User Tag List

Page 82 of 102 FirstFirst ... 3272808182838492 ... LastLast
Results 4,051 to 4,100 of 5068

Thread: The UK Politics Thread [Wot did Jez do now...]

  1. #4051
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    24,410
    Mentioned
    193 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Yeah, ok. I'm angry now.

    The taxman can't even get the BIK for my company car right, so fuck only knows what carnage they're going to bestow on me with access to my internet history.

  2. #4052
    Senior Member Boydy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    13,290
    Mentioned
    83 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    There we go. Let's funnel that Yevrage into a Yevolution.

  3. #4053
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Lewis View Post
    'Since 2008' seems like a pretty bollocks economic benchmark given that that marks the point where a decade of non-existent wealth vanished.
    Indeed. Wage increases, asset price increases etc. were founded on assumptions built on air. It's hardly surprising that there has been a consequent stagnation whilst the market ceases shitting itself and some sense of order is restored.

    Quote Originally Posted by Henry View Post
    You get private sector growth from sound macroeconomics. You're not interested in that.

    It does indeed work in terms of shovelling money into the pockets of business, which is all you care about, as you concede.

    I believe that long-term deficits must be lower than long-term growth. What is the problem with that proposition?
    You get private sector growth by removing barriers to entry, and encouraging investment. You achieve this by reducing regulation, thus making it easier for smaller businesses, particularly micro-businesses which comprised 96% of all businesses in the UK in 2014. You also achieve this by reducing corporation tax to allow said businesses to keep more of their profits for reinvestment, growth therefrom, and thus further job creation.

    Most businesses struggle to get off the ground, and making it difficult for them is a waste of everybody's time. With respect to larger business, this is a global market and the UK must compete - both for direct FDI and to retain business within their own jurisdiction. See Ireland - the leading recipient of FDI in Europe, with the majority of businesses investing therein citing the taxation regime (whether the headline CT rate or R&D reliefs) as key reasons. Ireland obviously benefits from other factors (e.g. good transport links through Dublin Airport / the port of Dublin, English speaking, strong talent pool of labour) which means you couldn't replicate the effect in, say, Lithuania - but the UK has this also, and should definitely be competing on tax levels post-Brexit through further cuts to CT.

    If you want to think that prohibitive taxation levels, increased cost exposure through top-down national minimums (e.g. ever-increasing minimum wages, increasing maternity pay), excessive regulation, and increased barriers to entry - alongside continued government interference to 'correct' the direction of the economy and thus stifle innovation and economic flexibility - are a recipe for economic success, and will result in thirty million people sitting in air-conditioned offices with a latte on the desk beside them then fine.

  4. #4054
    Senior Member niko_cee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    21,656
    Mentioned
    47 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The Right to Remain!



    Someone should really ask (challenge) the likes of Farron as to what type of deal he would be happy to sign off on.

  5. #4055
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    It's a shambles, but there's a clear direction of travel on this within government circles irrespective of which party is in office.

  6. #4056
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by niko_cee View Post
    The Right to Remain!



    Someone should really ask (challenge) the likes of Farron as to what type of deal he would be happy to sign off on.
    He'll sign off nothing - his entire pitch is that the Lib Dems are the party for the 48%, and that entails refusing to agree to anything Brexit-related. Ideally it'll bring annihilation at the next election, insofar as that's possible when you only have a minivan's worth of MPs.

  7. #4057
    Senior Member niko_cee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    21,656
    Mentioned
    47 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Well, yes, that was my point. The actual position of most 'parliament must have a say' remain folk is that anything short of full EU membership is unacceptable, and would be voted down. Which is fine, but they should be made to acknowledge the fundamental juxtaposition that an elected official holding such a view represents.

  8. #4058
    Senior Member Boydy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    13,290
    Mentioned
    83 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by GS View Post
    It's a shambles, but there's a clear direction of travel on this within government circles irrespective of which party is in office.
    Is there anything you won't give the Tories a pass on?

  9. #4059
    Won the Old Board Lewis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    27,991
    Mentioned
    138 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The Anglo-Irish Agreement.

  10. #4060
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Boydy View Post
    Is there anything you won't give the Tories a pass on?
    I'm far from giving them a pass on it. The Lord Blair wanted to lock people up for 90 days without trial. I assume they sit down to their first MI5 briefing and suddenly shit themselves that they'll be held responsible if something goes wrong and they'll be accused of "not doing anything to stop it!".

