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Can you edit moderated comments?
Yesterday's council by-election results
By Jonathan Isaby Croxteth ward, Liverpool - Seat last elected in 2008 Lab 61% (+9) LD - 23% (-13) BNP - 5% (+2) Socialist Labour - 4% (+4) Green - 3% (+1) UKIP - 1% (+1) English Democrats - 1% (+1) Con - 1% (-2) Lab hold Croxteth ward, Liverpool - Seat last elected in 2007 Lab 61% (+16) LD - ...
Good day for an anti-cuts demo, IMHO :D
David Cameron signals that there will be a Bank Holiday to mark the Royal Wedding
By Jonathan Isaby Paul Goodman noted on Tuesday that next year's Royal Wedding would be something for everyone to cheer about. And appearing before the Liaison Committee of House of Commons select committee chairmen just now, David Cameron has announced that whilst the date of the wedding is ...
Can't blame me for this one, folks. I've barely posted in months- too busy!
All comments are now moderated
Tim Montgomerie As of a few minutes ago all comments left on ConservativeHome will only be published after one of the editors has approved them. The quality of threads has deteriorated badly in recent months with some individuals persistently raising pet topics, regardless of the subject. Others...
Oh dear. I find myself agreeing with the Tories on this one.
I would suggest each town/borough should be restricted to one or at the very most two twinning agreements.
Harrow Council plans twinning with danger hotspots
Harrow Council Labour’s administration has been slammed by the opposition Conservatives after it voted to investigate twinning the borough with an assortment of danger hotspots and destinations of personal choice, while cutting frontline services. At a Council meeting on 4th November, Labour ...
OK quick question- I'm genuinely interested and not trying to sh*t stir....
Is there a minority in your party which is against the monarchy?
Surely for those who strongly believe in pure capitalism, libertarianism, meritocracy and other words I can't spell, the monarchy is as abhorant as it is to full on Socialists?
What celebrations is your council planning for the Diamond Jubilee 2012?
I went to a London Councils meeting yesterday where the agenda included a report on planned celebrations for the 2012 Diamond Jubilee. It included a list of what happened in London boroughs for the Golden Jubilee in 2002. (Greenwich seems to have held the most street parties with 47.) Wandsworth...
Hopefully none.
What would I be celebrating? The anniversary of one rich person succeeding another rich person?
Yes, I look at W Bush and the circumstances around his dodgy election or (even more extreme) what Hitler was able to do with no checks on power and sometimes think the monarchy may be the least worst option.
But that is a hell of a long way from expecting me to celebrate it.
What celebrations is your council planning for the Diamond Jubilee 2012?
I went to a London Councils meeting yesterday where the agenda included a report on planned celebrations for the 2012 Diamond Jubilee. It included a list of what happened in London boroughs for the Golden Jubilee in 2002. (Greenwich seems to have held the most street parties with 47.) Wandsworth...
Interesting typo. In London, a family could easily pay this much in rent.
David Cameron say's it's not fair that people should fund the housing benefit of others living in houses they couldn't dream of affording themselves
Hi, Robert
If Tim wants to delete this he will, and I won't repost. But I stand by it. This is a blatant attack on the poorest in society, masked as ever by claiming to be on the side of the almost-poor.
Get poor people to blame other poor people for their problems ....it's the oldest trick in the book, and it's being tried again here.
On the evidence of this, Cameron is every bit as bad as Thatcher, hence my remark about hell.
David Cameron say's it's not fair that people should fund the housing benefit of others living in houses they couldn't dream of affording themselves
A bit like this policy, then!
David Cameron say's it's not fair that people should fund the housing benefit of others living in houses they couldn't dream of affording themselves
You are a cnut, Cameron. May you rot in hell.
David Cameron say's it's not fair that people should fund the housing benefit of others living in houses they couldn't dream of affording themselves
but surely you don't believe, as a matter of principle, that employees ought to have the option of vetoing decisions by their managers purely on the basis that they disagree with them. No professional organisation could function under those circumstances
Several do. Google 'workers cooperative'.
Whether this method could be applied to the fire service is more debatable.
