fishbiscuits

SpringTime Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > fishbiscuits Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > > > > Well.. it's pragmatic. In fact it's probably the > > only solution. Try to keep the majority of members > > on side, and gradually, gently steer the party > > back from the brink towards a more mainstream > > direction... > > Sounds nice and familiar to me, but isn't it the > centre that's eventually worn itself out and lost? I think you misunderstand. Starmer is not going to run as a centrist... more as a unifying force between the left fringes and the centre-left. Recent events have also had me wondering whether there's even a place for liberal centrism in modern British politics, but I think there still is... unfortunately we don't tend to shout as loud as the nationalist right or the dogmatic left, and the FPTP two party system tends to leave us out in the cold. Labour have turned their back on centrism, and the lib dems have been tragically short of new ideas or inspirational leadership. But maybe our day will come...

cella Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Exactly what's needed if we can't have a new unencumbered face. Well.. it's pragmatic. In fact it's probably the only solution. Try to keep the majority of members on side, and gradually, gently steer the party back from the brink towards a more mainstream direction...

I always think that "Mandate" sounds like a 1980s gay hookup magazine.

Dictatorship and intolerance? LOL!!! But yeah the reality is that these people are going nowhere... they are paid-up members whose views are in the spirit of the old-school Labour socialist tradition. So their approval is probably going to be pivotal when it comes to appointing the next leader (you can't expect moderates to join up in droves and force the party to change course, the same way that the left did four years ago). Keir Starmer knows this.. he's being very careful with the language he uses.. trying not to alienate momentum.. still presenting the party as a force for radical change. He knows that in order to achieve anything, he needs these guys on side.

...and delivered by the nationalised Royal Mail (renamed to The People's Mail).

JohnL Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > yet one of the first bit of news I heard after the > election was the below > > "An unnamed family bought a central London > townhouse on Friday for ?65m in the confidence > that Boris Johnson had secured a landslide general > election victory. > > The deal is understood to be one of the most > expensive ever transacted on the UK residential > property market," Going pretty well so far, then! I believe Johnson is a big fan of these huge London apartment developments, marketed primarily to Asian and middle-eastern investors and often left empty. Expect more of the same once the currency settles.

KidKruger Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why should working class be buying bourgeois confection ? There should be no bourgeois confection at all. In fact, any sweets invented after 1979 should be viewed as Thatcherite artifacts, and mandatorily melted down. Chocolate shall be free from branding and made strictly to a state-mandated recipe.

Agree with much of what blah says. We need a fairer society, a more progressive taxation policy, properly funded healthcare and welfare, a serious attempt at increasing the availability of affordable (and where necessary social) housing, a diversification of the economy, and a transfer of power/wealth away from London. And we need to ensure that every student who is willing and capable of higher education gets the opportunity. This doesn't mean capitalism is a dirty word. Yes we do need to keep a check on it.. e.g. tech, finance, and energy like all industries, should be subject to appropriate regulation, and tax loopholes closed down.. but they needn't be viewed as enemies of the people. Let's not forget that the Nordics (which many of Corbyn's fans erroneously draw analogies with) are fundamentally capitalist countries too. I don't think you'd see Sweden borrowing a couple of hundred billion to fund a nationalisation programme...

TheCat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Does the 'working class' still exist? A decent > tradesman will make more tha most office workers. > So where does the 'middle class' begin and end.... Plumbers and electricians earn decent money, yes. How about cleaners? Shop and restaurant staff? Workers in Amazon/Sports Direct/etc warehouses? The dividing lines are less clear, but surely the issues are the same..

What we really need is one, single, state-owned sweet shop. Stop ripping off the public, and taking advantage of working class parents who can't really afford these "chocolate pizzas" and other such bourgeois affectations.

Trinnydad Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Please, please, they are "Scots" ( noun) not "Scottish" (adjective). Be grateful I didn't call them "Scotch"!

I think the Scottish already realise they'd need to apply to join the EU. They wouldn't suddenly leave the UK overnight, there would be time to get these things sorted out.

diable rouge Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Would anybody who has cited labour's fence-sitting > on Brexit care to say what they should've done? > Which ever side they fell off the fence they were > going to upset the other side... I've been thinking about this. Up until now I've been critical of Corbyn's EU approach, probably because we all know that he's really at heart a eurosceptic. He sees it as a vehicle for capitalism and free trade. However, in the cold light of day, I have to admit that even if the party had embraced a more pro-EU stance (say, second referendum and campaign to remain), it wouldn't have been enough.

