diable rouge

''Give them a chance''...

It's not even a short-term solution. Care to explain how reducing NI will go towards solving the problems you listed, in particular item iii), since a lot of economic opinion says that NI cuts are in fact inflationary...

It is possible for both to be true. If you are a low earner, raising NI rates will hit you much harder as a % of your disposable income than it will for higher earners, even though on the surface higher earners are paying more. Likewise when you cut NI, the higher earners gain far more than lower earners. Labour's point is that there are better ways to target lower earners, which surely should be the aim right now with this cost of living crisis. Not forgetting that there are millions of people who don't even earn enough to pay NI. 'Trickle-down economics' of tax cuts has failed as has Johnson's flagship, 'Levelling-up', The gap between north and south, rich and poor etc has in fact widened these past 3 years, and not just in terms of how much money people have in their pocket. Until someone comes along with a plan to redistribute wealth that actually narrows that gap, it will continue to widen and the mire will get deeper...

In the same way Johnson should've been given a chance? I'm reminded of the definition of madness! We're now on our 4th Tory PM in 6 years, not forgetting the previous 6 years that included years of unnecessary austerity, and we should be giving them 'a chance'. Judging by latest polls, Tory voters aren't exactly falling over themselves with gay abandon either at the prospect of Truss. Sorry, but leopards don't change their spots, I've seen and heard enough from Truss during her career to know that she's another PM the Tory party has bestowed on us who simply isn't fit to hold the office of PM, She had a chance to redeem herself during the past 2 months, but all she delivered was empty platitudes pandering to a miniscule of the electorate whose lives bear little resemblance to the average person. ''The jury's out on whether France/Macron is an ally.'' Seriously? Just as we've experienced since the referendum, boosterism, cakeism, and unicorns will eventually meet reality, meanwhile the country sinks further and further into the mire...

I hope this answers your question Sparty....

A guy doing Tai Chi complete with ceremonial sword was a bit of an eye opener. Less niche but good comedy value, a couple trying to play table tennis on a windy day...

Week 5 points,,, Week 5 table...

Yes I know you'll be homeless in 3 days time, but the care home is at full capacity and we can't take in any more residents after you told our EU staff to fook off

Week 5 fixtures... Saturday 3rd September Everton v Liverpool Brentford v Leeds United Chelsea v West Ham United Newcastle United v Crystal Palace Nottingham Forest v AFC Bournemouth Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham Wolverhampton Wanderers v Southampton Aston Villa v Manchester City Sunday 4th September Brighton & Hove Albion v Leicester City Manchester Unite v Arsenal

A good week for LadyG, back in the mix after missing Week 1. Week 4 points... Week 4 table...

A reminder that there are extra mid-week games this week, starting tonight...

As much as I don't like multi-nationals and the huge profits they make in general, the increase in their profits from rising gas prices is just a consequence of how the free market operates, supply and demand etc. It's like the huge profits supermarkets and online retailers like Amazon made during Covid and in particular the lockdowns. when there was literally a captive audience spending money like it had gone out of fashion . When we had the financial crisis, Gordon Brown proposed a plan and banged a few G7 heads together that helped stop the cash machines running out of money. Perhaps there are no such financial levers Govs can pull this time. Can these multi-nationals even be nationalised, and if so, at what cost? Does that cost outweigh the cost of the price increases? I just feel that if it was a case of some 'constructive thinking' then I think we'd have seen Govs sitting down and thrashing something out, as it's in no country's interest for this crisis to continue the way it's going...

An early 'Double Bubble'. Week 4 fixtures... Saturday 27th August Southampton v Manchester United Brentford v Everton Brighton & Hove Albion v Leeds United Chelsea v Leicester City Liverpool v AFC Bournemouth Manchester City v Crystal Palace Arsenal v Fulham Sunday 28th August Aston Villa v West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newcastle United Nottingham Forest v Tottenham Hotspur Tuesday 30th August Crystal Palace v Brentford Fulham v Brighton & Hove Albion Southampton v Chelsea Leeds United v Everton Wednesday 31st August Arsenal v Aston Villa AFC Bournemouth v Wolverhampton Wanderers Manchester City v Nottingham Forest West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool v Newcastle United Thursday 1st September Leicester City v Manchester United

Thoughts and possible solutions from a relevant think tank...

