DJKillaQueen

Nobody voted this government in AQ.....the party that came third took advantage to put themselves in power, and both parties are ruling as though they'd won a majority and have the mandate of the people. They don't. As much I despise the Tories right now, I despise the Libdems even more, and hope they completely collapse as a credible party at the next elections. They deserve nothing less. Credit Unions are very good John L. They offer low interest small loans to their members - loans that other banks wouldn't even consider giving to someone who is unemployed. And there are no ridiculous fees for overdrafts etc. In many ways they operate as building societies did when they were first formed.

I really feel for you NDP and I think most people can only know how hard being long term unemployed really is if they themselves go through it. Lack of any kind of empathy is the main reason behind the disgraceful media backed campaign to demonise the poorest. Government are only part of the problem. Too many people just don't care about those less fortunate, lapping up every new coalition welfare cut with glee it seems, yet saying little about the tax avoidance at the top. Hopefully the end to your situation is now a reality and the job goes well and is permanent. I wish you all the best.

In all seriousness though, if there is a problem with mobile theft in the Dulwich Village area then the SNT should be responding to that. Targetted camapigns have been used in other places where young people gather and robberies have occurred with good effectiveness, and often leading to arrests.

LOL SJ...I can't stand the game let alone play it. Everyone knows that if a professional player plays enough tournaments they can get their ranking up. Henman never made the final of a grand slam (the only tournaments that matter really) let alone win one. He rarely beat players ranked higher than him. I feel the press treated him like a World Champion when he wasn't and was never going to be.

No worries Jah. It was totally tongue in cheek...anyone following my posts over the years would know that I have consistently spoken up for the difficulties of the unemployed and the lack of constructive help offered by successive governments. I agree with Sue that it might be possible for your new employer to give you an advance NDP. Or maybe your bank could give you an overdraft. Not ideal I know after years of low income but an option maybe. They abolished crisis loans Rosie. Now you have to apply to the Local Authority for emergency money but what you are give is a lower percentage than what the crisis loan offered. I don't know all the details though. Yes bob..the DWP are completely imcompetant, especially with the gray area of freelancers. Under the rules, claimants are allowed to do up to 16 hours paid work per week and their benefits are adjusted accordingly. But it only works if the hours are the same from week to week. The moment those hours vary from week to week it seems the DWP are incapable of doing any maths and then mess everything up. Losing correspondance is another favourite of theirs. This coalition government are hell bent on making the plight of the unemployed as difficult as possible, whilst doing nothing to improve the employment propects for those affected, whom as we know are esp the under 25s and the over 40's. Their deregulated free market has only led to job insecurity, and a lack of properly paid decent jobs for the number of people that need them.

Tim Henman was never in the same league as Andy Murray. I never understood the hype around Henman - an average jobbing player at best.

They expect you to have savings of course, and rich family and friends that can loan you money (because the banks sure as hell won't).....after all it's not like the unemployed have ever worked or paid taxes is it, so why should the system do anything to help them back into work? ;D

No the bubble won't burst, because the current government don't want poorer, low income families living in London, and because they are hoping equity in property will solve the looming pensions crisis. We are certainly heading for a dominent rental market in London (and many areas of the South East). I just hope when there are no people here to do bar work, hotel work, drive busses, clean the streets, nurses, junior doctors, shopkeepers and a whole swathe or other low paid people doing essential jobs that they won't whine too much.

Both ideas (whether true or not) will do nothing to help housing inflation. Why can't we just let normal market forces dictate the value of homes? If there are no first time buyers (for whatever reason) prices will come down. But no, everytime the first time buyer pool starts to dry up the banks and government dream up another scheme to keep it going. We've gone from 2.5 salary based mortgages and 10% capital deposits to no deposit and self certified (unlimited) mortgages, from no subletting on a mortaged property to buy to let, and from part buy part rent to lets give money to people to help them buy a property! It can not go on. And the knock on effects on rents from this is there for all to see as well.

Hayes Farm is the best boot sale by far, for both seller and buyer (if you can get there). Plenty of space for stalls and plenty of parking space for buyers (which makes it good for selling larger and more expensive items too). Can't comment on DH now though as I've only been once when it was starting up.

