DJKillaQueen

Look we don't have all the facts here. How did the child come to be in collision with the car for example? drivers are not always to blame.....let's have the facts first and then draw reasoned conlcusions based on those facts.

I agree uncleglen. There is no long term planning on social issues anymore.....just meandering policies designed to gain the short term vote.

'encouraging economic development in cities outside London will not be achieved by building houses there (or by shifting public sector jobs there - that's been tried already)' And cities in the north have been demolishing housing because there's no-one to live in them. The exodus to the South East has been a long one, over decades. That's what happens when one government destroys the last industry of an area and successive government also fail to regenerate. It's because of that fact that criticism of migration irritates me. people will go where they have the best chance of finding work. That hasn't been anywhere outside the South East in 30 years. I also am vehemently against the idea that poorer communities should be farmed out to the suburbs (as though they have no right to be part of a capital inner city). Paris did that....and the consequences are there for all to see. I like the suggestion of well designed, and practical high rise tenament blocks, but think LMs point about fitting that into the current London landscape is a valid one. We have to accept that London is becoming a mega city, and that means we need to house a lot of people, irregardless of income or wealth. On the downside though, London has historically suffered from poor planning, too many authorities and too much red tape. Getting anything done takes forever by which time the original problem has morphed into something else. That's not going to change anytime soon either. Just also to take issue with someone's point that councils are somehow not as adept as managing housing as say an HA. Creaming off council tenants rents (which government does) has been one major reason why councils have found themselves struggling to maintain the condition of their stock in the past. Why councils can not keep all of the rent they collect has always baffled me. To add insult to that, the government then gave some of that rent they creamed, back, and called it a subsidy - thereby leading the majority of people who know nothing about the inner financing of social housing to believe that council tenants rents are subsidised by central government. My view is that councils are perfectly capable of managing social housing, if left to do it on the same level playing field as HAs. At present though, all government capital funding and incentives for social housing strongly favour HAs.

For me the issue is a simple one. Do we believe that affordable homes should exist for those on low or no incomes, or don't we? Common sense tells us that there are always going to be people with low income, irregardless of how successful an economy is or isn't. So why do we not care more than we do about where they are housed? The second issue is that of who should manage and own social housing. Council tenants have far more protection under housing law than HA tenants and for that reason alone, councils should be allowed to continue to provide housing. The alternative is to create instability for millions of vulnerable and poor people on something as basic as housing. The thing that continues to astound me is why government, knowing full well the problems and crisis looming, are not doing more to help social landlords provide those homes. Why they pursue with this ridiculous idea that house prices can just keep going up and up, as though a never ending supply of first time buyers exists - which of course they don't - which is why we see a continous stream of new incentives dreamt up, like part buy part rent, or the latest being government grants to help first time buyers and a stupidly huge increase in discount for right to buy council tenants. The bottom line is that this government wants no councils owning any housing. They want it all in the private sector or under HA's (both far more expensive rental options), whilst reducing the amount of help given through benefits for those on low or no income. Most people I think would rank a place to live as being as important as healthcare, food, and education. So why some people think it's ok to squeeze the poorest out of decent affordable housing is a mystery to me. Do we really want a return to overcrowded slum dwellings? (and all the consequences of that?). Beveridge would be turning in his grave.

That's how Everton has managed though. Selling off good players, especially those it has brought on, like Rooney and Lescott. Everton will never progress while it operates like a feeder team, something that most of lower footy clubs are forced to do because of how the game has evolved post sky input. If you are not one of the top four with huge investment behind you, you will never be able to compete with the top four. That's why top end footy is boring to me now. There's no competition. Just the top four, and then the rest.

There are rumours that Mark Hughes wants it maxxi and I think the fans would like him. But the fact will still remain that Everton has no money for new players, or better players, and whoever takes over will have to manage with that.

It's reported that SAF will stay on as a director of the board and ambassador anyway, which means he will still be involved in the background, and I assume exerting influence anyway. So perhaps the thinking is that a new manager needs to be able to work with that. I couldn't see Jose taking advice from anyone, so totally agree on the board v mananger hassles you mention.

I agree entirely. To dismiss sexual assault (because that's what it is) as trivial is wrong. But with Saville, we aren't talking about groping....we are talking about much worse. The guy was a despicable peadophile, end of. Why anyone would have an issue with the exposure of that (let alone a barrister) is a mystery to me.