I wonder why Johnson's phone calls and visits to Ukraine have suddenly stopped? Could it be that since he was booted out there's no political advantage to be gained anymore from the plight of Ukrainians getting killed and bombed out of their homes, in order to deflect the British public's attention from what a useless, lying, corrupt PM he's been? 13 days to go...

The two 'winter' bills are way underpriced, I'm surprised your supplier didn't flag this up and request a reading. As I suspected, they've underestimated your usage and now that actual readings have been submitted, there's a huge discrepancy in usage to pay. I don't think an average of £69/month over a year is that high for a 1 bed, prices have already shot up for lots of people, my D/D more than doubled last Autumn. If you haven't done so already, consider switching to D/D monthly payments so you don't get any more big quarterly bills like this...

What Seph said, bike-centric countries don't have such schemes as there's simply no need for them. How many deaths/serious injuries caused by cyclists are we actually talking about? Would be interesting to know who's lobbying for such a scheme, the insurance companies perchance?...

Have your previous bills been based on actual meter readings or estimated ones? If the latter then your previous bills may have been under-estimated, hence the large bill you now have with up to date readings...

Week 3 points... Week 3 table...

Would be churlish not to give Johnson a proper send-off before he's kicked out in two weeks time, so while our PM is sunning himself on a beach on his second holiday in as many weeks while the country goes to pot, a reminder of what he said less than a year ago about growing concern of rising inflation... I'll miss the lazy, good for nothing, racist, smirking cockwomble...

Where does it say anything about ''we were fond of'' ? I think a lot of the posts are people just posting the news that someone has died, regardless of whether they liked them or not...

Week 3 fixtures... Saturday 20th August Tottenham Hotspur v Wolverhampton Wanderers Crystal Palace v Aston Villa Everton v Nottingham Forest Fulham v Brentford Leicester City v Southampton AFC Bournemouth v Arsenal Sunday 21st August Leeds United v Chelsea West Ham United v Brighton & Hove Albion Newcastle United v Manchester City Monday 22nd August Manchester United v Liverpool

Week 2 points... Week 2 table...

Barry Bennell is a good Christian...

We live in a short-term age where lots of people don't/can't plan for the long-term. In the workplace a 'job for life' is the exception rather than the rule. Short-term/zero hours contracts have brought about more job insecurity, with people living/surviving from pay day to pay day. People are saving less, pension planning is considered an unaffordable luxury rather than the norm. Less and less people can afford to buy their own home and instead are forced to rent. I live in an area where renters far outweigh home owners, and the renters are extremely transient in nature, there's hardly a week that goes by without someone moving in/out. People have also become used to short-term/instant gratification in their daily lives where everything is just a click away. Added to all this you've now got the uncertainties/economic damage caused by Brexit, Covid, Ukraine etc. How can people plan for the future with such uncertainty? Would they even bother listening to a politician offering a 'long-term vision'? So is it any wonder this short-termism has crept into politics too. Whether by design or accident, populists have tapped into this by offering seemingly quick and easy solutions to difficult long-term problems just to get elected. Of course, they fail but then another one comes along with more of the same, witness Johnson and now the soon-to-be new PM Truss. At least Labour did the decent thing and got rid of Corbyn and his brand of populism, but it would be nice to be able to judge whether Labour under Starmer are any different, but I still don't now exactly what he's offering the country except to say the Tories are rubbish etc. I can understand Starmer keeping his head below the parapet with regard to Brexit, but the cost of living and NHS crises should be fertile home ground for Labour, they should be setting the agenda on these issues. A personal 'long-term vision'...I think the best thing that could happen to UK politics is an end to the First Past The Post voting system. That would shake things up, provide a better format for new/fresh ideas/visions to be heard/discussed, but I can't see the two dinosaurs changing that, certainly not the Tories...