time since July 2014, in the wake of the crisis which has hit hospitals in recent weeks.

Half of Britons now list the NHS as one of their top three priorities, up by 11 percentage points from 39 per cent last month.

Immigration was a top three concern for 46per cent of the public, although it was down from 49 per cent in December and from 52 per cent in September.

I am sure that neither poll is correct. Anomalies occur from time to time.

It will be decided on who loses the most votes, and it looks like noo lab will lose a shedload, both to the SNP and UKIP. The tories will also lose votes, but they don't have Scotland to worry about.

http://news.sky.com/story/1406696/french-police-six-terrorists-still-at-large

Up to six terror cell members may still be at large after the Paris attacks in which 17 people were murdered, French police have warned.

One of them has been spotted driving a car registered to the partner of one of the dead attackers, according to the authorities.

Police officials said a search was being carried out of the Paris area for the Mini Cooper car registered to Hayat Boumeddiene

http://news.sky.com/story/1406541/mohammed-cartoon-on-charlie-hebdo-cover

A cartoon depiction of the Prophet Mohammed holding up a sign saying "Je Suis Charlie" will feature on a special edition of Charlie Hebdo produced after last week's newsroom massacre.

The bearded figure, with a tear in his eye, stands under the message: "All is forgiven".

Max dont know where you get your figs from, Tories have far more to worry about from UKIP than labour.

I think Scotland figs are over cooked especialy with Labour taxing southerners here in England (mansion tax) to help the Scottish NHS.

I say again it will be a Labour SNP and another coalition government.


Nobody trusts Fat Dave anymore bar a hard core following of 30% which just isnt big enough to help him.

Like Hays I agree that this first weeks polling figs arent worth the paper they are written on.

More accurate figs will be from next weekend.

No one knows how the next one will play out gf.

ukip takes votes from both sides, as was plainly evident from the last few by-elections.

But if you think that Milli and that fat toad from over the border is going to rule England, you need your head tested!

This sums up UKIPPERS chances:



Sums up the tory chances!

By Gregory Walton
11:44PM GMT 12 Jan 2015
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that Ed Miliband's public spending plans could leave the Treasury unable to intervene in the event of another banking crisis

Ed Miliband could add £170bn to the national debt by 2030 if he is elected later this year, a leading think-tank has warned.

Labour's commitment to easing swingeing cuts to the public sector could mean less room for manoeuvre in the event of another banking crisis, said Institute for Fiscal Studies director Paul Johnson.

Writing in the Times, Mr Johnson argues that shadow Chancellor Ed Balls' economic plan would result in increased borrowing and possible long-term financial insecurity.

Mr Johnson also warned that Conservative plans to cut the deficit might not be readily achievable, with some departments facing cuts to their budgets of 40p in the pound.

Labour's plan however would allow debt to increase by £25 billion annually.

"Lest there be any doubt, there is a big difference between £7bn of cuts and £33bn of cuts," writes Mr Johnson.

"If you take the plans set out in the autumn statement at face value, spending cuts of more than £50bn could be required after 2015-16.

"The problem is that another recession will strike one day. Going into a new recession with debt still high - and it is higher now than at any time since the late 1960s - could leave less room for manoeuvre.

"The sort of additional borrowing that we are able to support as we made our way through the recent period might not be as easily financed."

DB4,

Very interesting how well the Tories under Cameron and Osborne have done,

Screwing down the majority to feed the tax cuts for those who need them the least:

Government for the elite in possession of the biscuit tin:



======

Lets face it, whichever party gets voted into Parliament is going to screw up the public finances even further. So far the 3 main parties can't even put simple forecasts of expected revenue and expenditure together and individually are challenged to manage their expenses.... The house of commons are forever telling each other it was the opposition that run up debt, but do you really expect anything to get any better all the time these toffs are the only people able to get into top ranked politics.

just because someone has been through private education (you'ld do well to read up about the sacrifices many parents make in that respect) and then gone to a top university, why should (s)he be derisively and pejoratively be called a "toff"?

inverted snobbism and politics of jealousy come to mind

=========

or to continue that line, does that make someone a total pleb just because (s)he has been through state education and just done ok, perhaps speaks with a belfast, scouse, brum or sarf london accent ..... or will you laud him as salt of the earth, even if totally undeserved?

Jolly hockeysticks and all that, Cyners, but would one kindly refrain from dissin' sarf London accents? Otherwise, I'll be forced to don my pink DMs and give one a kick up the Northern Line!

Only in politics can, where you were educated and social circle have a bearing on position. Stoned Rose George is a prime example of someone with no formal background or training in economics or finance, yet holds the position of Chancellor!! In the real world his appointment of chancellor would be the equivalent of Tesco making a supervisor in the clothing department of one branch it’s Chief Financial Officer.

In the case of Osborn Cynic, clearly the money spent on his 'private' education didn't really buy him an education at all but paid for him to mix in the right social circles!! A grand case of 'it's not what you know, but who you mix with' after all...

Manuel.

Was going to question the content associations of the 2 comments in P54901.
But won't.
----------
It isn't the background of the Toffs, or Plebs which matters, it is whether members of either group "dissociates" itself from the responsibilities and rights of the other.

Believing (not thinking) that they have “rights”, greater than other members of society or herd, based on possession or heredity is the problem.

It doesn’t mean all in society are “equal”, but it probably means “all” in society should be shown the same considerations and also their “needs” when possible “satisfied”.

I was told when I was young, that the "wealth" of a company, was dependent on the endeavour of “workers” at “all” levels employed. (That included management and investors.)

