´óÏó´«Ã½

On housing I have to say that I am fond of slating Labour who claim they had nout to do with helping cause the problems and saved the entire civilized world as they helped promote a coordinated QE approach - that Keynes may have helped them with.

Neither I nor most of the public really believe them.

It could well be that there is no pure ideological solution and that a mix of deft easing and cutting is the answer with acknowledgement to luck and circumstances.

But even though the coalition is addressing some of the finance issues on regulation and bank size - and possibly I would hope the creation of a BoE controlled SME Loan Bank there are still large gaps.

One is how you make sure you can see a future crisis coming.
Another is oversight and regulations that prevent Repo 105, fraud laws and preventing for instance the sovereign debt bypasses that were known about ... but not known.

For me as a lay person the other area is housing policy where you provide social housing for people on low incomes and appropriate housing for public sector workers. How also do you stop the market overheating and feeding the next unsustainable credit boom?

Surely there has to be a lot of joined up thinking here - though in fairness the coalition has only existed for weeks.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

On Iraq did the insurgency ever stop and surely the issue is whether they have any objectives that could not be achieved by the political process?

I can't see the country breaking up overnight and so with the US out of the front line I suppose the issue is is the violence, that nobody wants, part of the normalisation process of a very complex country reborn in war and seeking to define its new direction?

Its not acceptable or something we or they endorse but with factions like al Qaeda now woven into the fabric to an extent - though if that reflects the "attacks on fighters" that is another story - with the US taking a more back seat approach perhaps we will see a more objective approach.

I can't say I am expecting genuine stability for some time - though I would be very happy to be wrong.

Where are we with the House of Lords reform as even though I favour the coalition I was assuming we would see broad brush strokes on the process to deliver us the reforms we need?

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The Welfare State

I think the time has come to abolish it. We will have to follow the ways of the USA with minimal support or healthcare. We have become an immigrant country just like the USA, we allow anyone from any country into Britain. We cannot support the worlds poor and ill, it is just an impossibility.

So we must go the way of the yanks, every man for themselves. There are many impoverished americans as seen on NN the other night, is there anyone to help them, only charity and certainly not the state. And as for healthcare, what's the first question on arrival at a hospital, where's your money.

In fact the USA whilst it carries out the most health research does not treat it's ill people free. And we must follow in their steps, and abolish the welfare state. I can't see any other way around this problem, it's a giant one, but governments won't talk about it, mass immigration is killing Britain.

Big business is mainly owned by foreign companies so the profit leaves the country with no tax paid. The tax burden is too high for the ordinary man who must pay PAYE, they cannot afford to support the poor and ill anymore. We're all doomed, I tell you, doomed! ; )

On benefit fraud can NN explain why they can't match up NI numbers of claimants with those in work?

I am aware that some NI numbers can be used by third parties so that the owner is innocent but if there are three claims out for somebody who is in work that surely must be easy to spot.

I can't think of a post for kevseywevsey - who declared war on me for "always saying things about the BNP" - and he likes a mention so I will make do with a cheery "dakka dakka dakka".

I take him terribly, terribly seriously.

..BT operators contributed to the couple's death by passing on information about them to Gunn and his associates...


/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-10928328

if someone hands over information knowing it will mean murder that person should be charged with more than just passing confidential information?

the uk in the main has no witness protection programme. Perhaps now in the days of big society charity groups should set up 'escape lines' for witnesses?

#51

tb01

I wouldn't underestimate Jeremy Paxman's vast knowledge. Admittedly, he's probably not an expert in all the subjects that the questions on University Challenge deal with. Nevertheless, I'm quite positive that when it comes to a lot of other topics he could beat great brains currently in the 'business' under the table. I bet you he can quote whole passages from Shakespeare by heart, for example. He seems to have the ability to pay attention to detail and a very good memory.

Whether you like it or not he has become one of the British brightest and caring with it stars.

#10. addendum

One can't please everyone and my impression is that it's not one of his aims in life.

there was a guy on 5live this morning who was right on the button, I just wish someone at the beeb could get him on NN to say what is really going on but in a nutshell it was all bad,bad from an economic point of view, social pov and prospects pov, the guy had a lot of experiance in the housing mkt and knew the ropes and said we were all sold a pup by both governmnents, estate agents, solicitors.....all the usual suspects. Stephen Nolan just couldn't get a word in and just let him go on because what he had to say was pure gold from a prospective buyers point of view. If you have iplayer get on it...you can only learn something.....

#9

It sounds to me like a cry for help, 'witness', from the blue bucket?

