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.

it looks like no one wants to talk about the issues of the world

fred - just walked back in so perhaps i have missed something
if not, then categorically, and i repeat, you have always but always needed a receipt if you wanted to claim an expense against tax

Fred,

Did I read Britain's Conservatives are in a four-point lead over Labour, new poll shows.




:-))

:-)

Actually, I'm up for a UKIP/Tory get together sorta kinda, me, myself, personally.

And Tanker: Yes. The regular Muslims' voices, when and if speaking out against the extremists are not at all loud enough.

In fact, they are so quiet, it stinks! And you can bet as much as you like, that Prince Charles is actively speaking up and actively influencing behind the scenes to get the sort of actions done and changes taken place that we all want to see.

Tories open four point lead over Labour

Boost for David Cameron as Conservative party puts in strongest showing in polls for nearly two years with increased voter focus on the importance of jobs, prices and wages



By Steven Swinford, Deputy Political Editor

1:39PM GMT 16 Feb 2015

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The Conservatives have opened up a four-point lead over Labour after the biggest surge in their support for two years, a poll has suggested.


A Guardian/ ICM poll showed that the Tories are six points up to 36 per cent, only one point short of their result in the 2010 General Election.


Labour support fell one point to 32 per cent, while the Liberal Democrats were also down a point to 10 per cent.


The Tories recovery came amid falling support for the smaller parties, with Ukip down two points to 9 per cent and the greens two points to 7 per cent.


The Tory lead contrasts with three surveys published over the weekend which suggested that Labour has a two or three point lead.



However, ICM's phone poll is seen as the "gold standard" as it came closest to forecasting the result of the last General Election.

By contrast in December an ICM poll put the Conservative Party on just 28 per cent of the vote.

The poll suggests that voters are putting an increasing emphasis on the importance of the economic recovery.

The proportion of those polled who said jobs, prices and wages were the most important issue rose by three points to 17 per cent.

Not surprising really. :-))

TV-stars-Ant-Dec-say-Ed-Miliband is not up to being PM.

DC - that'll carry a lot of weight :-)

Nicola Sturgeon calls for North Sea oil tax change



by SCOTT MACNAB







Updated on the
16 February
2015
12:11


Published 16/02/2015 12:08








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THE UK Government can no longer ignore calls for urgent tax changes that could spark a “resurgence” in the North Sea oil industry, Nicola Sturgeon has said.


Scotland’s First Minister claimed it was clear that “urgent fiscal stimulus” was needed to increase exploration work.

Senior UK Government ministers have already hinted that measures to help the North Sea could be included in George Osborne’s Budget next month.

But politicians at Holyrood are continuing to press the case for action to help the crucial industry.

As part of that, Ms Sturgeon has taken her Scottish Cabinet team to Aberdeen, where the oil industry is based, visiting a pipeline support service provider in the city with Deputy First Minister John Swinney.

The First Minister argued that “simple steps” taken by ministers in Norway a decade ago had reversed a decline in oil and gas exploration work in the country.


READ MORE: Comment: North Sea oil at point of no return


With the equivalent of 24 billion barrels of oil said to remain in the North Sea, she said action was needed to encourage companies to continue to invest in the area.

The Scottish Government is calling for the headline rate of tax on the industry to be reduced as well as the introduction of an investment allowance and a new tax credit for exploration.

Ms Sturgeon said: “I believe that North Sea oil is a fantastic asset for Scotland and will continue to be so for decades to come.

“There are up to 24 billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent remaining, and it is essential that we have a stable and proportionate fiscal regime which encourages the investment, innovation and exploration required.

“But we need action now from the UK Government to help ensure we maximise future production and economic recovery.

“Quite frankly, the UK Government has failed to address the exploration problem in the North Sea.”

The First Minister, speaking as she visited Pipelines 2 Data in Aberdeen, added: “It cannot be clearer that urgent fiscal stimulus is required to improve the exploration outlook.

“Around 40% of production is expected to come from new field developments by 2018: that’s only three years away.

“Fiscal measures to incentivise exploration, coupled with the appropriate regulatory expertise, have the potential to drive forward a resurgence in exploration in the North Sea.

“We only have to look at the situation in Norway in 2005 to see that simple steps can be taken to restore a decline in exploration. In the course of three years, the introduction of the exploration tax credit saw the number of exploration wells increase an incredible fourfold.

“We have also called for the reduction in the headline rate of tax in the North Sea and the introduction of an investment allowance, all of which have the potential to provide an important signal to investors, increase the attractiveness of North Sea exploration projects and enhance the competitiveness of the sector.”

She insisted that politicians at Westminster “cannot continue to ignore calls from the Scottish Government and the industry themselves” for changes.

Ms Sturgeon said industry expert Sir Ian Wood had recently warned that as many as six billion barrels of oil reserves could be lost “unless radical measures are taken by the UK Government”.

The First Minister pledged: “We will continue to call on the UK Government to maintain the momentum for fiscal and regulatory change in the oil and gas sector, both of which are critical to prolonging the life of the industry beyond 2050 and maximising the total value generated in the economy.

