Blah Blah

But there is no evidence of overuse. That is just an assumption by the OP. All of the medications prescribed are for conditions from Asthma to Hayfever. Pretty normal stuff. But they are required permission because they contain trace elements of substances that could fail a drugs test. That's all there is to it.

But where is the evidence of overuse of medicine? The leaked report shows legitimate use of treatments for things like allergies and Asthma etc, permission for which has to be gained in advance of treatment being used. Even athletes have medical conditions that need treatment from time to time. That is clearly very different to misuse of banned substances for performance enhancing purposes. You are making an assumption in your OP that just isn't true.

Electoral registration is important for councils because it determines the level of funding they get. So I can absolutely understand why the council would door knock at unregistered addresses (and they have done this in the past anyway). Sp I would say that if you want the council to provide services, help them to get the maximum central funding they can by registering to vote.

I completely agree with that Lordship, which is why I would argue that governemnt investment in housing for example would be a better use of money than HS2. It's not that investment in rail infrastructure in itself is a poor use of money, it isn't. But HS2 is kind of like putting all the eggs in one basket with only limited return. Plus the belief that state investment is bad and private investment is good is behind much of government policy.

It's a non story imo. Bitter Russians who DID cheat with performance enhancing drugs show how low they really are by trying to discredit athletes who actually win medals because they are better than everyone else shocker. Common sense tells anyone that all of the named athletes have given drugs tests in pretty much every competition they compete in and athletes can be tested at ANY time during training periods too. In fact, isn't that why the Russians got caught?

Definitely sounds targetted, but could also be mistaken identity too. Ditto Robert's post. Even an innocuous road 'rage' incident could be the motive. It doesn't take much these days for some people to behave bad sadly.

No I wouldn't for the reason Lordship gave you. "UK Government investment as a % of GDP 2015 14% - an all time low." That is the whole point of the discussion. It IS at an all time low.

No it is not correct LM. Investment dropped after the crash as you would expect (it did all over the world). It recovered a little (by ?10 billion annually) by 2010, and in fact, most of the recovery after the crash had come by 2010. Ths is why it is a myth that Osborne is responsible for all the recovery since 2008. Practically nothing has moved forward under his policies. Fluctuation by just ?10 billion over six years is a woefull performance by any comparison. All the charts are out there for you to look at. Even after the recessions of the 80s and 90s, there was no period of flatlining like this. And as I said, Germany, USA and France have all recovered on investment markedly. We haven't. Lordship has seconded everything I have said on that and gone further and explained how Osborne has messed it up (by degearing investment). ****crossed posts with Lordship, but agree of course.

And that is the view of most same economists Lordship, as you say. This area of economics is where Osborne has been very weak and I struggle to find another chancellor in history who had less understanding of or less wllingness to act (as I'm not sure of which Osborne is guilty of) in this area. Investment is a key engine of the economy we work under. It has to be a vital measure of those who manage it for us.

The ONS publish detailed figures on investment and breakdowns. It fell to ?60 billion annually after the 2008 crash and hasn't got above ?80 billion since. That gap of ?20 billion over 8 years represents a flatlining of investment. You would have to go back to 1990 to see investment flatlining, and even then it only did so for three years. Germany, France and the US have all recovered better than us on investment growth, Germany especially well (which puts to bed any idea that growth figures fuelled mainly by household consumption, really means any kind of tangible growth). I will find a chart to demonstrate that.

I don't hate Tories Dave. I just hate policies that penalise the poorest and most vulnerable. It's a different thing. But it is daft to pretend to know what 76.5% of the electorate think, and to assume how far within that hatred of the Tories goes. You have no way of knowing if it is a minority of that or not.

DaveR Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think many people who hate the Tories don't > realise that they are in a minority. Would that be the 76.5% of the electorate who didn't vote for them then 😁 Seems a daft thing to say Dave.

LondonMix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I wasn't being sarcastic. I'm not sure why you > think I was. > > You saying there was no growth, when there was > clearly growth is just factually incorrect. > Growth in 2014 was 2.9% and in 2015 was 2.2%. > That compares favourably to the global average and > is high relative to other developed countries. > > My view that the record pre-Brexit wasn't bad is > my view and I have clearly stated that I think the > referendum was a mistake and will ultimately be > Cameron's legacy. What exactly is your problem > with me talking about his record pre and post > Brexit? > > If you can't take people disagreeing with you > without becoming petulant I'm not sure what you > enjoy about debating issues on the forum... And now you resort to accusation of petulance. I think it's you unable to allow other perspectives here. By the way I never mentioned growth. I referred to investment being at an all time low. I prefer facts that relate to production, not figures that relate to the value of things ( things like rising house prices) as growth figures do.