GET OFF YOUR (HIGH) HORSE AND DRINK YOUR (FREE) MILK DAVE

Leave governance to those who have real-world experience, acumen and a total lack of megalomania.

A word in your ear Dave: IF THESE CREDIT AGENCIES CAN'T EVEN GET MY D.O.B. RIGHT, WHAT CHANCE OF THEM HOUNDING THE RIGHT PEOPLE? And when they have cocked up - how much misery will Joe Innocent have to endure WITH NO HELP FROM YOU to get them off his back? I am being told I must pay to correct THEIR error; in data held god-knows-where.

Oh - it's all going awfully well.

IT WILL PROBABLY IMPLODE ALL ON ITS OWN, LIKE THE NHS (#6)

Welfare admin needs nous. Nous is culture-based. Nuff sed.

@ tabblenabble01 #51 (From yesterday's page) - I do not worship anyone, I am merely a FAN of Jeremy's! At no point have I stated that Jeremy writes or knows the answers to all the questions to University Challenge, in fact, according to he states that " I would certainly be far too dim to qualify as a contestant."

CATCH 22 LIVES: TO GET A FREE CREDIT FILE YOU NEED . . . (#15)

Wait for it - wait for it - you need your DOB! Taraaaa. BUT IT IS MY DOB THAT THEY HAVE INCORRECTLY LOGGED IN THEIR FILES.

Sort that one Dave. Or maybe Nick'll fix it, he must have plenty of spare time - you don't seem to have left him any globe-prancing to do.

@ Ecolizzy #6 - the only way that would happen would be if ALL income tax was abolished as well as NI contributions and fuel tax/VAT etc......

Good link Brossen99.
I do like Russia Today, (You can get it on freeview) You get good guests on such as the one on your link - seen him many times but never on the ´óÏó´«Ã½. The brain dead masses still believe man is contributing to global warming, I can understand why Bill Gates is calling for a reduction to world population now...there are too many stupid people in the world. He can spin his call for this population reduction by saying that the amount of co2 produced by the worlds population is a major threat and that the need to reduce was paramount. I heard a speech recently by Gates where he mentions 'death panels'..he pulled away from that remark somewhat.he may have been talking about Barry Obama heathcare, i'll have to go back and listen to that speech again. I do enjoy the reports made by some billionaires giving away there fortunes for the betterment of mankind ect, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and others don't half dress these stories up.
Well look at what their money is going towards in Africa for example, "vaccine programmes" that will sterilize and demobilize many. The aid industry may be full of well meaning folk but up the peking order its full of life blood sucking corporate men, hands held by the banking cartels who push the globalists agenda. Not much different from the Global warmers really, though thankfully they've been found-out, Copenhagen was a disaster for them and Al Gore's gone back in his box. He's too busy fighting allegations of improper sexual conduct...allegedly.
The difference between Russia today and the Beeb is one does not mince words nor talks to their audience like a crazy left-wing annoying Auntie...........

That reminds me..Gango, thanks for the mention, I knew you wouldn't forget me buddy.

#17

It's probably jealouzy, Mistress76uk. And to think he might have believed in the past that every man should be jealous of him. And worse.

mim

Mistress@17

No way! I thought Paxman didn't bother with this sort of thing.
I liked one question that Jeremy was asked: "What do you think of Blair"
Jez answered "My opinion of Tony Blair is neither here nor there".

If Newsnight presenters are prepared to answer probing questions from viewers (and er fans)...Jesus! that means they might just read the stuff written on here. And to think of the garbage I write on here (feed line for you there gango). I'm gonna have to clean up my act. Gango, we might have to end our double act buddy. I wanna be taken seriously now, especially if the Warkster clicks on here.

22.

For what it's worth kevseywevsey, I take what you write far more seriously than anything said or written by Kirsty Wark. She is far too lost in the media bubble, and incorrigibly so I fear.

#20 Kevseywevsey

" The aid industry may be full of well meaning folk but up the pecking order its full of life blood sucking corporate men, hands held by the banking cartels who push the globalists agenda."

Perhaps the same principle applies to the vast majority of registered charities. Perhaps one major hurdle facing the regeneration of most recession hit town centres through new small retail businesses is the large number of Charity Shops. The problem is the charity shops inflating the market price for high street shop rents. As they don't have to pay business rates and are effectively subsidised by donations from the public they can offer whatever the " corporate " landlords ask. Charities with shops are in effect a welfare state for the high street property market and instead of going to the good causes they claim to support the bulk of your charity donations are going straight into the " corporate " landlords pockets. It would appear that the " corporate " landlords would sooner see a shop empty rather than renting it out at a lower rate than some existing tenants pay. As the result of charity shops there is no such thing as a true free market in retail property.

