Politics

Anything that doesn't fit anywhere else, and is NON CH related - chat about the weather, or anything else that takes your fancy.

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sejintenej
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Re: Politics

Post by sejintenej »

J.R. wrote: Sun Jul 01, 2018 1:50 pm
sejintenej wrote: Sat Jun 30, 2018 9:46 pm
As for that latter. my son, working for his A levels in two types of maths was subjected to two weeks of Labour indoctrination by his maths teacher instead of maths teaching. He swore never ever to vote Labour because they tried to damage his schooling.
I'm afraid very much par for the course in the Corbynista era.
Very true but I was referring to the late 1980's; it has got far worse since then. I reckon we should sack all socialist / Labour teachers and the uni teachers who taught them and start again. Otherwise Britain is in crap street even further
What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution.
What happens if all of them drown? That is solution!!!
rockfreak
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Re: Politics

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As the EU continues to say "non" to our half-witted Tory politicians trying to pretend that they're making progress, where do OBs stand on this? Will we lose sovereignty or will the sovereignty of the WTO make things even worse as we jump off the cliff next March and have to pay stonking tariffs to the trade area that we previously got for free? Will lorries pile up for miles at Kent and Immingham? Will the speculator markets steam in and attack the pound as they did in 1992? This last is something that you don't much hear mentioned but George Soros and pals managed it in 1992, and after Norman Lamont had failed to prop up sterling by jacking the base rate into double figures we still crashed out. It wasn't so much the fact that we were in the ERM but the fact that we were overvalued in it. Other countries survived their stay in the ERM. The markets merely make their punts on how they see the future prospects of a country and its economy.
I expect a full-blown attack on sterling, sterling assets, and gilts (government bonds), and the three rating agencies will probably strip yet another "A" from our credit rating, all of which will make it more expensive for government to borrow. Banker Brown is probably already hedging his bets by storing cases of vintage wine. Dominic Raab suggests that the rest of us should think about storing food and supplies but this doesn't seem to have become official government policy yet. By the way, the boy Raab is the Tory who said that feminists were "hysterical bigots" and that people using food banks couldn't manage their cash flow properly. But of course he's been sidelined now and the Maybot appears to have taken personal charge. Which sounds a bit like Husband and Dobbie taking charge in a nunnery pledged to chastity and purity.
sejintenej
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Re: Politics

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rockfreak wrote: Sat Jul 28, 2018 8:31 pm As the EU continues to say "non" to our half-witted Tory politicians trying to pretend that they're making progress, where do OBs stand on this? Will we lose sovereignty.
We have already lost it to the Krauts and are fighting to get it back. OK so the first few years might be a problem but if we let Scotland stay in the EU just think of the immense charges we can inflict on EU lorries to and from Scotland and Ireland crossing our roads. Then we can inflict huge fees on EU countries using copyrights and so forth registered by UK companies - we could even stop manufacture by Airbus!!!!!!!

More seriously, Britain has the ability to become a major economic power but Labour will block that
. Banker Brown is probably already hedging his ,by storing cases of vintage wine.
When you get to my present age (in about three weeks) you might have learned something about laying down wine. Personally I dislike clarets and burgandies which seem to be the favourites for laying down . However, having laid it down what do you do with it? Not much use having it, keeping it at the right temperature and humidity, insuring it, checking it just to quaff it. I do have some wine in stock but it will not stay drinkable for over three to five years As for champers, no thanks - I keep some of the original Blanquette which is what Dom Perignon nicked the recipe for when he was sent to Paris
My hedging is different and has already made me quite a lot and will so continue, thank you
What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution.
What happens if all of them drown? That is solution!!!
rockfreak
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Re: Politics

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Freaky gets another of his letters into the Guardian today (Sat). Titled "Brexit risks: food and a weak pound", and challenging the notion that a cheap currency is an unalloyed blessing for our exporters given the countervailing costs of oil and other materials which are traded in dollars, along with the costs of parts for manufacture which now come in mainly from abroad. One thing is sure though, the rouble will be strong and an added incentive for the Russian oligarchs to flash out thirty grand a year to get Boris and Tatiana into CH.
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J.R.
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Re: Politics

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52% Say Out - 48% say Remoan.

Hey Ho. Tick Tick Tick. The clock is ticking.

No Deal is starting to look very good to me.

Oh, and by the way, I see that Comrade Corbynski has laid tributes at the graves of the murdering terrorist's responsible for the Munich olympic atrocities.