Shocking enough, but for a woman to call for that? Would she like her own 13 year old daughter to be dating a 50 year old man I wonder? All very well to be wrrying about the prosecution of old men (I'm sure she meant to say prosecution, not persecution) but perhaps if her own legal profession (and the Police) had been more interested in treating rape victims better than they did at the time, victims may not have felt too scared to come forward until now. Truly astounding how some barristers (and judges) think.....

lol.....oooh now that beings back some memories.......

I kind of agree with that article. I think Jose would have changed Utd beyond all recognition, from a team that is very clearly a culturally English one, into another Chelsea. And that is perhaps what matters more to the board at Utd, over multiple European trophies (something Jose couldn't achieve at Chelsea incidently). No one knows if Moyes will continue Utd's league successes, but on paper he makes sense, for a continued ethos and culture at Utd that its long term fans understand.

I'm with SJ....all these changes/ closures are market forces in action. We don't go to shops to buy books anymore....I buy all mine online because they are cheaper and I can get whatever I want, no matter how obscure. Old established retailers need to change their business models to reflect that, or they will die. The other factor is disposable income. The local demographic of Rye Lane do not have the kind of disposable income required to sustain the kind of niche (or more expensive chain) shops that everyone seems to crave for LL or Bellenden Raod. Again, just another cold hard fact. Too many people are struggling financially at the moment.

As a toffee woman I am very worried tbh. Moyes has been the reason for us staying thereabouts.

I think SAF's achievements speak for themselves and it's a record few others can match - so credit where it's due. It's also worth remembering that SAF's success at Utd wasn't instant, but that was back in the day when Managers were given a few seasons to get things right. Now they are fired if they don't get a result within a season or less! Very sad to see Moyes leaving my home team Everton. But he is a good manager and Utd will be a fantastic opportunity to see how good he can be. I wouldn't write him off for lack of experience in Europe etc just yet.

I'm so sorry to read this Pickle. I think all you can do is get some informed legal advice and hope there's some angle through which you can contest. The fact they had seperated and were going through a divorce settlement might be enough to contest the will. To me anyway, that is pretty strong evidence that the relationship was no longer valid, and magistrates are used to cases like this and accept that people are not efficient when it comes to keeping wills updated. But you will have to go to court to get that judgement. As others above have said, it's a terrible thing to be going through on top of bereavement.

I think both those articles make valid points about the ignorance of the average American of anything outside of America, and their inability to put anything into persepctive. The two suspects may well be of Chechen nationality, but lived most of their (still young) lives in the USA? America is as capable of producing extremists as anywhere. Have Americans forgotton Timothy Mcveigh, Waco, the numerous mass shootings in schools, the extreme views of some of their own evangelical pastors, I could go on? It's the same ignorance that led to invasion of Iraq. America needs to start looking within. Looking at the corruption of it's own political system, looking at it's own inequality and the disaffection it causes, looking at it's own propensity to violence. It's a classic distraction technique, used by all governments, to look for the enemy outside. That's why terrorism doesn't work. It plays perfectly into the hands of the government it is designed to bring down.

A difference of opinion, that's all. But your response illustrates my point perfectly.

Here's a nice site aimed at students so they can judge which university cities are more crime ridden than others............. http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/preparing-to-go/staying-safe-and-secure/how-safe-is-your-city/ Liverpool has a similar level of violent crime to Cambridge! But the important issue is that there are 15 other UK cities that score higher for violent crime. Even the ONS duplicates this data https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crime-in-england-and-wales-2010-to-2011 Open 'Police force area data tables - Crime in England and Wales 2010/11 (Microsoft Excel file - 393kb)' ....and you will see that Merseyside has for 2010/11, 15,239 reported crimes of violence against the person. Compare this to Manchester 40,034, Lancashire 21,956, West Yorkshire 29,509, Staffordshire 18,309, West Midlands 41,499, London 166,596, Hampshire 32,023, Kent 20,073, Sussex 19,608, Thames Valley 35,906, Avon and Somerset 25,822, Devon and Cornwall 20,424, South Wales 18,274, even Essex is higher 20,995! There's an awful lot of southern violent crime there too, somewhat blowing the myth that violence is more prevalent in the North. What leads to violent crime is perhaps another debate, but I think the data above illustrates the danger is making assunptions about areas and the people that live in them. I think it also illustrates how perception is often wrong in the face of the data.