Comments:-


Nicola should man up

Tell us what you would have done in an Indy Scotland regarding the oil crisis and how it would work and produce some facts and figures

Don't just scream and shout about it

National embarrassment

I often wonder why politicians ever announce changes/additions/new laws and when they hope these will be implemented as it is clear from many comments below, they are wasting their time. Clearly many are still ignorant of the situation, never mind the fact that the Yes vote Lost the referendum or indeed appreciate the distinction of powers retained by Westminster and those devolved to the Scottish Parliament. Even had the Yes vote won and they LOST it would take years before laws and authorities changed administratively and legally, therefore being surprised that the First Minister requests that some tax changes are made to the North Sea industry should not be a great surprise to those who listen/watch and read the news. Also why would the SNP or any Scopttish Government have a long term blueprint for the North Sea as presumably Westminster has one as they have controlled the industry from the beginning. As for tax and spend, I suspect that the argument of tax and spend is a sick joke as all Scottish Govt work within the budget as they have no choice... how sad. Once again, I would suggest educational missionaries are sent to Scotland to help the intellectually needy. The North Sea has additionally been requested to pay extra taxes when Westminster is short of tax revenue (bust) but the request is for sensible allowances which is important to all of UK and not just Scotland. The influence of oi; on Sterling has been considerable over the years.


Interesting article elsewhere today about the domestic drop in alcohol consumption. Next thing you know there'll be 'demands' for a reduction in tax to help a struggling Scotch whisky industry whose overseas sales have also plummeted.

And this was another banker in propping up an iScotland?


This is hilarious.

When wee eck was guaranteeing that oil would be $130 per barrel and Scotland would therefore be a land of milk and honey, us unionists pointed out the flaws in his "economic" argument. We were insulted and abused by the cybernasty posters on this site for being wrong..

Now that us unionists have been proved right because Nippy is demanding a tax change, those self-same delusional cybernasties are still posting insults against us...

They are funny - if they did not exist, we would have to invent them....


News from Denmark:

"The offshore sector took another hit today as Maersk Supply Service and Maersk Drilling both announced major layoffs at their corporate headquarter in Denmark. Maersk Supply says they will be laying off 20 of their employees and Maersk Drilling will be reducing head count by 90.

"We are facing challenging market conditions in the coming years. Oil prices have dropped dramatically and exceedingly fast in recent months and our customers, suppliers and competitors are all being forced to adjust to a new reality," says Carsten Plougmann Andersen, CEO in Maersk Supply Service. "To safeguard Maersk Supply Service's future profitability and ability to compete in a challenged market, we have launched an end-to-end review of all earning potentials and cost drivers in Maersk Supply Service, including optimizing organizational effectiveness which regrettably has necessitated these staff reductions."

Maersk Supply Service is just one of the many offshore supply boat companies that is feeling the effects of low oil prices."

First Sturgeon and co should apologise for misleading their voters about Scotland's oil revenue bonanza. The English voters still want the Scots to get out of the union and have their own currency. Let them have their tax and spend free as long as England has nothing to do with it.
The NorthSea oil flow is going to be a trickle and that is the reality. Aberdeen companies will soon be relocating to other parts of the country and the world. It is typical of this industry not diversified earlier , but assuming that there will be a gush of oil flow for ever. The spectre of a mining town after the mines are closed comes to mind. The prospective Aberdeenshire MP Salmond will be demanding Red Ed to pour £50 billions to this ghost town to support Red Ed and Labour. The English voters are already saying nyet to Red Ed win, as Tories have a good lead now in England.

oil
it very much looks that Saudi is cutting back on oil production, regardless of what they may be broadcasting
in the last 2 months Aramco, for which read Saudi Oil, has pretty much stopped developing new or even existing wells
while there will not be a sudden surge in crude prices, the effects will slowly filter through
i'ld still bet on it settling at perhaps $60/70, though longer term Saudi will want it back above $85 as that is the sort of level around which their budget is structured

I think their will be a lot of Ant and Decs. In other words set labour voters who are switching to the Conservatives, due to the daft Ideas of the leader and the daft individual he is.

you hope - not that i wouldn't share that, but i still cannot believe there is any chance at all of a conservative majority ..... largest seat-holder would be a good start though

ukip mockumentary
shame this clashes with broadchurch, which is what i shall be watching, for this ukip spoof (satire?) will raise all sorts of hackles and better for sure

There may also be a vast amount of Fred's this year. (Non voters, disinterested and undecided ) So come on don't be a Fred. :-))

F.R.E.D.S = Answers on a postcard please.

Bicycling-are-you-a-fred ?

Fred's dying words

mark as unread


A man named Fred was in a terrible car accident. He survived, but barely. Several bones were broken, and he was forced to go to the Emergency Room in the local hospital.

His wife and kids were worried sick. They came to visit him every day that they could for weeks. However, his condition did not seem to improve, and they feared the worst.

