Blah Blah

But to be fair that is the view of other Labour MPs who want a return to Blairite policies. It's the party members who get to decide who becomes leader and if the party members want Corbyn, the Labour Party need to accept that. They can't just keep ignoring that a huge swathe of traditional Labour support feel increasingly disenfranchised from the economy. It DOES matter that the 90% don't earn enough to support our economy or even themselves in many cases. And as I made in my point above, more than half the population aren't invested in sustaining the economy at all. The Labour spilt is obvious, between those who have given up on their traditional working class ground support and think they need to become more 'Tory' if they want to win an election, and those who want to get those seats back in Scotland and get back those votes lost to UKIP etc. I think the former is lazy and the latter will require real work towards a change of collective consiousness. I don't care if Corbyn loses the next General Election if the alternative is a Labour government that mirrors the the Tory party in all but name. That's what America has for a politcal system and we all know how poor that is. That is why Corbyn is winning people like me over.

lol foxy. I'll switch the doner for a humus and avocado ciabatta being veggie and all.

I saw the Andrew Marr interview and have to say I like his thinking on more than a few things. He doesn't strike me as someone intent on wrecking the economy in pursuit of some mad socialist ideology. Quite the opposite in fact. He seems to understand perfectly what can be done to move towards a fairer and stronger economy long term. And I also like that he talks from a standpoint of process, rather than the wishy washy meaningless soundbites of the other candidates. He's the only one who not only talks about fairness but also on how we can move to deliver it. He's the only one who states what fairness means.

A vivid imagination is the only way to heaven.

I'm pretty sure the colour of mortar is determined by the ratio of the mix of cement to sand (and lime if used) and that only pure cement/ concrete would be completely grey.

It's going to be a hard one to fix whilst those with money can buy legislation. On one level something has to be done about lobbying and the bribes that go with it. That would be a start. Things can also be done under current legislation like min wage and tax to improve things - I think all would agree that there's little fairness there. And let's look at our fractional reserve banking system. I refuse to accept there's no better process for a monetary based economy. The people that tell us things like 'Greed is good for everyone' are the people who do best from what we have at present. Deregulation may have led to us all having TVs and cars, but it has also led to accelerating inequality, decelerating mobility and quality of life, with the majority essentially enslaved to expanding the wealth of the few. And if we don't change anything, it will get worse. Efforts by government tend to be to get us back to where we were, when where we were is a massive part of the problem.

I really don't know Dave. I think all politicians are in denial over that one. But he might point it out enough that it comes to the fore of public consciousness (I am speculating there of course) so that people stop blaming the rich, or the poor, or just about anyone but government themselves.

I'm torn on Corbyn. I like his determination to be an opposition, and don't see that with any of the other candidates. I tend to think that win or lose, you have to have conviction as a party leader. Labour's problem is that they keep trying to second guess what the electorate want, and that of course is a shifting sand, instead of winning the debate from a strong stance of principle, and taking voters with them. This (as much as I hate the current Tory principles) I think Cameron has done far better.

Looks fine to me. Once the lawn is down and the gaps are mortar filled you won't notice it. Aligning across the area means every slab on one side would have to be angle cut and then you'd have odd angles to the connecting wall or building. That might have bugged you more.

And we all know how accurate polls are don't we :D I definitely think the tide is turning on corporate interests. Young people especially are very clued up on how corporations buy politicians and legislation to serve their own interests at the expense of everyone else. They also seem to have a good understanding of how those things connect in the world, to keep some nations poor and/ or corrupt. Labours problem wasn't an anti-austerity platform. It was three years of no opposition whilst the Tories hammered home the myth that Labour destroyed the economy. So in that sense, yet more self denial from Labour.

lol ????. If we are talking about the US, you don't even get a sniff of congress unless you are a multi-millionaire and most senators are beholden to ruthless oligarchs like the Koch brothers. People are fed up multinationals buying power and legislation that favours them over everyone else but don't I think understand how that can be changed. Where I agree with you though is in that any real challenge to that can't get a look in because the system is so watertight and self preserving. So you get rich nutters instead, who promise the earth without really understanding the practicalities of government in the global free market system we currently opearate under. In America, the 400 richest people own more than half the country's wealth. That is out of a population of 350 million! It's not good. There are tented comminities on the outskirts of LA whilst all those homes reposessed under the sub-prime collapse still lie empty and are falling into disrepair. So there is much to criticise about unfettered global free market capitalism, and much that could be done to improve distribution of income, opportunity etc without harming the already amassed wealth of people like the Koch brothers, and without moving too far away from the global marketplace. But it will take a global change of attitude. Having that debate might be where Corbyn may be useful. Are some of his ideas outdated? Of course they are, but at the moment there is no-one in the main parties standing up for fairness, the low waged, the disabled, the unemployed. There is nobody challenging low productivity, trade deficits and no-one is taking a long term view. Corbyn I think will ask questions about all of those things. And I think he will listen to the advice and ideas of others party members. I just have an instinct that we may all be suprised. And just to add this. People often talk about deficit and debt but fail to understand why we are in that situation. It comes down to simple economics. We have 64.1 million people in this country, but only 30.54 million people work, many of them on wages so low they have to be subsidised. 10.4 million are over 65. And 9 million are not looking for work at all, due to ill health, disability or other reasons. Unemployment figures always make me laugh because real unemployment is much higher and without welfare there would be revolution, or mass riot for sure. Of those who work, the highest paid 10% (those in the 40% bracket and higher) pay 53% of all income tax. Any person can see the problem there. We need better wages for the 90% and we need way more people in work. Osbourne is in la la land if he thinks he can balance the books without doing anything to change those things. Both labour and the conservatives are in huge denial on the real issues of the economy and are conning us by blaming each other.

