
Blah Blah
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Everything posted by Blah Blah
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'The more you drift away from the economic centre-right and the social centre-left the less chance you have of being elected. It's a problem that afflicts both the left and right in this country. Osborne's about turn on tax credits can be nailed down to this. ' This is spot on Loz. Interesting speculation too on what the result in Oldham might be. Apparently UKIP might be stealing some ground, although it would take a pretty major swing to take that one from Labour. ????, just where are all of Labour's left supporting terrorists? I know McDonnell made that comment about the IRA, but genuinely curious as to how that can be applied to the rest.
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No it's not aimed at Sue. The message I received was from someone pointing at something started by that chilli type name in another thread, none of which I understand and don't see as being anything to do with me. I just post to pass time (while getting admin done at work - shift worker). It's not a big deal, I just don't want to be pulled into what seems to be a dispute between other people. Maybe I'll give the forum a miss for a couple of days, plenty of time for my favourite character ???? to run amok. Having said that, I hear tonight's Question Time was a feisty one, so I might not hold out! :D
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What? It's just dawned on me that I had a message from someone you seem to be singling out on another thread. Pretty poor behaviour, even for a forum. I'm not getting involved. I told her the same. I post here to pass the time. I like politics, but can just as easily not be bothered. If your intention is to drive people from a forum that should be for everyone to use, then keep going. I'm not interested.
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It's a stamp duty increase, so designed to disincentive people from purchasing buy to let. We are arguing that they will still buy anyway but charge higher rents. Osborne did however increase tax on BTL landlords in the Annual Budget as well. So again that may force rent increases or sale.
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I agree Jeremy, but even with fines, I think rental on many of those properties would probably be unnaffordable for a lot of people anyway.
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You are a broken record ????. All you whine on about is Corbyn and the left. They are not in power and they may never be, who knows. But the people who ARE in power are sending this country to the wall for many people, or attempting to at least. Harmen led the party to abstention on welfare reform. Corbyn has led the party to oppose it and has won in the Lords. This nonsense that only extreme free market capitalism works is just that, nonsense. It IS possible to have a fairer economy. The Tories will never deliver that. No Dave, I don't that that is why Labour lost those elections. My view is that Labour lost under Miliband for two reasons. They allowed the Tories two years of unopposed electioneering on the economy. If you look at the Tories, they all follow a pattern of repeating a core message again and again, whatever the question and they all stick to that same core message. It's that thing of if you say something enough times, even if it is a lie, the public will believe it is the truth. It's a well know psychological tool. And they have been very disciplined in that method. You have to admire that. But secondly Miliband just had no presence. He did have some good policies, some of which the Tories have actually implemented (stolen if you like), but he lacked the presence to get those messages through under the media obsession with the SNP and coalition deals that might be, which turned out to be not relevant anyway. When you are being squeezed by a force of nature like Sturgeon and a party very disciplined at relaying their core messages (after a head start), you have to be an incredibly strong and enigmatic person to cut through that. Miliband just wasn't that. The election prior to that, Gordon Brown, was a combination of things. Aftermath of 2008 crisis, election faux pas etc. The thinking still is that if Brown had gone to election shortly after taking over the reigns, he would have won. He put his own personal ego before political sense imo. I agree on your point about non voters. In the past parties have run shuttle services on election days to transport the non voters. The real question is how many non voters exist in constituencies that are marginal or can be swung by that. I'm not convinced either that they exist in large enough numbers. Assuming non voters would vote Labour anyway is a pretty big assumption. Corbyn will have to win elections on core issues like everyone else at the end of the day.
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Yes there's no joined up thinking again. You can't just tweak one aspect of the market and think that'll do it. I agree that the consequences will probably lead to higher rents and a squeeze on avaialble stock. And landlords under no restrictions from mortgages will just follow suit with rents, because it's free money to them.