This does not imply that there should not be differentials in reward for “responsibilities” or investment “risks”, only that the differentials should be proportional.) (What one considers proportional is the problem.

That's rubbish, Shortie.

It's an urban myth that people buy their way into Oxford. You have to pass strenuous tests and undergo an extensive interview program. And even after that, it can still be a bit of a lottery if your first choice college is out of places for your chosen subject and you have to go into the pool in the hope another college will take you in.

Osborne and Cameron both got into Oxford on merit, as did numerous politicians and prime ministers before them. Yvette Cooper, for instance, was the former president of the JCR at my son's college, but I suppose that's different because she's red?

edit: On checking, I see that Osborne was actually awarded a demyship at Magdalen. Maybe he's not as dumb as you and some of the other jokers on here would like to think.

Shortie,

I agree that many from the "elite" schools develop a protective "arrogance" and the "Masonic" type allegiances which enable them to be parachuted into positions of "authority" above their abilities.

Difficult to deal with, but one is aware of it in the "professions" and seems to be be "part" of "system" which many in the "establishment" wish to protect.

Fintech start-up helps ordinary people 'invest like Warren Buffett'

A free platform, which is giving away investment formulas based on the strategies used by multi-millionaire investors, is hoping to democratise stock market investment
From Telegraph.co.uk HERE
By Rebecca Burn-Callander, Enterprise Editor
7:50PM GMT 12 Jan 2015

Buffettology is a well-regarded stock investment strategy, used by many retail investors

Ordinary people can now invest as Warren Buffett, James Slater or Sir John Templeton do by using a free algorithm that mimics the stock-picking, buying, and selling decisions of the world’s most successful investors.

This is the claim made by husband-and-wife team Maria and Michel Jacquemai, founders of “financial Facebook” MeetInvest, who crunched the formulas used by multi-millionaire market players to allow anyone to use their principles to make money.

“We want to empower investors by giving them the same toolkits that the professionals have,” says Maria. “The financial world wants to keep this kind of information a secret but we have decided to give it away for free.”

The pair has used data that is in the public domain as the basis for their calculations. This avoids the necessity of seeking permission from the likes of Buffett, who many not want thousands of people copying his stock strategy.

Michel, who worked in asset management, hedge funds and banking for 20 years, says that he consumed every book and article written about superstar investors in order to gather enough information to create MeetInvest’s digital “gurus”.

“We found James Slater’s formula on the Telegraph,” he says, laughing. Slater wrote a tips column in the Sunday Telegraph called The Capitalist for many years.

The way MeetInvest works is straightforward: registered users choose from 12 gurus on the site, which range from the big names such as “father of value investment” Benjamin Graham, to German former investment fund manager Susan Levermann. They then choose from 20 strategies, focusing on areas such as spin-offs and exploiting judgement bias. New gurus and strategies will be added regularly: Slater is the latest addition, launching this week.

All the investment models are explained using plain English, which is crucial to the MeetInvest model. According to a study of 2,000 adults commissioned by meetInvest and undertaken by YouGov, 45pc of people find the stock market “confusing”. Some 39pc also said that they would be more likely to invest in the stock market if they had access to free and easy to understand information.

“We strip out the financial jargon,” says Maria. “The idea is to make investing as simple as possible for people that don’t have access to either the formulas or up-to-date financial information, which can only be accessed via a Bloomberg terminal.”
MeetInvest monitors and analyses real-time financial market data on 68,000 stocks worldwide each day, and users can select specific industries or territories – US biotech, for example – and then back-test their chosen algorithms on the platform all the way to January 2000 to see how much money they would have made if they’d placed the suggested trades.

The Jacquemais have invested £1m into four different “baskets” or portfolios to show the effects of the investment formulas. “We are using our own money,” says Maria. “We want to be completely transparent about whether these systems work and how much money we make.” These will be live on the site shortly.

MeetInvest can also show the effects of implementing the opposite investment strategy. In order to show the effects of these reverse algorithms, there is a basket doing just that. “We wanted to prove that performance isn’t dumb luck and the only way to do that is to try to lose money,” says Michel. “And we have shown that when you reverse the formula in that basket, that is what happens.”

Users can opt to receive daily, weekly or monthly updates on which stocks to keep and which ones to offload. To avoid paying high transaction costs, Michel advises changing portfolios monthly.

However, the CIO from a global private bank, who preferred to remain anonymous, warned: “It is not enough to rely on these formulas – you must do your own research, and you have to measure risk. If you’re right, you make money but if you’re wrong you could lose everything.” A spokesperson for JP Morgan Asset Management declined to comment on MeetInvest’s new business model or its consequences for traditional investment firms.

The Jacquemais have spent £350,000 building the platform, which now has just shy of 2,000 users. “We want to have 1m within a year,” says Maria.
The pair are in talks with several VCs about raising further start-up capital but the focus now is on new users. After that, the revenue model should become apparent, says Maria.

They hope to encourage people to return to the site by building in a social aspect. Members can chat about shared interests across 800 categories, ranging from coin-collecting to wine-investing.

Every formula on the site can be easily exported to an Excel document, an approach that is essential to the democratisation of the market, says Michel. “When I worked in that world, I saw some disgusting practices. Friends had fund managers who charged sky-high fees to make them 3pc a year. It wasn’t fair.

“Every other sector has seen a movement away from the push economy – where we are forced to choose the products that our shoved down our throats – to a pull economy, where we say what we want, when we want it,” Michel adds, citing Netflix and Zoopla as examples of pull economics. “We want to do this in investment for the first time and create a mass wave of DIY investors.”

Here's a link to their web site: http://meetinvest.com/