We just can't know for suree. I think there was clear evidence in the case of Saville (too many connections/ sightings/claims etc) but policing was very different at the time of these allegations, and I think the Justice system too. It was harder for victims of abuse and rape to speak out and if they did, the process of even getting to court was much harder. When Ester Rantzen carried out her confidential survey into sexual abuse, the response was so overwhelming that it led to Childline and a change in the way Police handle rape victims. It's perfectly easy to understand why rape and abuse victims didn't come forward at the time. Peodophiles are particulary adept (and especially in that climate) of making victims too afraid or too ashamed to speak out.

Are you sure you didn't just have your eye on that front left seat for yourself Sue :D

Donald Trump would be a disaster. This is the guy who regularly makes comments like 'all Mexicans are criminals'. The democrats would have a field day digging up every Trump faux pas. Even his kids have had to rein him in recently because some of his comments have been bad for business. Could be the easiest win for the Democrats in ages. As for Bush, we all remember Florida! He spent more time on the golf course than in the White House until 9/11 gave him something he thought it worthwhile to turn up and do. Bush was perhaps the peak of the religious right but that has waned with the Sarah Palin Tea Party brigade.

Yeah I don't like facing the wall in a restaurant either come to think of it :D

It's behind the library. They've been demolishing foundations for months. You can see it from the stairway of the Library. Pretty cool if that school is coming.

'And if that seat is occupied I watch it with eagle eyes until it isn't, then make a dash for it.' Ah you are one of those people Sue :D P.S why left over right? Just curious.

Yeah the smell of fried chicken on a bus really gets to me as I'm a vegetarian, more even than bob sneakily lighting up his crack pipe at the back ;)

I wouldn't leave it there overnight. There are much safer places to park for free overnight.

Yep it has three things that help with leg ulcers. Antibacterial properties, keeps the would moist and it's viscosity serves as a barrier to keep out further infection. It also has immunomodulatory properties which help tissue repair. Enzymatic production of hydrogen peroxide is a key part of its antimicrobial effect. Medical grade honey has high levels of potent bactericidal action that is effective against bacteria that is antibiotic resistant. Leg ulcers are particularly challenging to treat and antibiotics aren't always efeective enough. That's why medical grade honey is sometimes used.

My wife dislikes the top deck because of the stairs. She finds them fine to go up, but too steep and dangerous when coming down. Could that be a reason? I can understand why people with any kind of mobility problem wouldn't want to go there, but perhaps the able bodied find the stairs a challenge too?

I think we are splitting hairs here. Of course some kids will take longer or not get there at all but I was talking generally (and generally most children pick things up very quickly), to make the point to Penguin that to think cyclists need as much training and examination as car or motorcyle drivers is nonsense. Really young children haven't quite developed perfect balance Sue (and again that depends on the child) but 5-7 years seems to be the age when they start to negotiate those things very well. Boys of course lose some of that during puberty as their legs and arms spurt out of proportion. But that's a whole other discussion :D I also do think that cyclists are in an awkward place. They are not a fast as most other traffic, and some drivers DO get irritated by that (even if the cyclist is cyling perfectly) and at the same time, they are too quick to really be sharing space with pedestrians. Cycle lanes are good but they are not possible on every road. In the end, the responsibility has to lie with road users themselves, putting safety first.

What is wrong with everyone today? :D

lol rahrah. Sue, it took just 5 mins for my own two children to go from stabilsers to no stabilisers at the ages of 6 and 7 respectively. I remember it taking me a similar amound of time and at a similar age. Kids tend to get that you just have to go for it, better than adults do. A bicycle, once it's going, is hard to fall off of. Adults find it harder to learn to ride a cycle because they worry more about fallling off than kids do. It's the same for many things, like skiing and swimming for example. All easier to pick up in childhood. And there's plenty of evidence to back that up in a fair few psychology manuals. We can even test that here. How many people who cycle can remember when they went from stabilisers to two wheels? How hard was it?

Penguin you are being daft. The theory test for drivers is much more complex because of the speeds and types of roads that vehicles use. Use your common sense for goodness sake if you have any. Most people learn to cycle as young children, and they do learn in 5 minutes. Cycling, including a cycles stopping distance are second nature well before teens. They don't need to do special training for that. And as far as I'm aware, most schools still do have cycling proficiency courses, which is all that is needed to learn about signalling and riding correctly. If people then choose to ignore their training, that is on them. Let me also tell you this. As someone who did that proficiency course, when I stick out my hand to move to the centre of the road (to make a right turn ahead) drivers do NOT on the whole slow down to let me move into position. I almost always have to force them to do so. Now you tell me who needs some training there? I could fill this debate with countless examples of how cycle training is pointless against drivers that don't see cyclists as valid road users. Just as I could do the same for those cyclists who break the rules too. What would be the point though? In my experience, most drivers who complain about cyclists as a group (as opposed to individual acts of poor behaviour), are simply impatient people who think they shouldn't ever have to slow down for another vehicle, cycle or otherwise. London roads are crowded at times, end of. Cyclists have the advantage of getting through jams, cycle too if you want to have that advantage. At all other times, just chill dude. Perspective goes a long way.