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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 15, 2023 10:21:40 GMT
One to watch this May, it wasn't that long ago there was an attempted coup. "Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is trailing behind his primary opponent, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who leads the centre-left CHP party and the centrist multiparty Millet İttifakı electoral alliance, polls published two months ahead of the 14 May presidential elections show. Kılıçdaroğlu is currently leading with approximately 56% of the vote, while Erdoğan is trailing with only 44%, the Europe Elects polling average has found. Should this trend continue, Kılıçdaroğlu would emerge victorious and replace Erdoğan who in 2017 increased the presidential term from four years to five. At the party level, Kılıçdaroğlu‘s Millet İttifakı is also leading with around 44%, while the Cumhur alliance, led by Erdoğan’s own right-wing AKP, is rated at about 38%. Meanwhile, the Emek ve Özgürlük İttifakı alliance led by the HDP party, which is centre-left and left-wing, is polling at around 11-12%. Despite these promising poll numbers for the opposition, there are concerns about Turkey’s democratic record and whether Erdoğan will be willing to give up power if defeated." www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/turkeys-kilicdaroglu-ahead-of-erdogan-two-months-before-elections/?utm_source=upday&utm_medium=referral |
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Post by yattongas on Mar 15, 2023 15:14:35 GMT
Thoughts on the budget ?
Half heard it so forgive me if I get anything wrong . A good move helping out parents with childcare but not straightaway, pushing the costs onto the next gov 🙄 . A classic bit of Toryism giving the richest 1% help with their pension pots .
Falling standard of living forecast for the rest of us mere mortals….. 5% over the next yr , biggest drop since 1958 (?) .
Up the Tories and long live Brexit 🇬🇧!
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 15, 2023 15:24:25 GMT
Thoughts on the budget ? Half heard it so forgive me if I get anything wrong . A good move helping out parents with childcare but not straightaway, pushing the costs onto the next gov 🙄 . A classic bit of Toryism giving the richest 1% help with their pension pots . Falling standard of living forecast for the rest of us mere mortals….. 5% over the next yr , biggest drop since 1958 (?) . Up the Tories and long live Brexit 🇬🇧! Not really seen much other than the headlines so far. With regard to the pensions, it has the benefit of preventing higher earners including senior doctors, to stay in employment. It's not all bad. It's likely that Nato will increase its minimum GDP figure so the defence increase is Sunak preempting that and looking the 'head boy'. Also keeps Ben Wallace happy who is very well liked at grass roots. Two headaches solved there. Keeping Tim Martin happy with the draught alcohol tax reduction. Good news on the fuel, keeping Martin Lewis happy. All in all, buying off critics with taxpayer's money. 😇 |
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Post by yattongas on Mar 15, 2023 15:40:24 GMT
Thoughts on the budget ? Half heard it so forgive me if I get anything wrong . A good move helping out parents with childcare but not straightaway, pushing the costs onto the next gov 🙄 . A classic bit of Toryism giving the richest 1% help with their pension pots . Falling standard of living forecast for the rest of us mere mortals….. 5% over the next yr , biggest drop since 1958 (?) . Up the Tories and long live Brexit 🇬🇧! Not really seen much other than the headlines so far. With regard to the pensions, it has the benefit of preventing higher earners including senior doctors, to stay in employment. It's not all bad. It's likely that Nato will increase its minimum GDP figure so the defence increase is Sunak preempting that and looking the 'head boy'. Also keeps Ben Wallace happy who is very well liked at grass roots. Two headaches solved there. Keeping Tim Martin happy with the draught alcohol tax reduction. Good news on the fuel, keeping Martin Lewis happy. All in all, buying off critics with taxpayer's money. 😇 Wonder why there’s such a shortage of doctors? 🇬🇧 |
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Post by yattongas on Mar 15, 2023 16:57:16 GMT
Go woke or go broke
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 15, 2023 23:14:35 GMT
One to watch, 2008 redux?
"The FTSE 100 and other major European stock markets have taken a beating as concern over the health of US banks crosses the Atlantic.
London's blue chip index lost £75bn in combined market value by the close after suffering its deepest fall, on a points basis, since the early days of the COVID crisis.
Sentiment soured across the continent when the top shareholder at troubled Credit Suisse declared that it could not provide the Swiss bank with more financial assistance.
That sent its shares down by almost a third at one stage to new record lows and prompted a hit to wider financial stocks, market analysts said.
