itdoesntmatterwhatthissay

Nope, lessons. My meetings have been cross-party (that means every party has been involved..or invited...some didn't turn up) You eat up whatever information you glance at from whichever party suits your mood that day. I have spent my working life trying to funnel public money away from failing private business and back into the public sector, when it works. My blog is basically full of those stories and exists because of the failed state and failed state approach to relying on the private sector. Otherwise I have been helping both the public sector and the third sector improve how they operate. I have thrived taking on local and central government (all the parties) and while I can't say I ask the right questions 100% of the time, I'm probably not that smart, I always ask the awkward questions and now get paid to do that. The sad thing is you don't actually read anything I write as I have consistently criticised the way all parties have funnelled money away from the public sector, including the main offenders who put all this in place, the Labour party. It's still happening now with local governement, which apparently is always central's fault....sigh! Sadly, of all the people in here you're the one who consistently misses the point in favour of criticising me and it's fine. I have never and will never give up on the uninformed and I hope one day you and your chums can learn something past the rhetoric you are so desperately hanging on to. If I add to that weight and someone smarter or with stronger rhetoric changes your mind, so be it. I will simply give you facts, I can't control whether you even bother to research their validity. Sadly, in this instance it goes for the people who liked your post too. You're telling me that the party in power has better access to information that has been changing the way the UK operates for over 20 years? Despite Labour and many of their existing MP's being in charge for 13 years? And the leader being a critic? The info exists in the public domain and has for decades!

Too true. If only people were willing to work out which was which. Ignorance is bliss and staying partisan helps many sleep at night

If you're willing to ignore the fact that Labour threw their and other peoples money at problems that either didn't exist or were impossible to solve under the structure they put in place then yes, absolutely, ignoring Labours financial failures shows the Tories as the real problem.

Yup, facts can be boring!

100%, it's both of them! New kind of politics baby!

I sat on brexit panels, I attended brexit meetings and I gave comments on brexit articles; you're wrong, Labour really didn't have a clue and tbh it wasn't about column inches, it was about front benches/representatives not know anything . I am still attending those meetings and brief members who attend on our behalf, nothing has changed but now I am finding out that trade unions know even less than Labour MP's. Despite spending much time arguing with them, the Conservatives were a godsend in helping me understand the barriers under the EU and those which weren't barriers, Labour were an obstacle because they had to wait for a Conservative to answer in order to be informed. When Corbyn mentioned the 'posted workers directive' the laughs from all sides tells you a lot about the ignorance of understanding EU policy. But that comment got inches and attention, because they actually had more than rhetoric in their armoury. While you're correct that Remain was Cameron and Osborne, the £350m bus criticism was a major Labour campaign and again, that should point to the deficiencies in their 'argument' a that message is still running.

I 100% agree with you and Labour were very clever in grabbing very many Lib Dem votes. I was genuinely excited about my Lib Dem's chances in Hall Green but the final result was awful and people voting on the EU and anti-Tory killed their vote...in part because of clever Labour campaigning, or non-campaigning when misinformation existed! Now my guy has retired (because of the swing nonsense) and street lighting, roads, parks, rubbish, social rent, facilities etc will all suffer and that's terrible, but heck, sod peoples local living standards, let's get the Tories out to replace them with guys who also don't understand the granular issues of policy. I felt JC was silenced before the referendum and I was desperate to hear from him, especially as he's an obvious critic and proper rebel. Funny how Trident is okay to be an open conversation between the leader and party but Brexit absolutely isn't. Quite simply, this is not a new type of politics in the slightest and Labour are every bit, perhaps worse, liars than the Conservatives. But then that's nothing new, Labour always trick people into their lies, the Tories for the most, lay out how they're going to screw people over and we all see it coming. People say, well Corbyn isn't a leader so he's not making decisions, but that's nonsense, he's a conversation and agenda setter and in parliament his guys challenge the opposition.....but they haven't and it suits them to oppose with anti-Tory rhetoric and not Tory policy discussion. Look at the recent drugs debate, why did Abbot bother turning up? Blunt (Conservative) was the major challenger to the government. In the last few months I've been on two panels with Labour MPs and tbh, it's clear they have no intention of understanding anyone's POV and simply want to get their rhetoric for votes across. The same debate exists in local and central govt, people are very happy to blame the UK government for EU failure but not blame local government for central government problems. Well many of those local governments are Labour but everything is the Conservatives fault.....the arguments simply don't add up.

