required field
- 03 Feb 2016 10:00
Thought I'd start a new thread as this is going to be a major talking point this year...have not made up my mind yet...(unlike bucksfizz)....but thinking of voting for an exit as Europe is not doing Britain any good at all it seems....
Fred1new
- 19 Jun 2017 15:04
- 7026 of 12628
Yea. Bring back, Cameron.
VICTIM
- 20 Jun 2017 08:43
- 7027 of 12628
The American Student who was jailed by the N Koreans has died , a week after being released , when you read what is believed they did to him for supposedly pinching a sign
makes your hair curl , and people talk about Guantanamo Bay .
Fred1new
- 20 Jun 2017 08:56
- 7028 of 12628
Two wrongs don't make a right!
VICTIM
- 20 Jun 2017 08:58
- 7029 of 12628
That confirms to me you are a total waste of space dear Freda .
mentor
- 20 Jun 2017 09:01
- 7030 of 12628
...... but two Fredas and one wants to VOMIT
MaxK
- 20 Jun 2017 09:28
- 7031 of 12628
iturama
- 20 Jun 2017 10:05
- 7032 of 12628
Davis does have a good sense of humour and is less blathering than Boris. Both could do with a decent haircut however.
cynic
- 20 Jun 2017 10:35
- 7033 of 12628
DD presents very well and intelligently
saw him on tv about a week ago and was duly impressed
iturama
- 20 Jun 2017 10:47
- 7034 of 12628
On the question of age, both Davis and Corbyn are 68. Davis looks good for his age while Corbyn looks like Albert Steptoe in a charity shop suit. Reagan was almost 70 when he was inaugurated and he didn't do a bad job for the following 8 years.
cynic
- 20 Jun 2017 11:11
- 7035 of 12628
churchill was 65 at the outbreak of WW2
MaxK
- 20 Jun 2017 11:15
- 7036 of 12628
More on the tower block fire...it would seem that there is more to it than labour would like to admit.
This from Franceys across the road:
go to BBC iPlayer
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08tvj7c
It was Nick Ross (Crimewatch person I think) who is chair of something like The Kensington Society. He was quite understanding and reasonable and has been campaigning for 15 years to get sprinklers put into social housing. He was recruited to this cause all those years ago by fire chiefs who wanted this and who saw he had been successful previously with a road safety campaign.
In 2009 Ross was turned down by the then Labour Government minister (a certain Sadiq Khan) when he had a meeting with him to request sprinkler installation in social housing tower blocks.
Apparently it costs £1200 per flat - the same as fitted carpets.
15 mins 45 secs - 16 mins 10 seconds into the News at One Radio 4 is around the time to listen, 19.06.2017.
JUST IMAGINE if such a request had been turned down by a Tory minister, say Boris, who was say currently the Mayor of London!! The Martha Kearneys of this world would be examining Boris's guts by now with a microscope. As is it they have all gone completely quiet and I only picked up this snippet by hearing it while passing at work and as a throw-away piece on News at One.
cynic
- 20 Jun 2017 11:40
- 7037 of 12628
political party games and point scoring should be nothing to do with this tragedy, though unfortunately it has inevitably gone that way
there is no question that refurb costs have been sharply pruned, not only by rbk&c in this instance, but across 100's and probably 1000's of other similar projects whether hospitals, tower blocks, schools or whatever
while "rolls royce" is not expected, sprinkler systems (and properly operational fire doors) are real basics especially in hospitals and high density housing
failure to fit sprinklers even retroactively is unforgivable but apparently common practice
the cladding question is slightly different
if the cladding used was indeed still deemed acceptable in uk - it matters not what usa regs are or were - then it is hard to condemn the contractors for so doing
MaxK
- 20 Jun 2017 12:05
- 7038 of 12628
Come off it c, Jezza was in like Flynn and making political capital like the best of em.
Was this the reason khan got the elbow from the people when he visited the site?
cynic
- 20 Jun 2017 12:22
- 7039 of 12628
as mentioned before, i cannot bear to watch
anyway, the point i was making was apolitical
Fred1new
- 20 Jun 2017 14:30
- 7041 of 12628
Interesting commentary:
Soros says Britain nearing tipping point, may reverse Brexit
George Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos January 23, 2013. REUTERS/Pascal Lauener
George Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos January 23, 2013. REUTERS/Pascal Lauener
By Guy Faulconbridge | LONDON
George Soros, the billionaire who earned fame by betting against the pound in 1992, said Britain was approaching a tipping point that would see the economy slow to such an extent that Brexit might even be reversed.
Soros used Quantum Fund in 1992 to bet successfully that sterling was over-valued against the Deutsche Mark, forcing then-Prime Minister John Major to pull the pound out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).
Soros, who was born in Hungary but made his way to London as Communists consolidated power in Budapest, said economic reality was starting to catch up with a United Kingdom that voted 52 to 48 percent to leave the European Union in a June 23 referendum.
"The moment of truth is fast approaching," Soros said in an article emailed to reporters.
"The fact is that Brexit is a lose-lose proposition, harmful both to Britain and the European Union. It cannot be undone, but people can change their minds."
Britain's $2.5 trillion (1.97 trillion pounds) economy has shown resilience since last year's referendum although sterling fell 25 cents against the dollar in the hours immediately after the shock vote.
But Britain went from being one of the fastest-growing economies of the Group of Seven leading economic nations in 2016 to the slowest in early 2017, as the fall in the value of the pound after the Brexit referendum pushed up inflation and hit consumer spending.
The combination of rising prices and slowing wage growth represents a challenge for the Bank of England and its top policymakers, three of whom voted last week to raise interest rates to head off the acceleration of inflation.
Soros said the Bank had underestimated the impact of inflation and was now catching up.
"Households will realise that their living standards are falling and they will have to adjust their spending habits," Soros said. "To make matters worse, they will also realize that they have become over-indebted and they will have to pay back their debts."
ALSO IN BUSINESS NEWS
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Euro zone vs. Britain: strong and stable, weak and wobbly
Britain has less than two years to negotiate the terms of the divorce and the outlines of the future relationship before it is due to leave in late March 2019. Both sides need an agreement to keep trade flowing between the world's biggest trading bloc and the fifth-largest global economy.
Soros said that if Prime Minister Theresa May wanted to stay in power, she would have to change her approach and take account of young people who he said wanted to find well-paying jobs.
She should, Soros said, seek to keep Britain in the EU's single market as Britain tried to extract itself.
"The divorce process would take at least five years to complete, and during that time new elections would take place," Soros said. "If all went well, the two parties may want to remarry even before they have divorced."
(Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Fred1new
- 20 Jun 2017 14:30
- 7042 of 12628
Oh, what does he know?
cynic
- 20 Jun 2017 14:35
- 7043 of 12628
frequently not nearly as much as he likes to think or to spout from his soapbox
however, and as i have said for a very long time, no one has any idea how everything will eventually pan out
MaxK
- 20 Jun 2017 15:55
- 7044 of 12628
VICTIM
- 20 Jun 2017 15:58
- 7045 of 12628
Some people use any one available for their own demented arguments . no surprises there .