Come back soon Nigel and Boris !
John Rutley. Prep B & Coleridge B. 1958-1963.
wurzel
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Re: Politics

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rockfreak wrote: Sat Aug 11, 2018 12:44 pm Freaky gets another of his letters into the Guardian today (Sat). Titled "Brexit risks: food and a weak pound", and challenging the notion that a cheap currency is an unalloyed blessing for our exporters given the countervailing costs of oil and other materials which are traded in dollars, along with the costs of parts for manufacture which now come in mainly from abroad. One thing is sure though, the rouble will be strong and an added incentive for the Russian oligarchs to flash out thirty grand a year to get Boris and Tatiana into CH.
It is very true we have very few natural resources left as we dug all the cheap easy ones up to create the industrial revolution. Therefore our industry has to import it's raw materials - the same currency movements which make our exports more competitive make the imported raw materials more expensive. Thus we had a small window where we produced finished product using stored raw material during which time we made abnormal profits but now the inputs/outputs have rebalanced. A major pressure on manufacturing is going to be the cost of labour, we are desperately short of experienced engineers (at all levels and in all sectors) with a lot of the current ones getting closer and closer to retirement as it was not sexy to go into Engineering in the 90's. As with us importing the raw materials out manufacturing competitiveness is a function of labour efficiency (the only other big cost we can control) pushing up labour costs will reduce the competitiveness of our manufacturing as the output price will have to rise (there is little profit margin to squeeze). So if you see inflation rise and calls for greater wage increases start to worry
rockfreak
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Re: Politics

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I'm not sure that workers' pay is the whole story when it comes to efficiency. What about all those well-paid German workers and their strong trade unions and the traditionally excellent German productivity and balance of trade figures (exports versus imports)? I wonder if investment (or lack of it) comes into this somewhere. Some time ago the OECD discovered that our spending on investment and R&D has slumped dramatically in the European league table. When Jim Callaghan and Old Labour left office in 1979 we were near the top of this table. Now apparently we're nearer the bottom. What has happened to the money? Well bailing out the banks, overpaying mediocre CEOs, over-rewarding greedy shareholders, giving people subsidies to buy houses and thus ratcheting up the essential costs of living, and maybe not taxing the idle and speculative rich enough. There are probably more reasons.
If anything British workers need a rise in order to pay their exorbitant rents and housing costs which are massively more than when I left home in the 1960s. After all, if the people don't have the money in their pocket and the confidence to spend it how does a system of capitalism survive? This is called "demand side" and it's one of the reasons the economy is still in the doldrums after all these years (although perhaps with fear of Brexit starting to have an effect too).
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Re: Politics

Post by wurzel »

More useful form a world competitive economy point of view would be a housing price crash or at least slow decline rather than continual rapid rise. It would hurt a lot of people (largely the older ones who own property and have pensions paid from investments in property) but would leave us better placed against other competitor economies than a rise in labour costs especially in industries location agnostic (such as software )
rockfreak
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Re: Politics

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Totally agree. When I left home in the 1960s in an era when private rents were controlled, my little flat in north London (on the Northern line into the West End) was one fifth of my salary. Now it might well be half. Someone had a letter in the Guardian the other day saying just this, that we need a slow puncture in house price inflation. I'm in favour of slapping a few more council tax bands on to the top end of the scale and making them punitively progressive because the present band of rates haven't been updated since 1991 -probably because governments haven't wanted to mess with them any more after the Poll Tax riots of 1990. So the top national band is Band H for properties rated at £320,00 a year. Over that, you don't pay any more. So it goes without saying that this is a tax cheap invitation for rich speculators to park their money in London property - or any other city where there is prime real estate. By making them pay steeply for under-occupation or non-occupation you would either force them to take in tenants (at new government-enforced controls) or to sell up.
I understand that this might not be fair on long-term existing owners in hitherto ordinary areas which have now become gentrified who had bought to occupy and would now be asked to suddenly stump up eye-watering council tax, but surely government and Civil Service are capable of drafting exemptions and tapers for these sort of people to soften the blow. Anyway, I believe that this idea needs to be looked at before we build a single new house on our precious green belt.
By the way, now that I live on my own (along with the budgie) I'm in a modest one-up/one-down little house in funky downtown Gravesend which is rated second-lowest council tax band for the area. I'm not under-occupying. Unlike the denizens of Christ's Hospital.
sejintenej
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Re: Politics

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rockfreak wrote: Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:01 pm . I'm not under-occupying. Unlike the denizens of Christ's Hospital.
Definitely 50 peoples or so in one house -how would YOU redesign one of the houses (or a block) to hold 17 families (38 families) of three each? Where would you dump the present denizens?

If you want to dump them here then be aware that the council has just refused planning permission for a school to expand and then approved 500 new houses close to it. Though the practice is better, my own nominated GP has a three week appointments waiting list - BEFORE 1500 - 2000 more people are dumped here. N I M B Y!
What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution.
What happens if all of them drown? That is solution!!!
wurzel
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Re: Politics