The truth about the London fire strike
Fire strikes have been called in London as LFEPA is in dispute with the FBU over proposed shift changes. These proposals involve no loss of pay, benefits, jobs or fire stations. The proposals were voted for unanimously on a cross party basis at LFEPA. The current shift pattern is two d...
North-South position is also a factor....
The further north you are, the greater the contrast between winter and summer times. At the extreme, the north pole has 24 hr darkness in winter and 24hr daylight in summer. As Scotland is further north than England, it has shorter days in winter and longer days than England in Summer.
Now moving time forward one hour in winter would make the winter mornings darker for all of us, but the effect will be especially strong in Scotland, where the winter days are so very short.
Tory MP suggests Scotland should be in a separate time zone
By Jonathan Isaby At Business Questions yesterday, East Yorkshire MP Greg Knight put the following point: "Why do we still have to go through the ridiculous ritual of putting our clocks back every autumn, thereby plunging the nation into darkness by mid-afternoon? Will the Leader of the House ...
Well you are OK on the TV- until it packs up of course!
Presumably you put petrol in your car? That will go up 2.5%, but at least fuel duty is 'only' going up in line with inflation. Any maintaince will also go up.
Parking is also subject to VAT, if you pay for that, and insurance premium tax is going up 1%.
You will certainly pay VAT on your mobile phone top-ups or bill, so that will go up too.
Not sure if you will get more tax credits- that could help cushion the blow if you qualify.
Main announcements of Emergency budget (live blog)
Highlights, not verbatim, from George Osborne's statement: FINAL WORDS: This is a budget where the rich pay the most and the poor are most protected. Final announcement is £2bn extra tax credit for low income families with children. Clegg nods vigorously. State pension will be linked to averag...
Yes, axing the BBC would result in private companies at least partially filling the gap. The question is, would the private broadcasting be of better quality than the BBC?
I fear not.
Let local papers start radio and TV stations
Interesting speech by Cultrue Secretary Jeremy Hunt the other day on how a flourishing local media could be encouraged. He said: As many people here will know, I have long believed that the lack of high quality local TV is one of the biggest gaps in British broadcasting. Why? Because, ironicall...
Yes, the poor *have* been protected from the tax rises, but the spending cuts will hit many poor families.
******
(unrelated and at the risk of incuring the wrath of Tim for off topic chit-chat)
Hope you are well, by the way. I've been cutting down the amount of time I spend on blogs and Facebook etc of late, because it was getting a little out of hand.
Main announcements of Emergency budget (live blog)
Highlights, not verbatim, from George Osborne's statement: FINAL WORDS: This is a budget where the rich pay the most and the poor are most protected. Final announcement is £2bn extra tax credit for low income families with children. Clegg nods vigorously. State pension will be linked to averag...
"I remember writing in response to an Ofcom consultation... that whereas Memphis, Tennessee (population 603,507) had 36 radio stations the West Midlands (2.3 million) only had only 19."
This is actually something I know quite a bit about. There are two main reasons why we have fewer stations than the USA.
For a start, we have near universal provisions of at least ten services. Just about everyone gets the 8 national stations plus a BBC local and at least one commercial local. The USA doesn't have this. In some areas of America, the FM band is nearly dead.
Coupled to this, our population density is greater, and our cities are closer together. If we give the West Midlands another radio station, that frequency cannot be re-used in Stoke, or Derby, or Northampton etc etc. In contrast the USA often has hundreds of miles between stations.
By the way, the USA isn't neccesarily a good model to follow. There is very little quality speech radio,beyond phoneins there is no drama, no documentaries, very little in depth analysis of the news. Stations 'flip' formats at a moments notice. So your favourite 'smooth jazz' station might close down on Friday night and start broadcasting Heavy Metal on Monday morning.
For anyone interested, can I recommend an article by Paul Groves (*not* myself!) here, which explains why we have fewer FM stations than other nations...
http://frequencyfinder.org.uk/other_fm.html
Let local papers start radio and TV stations
Interesting speech by Cultrue Secretary Jeremy Hunt the other day on how a flourishing local media could be encouraged. He said: As many people here will know, I have long believed that the lack of high quality local TV is one of the biggest gaps in British broadcasting. Why? Because, ironicall...
"Final announcement is £2bn extra tax credit for low income families with children. Clegg nods vigorously.