You are talking nonsense about the treatment of crime figures. And have provided no evidence whatsoever to prove your nonsense. And tell me, what is the difference between a criminal in a street based gang and any other kind of criminal? I wouldn't like to think you are expressing class based (or worse still ethnic) prejudice here would I?

Then if it is a fact...prove it with evidence. And I know plenty of young people that live in that area. There are criminal gangs everywhere, in every major city in the world - and some of them blue collar as well. So why single out Rye Lane? (when actually what you mean is North Peckham). Still that doesn't answer your claim that the Police downplay the crime figures for Rye Lane. In fact, go to your next Police Ward Panel meeting and present that accusation to them and see how far you get. When a crime is reported, the Police have to complete paperwork which is then logged onto the national database (by civilian employees btw). That infomation is then accessed and analysed by the Office for National Statistics, which in turn is accessed by government and the Police to define levels of funding and how best to target resources to fight crime. There would be absolutely nothing to gain from altering those figures (if they could be altered). And those figures are published regularly for all to see. If you are a Police force operating in an area of higher crime, then you need to get as big a slice of funding as possible to police that. It would make no sense for Peckham Police to downplay figures. Think about it.

That's a ridiculous statement to make without hard evidence UncleBen. FYI local crimes stats are not delivered by local forces. All reported crimes whether they lead to an arrest or not go into the central office for national statistics, accessible by any member of the public. But as others have said above, most of us rarely see anything to worry about in our daily wanderings up and down Rye Lane.

I have no idea what you are talking about Uncleben lol. BUT as someone who regularly liases with the local Police on local crime and community issues I can assure you they are not sh*t scared of anyone. What they do have though is a protocol for various situations, developed through experience, and designed to minimise danger to themselves and the public. And whilst Peckham/ The Lane ward might register higher than average on the crime scale, the level of incidents in Rye Lane itself, are not remarkable for a busy shopping area.

No I saw it in the evening, not in the morning, when the foxes location was known. By late afternoon early evening the foxes location was unknown. I even took a walk over to the park when I saw the thread in case it was still there, to see for myself.

Yes definitely try the filter first. If you remove the filter you might be able to flush it out as well.

That's true for all wild animals.

Efforts are being made to locate and help the fox by those who know what they are doing (I too had a chat with the park warden yesterday). I've helped capture foxes before which is why I would have helped but it's not something many people would know how to do without knowledge.

'feds' lol...is that supposed to sound 'of the area'? Like Peckham is dominated by teenage slang bearing hoodies? Sounds to me like an individual (amongst a whole street full of shoppers) decided to act a bit crazy. Dealt with quickly by Police and some members of the public. Nothing to see, no riot, and move along now.....!

It frustrates me that 24 hours later the fox still hasn't been caught and transported to a vet (either to be treated or humanely put to sleep), in spite of the Parks Manager being made aware (not to be confused with the park warden, whom I know well). And to hear that a dog had since attacked it too is just unbearable. I just wish I'd seen this thread when it appeared. I would happily have gone and taken it to a rescue/ charity centre (no matter how far away). But given how populated that park is, it also dismays me that no-one else took matters into their own hands. I hope Mr Williams finally gets some respite for the poor thing.

I hope so. Had I seen this thread this morning when it started I'd have gone and got the poor thing and taken it somewhere.

Can we not take it somewhere who can take it in?

Yeah I'm getting really effed off with it all now. Had problems Friday evening making calls for about an hour (like everyone else have full signal strength and no issue with text and internet connectivity). Am going to make a formal complaint on Monday to T-Mobile.

LOL....love that post Alex :) My cats don't stray anywhere near the main road but they have got into other kinds of scrapes over the years. It's about balance isn't it? Minimising risk whilst not curtailing them from doing the things that cats naturally want to do.

Actually, anthropomorphising a cat to the extent that you compare it to a human is, IMHO, misguided. This is what I was responding to and it does seem to be a UK-only phenomenon. Actually you are quite right...how can we compare any animal to the selfish, wasteful and destructive species that the human one is. How dare any animal have the freedom to explore and disrupt our right to drive tons of metal around the tarmac we put down as we please. I'd say the only misguided view is the one that thinks animals should be locked away.