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.

This is what you call a lady Fred , a dream girl .

One man's dream is another man's nightmare.

Aschcroft stands down as peer

MrT - to take just a small part from 58206 .......
these low life taking these low paid jobs pay no tax

even if someone takes a "low paid job", he will certainly pay NI and quite probably tax too .... he will now have an NI number and be "in the system"
even if he works as a courier driver and forced to be self-employed, he will still have to be registered in the system

for sure there will always be people working in the grey or black economy some or even all of the time - eg many gardeners, house cleaners and the like - but they are just as likely to be what even you would agree to call "british" as "foreign"

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post 58210
MrT - i could rip that apart with the greatest of ease and in all sorts of ways, but i really cannot be bothered .... suffice it to say that it's absolute balderdash with little or no foundation for the worse than perjorative comment that you attach

Just to cheer all up.

or,

The one in the center looks like Broon Fred!

Ashcroft will still be a peer. He is just quitting the House of Lords. He keeps his title.

Why is he jacking it in?

Too much outside activities to make a meaningful contribution to the HOL.

I GET THE IMPRESSION NICOLA IS TAKING THE PXXH NOW LOL!!!


Nicola Sturgeon demands end of £26,000 benefits cap
The SNP leader says she wants welfare to increase by more than inflation each year and her party could still vote with Labour even if Trident is renewed.


By Simon Johnson, Scottish Political Editor3:12PM BST 31 Mar 2015 Comments293 Comments
The SNP would demand a minority Labour government removes the £26,000 annual benefits cap, Nicola Sturgeon has said as she confirmed that the renewal of Trident would not prevent the two parties working together.
The First Minister, who wants £180 billion more public spending over the next parliament, said welfare payments should increase by more than inflation each year and there be no limit on how much households could theoretically claim.
Although she said the SNP would not enter any sort of formal arrangement to prop up Labour if the Trident nuclear deterrent was renewed, she said her party could still support Ed Miliband on a vote-by-vote basis on other issues.
Ms Sturgeon has previously described blocking Trident as her “absolute priority” but a minority Labour government could rely on the support of the Conservatives to ensure it cleared the Commons.
Her opposition to a benefits cap marks a lurch to the Left compared to her predecessor, Alex Salmond, who two years ago described some form of limit as a “reasonable thing to have”.
David Cameron told the Telegraph the first act of a new Conservative government would be to reduce the household cap to £23,000, with the £135 million annual savings used towards funding three million apprenticeships by 2020.
Rachel Reeves, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, has said her party would also examine cutting the cap in areas outside of London, where housing is cheaper.
But Ms Sturgeon told BBC Radio Scotland: “We’ve got a situation where the poorest in our society are plunged being deeper into poverty, where in-work poverty is on the rise.
“So I don’t agree with the obsession of benefit caps. I want to look at how we lift people out of poverty.”
She accused the main Westminster parties of “scapegoating and penalising the poorest” and said she wanted a higher minimum wage of £8.70 per hour by 2020, 70p more than Labour is proposing.
The SNP leader added: “I’ve said repeatedly that we shouldn’t be holding benefit increases below the rate of inflation because if you do that, and you continue the freeze that we’ve seen, you drive people on the lowest incomes deeper into poverty.”
But Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, said: “The benefits cap is overwhelmingly supported across Scotland. I think people understand that you shouldn’t get more in benefits than the average family goes out and gets in work.”


Economic experts have warned Ms Sturgeon’s demand that Scotland cuts all financial ties with the UK would create a £7.6 billion annual shortfall, following the collapse in the oil price.
However, Ms Sturgeon said “full fiscal autonomy” would not happen straightaway if agreed by Westminster.


Labour has previously ruled out a coalition with the SNP and Ms Sturgeon said the renewal of Trident remained a “red line” that would prevent a less formal “confidence-and-supply” deal to keep Mr Miliband in Downing Street.
But, even if the nuclear deterrent was renewed, she said the SNP “would vote for things we agree with and we wouldn’t vote for things we don’t agree with”
She argued that a minority Labour Government would not necessarily fall if it lost a Commons vote on Trident and the nuclear deterrent’s renewal may not mean the SNP opposing the Budget.
Anna Soubry, the Conservative defence minister, said: "We’re living in one of the most dangerous times – and we need Trident to keep us safe.
"What’s Ed’s red line? He knows his only way into Number 10 is riding on the coat tails of the SNP – it's terrifying to think he’d trade Britain’s security for the price of power."


Labour has previously ruled out a coalition with the SNP and Ms Sturgeon said the renewal of Trident remained a “red line” that would prevent a less formal “confidence-and-supply” deal to keep Mr Miliband in Downing Street.
But, even if the nuclear deterrent was renewed, she said the SNP “would vote for things we agree with and we wouldn’t vote for things we don’t agree with”
She argued that a minority Labour Government would not necessarily fall if it lost a Commons vote on Trident and the nuclear deterrent’s renewal may not mean the SNP opposing the Budget.
Anna Soubry, the Conservative defence minister, said: "We’re living in one of the most dangerous times – and we need Trident to keep us safe.
"What’s Ed’s red line? He knows his only way into Number 10 is riding on the coat tails of the SNP – it's terrifying to think he’d trade Britain’s security for the price of power."

Well he shouldn't take such long holidays!

I wonder what the going price of a future peerage will be after Cameron is chuck out of office ?

Nigel Farage will win the seven-way TV debate, says Coral

The bookmaker has put him as the 7/4 favourite to win Thursday's TV debate (8pm to 10pm).

The other rankings...

Ed Miliband 11/4
David Cameron 7/2
Nick Clegg 9/1
Nicola Sturgeon 6/1
Natalie Bennett 11-1
Leanne Wood 25-1

The problem for them all is apparently Swifty Dave speaks last.

The others could always leave one question each for him to answer!

8-)

To what end?

He wont answer any of the dodgy ones!


But aside from that, I thought is was a debate...ie, two way, or in this case multi way...no?

There will be a start, an end and four questions in between.

Cameron get to go last twice.

100 business chiefs: Labour threatens Britain's recovery
In a letter to The Telegraph, senior executives from companies employing more than half-a-million people hail Conservative economic policies which they say show that “the UK is open for business”

Telegraph.

FT reckons lord ashcroft has resigned from hol so he can become an ex-pat once more

as for that pie throwing contest, i know that i shall certainly be giving it a miss .... indeed i don't even know when it is scheduled

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fred - i'm ploughing through The Postman, but now i'm over half way through, i have found it only interesting insofar as i know the area around farnham common very well .... does it get any more enthralling?