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.

Mind this is interesting!

MONDAY 08 FEBRUARY 2016 UK
Conservatives appear to have overspent on three by-elections


Channel 4 News has obtained evidence of tens of thousands of pounds of spending by the Conservatives during key by-election campaigns which appear not to have been declared.


interesting to see if Farage challenges the election result!

Trident renewal: Labour MPs tear into Jeremy Corbyn's defence tsar Emily Thornberry as being in 'La La Land'


Emily Thornberry, shadow defence secretary, openly heckled by Labour MPs following suggestion that nuclear deterrent could be updated, not replaced



By Kate McCann, and Michael Wilkinson

3:49PM GMT 09 Feb 2016







Labour MPs have descended into a bitter row over Trident renewal, with one describing Jeremy Corbyn's shadow defence secretary Emily Thornberry as being in "La La Land".


Ms Thornberry, who is herself opposing to the renewal of the nuclear deterrent, presented her review of the party's policy to fellow MPs on Monday night.


The rowdy meeting of the parliamentary Labour party saw Ms Thornberry "heckled" by her colleagues for suggesting Labour should "consider all options" on Trident.



In the face of hostile questions from MPs and peers, she was forced to tell them there was "no point trying to shout me down".


John Hutton, the former defence secretary, today accused Ms Thornberry of being a "mouthpiece" for the anti-Trident lobby, adding that her "tired old science fiction" had been debunked by experts. He warned that Labour must back Trident if it wanted to "retain any credibility on defence whatsoever".

Labour must embrace Englishness – and be proud of it

Tristram Hunt
Friday 5 February 2016 11.24 GMT


Squeamishness about English patriotism speaks to a widening culture gap between Labour and the people it seeks to represent



‘My modest proposals are a bank holiday for St George’s Day and a referendum on an English parliament.’ Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty



For me, it is the landscape, history, culture, humour and literature of England that most inspires. I was born a child of the Fens, in the university city of Cambridge; I spent much of my childhood exploring the wilds of Exmoor in Devon; and now I have the profound privilege of representing the Potteries – “that rugged pot-making spot of earth” – of North Staffordshire.


I adore the industrial landscapes of Stoke-on-Trent Potbanks, Oldham mills and Liverpool docks; the deep England of the South Downs and the North Downs; the wild England of peaks and lakes; the historic England of country houses, minsters and castles; the coastal England of Whitby, and Durdle Door and Margate.

But the unfortunate truth is that in recent years, the Labour party has not been nearly explicit enough about its love of the country. And this is at a time when more and more people are consciously identifying as English. In a recent poll, 71% had English either as their preferred or shared identity. As former Labour MP John Denham has rightly noted: “The days when England didn’t need to be English because it was good enough to be British are gone.”


More: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/05/labour-embrace-englishness-proud-patriotism




Link from one of the wags in comments:

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/politics/politics-headlines/tristram-hunt-ducks-out-of-leadership-race-after-discovering-hes-a-tory-2015052198479

Stan Send an email to Stan View Stan's profile - 09 Feb 2016 18:56 - 67714 of 67717

Arrogant, aggressive, angry, insulting and now delusional as well, boy you need help Jimmy.
----------------------
Who started this by making snide remarks ?
You just described yourself above, don't ask any more questions and don't start fights you don't like .

Am I the only person that hasn't seen a film this year without a "swat team" dressed in black in it ?.....there is either someone or some people that that must be minting it with renting this sort of clothing and helmets out or the same group of people never get undressed at night and have made their own pyjamas redundant so much they are in demand !..."look I'm sorry jimjams...you've been fired !...it's this new swat blackrobe thingies...it's all the fashion now....but we've been with you for years now !...chuuut...not so loud...you make me feel like I cannot afford a new pair....look I'm really sorry but it can't be helped...times they are a changin'...'"...anyway back to the plot : they are always either with plastic machineguns at the ready or coming down on ropes...."dearie ?....are you staying for diner...? no time fuzzybunny...off to another filmset..byeee".....where's my flyswatter ?....yes take that....swat !....both feet on it...at last...aahh......got rid of that on my mind...feeling slightly much better now...

So glad you are feeling better RF. A nightmare of a problem you have there. Ever thought of flicking channels?
I am preparing my swat team for zika carrying mosquitos which is the latest plague threatening to turn us all into pin heads. If you go by what you read. Seems to me that zika has been here for quite a while going by some of the posts I read.

RF

Only thinks there are still 4 channels, bbc1,bbc2, ITV1 and the new one channel 4

jimmy b

That program is on 2nite at 8pm , posh pawn C4 boxing memorabilia

Thanks aldwickk i'll have a look .

jimmy b

That was £2,000 thrown away., I didn't know about the biometric stamp

No neither did i know about that. Not something i would want anyway.

EU starting to slowly fall apart......

Newspaper round-up

Other EU leaders are ready to copy David Cameron's referendum tactics for their own "egotistic goals", the European Council president has said, as he sounded the alarm over populist politics bringing the bloc to the brink of "suicide". Donald Tusk's forthright warning on Wednesday came as he announced he was clearing his diary next week to concentrate on the "very fragile" talks on a "new settlement" for Britain, which will be discussed at an EU summit next week. - Financial Times

en passant, even the guradian was unimpressed by JC at yesterday's PMQ
here's the opening lines ....
Labour leader, wearing a cheeky badge, was best when he allowed himself to sound angry but PM was effective by engaging properly with questions

JUNIOR DOCTORS
this whole thing looks totally crazy to me ..... even the consultants are supporting these doctors
how can it be so goddamn difficult to sort out a contract that is a bit bitter for both parties?
sure the NHS is effectively unaffordable in its present guise, but to make medicine in uk such an unappetising prospect has to be without any logic that i can perceive

I dont know about the rights or wrongs of the junior doctors case but I do know the NHS is unsustainable as it is. Everyone expects more. More pay, more modern equipment, better working conditions, against a population that now appears to be rising exponentially. Something has to give.

Don't worry iturama we will be out of the EU soon ,then we won't be the International health service any more.

That is part of the problem. Most countries in the EU have a payer scheme. Pay or go elsewhere. Doctors surgerys are being bypassed, particularly by migrants, and they go direct to A&E. No need to be on doctors lists etc, apart from the inevitable wait for an appointment. Add to that the non EU lot that find it cheaper to buy a ticket and use the NHS instead of paying at home.
I still can't fathom out why it is so difficult to have national identity cards when much of europe has. Probably no political will.

all sorts of excuses as to why it would be difficult to collect cash at the door for those who don't qualify for free ....... can't see it myself as any private clinic does it

and yes, i do actually accept that real emergency care should be free to anyone