Well that might help those hit by the child benefit freeze.
I've tried to give this a fair hearing. In terms of tax rises he has protected the poor, I will concede that.
However, 25% across the board cuts are bad. Really, really bad. I await details, but it's going to be painful, and the vunerable will suffer.
Main announcements of Emergency budget (live blog)
Highlights, not verbatim, from George Osborne's statement: FINAL WORDS: This is a budget where the rich pay the most and the poor are most protected. Final announcement is £2bn extra tax credit for low income families with children. Clegg nods vigorously. State pension will be linked to averag...
28% is proberbly the right compromise. That may surprise you coming from a leftie like me, but I'm also worried about a decline in the amount of rental property on the market.
Currently things are fairly good for tennants, in terms of choice and low-ish rents.
Main announcements of Emergency budget (live blog)
Highlights, not verbatim, from George Osborne's statement: FINAL WORDS: This is a budget where the rich pay the most and the poor are most protected. Final announcement is £2bn extra tax credit for low income families with children. Clegg nods vigorously. State pension will be linked to averag...
Glad petrol isn't going up any extra. I'm being a bit selfish with this one to be honest, although I mainly use my car to visit my family or help friends out.
Main announcements of Emergency budget (live blog)
Highlights, not verbatim, from George Osborne's statement: FINAL WORDS: This is a budget where the rich pay the most and the poor are most protected. Final announcement is £2bn extra tax credit for low income families with children. Clegg nods vigorously. State pension will be linked to averag...
"I also do not buy the argument at all that our troops should not have gone to the Bogside. They were British troops in Britain. They could go wherever they damned well pleased."
Perhaps we should have troops in Coggeshall?
Thought not!!
David Cameron tells the Commons he is deeply sorry for what happened on Bloody Sunday
Highlights, not verbatim: We have acted in good faith by publishing the findings of the Saville Inquiry as soon as possible after the election. The conclusions are clear, there are no ambiguities - what happened on Bloody Sunday was unjustified, and wrong. The soldiers who went into the Bogsi...
This won't be a popular comment, but the simple fact is that if we introduced euthanasia, we wouldn't need so many carers (or indeed so much NHS spending)
I'm going to get pilloried for this I know. The truth hurts.
Laura Sandys urges the Government to support carers in her maiden speech
Last night Laura Sandys, who won the Kent seat of Thanet South at the general election delivered her maiden speech in the Commons. At the start of Carers’ Week, she took the opportunity to highlight the importance of government supporting those who selflessly care for relatives: “Young, old,...
I wonder what age Nick Silver intends to retire at!?
IEA report says true level of national debt is six times greater than commonly understood
Nick Silver has produced a report for the Institute of Economic Affairs entitled A Bankruptcy Foretold 2010: Post-Financial-Crisis Update. Silver argues that policymakers should include pension liabilities and "and a reasonable estimate of the likely liabilities to be incurred by the governme...
Labour look well placed to take advantage of any disatisfaction with the coalition.
Of course it's very, very early days yet.
Harris poll suggests voters are divided on whether the Coalition will last
A new Harris poll for this morning's Metro asked voters whether they think the Coalition will last. 52% says they think it unlikely to last the proposed full five-year term. On the question of satisfaction with the alliance, 40% says they are satsified and only 23 per cent are dissatisfied. As f...
Perhaps we should concentrate on fighting poverty instead of making stuff cheap for the poor?
Just a thought.
"In very poor communities it is not a choice between Asda and an organic greengrocer, it is a choice between the fast-food outlet and tinned meals from the corner shop."
By Max Wind-Cowie, Head of the Progressive Conservatism Project at Demos. In Wednesday’s Times, ConservativeHome’s Tim Montgomerie described himself as a ‘Tesco Tory’. His pride in a great British company is to be applauded. But that pride is, unfortunately, increasingly unfashionable and has ...
Let us be grateful BP isn't still owned by the government......
Cameron under attack for 'failing to stand up for Britain' over BP
The Daily Mail has never taken to David Cameron and the newspaper has seized the BP crisis as an opportunity to kick him today. The Telegraph and Express also lead on the affair. The Mail's front page urges Cameron to stand up for Britain, and accuses him of 'ducking' the chance to speak up ...
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