Post by wurzel »

rockfreak wrote: Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:01 pm Totally agree. When I left home in the 1960s in an era when private rents were controlled, my little flat in north London (on the Northern line into the West End) was one fifth of my salary. Now it might well be half. Someone had a letter in the Guardian the other day saying just this, that we need a slow puncture in house price inflation. I'm in favour of slapping a few more council tax bands on to the top end of the scale and making them punitively progressive because the present band of rates haven't been updated since 1991 -probably because governments haven't wanted to mess with them any more after the Poll Tax riots of 1990. So the top national band is Band H for properties rated at £320,00 a year. Over that, you don't pay any more. So it goes without saying that this is a tax cheap invitation for rich speculators to park their money in London property - or any other city where there is prime real estate. By making them pay steeply for under-occupation or non-occupation you would either force them to take in tenants (at new government-enforced controls) or to sell up.
I understand that this might not be fair on long-term existing owners in hitherto ordinary areas which have now become gentrified who had bought to occupy and would now be asked to suddenly stump up eye-watering council tax, but surely government and Civil Service are capable of drafting exemptions and tapers for these sort of people to soften the blow. Anyway, I believe that this idea needs to be looked at before we build a single new house on our precious green belt.
By the way, now that I live on my own (along with the budgie) I'm in a modest one-up/one-down little house in funky downtown Gravesend which is rated second-lowest council tax band for the area. I'm not under-occupying. Unlike the denizens of Christ's Hospital.
Council tax is set on the rices in the same time that those bands were set and is set for each area so within your council area a revaluation would make little difference, the bands would all have new values the houses would have new values and most would be in the same bands anyway but it would have cost loads to do.

Realistically if you want to reduce house prices you need to reduce demand and by that I mean the demand to purchase houses as investment vehicles - i strongly believe the current value of houses is strongly linked to availability of capital more than anything. Easiest thing to do would be to announce that as of Apr 2020 the tax regime for investment properties was changing so all income including capital gains (taking into account indexation) would be treated as personal income for income tax purposes and people could only own a max or 2 (or maybe 2) properties before they were counted as investment vehicles. That would kill people dabbling in buy ti let but give them 2 years to divest their properties so no massive quick crash - if you thought that too fast you could taper in the tax changes. The reduction in capital flowing into property as an investment would mean a reduction in demand along with divestment increasing supply which should combine to mean a reduction in prices
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Re: Politics

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He's done it again. Freaky gets another letter in this Monday's (27th) Financial Times, replying to one of their anti-Corbyn news stories.

"Predictably here comes the historical anti-Labour hysteria from business. How does a race to the bottom on corporation tax help anyone? Germany has a corporation tax of 30%, Ireland one of 12.5%, but which of those countries went pear-shaped during the so-called global financial crisis? Ireland's pitch to international companies has merely resulted,according to the OECD, in an unusually high proportion of profits and royalties being repatriated. With the Tories having increased our national debt to more than 80% of GDP for the past eight years, it follows that someone, somewhere, at some point has to pay increased taxes, keeping in mind the need to satisfy supply side and demand side. Perhaps some of the FT analysts could give us the benefit of their wisdom as to to what might be fair taxation."

The FT operates a paywall so my letter isn't visible online, but the online responses are and they indicate what a thoughtful and non-partisan readership the FT has. A variety of opinions but often well researched and fair-minded. Not the bunch of investment bankers and avaricious shareholders that one might have expected. Let's hope the FT editorial team give Corbs a fair hearing in the run-up to the next election. Assuming of course that the thin-skinned and paranoid Jewish lobby don't nail him first. And I say that as a Tottenham fan.
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Re: Politics

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rockfreak wrote: Tue Aug 28, 2018 8:34 pm Assuming of course that the thin-skinned and paranoid Jewish lobby don't nail him first. And I say that as a Tottenham fan.
Is this anti Semitic or just crass? It’s not likely that you know, as Labour policy on the topic seems a bit fuzzy...
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J.R.
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Re: Politics

Post by J.R. »

It's all getting very interesting, politics wise.

The Labour Party are now in a real tizz over the semitic issue. Hardly like a left wing policy. Could be terminal for Comrade Corbyn.

As for the Tories, it looks like the May Bott and Boris The Spider are on the verge of all out war.

The Lib Dems ? Well, I don't really think they have a clue these days.

Brexit is getting more and more interesting by the day.

TICK TICK TICK TICK..........
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rockfreak
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Re: Politics

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It's not anti-semitic to draw attention to the very vocal and powerful pro-Jewish and pro-Israel lobbies in this country - because they exist as a matter of fact. Indeed, an Old Blue, Labour MP Martin Linton, once got himself censured in the Commons for some observation he'd made about Israel. I've no doubt that the Tory friends of Israel grouping were kicking up a fuss. I'd be interested to know whether there exists a Tory Friends of the Palestinian Arabs in politics but somehow I doubt it.
Corbyn was absolutely spot on to allow comment on whether Israel is a racist endeavour. It is. It was forged in 1948 at Jewish terrorist gunpoint with 700,000 Palestinian Arabs forced from their homes and lands and into exile in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. These same terrorists blew up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem with great loss of life and were also plotting to try and assassinate our Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin. Since then Israel has expanded hugely across the Middle East in the face of UN resolutions and hand-wringing half-arsed pleas from Western nations.
When Louis Theroux did a TV documentary on the Israeli settler movement, one wild-eyed Zionist flung his arm to the horizon and said: "One day this will be all Jews, no-one but Jews".
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