Kingfisher

Profits ahead of care in the NHS as contracts are handed out to mates. Don't bash the government, it's not their fault.

Food bank use up. 2014 Britain and people can't afford to eat. Don't blame the government - not their fault.

Tory bashing? I don't know if you've noticed, but they're the government with the Lib Dumbs. Who the hell else is to blame for this utter shambles? You might not like it, but no matter how you try to dress it up, they've been an unmitigated failure. But worse still, debacles like the Royal Mail sell off indicate something much uglier than incompetence - greed.

Weakening of TUPE regulations. Shunning the working time directive. Normalisation of zero hour contracts. Removal of free unfair dismissal tribunals. Tories, improving workers rights.

I wonder how they get away with it, then I read views like the ones expressed on this page and it all becomes clear. I bet they can't believe their luck, they must sit down in meetings thinking 'how much shit can we get away with today'.

And there we have it, 'it wuz labours fault'. Four years they've had, and it's still Labours fault. New Labour and Conservatives, two cheeks of the same arse. Incompetent idiots, with access to the cookie jar, stuffing their faces.

George Osborne's 'help to sell' Ponzi scheme. I'm sure it would all work out if the government had another few years to get it right. Ponzi schemes never fail. PFI hospital contracts, they're demonstrably, factually inefficient and bad for the NHS. They're going to cripple the NHS for years. Royal Mail sell off. The government got the best deal possible ...for their mates. Tax cuts for the wealthiest, hand in hand with benefit cuts and public service cuts. Food banks. Low pay, no pay zero hour contracts and further erosion of workers rights. Just a few examples of the Tories 'cleaning up the mess'.

That's an interesting take on things. Utterly wrong, but depressingly familiar.

Condem horror stories seem to be drying up. Four years of being **** over and now we're left with a lame duck government collecting their wages. What a miserable bunch of self serving idiots we've had.

Why don't you just start a Green Party thread and you can do your party political broadcasts from there This probably sounds strange, I hate to think of myself as a Green Party supporter. I hate party politics, and would certainly never blindly follow a party, as some might. They're not perfect, but they're the closest thing to a breath of fresh air in politics at the moment. UKIP most certainly are not!

Low wages and increasing living costs mean we're putting in long hours. Increased job insecurity because of the erosion of workers rights means we often put in extra hours for free for our employers just to keep on top of our workload. I can't help but feel that it's a situation that's come about because of a pro business bias in politics.

The problem that we have to work so many hours to make ends meet is one politicians should be working on, rather than actively creating a worse situation. http://greenparty.org.uk/news/28-04-2009-government-failed-workers-refusing-compromise-working-time.html

The expenses scandal broke in 2009. Caroline Lucas and the Green Party only assumed office in Westminster as of May 2010. Before that she was an MEP and ranked #1 for transparency. (See link). In an attempt to bring this back on topic. How transparent and above board are Farage's expenses. Employs his German wife... Shall we delve into his tax dodging exploits? UKIP= same old shit.

I fear your myopic view of Caroline Lucas is mis guided... She did after all fiddle the expenses system like the rest of them and she is a little bonkers when it comes to comparing a flight to Spain to stabbing someone and a little hypocritical as she then takes the plane herself She may not be as male and as grey as the rest though I'll give you that much... I reckon The Peoples party Manifesto from 2010 had some of the best ideas Politicians should be made to wear the names and logos of companies that sponsor them Anyone in favour of I.D. cards will be banned from having curtains All members of the BNP to have their ancestry traced and the results published Caroline Lucas MEP’s Salary and Expenses for 2008* Salary: £64,766 Secretarial Allowance: £145,068 General Allowance: £35,839 Travel Allowance: (€28,069) £25,605 Personal Travel Allowance:** (€4,000) £3,505 Daily allowance: (€35,157) £30,806 Caroline Lucas’s 2008 Total: £305,589 The only british party with a 100% openness record for their MEP's. Some more on Caroline Lucas expenses. http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/frequently-asked-questions-about-mep-pay-and-allowances/ I'll leave it at that as this thread is going way OT.

Of course, government is 'business', so it does help if there is some business experience in the cabinet, particularly in terms of the economy. Should I assume that, in your judgement, people in business cannot be 'for the people'? We need balance. This political over representation of business leads to slogans such as 'hard working families', like working hard is some kind of virtue we should all aspire to. Politicians say things like 'the number of hard working families has increased under our leadership' - like its something to boast. No! People want a healthy work life balance. Most people realise life is short and we want to spend it working less hard, working less hours and doing the things that really matter - spending time enjoying life with our families and friends. This is just one example of why politics is on another planet, planet business, and why we need people from varied backgrounds representing us.

Business is over represented. We need more politicians for people, less stereotypical grey men in suits looking after business.

Whether intentional or not Baselayers is making a brilliantly subtle point. So many people of a certain demographic are disinterested in politics and I put it down to politicians being so utterly out of touch. Caroline Lucas comes from an activist background, when she talks she sounds genuine. But she's rare, 99% of them are 'career' politicians and businessmen. We need a good mix of genders, and ages and so on, but most importantly we need people in politics that are there for the right reason - to serve the people, not themselves.

All white middle aged (pushing old age)men. That's the vibrant new alternative to Westminster's mostly white male, middle aged (pushing old age) male demographic. Racism, ageism and sexism, all in one take. How right wing of you I'd like a good mix of genders, ages and backgrounds. How right wing am I? Not very, if Cameron's cabinet is the benchmark.

All white middle aged (pushing old age)men. That's the vibrant new alternative to Westminster's mostly white male, middle aged (pushing old age) male demographic.

For driverless taxi's, on paper the technology is there, but I don't think the infrastructure is, yet. The reliability of the technology, the accuracy of data, and the immense amount of accurate data sharing required for a flexible real world system makes me think we won't be seeing robot taxis for a while yet. I think the road (pun intended) to driverless vehicles will be baby steps, perhaps starting with hands free motorway driving in the next decade or so.

I didn't say it hasn't addressed any, but the article states clearly that amazon are still legally avoiding tax. When companies are paying all the tax they should we can be happy. This headline grabbing £8bn is too little too late for a government that's failed to ensure we get all the tax revenue we should, whilst perusing a policy of cuts.

It's says it was collected last year, but doesn't say over what period it covers. It also doesn't address the many loopholes still in place. The figure of tax that is being lost massively outstrips these figures. Some estimates put it at £100bn a year.

Is that the way neo capitalism works is it? The seller dictates the price? Sounds like a broken system. Look at this, SERCO, under investigation by the serious fraud office for stealing from us have been awarded a 15 year contract to the the Euston to Scotland sleeper service. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/serco-awarded-contract-to-run-the-famous-caledonian-sleeper-railway-line-9447845.html

You can try and paint the governments utter utter unwillingness to make big business pay their dues to society in as good a light as you like. It don't wash with me I'm afraid. How could my pointing out the obvious error of your statement be translated into me trying to 'paint the government in a good light'? You have moved from making remarkable statements to ridiculous statements. There's no error in my statement. If its £8bn of £112 billion recouped, it's pissing in the wind. It's money lost to private pockets that should be helping the sick, helping the disabled, educating, funding libraries, the list goes on. It's a nice headline grabber, but they're not serious and never will be about helping the %99 over the 1%.

You can try and paint the governments utter utter unwillingness to make big business pay their dues to society in as good a light as you like. It don't wash with me I'm afraid.