JohnL Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > @AyoCeasar and Bastani unrepentant - say it's a 30 > year project. They've lost even me :) A 30 year (or however long) project would make sense if their vote share was increasing throughout. If there was light at the end of the tunnel. But it's not the case, is it?! Second GE under Corbyn, and his share of seats has plummeted. The projection is downwards. The project, or whatever you want to call it, is not working. I do honestly think that a very large proportion of the country would like to see more spending on NHS, education and welfare funded by progressive tax reform. I believe people want to see the green energy sector growing (and see it as an opportunity, not a burden). I think most people see the benefit of companies being able to hire the best talent from throughout Europe (and the world). All this is completely achievable within the context of a dynamic, entrepreneurial market economy... without disincentivizing the tech and finance sectors... without spunking away 100+ billion on re-nationalising everything you can think of... I feel like screaming because the obvious voice of reason is sorely missing from politics at the moment.

Well there's no denying that the Corbyn fanclub have at least partly facilitated this result. Surely even the most blinkered of disciples must realise this. But as I said before, having a great local MP is a silver lining. It seemed like a good turnout... went fairly late in the evening and there was still a long queue. The ballot box was full and I had to physically stuff my paper in... almost got my fingers stuck!!

On Corbyn - I don't personally believe he is antisemitic, but the brand of extreme anti-Israel/anti-zionist sentiment amongst him and his crew leaves them so open to such accusations, they should know better. If I'm absolutely honest, their Brexit fence-sitting and opaque borrowing plans bother me more. I've gone LD again, which is going to make sod all difference in Camberwell & Peckham, but hey. The silver lining is that I'll be more than happy with Harriet Harman as MP again.

Personally I would have rather lived in a world where Jimi HAD started the London parakeet population. Never mind, eh.

Agreed, the police are unlikely to be interested. Problem is... even if you managed to find their identity, what are you going to do then?

TheArtfulDogger Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Downside is due to its size, it does feel a bit > busy at times and impersonal I know what you mean, but often local restaurants in Hong Kong tend to be absolutely massive, so in that regard, Dragon Castle and Hong Kong City seem to have a fairly "authentic" sort of vibe.. if that's any consolation.

cella Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > John McD is a skilled politician who is credible. > He's spent 2 years going round all the financial > institutions and has garnered a lot of support. I agree that he's a skilled politician - and like most skilled politicians, he's concealing the truth about the funding needed for their proposals. Hundreds of billions of borrowing... how is it going to be repaid? Can the railways, utilities, etc return enough profit to repay the debt - even after the promised reinvestments, price/fare freezes, and giveaways? We've not been given this info... and for good reason... it wouldn't add up. Who are these financial institutions that support him? (not talking about left-leaning academics). Actually I have heard elsewhere that he has privately been courting The City, but I see no real evidence of much success. The financial transaction tax is bound to be a popular policy among the masses, but I would suggest that not many people really understand the impact this would have to the industry (already seriously destabilized by Brexit). But there are bits of Labour's manifesto that I really like... 50% tax, green energy spending, raising NHS and mental health budget, sensible immigration reform with a positive attitude and intent... all these things could potentially make me want to vote for them... but the problem is, they'd be easily reversible as soon as the next Tory government get in. If we are honest, they are temporary. While the bits I don't like - spunking billions away on a socialist ideology - are not easily reversible.

Cella, you say that the Labour promises are costed. And yes, this is what they tell us. But it's not really the truth IMO. The majority of the nationalization program (100s of billions?) will be paid for from borrowing. Saying that, I don't disagree with Labour on the need for higher taxation... yes some of us will face quite a stiff hike, but I'd stop short of calling a 50% tax rate "draconian". I think it's obvious to most of us that hospitals, schools, and emergency services are under-resourced. I thought Caudwell came out of that exchange pretty badly... like a kid throwing his toys out of the pram. And McDonnell (who I don't like) looked the much more coherent... mind you, he is a professional politician, so he probably should do...

TBH, if it were down to me, I'd get one of those big "tray" cakes from Sainsbury's, stick some figures/models and candles on top, and job done. But try telling my wife that! She loves making them herself, and will usually work all night on the bloody thing. But again, that's not for everyone. Like most things you can buy, there is a variety of options out there to suit different budgets. And the cost-to-quality ratio is usually exponential. A ?100 cake will probably not taste twice as good, or look twice as pretty as a ?50 cake. But if a skilled independent baker charges around say ?25 per hour, and works for several hours on each bespoke cake, an also has overheads to cover.. well, then that's just what it costs and there's not really any point getting angry about it, is there.

Azalea Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If by large cake you mean a wedding cake with > tiers, then yes. But their regular layer cakes in > different flavours are less than fifty pounds. Looking at their "curly whirly cake", with no personalisation. 5" - ?17 7" - ?38 10" - ?63 13" - ?100 I accept that 13" is really rather large, but it is still just a basic single tier cake with simple decoration. The sub-?50 option, the 7", would really be too small for most kids parties I think.

Not all cakes are equal. Some might spend 4-5 hours making a cake and decorating it, others might spend 1-2 and use cheap ingredients. It's a bit unfair to brand it "overpriced" without a bit more info, at least. Anyway, glad you got what you were looking for.

Konditor & Cook charge over ?100 for a large cake with fairly basic decoration. Not sure why a local baker would necessarily be cheaper.