Being a religious family, they called in the local priest to stand by his hospital bed and pray for his survival.

As soon as the priest showed up, Fred's condition seemed to suddenly deteriorate. He frantically motioned for something to write on. The priest pulled a notepad and a pen out of his jacket and handed them to Fred.

Fred wrote his final note, and gave it back to the priest. Thinking it best not to read it right then, he put it back inside his jacket and continued praying. After a short while, Fred died, to the intense sorrow of his family and friends.

Three days later, at Fred's funeral service, the priest was saying a few words for Fred, when he realized he was wearing the same jacket that he wore next to Fred's deathbed--with the note still inside!

"Brothers and Sisters," he said, "Fred gave me this note on his deathbed. I thought it best not to read it then. However, i think the time has come for people to know what his final words were."

The priest took the notepad out of his jacket pocket, and read to the crowd "You're standing on my oxygen tube!!"

ukip mockumentary says more about the Left wing media attempts to discredit one of the largest political party's in the UK just a few months away from a GE, its nothing more then a smear campaign . It should be reported to the broadcasting authority

It wont be tho, classy assasination job...very well done!


Now where does the money come from to do the same for the other 3 parties?

Ed Balls among 12 shadow cabinet members who claimed expenses without receipts

Following shadow chancellor's advice that everyone should get a receipt for cash in hand jobs, Labour MPs put in spotlight over their expense claims

Ed Balls is among 12 shadow cabinet members who claimed for cash-in-hand jobs without submitting receipts.


Ed Balls and 11 other members of the shadow cabinet claimed expenses for cleaning, gardening or odd jobs without submitting receipts, seriously undermining the shadow chancellor’s advice that we should all insist on invoices for cash-in-hand jobs.


Mr Balls claimed £1,610 for cleaners and his wife Yvette Cooper claimed £2,640 for cleaning and gardening, out of a total of £37,881 claimed by the 12 Labour MPs.





Ed Balls claims expenses for cleaners in 2006


Mr Balls, in common with his 11 colleagues, did not submit a single receipt for the work done, despite his insistence on Monday that he had obtained receipts for every single cash payment since he entered politics 21 years ago.

He had earlier said that even someone who “cuts your hedge for a tenner” should provide an invoice to discourage tax avoidance, and claimed that he had the “name and address and a receipt” for every cash transaction because it was “the right thing to do”.

Amid growing signs of a rift at the top of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, appeared to belittle Mr Balls by saying that he wanted to pursue hedge funds for tax avoidance, not hedge cutters.

He said: “I think we’re all clear: the hedge funds and hedge funds dealing with these issues is more important than the hedge cutters and I think that has been a clarity of view right across our Shadow Cabinet.”

Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, ridiculed Mr Balls’s suggestion, saying: “Here we have a man that would be the Chancellor who is wandering around saying Big Brother is going to watch you carefully that if you do any tax transactions and don't keep receipts, somehow they're going to punish you. I find that absurd.”

A Conservative Party source said: “Ed Balls needs to clean up his act on his own expenses before lecturing others. If he can't even manage his own finances how can he expect anyone to trust him with the nation’s coffers?”

David Cameron said he had occasionally paid for goods and services in cash without getting a receipt, but insisted that he has never helped someone “evade the taxes that they should pay”.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The onus is on the trader who is responsible for paying the taxes that they owe.”


Vernon Coaker, the shadow defence secretary, claimed £14,950 in unreceipted expenses over a four-year period, comprising £3,425 for cleaning, £6,320 for service and maintenance, and £5,205 for repairs on his second home.

A spokesman for Mr Balls on Monday defended his cleaning claims, saying: “Ed’s cleaner was and continues to be employed on PAYE and paid by bank transfer. These claims were made fully in accordance with the Fees Office rules.”

But there was more embarrassment for Mr Balls as it emerged that he had made basic errors in adding up one of his claims and had filled in his expenses forms incorrectly for months.

In March 2007 he claimed a total of £1,182.14 in expenses for his second home, though the actual total for the items claimed was £100 more.

For eight consecutive months in 2005 and 2006 Mr Balls filled in his expenses forms wrongly, putting each figure one line above where it should have been. It meant that in June 2006 his £70 cleaning bill was not paid because he had entered it under “telephone” and the following month an exasperated official wrote a note on his form saying: “Rang member & asked to fill in form correctly!”

He also submitted that claim twice, and tried to claim £1,298.17 for his mortgage, instead of the £733 he had been claiming until then, resulting in the difference being slashed from his reimbursement.

Mr Balls and Ms Cooper are at least in good company, with almost half the MPs in the shadow cabinet filing unreceipted expenses.

Rosie Winterton, Labour’s chief whip, claimed £8,058 without receipts over the course of four years, comprising £5,280 for cleaning, £2,302 for “repairs”, £300 for service and maintenance and £175 for gardening.

In July 2008 the parliamentary Fees Office - which at the time scrutinised MPs’ expenses - wrote to her to express concerns about her spending