Switzerland's second-largest bank, no stranger to crisis over the past few years, like others has seen concerns for its financial health come into sharper focus since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week."
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Post by baggins on Mar 16, 2023 6:06:57 GMT
One to watch, 2008 redux? "The FTSE 100 and other major European stock markets have taken a beating as concern over the health of US banks crosses the Atlantic. London's blue chip index lost £75bn in combined market value by the close after suffering its deepest fall, on a points basis, since the early days of the COVID crisis. Sentiment soured across the continent when the top shareholder at troubled Credit Suisse declared that it could not provide the Swiss bank with more financial assistance. That sent its shares down by almost a third at one stage to new record lows and prompted a hit to wider financial stocks, market analysts said. Switzerland's second-largest bank, no stranger to crisis over the past few years, like others has seen concerns for its financial health come into sharper focus since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week." Tell me about it, mine dropped through the floor yesterday. And Monday. And last week. |
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 16, 2023 7:50:45 GMT
Labour say they will reverse the abolition of the lifetime allowance for pensions.
"The policies will cost the Treasury more than £1.1bn a year by 2027-28, with the aim of stopping an estimated 15,000 high earners - including senior NHS doctors - leaving the workforce.
Labour said they would encourage doctors to stay in work by creating a targeted scheme as the government has done for judges, "rather than create a free-for-all for the wealthy few"."
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Post by yattongas on Mar 16, 2023 9:39:58 GMT
Labour say they will reverse the abolition of the lifetime allowance for pensions. "The policies will cost the Treasury more than £1.1bn a year by 2027-28, with the aim of stopping an estimated 15,000 high earners - including senior NHS doctors - leaving the workforce. Labour said they would encourage doctors to stay in work by creating a targeted scheme as the government has done for judges, "rather than create a free-for-all for the wealthy few"." Good . Ludicrous policy that will only get 15,000 back into work at a cost of 60k each . |
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 18, 2023 20:33:39 GMT
Looks like the SNP are having a serious problem at the moment. 👍
One rumour I read is that Sturgeon gave Humza Yousaf her backing in return for keeping a lid on things. Watch out for Ferguson Marine being part of a bigger issue.
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Post by yattongas on Mar 18, 2023 21:47:56 GMT
Looks like the SNP are having a serious problem at the moment. 👍 One rumour I read is that Sturgeon gave Humza Yousaf her backing in return for keeping a lid on things. Watch out for Ferguson Marine being part of a bigger issue. Is that the ferry with the bulbous bow ? |
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 18, 2023 23:25:29 GMT
Looks like the SNP are having a serious problem at the moment. 👍 One rumour I read is that Sturgeon gave Humza Yousaf her backing in return for keeping a lid on things. Watch out for Ferguson Marine being part of a bigger issue. Is that the ferry with the bulbous bow ? I believe so. Decent summary on Wiki: "At the time there were concerns that Ferguson Marine had not built any ferries of this size in the recent past.[11] A new management team had recently been installed, and they too had no experience of building a ferry of this size.[11] The finances of Ferguson Marine were so tight that they told the Scottish Government they could not provide the financial guarantees that were stipulated in the contract.[11] These guarantees would make the shipbuilder responsible for any cost overruns. Of the six shipyards that tendered to build the ferries, Ferguson Marine put forward the most expensive bid, at £37 million more than the cheapest.[12] In September 2022, the BBC obtained documents indicating that Ferguson Marine received preferential treatment in the procurement process. CMAL held an in-person meeting with Ferguson, which was not extended to other bidders. Ferguson also uniquely received a 424-page document from a design consultant setting out CalMac's technical requirements, which was not extended to other bidders, who had to rely on a more limited 125-page specification. A key section of Ferguson's bid was largely copied from this longer document. Ferguson was also allowed to significantly change its design halfway through the tender by developing a variant mentioned but discounted in its original submission. This change allowed it to reduce its price by nearly £10 million.[14]" en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferry_fiascoAlso: "When the contract was agreed in October, 2015, both ferries were due to cost a total of just £97m - and were to be paid for by CMAL by repaying a ministers' loan over 25 years through using revenue it generates from the fees it gets from the lease of vessels like operator CalMac’s ferry fleet and harbour access fees. But part of the Scottish Government's special deal to allow then independence-supporting tycoon Jim McColl's Ferguson Marine to win the contract in the wake of concerns by Scottish Government-controlled ferry owners Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited over a lack of financial guarantees, meant that loan was wiped out." www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/23325134.ferguson-marine-calls-public-enquiry-500m-ferries-bill/ |
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Post by yattongas on Mar 20, 2023 15:42:17 GMT
Vote Tory 🇬🇧!