    There can be no other explanation for such collective bed-shitting / groupthink.

  11. #4061
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Lewis View Post
    The Anglo-Irish Agreement.


    We've won, though. The Union is safe.

  12. #4062
    Won the Old Board Lewis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    27,991
    Mentioned
    138 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Speaking of which, I lolled at Tony Blair saying he couldn't come back because the media would be out to get him. Yeah, mate. Yeah.

  13. #4063
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    It's quite interesting watching him agitate from the sidelines about possible ways to block it. It's almost as if he doesn't have the self-awareness to realise his own role in the circumstances leading to a leave vote.

  14. #4064
    Custom User Title phonics's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    19,467
    Mentioned
    121 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)


    Seems legit.

  15. #4065
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    38,341
    Mentioned
    91 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The Litvinenko case is murky as fuck. If it was any other country we'd have sent their ambassador home and all sorts.

  16. #4066
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    8,751
    Mentioned
    39 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Interesting decision to visit Russia after previously working on a case to take down one of their spies.

  17. #4067
    Senior Member Disco's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    12,452
    Mentioned
    46 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    "Accidentally brutally cut his head off while combing his hair."

  18. #4068
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    38,341
    Mentioned
    91 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The picture two thirds of the way down this made me think - Trump, 'Milo', Wilders. Why do they all have fucking weird bottle blonde hair?

    Boris's isn't weird or artificial enough to qualify.

  19. #4069
    Better Than You Henry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Ireland
    Posts
    1,999
    Mentioned
    18 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Listening to some shit yesterday - apparently the banning of letting agent fees is a great thing. So that's something and Hammond > Gideon.

  20. #4070
    Senior Member Boydy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    13,290
    Mentioned
    83 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Yeah, that is good.

    It's a drop in the ocean in terms of the UK's fucked housing market though.

  21. #4071
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    38,341
    Mentioned
    91 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I was looking at flats etc yesterday as at my age I should be moving out of home. Unless I want to move to Middlesbrough where there are no jobs, I'm looking at £500pm to live in a shoebox, £750+ if I want dignity. I'd therefore need to add about 25% to my salary overnight. I pay my mother £350 to stay at home.

    I'm under the national average wage, but not by a lot. Something must be fundamentally broken. Brexit should help this actually.

  22. #4072
    Senior Member Disco's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    12,452
    Mentioned
    46 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    You also live in a ludicrously expensive area of the country when it comes to that sort of thing.

  23. #4073
    Better Than You Henry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Ireland
    Posts
    1,999
    Mentioned
    18 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The "average" salary is apparently £27,000 but I imagine that's distorted by those at the upper end, so the median would be a bit lower.

  24. #4074
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    38,341
    Mentioned
    91 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Disco View Post
    You also live in a ludicrously expensive area of the country when it comes to that sort of thing.
    Expensive but also jobs-rich and with high wages, so moving would not really be beneficial even before you start thinking about being near family/friends etc.

  25. #4075
    I used to be funny.
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    23,174
    Mentioned
    46 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The North-East average is £18,000. I'm under that. You could see how many Koreans would fit in that shoebox.

    Also, John Major is getting some unwarranted criticism for his brexit talk.

  26. #4076
    Administrator Kikó's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Laaaaaandan
    Posts
    12,943
    Mentioned
    19 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I'm over the average wage and am nowhere near saving for it unless I move somewhere in the Midlands.

  27. #4077
    I used to be funny.
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    23,174
    Mentioned
    46 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    One of the benefits of being raised by skint, tight parents is that, once I got in work, I kept saving and never spent much. Been working for six years and have £30k together.

  28. #4078
    Custom User Title phonics's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    19,467
    Mentioned
    121 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    This description of the upper echleons on 9/11 is wonderfully British.


  29. #4079
    Senior Member Sam's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    670
    Mentioned
    3 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Kikó View Post
    I'm over the average wage and am nowhere near saving for it unless I move somewhere in the Midlands.
    I'm plowing my years into milking London before going back to Wolverhampton and scooping a mansion up. The price disparity is astounding
    Test.

  30. #4080
    Custom User Title phonics's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    19,467
    Mentioned
    121 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Zac Goldsmith betting that he could get away with pretending he wasn't a Conservative anymore only to lose to a Lib Dem. Lol.