Anyone who thinks the Information Commissioner is on our side should read this.



The ICO is a waste of space and might as well be closed down for all the protection it offers to ordinary people.

INSTITUTIONAL COP OUT (#25)

Dead right Simon. Another Electoral Commission. (They don't 'do' lying flyers.)

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

No wonder the banks are not prepared to lend UK business any money, who can really blame them ?

Are we surprised that the government wants to involve credit reference agencies in tracking benefit fraud.

It's the Tory brigade in the hot seat again. Sorry LibDems.

Outwardly, they want to show how they're helping 'everday' people by cutting quangos (which many I agree do waste a lot of money), but it's a smoke screen.

Inwardly they are just the same ol' Tories, helping to featherbed their friends and own business interests.

Just watch how public money in the coming years isn't necessarily saved so much as diverted into the private sector, with the profits made from taxpayers' money benefitting guess who?

If you think the era of fatcats is over - think again.

THIS ONE'S A GEM

Brain scanning is coming on apace. They can now detect the AUTISTIC BRAIN with a high degree of accuracy. What next you ask?

Suppose the PAEDOPHILE BRAIN is unmistakable? That will spoil a few 'vilifier judges' day, will it not? And the SHOPLIFTER BRAIN? Might we have to give up our medieval practice of PUNITIVE JUSTICE when we realise how many human urges arise from brain configuration?

Take me: I have this ANTI-WESTMINSTER BRAIN. I simply have to lay into that self-serving pile of feudal Palace, and all its cipher-denizens. I have no choice in the matter. And I suspect EcoLizzy has an ENGLAND FOR THE ENGLISH brain, while the GANGOFONE BRAIN just keeps hearing the Horst Wessel. As for the JJ BRAIN, it is doomed to use certain key words and concepts; it cannot do otherwise.

Soon 'Crime and Punishment' will be a thing of the past. 'Compulsion and Lobotomy' will take its place. Hurrah! The downside will be that our past and present Prime Ministers will all prove to have DELUSIONAL BRAINS; none of that stupidity was their fault. Of course, we could CHOOSE with more care, but maybe voters all have GULLIBLE BRAINS and inexorably fall for political claptrap.

@1 thegangofone

There is no 'answer'. To illustrate the point here are some numbers. Public debt £4 trillion-



UK bank losses from crisis £1.8 - £7.4 trillion-



This against GDP of £1.5 trillion and total private wealth of £9 trillion. Now if we add bank losses and public debt we get £5.8 trillion to £11.4 trillion. The bottom line is all our collective assets, which would have to be sold at distressed prices to find a buyer, are not going to cover our liabilities, the usual answer would be to let the banks fail as we are supposed to live in a 'free market' but of course if that happens the other banks and the economy crashes because they and we are counter parties to the failed banks. Labour thought that they could fill the hole with newly printed money to throw at the problem, of course that just destroys the value of the currency and doesn't solve the problem, they also tried stealing other nations wealth as with Iraq and Afghanistan, but that hasn't worked either, the banks have covered up their losses with accounting tricks, which, if you or I were to do them would land us in jail for accounting fraud, and that hasn't worked.

So there is no answer.

History tells us, from the fall of Rome onwards that such a state of affairs leads to the ultimate destruction of the nation in which they exist. I hope you have somewhere comfortable to hide when reality finally bites.

my 31 sorry correction, the second link should be

HHhhhhhmmm.....

PERHAPS THE MUSLIMS ARE OVER-COMPENSATING? (#33)

We Christians should cut them some slack. We have the only true religion - founded by the Son of God (whom we eat regularly). He was half (or perhaps all) divine, and born of union with a miraculously conceived mother, and the spirit of the unknowable true God.

Coming second in the religion stakes to such a convincing 'win' must be truly galling. Let them have a clock - it's the least we can do. Faith, Hope and Charity etc.

#34 It will be very strange though Barrie, which hour will NN be on?

If the old, (I think someone hasn't told them they can't retire 'til they're 66)



and the young



are not working. Is there in fact any Brits left working? If not who is working here?

bounty hunting is an excellent idea. the british empire was based on the 'prize' system. the bbc employs bounty hunters for the licence fee.

tax money is for the poor and needy not the criminal and greedy.

people who take tax money should expect to be investigated.

1.5 billion isn't even half a licence fee.

Iraq

an incompetent, greedy govt unable to make rational decisions? Welcome to the west. Blair has succeeded.

Tax to change climate.

how stupid. sending money to china who build a new coal power station every week. based on these kind of ideas i think the west is doomed to history just through natural selection that weeds out the stupid and delusional.

#36

Aren't Paxo, Gavin, Emily & Kirsty British? I've also encountered and chatted to quite a few British born and bred British builders. One of them said that music is the soul of life.

THE 'BLASPHEMY HOUR' OF COURSE! (#35)

Did you see Naga doing her bit-to-camera, wandering in a shop? Here and there, it cut (edgily) to 'simulated camcorder' - complete with poor colour, pulsating red blob and the word 'recording'. In terms of serious reporting - blasphemy.

Perhaps the red blob was full of meaning?

ALL BRITISH INDEED MIM (#38)

Not all have a full mastery of spoken English though . . .

Heard this reported on Radio 4 this morning....

Plus ca change...

#6; utter piffle; the situation in US re healthcare is shameful; every man for himself indeed; I prefer the view of Nye Bevan who stated that no country could call itself civilised when people died because they could not pay for medical treatment.

This does not mean that the founding principles of the Welfare State are still alive and thriving; the sense of "entitlement" that pervades UK society at all levels of social class is the greatest challenge to the development of a balanced economy.Thatcher and Blair have much to answer for.

#7; GOOD POINT; also using tax codes to allocate means tested benefits would save a fortune but would put agencies like Experian out of work.

#34; the attempt at humour misses the point that religions are so similar, united in belief in something "bigger" than ourselves and that all of us should treat each other in a reasonable, civilized way. It is power seekers who have used religion to divide, cause wars and hatred; nothing is more hateful than negating; Mephistopheles in Goethe's "Faust"; Ich bin der Geist der stets verneint.

The welfare state has been deformed and warped by New Labour; it was easier to bloat the public sector with taxpayers' money than attempt to build a balanced economy; it was venal to bloat benefits in an attempt to ensure a core vote while instigating a minimum wage that kept fat cats purring.

Give an equitable weight to the pursuit of benefit cheats; those who take advantage of tax dodges are as worthy of the pillory as the window cleaner on incapacity benefit.

The Independent had a good piece today on the ease at which so called captains of industry - in reality, a collection of ambitious sociopaths, dodgy grocers and thirty bob tailors - achieved those hard won bonuses they are so keen on protecting and increasing. Instead of looking on this crew as people we should listen to as some sort of objective observers, let's keep making them defend their silly levels of remuneration for doing virtually diddly squat.

What does a CEO do all day?

"PROMISE TO TRY TO TACKLE THE PROBLEM" (#41 link)

Damian Green is 'going to try'. Another Westminster ninny. When I ran a business, trying was not enough. Indeed - trying costs as much as succeeding - BUT WITHOUT ANY WORTHWHILE OUTCOME.

Trying is for children, but then - politicians are juvenile.

#42 Ha,ha, you don't get irony do you KB?!

#40

I don't mind different accents, singie, and I've never had a problem with understanding their verbal utterances. I have a problem though with the intentions of some of the NN presenters.

FEEDING THE FIVE THOUSAND - HEALING THE 70 MILLION (#42)

I forget how many baskets of scraps JC had over, but they would not have fed many more. I doubt Jesus ever spoke from a hill again. Once the word got out, there would have been an influx of Midianites, Gidionites, Medes, Persians and even the odd Angle, all drawn inexorably to a freebie.

Seems to me Nye Bevan was a bit short on pragmatism. Being civilised does not work miracles. Of course, Jesus never had to contend with fast, cheap travel . . .

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

no.47

"There is no science that they can rely to show there are SIGNIFICANT differences between the races and of course culture is off the mind and environment and is not genetic.

There is no statistic offered for the vague and general poison dropped onto the page just a vague implication."

You appear to assert that some things are not the case simply because you do not go and look for the evidence.

Perhaps you should preface your assertions with the qualifier:

'I have not looked for evidence that [insert your assertion here] and so as far as I am concerned, there is no evidence that [insert your assertion here]'.

This appears to be all that you are doing, and repeatedly too - day after day, week after week etc.

Perhaps you should ask why you're so fond of telling people what you don't know, and why you ignore people when they kindly try to help/educate you? As to poison....I suggest you examine your own posts as you appear to confuse your own posts with the contributions of others.

First paragraph



Obviously must be something to do with training or diet as it can't be genetic differences.

(Is that irony Lizzy)