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 21, 2023 12:56:16 GMT
Appearance before the committee tomorrow, I believe. "Boris Johnson has said he accepts he misled parliament over partygate but insists his statements were "in good faith". In his evidence, the former prime minister accused the privileges committee of having gone "significantly beyond its terms of reference" with its probe into whether he knowingly lied to MPs. He added that it was "unprecedented and absurd" to claim that relying on assurances from "trusted advisers" was "in some way reckless". But the committee hit back with a scathing statement saying the submission contains "no new evidence" in his defence, and an earlier version had to be re-submitted because of "errors and typos"." news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-accepts-he-misled-parliament-over-partygate-but-says-his-statements-were-in-good-faith-12838749 |
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 21, 2023 12:59:36 GMT
Very sad news around Ofsted and the head teacher who committed suicide over the pressure. Labour are said to be in favour of a report rather than a rating.
Listened to R5 in the car earlier about this, the former Ofsted boss was on saying that schools in England have shot up the league tables, both compared with other UK nations and internationally.
Is there a better way?
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Post by yattongas on Mar 21, 2023 13:18:29 GMT
Appearance before the committee tomorrow, I believe. "Boris Johnson has said he accepts he misled parliament over partygate but insists his statements were "in good faith". In his evidence, the former prime minister accused the privileges committee of having gone "significantly beyond its terms of reference" with its probe into whether he knowingly lied to MPs. He added that it was "unprecedented and absurd" to claim that relying on assurances from "trusted advisers" was "in some way reckless". But the committee hit back with a scathing statement saying the submission contains "no new evidence" in his defence, and an earlier version had to be re-submitted because of "errors and typos"." news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-accepts-he-misled-parliament-over-partygate-but-says-his-statements-were-in-good-faith-12838749Will the slimy git get away with it once again ? Surely…..surely he’s toast this time . There’s photographic evidence, everyone knows he’s guilty , even my old mate francegas knows he is ! Tory heavy select committee though but do they have the integrity to do the right thing ? |
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 21, 2023 14:01:47 GMT
Appearance before the committee tomorrow, I believe. "Boris Johnson has said he accepts he misled parliament over partygate but insists his statements were "in good faith". In his evidence, the former prime minister accused the privileges committee of having gone "significantly beyond its terms of reference" with its probe into whether he knowingly lied to MPs. He added that it was "unprecedented and absurd" to claim that relying on assurances from "trusted advisers" was "in some way reckless". But the committee hit back with a scathing statement saying the submission contains "no new evidence" in his defence, and an earlier version had to be re-submitted because of "errors and typos"." news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-accepts-he-misled-parliament-over-partygate-but-says-his-statements-were-in-good-faith-12838749Will the slimy git get away with it once again ? Surely…..surely he’s toast this time . There’s photographic evidence, everyone knows he’s guilty , even my old mate francegas knows he is ! Tory heavy select committee though but do they have the integrity to do the right thing ? He response may seem reasonable to some, but ask yourself this...would I have been able to say this and be let off or would I have faced the law? "Here are the key points from his submission: Mr Johnson accepts the Commons was misled but says that he made his statements "in good faith" He says the only evidence that he intentionally misled the Commons has come from the "discredited Dominic Cummings" and that his former top aide's claims are not "supported by any documentation" He claims: "There is not a single document that indicates that I received any warning or advice that any event may have broken rules or guidance" He argues that the committee has breached the scope of its own inquiry One of the allegations explored by the committee was that Mr Johnson relied on advice from his political aides that was incorrect. But Mr Johnson hits back at the committee, saying the suggestion "that it was in some way reckless for me to reply on assurances that I received from trusted advisers" was "unprecedented and absurd"." |
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Post by yattongas on Mar 22, 2023 15:38:37 GMT
Select committee latest….
Boris drowning .
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Post by yattongas on Mar 22, 2023 16:51:54 GMT
Select committee latest…. Boris drowning . Update : This is beyond embarrassing. |
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Post by stuart1974 on Mar 22, 2023 16:55:07 GMT
Select committee latest…. Boris drowning . Update : This is beyond embarrassing. Boris, embarrassing? 😃 |
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