  31. #4081
    Won the Old Board Lewis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    27,991
    Mentioned
    138 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I love by-election victory speeches. The pressure is really on to make the most of your thirty seconds of relevance.

    'The poshest people in the wankiest part of the country have sent a message...'

    Oh shit mate better slam the brakes on. Please forgive us Belgium.

  32. #4082
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    38,341
    Mentioned
    91 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I'd forgotten how awful Lib Dems are when they win. Let this not become a regular occurrence. I'd be spinning it as a very poor result for them, mind, they should be absolutely pissing Richmond in a by election.

  33. #4083
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Renzi has been hammered in the constitutional referendum in Italy, almost certainly meaning he'll have to resign.

    Well played, mate.

  34. #4084
    Better Than You Henry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Ireland
    Posts
    1,999
    Mentioned
    18 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Doesn't that trigger some sort of chain of events that might lead Italy to leave the Euro or something?

  35. #4085
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    If he resigns and there are new elections, the Five Star movement might win. They've been useless when they've won power (see Raggi in Rome), but it's not like that matters.

    The Five Star movement want to have a referendum on leaving the single currency. Which the Italians should be doing because a) they've had 0% growth in their economy since 2000 (there's 40% youth unemployment and you might as well sink everything south of Rome into the Mediterranean) and the single currency means they can't devalue to make exports competitive and b) their banks are sitting with €286bn of bad loans which they're, technically, not allowed to have the government bail out. If the banks collapse, it could lead to a run in the Eurozone.

    That said, it's great for us because in the event that there are problems in the Eurozone they'll get nowhere by making things difficult for us (i.e. themselves).

  36. #4086
    Won the Old Board Lewis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    27,991
    Mentioned
    138 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    If the European Union collapses before we leave then we should keep it going on our own like Roger Waters. Then we can invite who we like on our terms.

  37. #4087
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Lewis View Post
    If the European Union collapses before we leave then we should keep it going on our own like Roger Waters. Then we can invite who we like on our terms.
    The EU will only collapse if Le Pen wins in France. If she wins, there'd be a referendum on "Frexit" and a decent chance that it would win. The Germans are morbidly attached to it, because it allows them to dominate Europe without having to send the Wehrmacht in. We need the French to bring it down.

    The Italians may be the third biggest Eurozone economy, but they're basically a non-country at this point. Sixty-three odd governments since WWII.

  38. #4088
    Won the Old Board Lewis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    27,991
    Mentioned
    138 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    'We need the French to...' Oh well. Never mind.

  39. #4089
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Lewis View Post
    'We need the French to...' Oh well. Never mind.
    WWI broke them. It's unfortunate, but c'est la vie.



    The absolute state of that. Renzi is resigning.

  40. #4090
    More successful than most Magic's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Scotchland
    Posts
    19,857
    Mentioned
    84 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Euro just dropped in value. €1.20 to the pound now. I'm sure this shit coincides with my holidays. Bastards.

  41. #4091
    Won the Old Board Lewis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    27,991
    Mentioned
    138 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    It's quite impressive how Italy burbles along without actually falling to bits.

  42. #4092
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    In principle, Renzi's reforms were sensible enough - certainly a step in the right direction. Italy isn't far off ungovernable. You only have to look at the state of its economy, the laughable divide between north and south and the number of governments it's had since we rolled the Germans back.

    His mistake was making it personal; that is, almost a vote of 'confidence' in him. He's fucked it up himself, because he invited this. The margin of the defeat is so vast as to be almost impossible to come back from.

    At this stage, you'd be better going back to 1495 - reconstitute the papal states and hand the newly-reformed Kingdom of Naples (and surrounding territories) to the Spanish.

  43. #4093
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    38,341
    Mentioned
    91 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    It's one of those countries (like Spain, and Portugal) where some of it is a third world cesspit and some of it is alright, and ne'er the twain shall meet. Our shit bits at least have some sort of history of doing something.

  44. #4094
    Romulus Augustulus ItalAussie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    3,279
    Mentioned
    20 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Why do you lot care about the EU collapsing anymore? You're well out of it now.

    Seems like base spite, and nothing better.

  45. #4095
    Won the Old Board Lewis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    27,991
    Mentioned
    138 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Imagine if the 2022 World Cup ends up being the biggest sporting disaster of all time. We'll all be lolling, and the idiots in charge of it will be seething.