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War has been a tactic for deflecting from issues at home used by many governments. Nothing like a bit of patriotic fervour to whip up votes. That's cynical I know but nobody is talking about what Saudi Arabia are currently doing in Yemen for example. There is no way to bomb and avoid civilian casualties. The revenge bombing by the French after Paris killed 73 civilians, many of them children for example. Yet all but one of the terrorists were European born! You can not bomb an ideology out of existence. This is the disconnect in those for bombing. What you can do however, is shut down routes of funding (swiss banks btw) and the routes for arms smuggling (hard to do when we are one of the four biggest arms traders flooding the world with these weapons). And of course, homeland intelligence is the most effective way of seeking out these cells. Long term, we have to find ways to stop disaffected men and women from becoming radicalised. From a psychological perspective, nationals who subscribe to these ideologies are often 2nd or 3rd generation, migrant descendants, who feel no sense of cultural identity and loyalty, either to the culture of their parents and their country of origin, or to the culture of the country they are born into. THAT is what we have to tackle within our own society. As for Syria, as pointed out above, it is a conflict between four different sides with different aims. There can be no military intervention until NATO and her allies sit down and work out a strategy to which all are signed up, including local leaders and forces on the ground. Without that, any action is doomed to fail and hurt ordinary innocent people most. It will lead to a refugee movement on a scale far bigger than anything we have seen yet. And finally there is the cost of action. Who will be paying for the bombs we drop? I don't want my taxes being used to kill civilians halfway around the world. Iraq was an unmitigated disaster. I see nothing in Cameron that understands that.
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I just think that they have no idea of how other people live, people not like themselves that is. They will expect charities to take up the slack no doubt. But refuges are not just about a safe space. They provide a range of services from professionals that have to be paid for.
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???? Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > the Tory voter on Question Time is the one who did > it really What planet are you on? Labour and the Lib Dems have a majority in the Lords. They exercised that majority with the two amendments Labour presented. Simple as that. Umm I think you might have been joking there :D
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Please, let's give Labour peers credit where due. The two amendments voted through the Lords were presented by Labour peers. The legislation had gone through all readings in the house. Tory MPs didn't have the backbone to defy the whip. Every political commentator agrees that Osborne miscalculated. You are swimming against the consensus view ???? and that includes the view of those who work in Parliament and have done for decades. I think the biggest denial is within the Labour right to be honest, who seem unable to grasp why they have lost two elections - unable to grasp why traditional Labour supporters can't stomach their support for cuts. How many people have died because of welfare reforms ????. Do you need me to remind you? Stop apologising for the cruelty of Osborne with this obsession you have with attacking Corbyn and those who support him. Corbyn and his followers are not the people delivering growing inequality. They are not the people selling off the last assets the country has. They are not the people who continue to allow the sell off of social homes whilst building no new ones. They are not the people saddling the young with impossible debts...I could go on, but you get the picture.
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It is related because it was Labour and Lib Dem peers who forced the U turn. Osborn wouldn't have changed anything otherwise.
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Which comes back to my point of how Osborne operates (setting things in place to alleviate blame from himself). IDS whooped and waved because he's a political thug (and might be on a personal level too for all we know). But the comment about money and not leaving people worrying is a telling one. Ever wonder how government suddenly finds money for giveaways before elections?
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That is a good example. It was supposed to run til March 2016 with 40 million allocated. But all the funds were used up by October of this year.
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Spot on Ratty. John McDonell reminded everyone of that on the BBC this morning and pointed out that the cuts to Universal Credit amount to the same thing as the tax credit cuts Osborne tried to push through. And the mao book was a pointer to the Tories willingness to sell our assets to the Chinese. It wasn't some hollow attempt at humour. These are things that make us poorer as a nation, and line the pockets of the few.
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It might EDhistory. We'll have to wait and see. It's kind of the way Osborne operates though. He looks for ways to cut but does it in a way that LAs end up being blamed if those cuts have impacts. It's the same with the HA RTB2 deal. The responsibility is with HAs to replace homes sold in equal numbers. Osborne knows they will have problems finding land etc and most certainly won't be able to replace like for like. If they fail, he will argue it isn't his fault etc etc. Nowhere in all of this is a contingency for where the numbers don't add up. A good example is the number of people subject to Bedroom Tax because their LA has nowhere to move them to. A reasonable amendment would be to exempt those people, but instead he delivers inadequate funds for discretionary payments to help those affected. So he can say he is acknowledging and acting on the problem, when he knows full well he's not providing enough funding and LAs will either have to leave people out, or claw money from elsewhere. It's a really tough time for LAs and especially LAs with high proportions of elderly, disabled and unemployed. Edited to add that there is one change that hasn't been picked up, probably because many (including myself) didn't know exactly what it meant. Osborne was always going to recoup money from somewhere after abandoning tax credits. https://speye.wordpress.com/2015/11/25/bedroom-tax-single-people-mass-evictions-for-disability-csr2-closure-of-all-womens-refuges/ If you are under 35, with no dependents, and you become unemployed from April of next year, you should be worried.