LondonMix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Making cuts isn't easy politically or practically. > Also, the economy has grown-- actually up until > Brexit the economy with the cuts was the fastest > growing in Europe and unemployment was also low > which was finally starting to feed through to real > wages. Again, I have my criticisms of Cameron and > Osborne (some scathing) but they are balanced by > at least being able to acknowledge the facts of > what they have done. 'Up until Brexit' (which they have led us to btw) - and then let's try comparing the UK to any number of nations instead of equally stagnant EU countries. I'll spare you the same sarcasm directed at me by your selection of 'facts'.

Making cuts is easy LM. Any accountant can do that. The real measure of achievement is growth, investment, improved social mobility, improved living standards. Osborne achieved not a bit of any of that. He treated the nations economy like that of a household, when the two are not the same. He is one of the most unimaginative chancellors of all time.

Cameron and Osborne protected those that vote for them, such as the over 65s, and ringfenced so many areas (to get votes) that welfare was only one of three areas open to them for cuts. At the same time, investment and growth have fallen to all time lows, (and quantative easing is no replacement for public investment). Osborne achieved practically nothing in 6 years of government. And yes, our welfare state, NHS etc were born into an era of higher income tax, and not just by one or two pence either. It seems ridiculous that income tax remains some holy grail that can not be touched.

That is one of many ironic acts of Cameron. Creating tons of peers while seeking to cut the number of MPs - to erm cut costs. Would have nothing to do with increasing the power of the Tories in either house then? Agree with all the comments above.

Cameron was the end product of a party in opposition for a long time. They'd tried everything else. He was without doubt politically naive and it got him in the end. But he won't suffer in the way everyone else does if they quit their job. It was on his watch that welfare reform means that leaving a job denies benefits for six months, irregardless for the reasons for quitting. If only we could all leave our jobs when we don't like the new boss. I had no respect for him as PM and I have even less for him now. There is nothing 'nice' about Cameron. Self serving, arrogant, and as ruthless as they come.

She is going to have problems getting anything through the Lords that wasn't in the election manifesto. The Lords can only hold up a manifesto pledge for a year, but everything else, they can regect outright, if they wanted to. Backbenchers too, will never rebel against a manifesto pledge, but they may do so for anythng else and that majority is so slim. Worth bearing in mind too that we only know about these plans because of a sharp eyed photographer - otherwise we'd still be none the wiser. Party conference should be interesting!

I had no idea. Always assumed it was a free call because it is to the Police.

Try cola instead of beer. They like sugar too.

Saw one of their guys without lights nearly get hit by a car tonight as he cut accross the road without looking. Again dark clothing. A high vis vest with their logo on is all it would take to vastly improve the visibility of their riders. The size of the box etc, isn't really a problem. I cycle with pannier bags crammed full of stuff and the average pannier can take up to 25kg of weight anyway. You don't notice the weight when cycling. But some reflective strips on those pannier boxes would again be helpful. We also have to remember that the diliveroo business model isn't a very good one for the riders. They are paid per drop, not per hour, and some riders struggle to make the equivalent of min wage when business is quiet. So it is understandable why on busier nights they cut every second they can getting from A-B. It's why motorcycle couriers are also prone to more accidents. Commission based pay and wheels are never a good idea.

The problem is that Corbyn seems to have cast some magical spell on people who don't think polling, or election results or performance at PMQs matters. Who knows how they think Labour will win the next election. That's what irritates me most. The naval gazing and ignorant blind faith, and there's no reasoning with them. Like you Rendel, I had great hope for Corbyn, and voted for him. But I also didn't know very much about him and can now see what a disaster he is for the party. But as you say, his ego is massive, and he is living in the past.

Not a mention of the EU or G7 from Corbyn at PMQs today. What planet is he on? Even on the topic of housing, he failed to mention the upcoming homelessness resolution debate. He seems to deliberately sidestep anything that is topical and it is just far too easy for May. And Labour look likely to be stuck with him.

If X = X, what is the value of X? This is the nonsense we are now being presented with. Eventually May has to tell us exactly what X is. She can only stall for so long.