    It's like that, but funnier.

  46. #4096
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by ItalAussie View Post
    Why do you lot care about the EU collapsing anymore? You're well out of it now.

    Seems like base spite, and nothing better.
    Because it's an anti-democratic mess that is more interested in maintaining 'the rules' and amassing further power to itself. Its policies will continue to leave millions floundering, and smaller countries will be perpetually shafted by a single currency (and German domination thereof) which makes them internationally uncompetitive. They're basically German satellite states. Which is fine, but probably not conducive to continued long-term support for THE PROJECT.

    I also have strong concerns about the role of any common EU 'defence' policy and its overlap with NATO. It doesn't need one, basically, but it's determined to have one so it can have all the trappings of a federalist system which nobody in Europe has, in fact, ever voted for (yet, anyway).

    You need only look at the reaction of Brexit to see the bubble these people live in.

  47. #4097
    Custom User Title phonics's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    19,467
    Mentioned
    121 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    if theresa may is to be believed, someone’s about to get fired.
    the embattled uk prime minister is keen to eliminate leaks from within her government, and willing to take serious measures to do so, according to a nov. 28 memo from cabinet secretary sir jeremy heywood to senior officials.

    “leaking is corrosive and undermines trust and good government,” heywood wrote. “leaks are never acceptable but the regularity and cumulative impact of recent incidents mean we must now collectively take exceptional action. The prime minister has directed that we urgently tighten security processes and improve our response to leaks.”

    by dec. 1, the memo—distributed in hard copy instead of by email—had been leaked to the daily mail.

    in the memo, heywood said leaders who think leaks “are the necessary cost of open ways…are mistaken,” and that “anyone found to have leaked sensitive information will be dismissed, even when there is no compromise of national security.” he noted that may would be informing ministers of the same.

    the note outlined other crackdown measures, including requiring all ministers and officials to use government-supplied mobile phones and empowering security chiefs to seize the phones and email records of suspected leakers.

    may’s edict comes as she continues to negotiate britain’s complicated exit from the european union. One recent directive to ministers, also leaked to the mail, said that jokes perpetuating foreign secretary boris johnson’s “cabinet clown” reputation were making it impossible for him to do his job. As a solution, the memo instructed ministers to no longer refer to him as “boris.”



  48. #4098
    Won the Old Board Lewis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    27,991
    Mentioned
    138 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by GS View Post
    Because it's an anti-democratic mess that is more interested in maintaining 'the rules' and amassing further power to itself. Its policies will continue to leave millions floundering, and smaller countries will be perpetually shafted by a single currency (and German domination thereof) which makes them internationally uncompetitive. They're basically German satellite states. Which is fine, but probably not conducive to continued long-term support for THE PROJECT.

    I also have strong concerns about the role of any common EU 'defence' policy and its overlap with NATO. It doesn't need one, basically, but it's determined to have one so it can have all the trappings of a federalist system which nobody in Europe has, in fact, ever voted for (yet, anyway).

    You need only look at the reaction of Brexit to see the bubble these people live in.
    Or: Nick Clegg will be annoyed so lol.

  49. #4099
    Senior Member GS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,307
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Lewis View Post
    Or: Nick Clegg will be annoyed so lol.
    That too. He was properly seething on Sunday Politics earlier when Brillo was pulling him apart.

  50. #4100
    Senior Member Vim's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Denmark
    Posts
    902
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by GS View Post
    In principle, Renzi's reforms were sensible enough - certainly a step in the right direction. Italy isn't far off ungovernable. You only have to look at the state of its economy, the laughable divide between north and south and the number of governments it's had since we rolled the Germans back.

    His mistake was making it personal; that is, almost a vote of 'confidence' in him. He's fucked it up himself, because he invited this. The margin of the defeat is so vast as to be almost impossible to come back from.

    At this stage, you'd be better going back to 1495 - reconstitute the papal states and hand the newly-reformed Kingdom of Naples (and surrounding territories) to the Spanish.
    He shouldn't have said that he'd resign if NO won. He gave everyone who didn't like him the chance to vote to kick him out regardless of what the referendum was about.

    I voted YES but I was not too convinced by it, either. I don't really mind either side winning, now we'll see when the elections happen. Technical government (is that what it's called in English?) until then, possibly the elections will be after the financial law in September.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •