The Politics Thread

[thebish]

yesterday the radio was droning on about tax avoidance and google and starbucks and amazon etc... and an expert popped up to say that the sheer size of these global corporations (and others much bigger) meant that they could hold individual countries to ransom over tax issues - and play one off against another..

hmmmm... I thought - possibly a good reason to be in the EU where if a little thought were given to the matter some kind of pact could be struck over tax strategies (devilishly complex I imagine - but surely doable in some way?) to stop global corporations playing one EU country off against another...

well - blow me down if Dave Cameron isn't trumpeting a Europe-wide agreement on tackling tax avoidance as a "turning point" today... this is surely the kind of stuff that makes sense of the EU....

disgraceful behaviour. thebish turns into Tory thinktank shock!

i suspect that Cameron will realise tomorrow that he just said summat pro-european and will have to counter it with a dose of anti-immigration or a froth of workshy dole-slackers to appease his faragephile backbenchers...

[thebish]

meanwhile - back to the economy..

The UK economy is still a long way from "a strong and sustainable recovery", the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned. In its concluding statement on its mission to the UK, the IMF said austerity measures were acting as a drag on the economy. The government could do more to offset the negative impact of austerity with infrastructure spending, it said. speaking at a press conference in London, its deputy managing director, David Lipton, said the view of the IMF was that the UK should consider slowing the pace of cuts. "It would be, in our view, useful for the economy for infrastructure and other measures to be brought forward to reduce the drag of austerity measures... and provide more support for the economy," he said, in response to questions from journalists.

which is not much more than a gnat's whisker away from what Ed Balls has been saying since about 2010....

[Prufrock]

The thing I don't get with the EU referendum is that no-one cares! A recent poll said something like 1% name it as their most important issue. We had a referendum on it called a 'general election' in which the three main parties, who all want to stay in, did really well, and the single issue party campaigning for us to leave, failed to win a single seat.

I don't buy that it's too complicated for us to vote on, firstly, it's democracy, so deal; and secondly, people get things right in big numbers. Those whole 'guess how many beans are in this jar' - individual guesses are often MILES out, but averages of guesses tend to be pretty close to the real answer. Crowds are good at getting it pretty right. That said, if there's such a clamour for it, outside niches of Lincolnshire, we'll see that at the next general election. Then there might be a compelling case for a referendum.

[Bruce Rioja]

I really could have put this in the Angry thread.

MP Patrick Mercer has resigned the Tory whip to "save my party embarrassment". He added he would not be standing at the next general election.

Err no. you've jumped before you were pushed because you've been caught out, on film, accepting a bung, you crooked c*nt!

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

I really could have put this in the Angry thread.

MP Patrick Mercer has resigned the Tory whip to "save my party embarrassment". He added he would not be standing at the next general election.

Err no. you've jumped before you were pushed because you've been caught out, on film, accepting a bung, you crooked c*nt!

How desperate must he be too - the numbers being discussed were chicken feed in the scheme of things.

[Harry Genshaw]

I thought during the expenses scandal, there was talk of forcing by elections when MPs resigned from their parties over misdemeanour/law breaking

Bloody outrageous that he should continue to trouser £70k+ a year of public money until 2015

[mrkint]

And the whole shindig goes on...three more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22742327" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, really can't hack the use of 'trouser' as a verb.

[Montreal Wanderer]

And the whole shindig goes on...three more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22742327" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, really can't hack the use of 'trouser' as a verb.

It's been around a while - P.G. Wodehouse certainly uses it.

[Prufrock]

I really could have put this in the Angry thread.

MP Patrick Mercer has resigned the Tory whip to "save my party embarrassment". He added he would not be standing at the next general election.

Err no. you've jumped before you were pushed because you've been caught out, on film, accepting a bung, you crooked c*nt!

How desperate must he be too - the numbers being discussed were chicken feed in the scheme of things.

Presumably it's less about the cash, and more about bigging yourself up as someone who has the ear of the powerful people. A Fake Sheik's dream!

[mrkint]

And the whole shindig goes on...three more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22742327" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, really can't hack the use of 'trouser' as a verb.

It's been around a while - P.G. Wodehouse certainly uses it.

That doesn't make it anymore acceptable

[Lost Leopard Spot]

And the whole shindig goes on...three more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22742327" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, really can't hack the use of 'trouser' as a verb.

It's been around a while - P.G. Wodehouse certainly uses it.

That doesn't make it anymore acceptable

Widehouse. Jeeves.
Vomit.

[Montreal Wanderer]

And the whole shindig goes on...three more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22742327" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, really can't hack the use of 'trouser' as a verb.

It's been around a while - P.G. Wodehouse certainly uses it.

That doesn't make it anymore acceptable

Widehouse. Jeeves.
Vomit.

I suppose it is a question of taste and mine is clearly superior...

[thebish]

And the whole shindig goes on...three more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22742327" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, really can't hack the use of 'trouser' as a verb.

well - in this case you are mad! "trouser" is a magnificent verb!

[Montreal Wanderer]

And the whole shindig goes on...three more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22742327" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, really can't hack the use of 'trouser' as a verb.

well - in this case you are mad! "trouser" is a magnificent verb!

It is indeed. Slang phrases like 'can't hack' on the other hand tend to jar.

[thebish]

remember that there Alex Salmond hurriedly legislating for teens to vote, assuming that they'd all vote for independence?

An opinion poll of Scottish teenagers suggests that under-18s will heavily reject independence in next year's referendum, after only 21% of those surveyed supported leaving the UK.

The poll is the first major study of likely voting intentions among Scottish 14 to 17-year-olds, some 16 months before more than 120,000 16 and 17-year-olds will be given a vote for the first time in next year's independence referendum.

The study, overseen by academics at Edinburgh University for the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) found that 60% of the 1,018 teenagers surveyed believed that Scotland should stay in the UK, with 19% undecided.

[Hoboh]

remember that there Alex Salmond hurriedly legislating for teens to vote, assuming that they'd all vote for independence?

An opinion poll of Scottish teenagers suggests that under-18s will heavily reject independence in next year's referendum, after only 21% of those surveyed supported leaving the UK.

The poll is the first major study of likely voting intentions among Scottish 14 to 17-year-olds, some 16 months before more than 120,000 16 and 17-year-olds will be given a vote for the first time in next year's independence referendum.

The study, overseen by academics at Edinburgh University for the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) found that 60% of the 1,018 teenagers surveyed believed that Scotland should stay in the UK, with 19% undecided.

Most Scottish folk I know don't want full independence.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

A new report urges foreign powers to cut off the flow of weapons into Syria. That's novel. Obviously not written by Haig, or Putin, or any other fxckstick that's actually in power this report. Far too sensible.

[thebish]

alliance of churches (including mine) call upon the Prime Minister to apologise for the blatant misuse/misrepresentation of statistics to discredit the poor...

not holding my breath...

http://www.urc.org.uk/news/1150-bishops ... ssage.html

[mrkint]

Obama in trouble over this who surveillance things? It's like watergate, but turned up to 11, or something.

[Hoboh]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... nders.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Make your mind up you loony!!

To be hoped the fence he's sitting on is either sharpened to a point or it holds bloody big splinters!

All we learn from that is Cam-the-man has feck all interest in this country but just wants votes, tw*t.