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Yes, but if the devolving of council tax benefit to LAs is anything to go by, it will mean a reduced pot for provision. Having said, Council Tax Benefit to the over 65s were protected, forcing LAs to reduce the amount of CT benefit to everyone else. Definitely something to watch though. And Southwark already does have it's own internally section to administer Housing Benefits (and Council Tax) anyway.
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I thought the Mao book was hilarious personally :D There are many things to come before the next General Election. London Mayor and local elections (which will tell us if opinion polls are any more credible than they weren't in the General Election). There's the Europe Referendum, a traditional Tory bust up. And eyes are on the Chinese economy. If it crashes, that could be just the disaster to elevate Corbyn and McDonell. That is of course, if Corbyn can hang on beyond 18 months.
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I think it has suprised people. He's not only backed down on tax credits, he also left other welfare streams largely alone. Personally I think it shows there was never any need to attack tax credits in the first place, especially as Universal Credit removes them and by 2020, everyone will be under that system anyway. Higher wages are the way to tackle welfare dependency of those in work. Something could be done on rents as well to help with that. There's always a crossover line Uncleglen where it becomes debatable as to the value in work vs welfare. Governments always have difficulty with this area. I don't accept though, given the level of unemployment that any employer can't find full time staff. And if someone 'chooses' welfare over work, then that is a problem with their mentality. Most people would agree that working for a living is far more rewarding than depending on state benefits. People working part time are required to be actively seeking more hours or work under the rules anyway. The most interesting thing I thought was the announcement to protect police funding. There are so many areas protected now that what I see is a calm before the storm. He still intends to make massive cuts to reach that surplus. Those cuts are going to come from Local Authorities and welfare. There is much pain to come, unless he abandons the aim to reach surplus.
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He won't get a slap on the wrist for this crime though. That's a myth. Violent crime has consequences whatever the age. It's for crimes like burglary that teenagers get non custodial punishment.
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Live by the sword, die by the Sword. Ken is a politician. Everything he says will be scrutinised. He should know better. Kevin Jones says that Ken Livingstone's appointment as co-chair of Labour's Defence Review Committee would damage Labour's credibility. Ken replies in a press interview with 'I think he might need some psychiatric help. He's obviously very depressed and disturbed.' Basically Ken is a knob. His insult is the reflection of a man so consumed in his own ego that anyone who thinks him not right for a role must be mentality affected. Jews, homosexuals and now the mentally disturbed. Who will he get into trouble with next?
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I think it highlights why a fixed plan with no flexibility for unforseen events doesn't work Uncle. We will see where the money comes from for those services and Troops on Wednesday. The Police are worried. And if we go to war, where does the money come from for that? there are no oil fields to raid this time. Governments can always borrow for bailing out banks and war, but not for investment it seems.
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Right away there's a glaring inacuracy in that article. Ken Livingstone wasn't appointed by Corbyn himself, but by the NEC. I think we should all be sceptical of polls after the last election, where the Tories and Labour were neck and neck according to the polls. But just like the election Major won (where polls put Labour ahead), the Tories do better than expected in General Elections and Labour slightly worse. Even if we accept those polls as a true reflection, it still puts Labour behind the Tories, and at a time when we are seeing the most draconian cuts for a long time. Those cuts are going to get far worse after the spending review on Tuesday as well, but they are not cuts that hit the typical Tory voter.
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Being vegetarian spares me from dodgy meat. But I like Honest Burger because all of their meat is ethically sourced from free range farms. We have been to the one in Brixton and had their vegetarian options, whereas you would never get me through the door of a McDonalds, ever!
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I agree with that Uncleglen, but at the same time, we have to be honest about what cuts really mean to front line services. The two are connected. Many of the facilities in place to deal with disruptive youths have been cut back. Youth groups have closed. The only reassurance that parents could be given is that children that are excluded are given the right involvement so they don't go and do what this teenager did. Helen Hayes MP wasn't just being a typical MP in opposition, she was making valid points about the consequences of this government'a drive to clear the deficit at any cost. It may not have been the right place to do that, but ya know, that's what politicians do. Teenage boys have aways carried knives. What has changed is the culture. It used to be to strip bark of a twig, now it's for 'protection'. 183 teenage murders in London between 2005-2015. http://www.citizensreportuk.org/reports/teenage-murder-london.html
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