There are plenty of young children in my family DBB. You don't have to be a parent to have an informed view on children. I don't own a dog either. I totally understand the point regarding owners not leashing dogs in areas where the rules are that they must do so and that is the job of the park wardens to enforce, but I do also think there is a element of hysteria about dogs in parks in general locally. Dogs are social animals. They will go up to strangers and want to play. But it seems that is increasingly considered a dangerous affront, when it is nothing of the sort. I had a small child on a scooter drive straight into me yesterday because she wasn't looking where she was going. Do I say that people should keep their children under control? After all, had I been elderly I could have fallen over and broken something! Do I ask that children be banned form riding scooters in designated areas of parks? Of course not. It was an accident. These things happen. Personally I just prefer to be outraged and irritated by things that really do merit irritation and outrage. And dogs off leads in parks just isn't one of them.

Liverpool/ Merseyside covers a wide area (Birkenhead is just a small section of the Wirral which is a pretty wealthy area on the whole).....and of course it has some spots that are worse than others...but every city has that. I've seen plenty of violent crime in London....including seeing a 16 year old boy being stabbed and glassed by a group of other teensgers on my doorstep. I was a victim of a very serious random violent crime myself within two years of moving here. BUT....just because of those things I would never say London is unsafe or any better or worse for crime than anywhere else. The insinuation by the above comments is that Liverpool/ Birkenhead has a violent mentality and that people tolerate it as normal. That just is not true. I can drag up plenty of stats that show that Liverpool is better than half a dozen other large cities including London for all types of crime.

A new puppy will jump up at a child the first time it meets it's new family. Would that make your child scared of dogs too? I don't mean to belittle your comment but children are scared by all sorts of things and parenting them is about teaching them not to be afraid. The best way to combat any fear of dogs (or any fear of anything for that matter) is to be around them.....not banish them altogether from this area or that. It's a park. People take their dogs to the park to let them have a run (exercise is necessary for a dogs good health). And there are laws in place to deal with dogs that are dangerous and not properly socialised....which incidently is a very small percentage of all dogs. Instead of focussing on the really shocking aspect of this story (that two men embarked on an unprovoked violent attack) we are back to the never ending whining by parents fearing for the lives of their precious little tots if a dog comes anywhere near them. Have we really lost that much sight of what is important in this world?

Violent attacks happen everywhere. Ask the police policing a friday or saturday night in ANY city in the country. I spent 19 years of my life in Liverpool and never saw any violence personally, or knew anyone who was a vicitm of a random violent attack.............whereas in London..... AND I absolutely refute that people in Liverpool accept violence as a fact of life. I still have family and many friends up there and they and their communities definitely do NOT think violence is ok. You can't make assumptions like those above about any city and it's people. People don't carry out vicious brutal crimes because of their location. They do so because they are f*ckd up and people like that are found everywhere. If however we want to draw conclusions about places and people because of rare high profile heinous crimes then it's London and the South East we should be talking about really. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_crimes_in_the_United_Kingdom#Child_Killers.2FKillings

Depends on the quality of the lock. Gold standard locks are designed to not be cutable without mechanised heavy power tools. I agree with Annette...angle grinder. How many disks you go through will be determined by the quality of the steel.

I grew up in Merseyside too (Liverpool) and I think you are being a bit unfair to the majority of people there LD! (and the statistics on violent crime don't back up your view either). Terrible things can happen anywhere (and do).

Assault is a crime and these two guys are guilty of that (what ever verbal provocation may or may not have taken place). They need to be arrested and charged with that. However on the issue of dogs. A public park is a space for a whole variety of users and anyone using it knows that. I think it is unreasonable for a jogger to expect dogs to be kept on leads just so that they can run uninterupted. Children have a habit of running around without looking too. I've lost count of the number of times a playful dog has chased my football during a kickabout in the park. But never have I felt I have the right to demand an owner keep their dog on a lead. We have to be sensible on that point. Where there are lots of people and animals sharing a space, accidents can happen.