@blandy you're correct and we definitely have the overall say in very many issues; however, the fishing issue is as much about the size/type of the quota as it is about the discards. An undeveloped conversation even in that article which is still very good, but it still doesn't really concentrate on that point, despite saying that it's hard for small fisherman to limit their quota and so choose to sell it on. It's bureaucracy to satisfy failed bureaucracy! 100% agree with the supermaket issues, I drink about 6 pints every 2 days and milk is cheaper than water...and that pains me and has for years...it's actually why I started thinking about milk costs a few years back. However, my partners father is a potato, beef and milk producer. The hoops he jumps through has destroyed his love for the job and decimated his profits, he's now stopped doing potatoes because he can't keep afloat. He also looked into selling his cows as people still come across the world to buy them, but the regulatory risk requires a high financial contribution and of course many banks have had their lending changed by the EU to reduce 'bad debt', not bad debt payers. Yet when I bring up regulation I am jumped upon for making things easier for profit makers, well no, people need to understand how often obtrusive regulation stops small business from either existing or building a business...who then can take the strain? Only big companies who can take risks. If many of those regulations stop businesses being profitable or even to earn a living, and they are EU regs, who, ultimately, needs to do more? Again, it's bureaucracy to satisfy failed bureaucracy. We know it's both (and I would 100% agree the UK government is most to blame, we can just ignore the EU like other counties) but we both know individual countries don't hold much weight with the EU until everything is broken. Remember, with milk, the supermarkets just said that with the quotas being relaxed,they could simply buy elsewhere so the gate price dropped. As regulation changed farmers became burdened and people like Parmalat bought very many smaller local competitors and companies. Plus the costs of keeping the animals (food, insurance, vaccinations, process etc) went up hugely which impacted the profitability, or non-profitability of being a milk producer. Some smaller companies have diversified, for example into posh yogurt but others cannot afford the now automated system the largest companies use....at some point the EU has to deliver ways to protect produce, as they have with legally protected regional produce like champagne. It's really sad because I'm 100% a reformer, the EU has masses of potential, but as someone who has written to many EU Ministers (and applied for many EU jobs) I have been very disappointed in the replies I got, (not that I get great ones from MP's). However, I get the feeling that change is not really on many people's agendas (EU, UK, voters), status quo is easier, especially not our MP's where - sadly for many of the guys who enjoy a bash and not a discussion - the only ones that seem to have any finger on any pulse are the Conservatives, which from the point of discussion/success going forward, is a real disaster!

Hear hear, that's why Labour should be heavily criticised by all for trying to misinform people. From their undeliverable manifesto to their vague answers to secure votes. They say this is a new type of politics but so far, all I'm seeing is an amplification of the absolute worse kind of politics!. I think Corbyn could be stronger but I feel it's his party who are pulling the strings, just like they pulled him away from the EU referendum debate.

Only to the ignorant.......

It's a Tory thread, not a bash a Tory thread....... The milk stats are not from this country but from the entire EU. We've done a little better than the rest of the EU but in the poorest countries those farm jobs have devastated communities. And actually CAP inhibits new entrants. Food banks existed well before Osborne and I know because I used to deliver food to them, but what's changed? There are more for sure but also they are more united not, in part because of the internet but also because it's a good way to focus on Conservative failure....not failure, either previous or locally.....eg, house prices ARE a local government issue more than central! I am baffled at how little actual farmers and fishermans opinions are listened to, they lived through the change, they didn't research it with tinted glasses as so many 'experts' do! Construction actually relies on people being able to win work. if procurement on everything - from toiler paper to leisure centres -favours big companies who sub-contract, how good is that for the local economy? Do you get a transient workforce? Are you getting value for money? We have section 106 agreements to keep jobs local (not careers), UK policy, but EU regs, EU and some WTO agreed thresholds (not who can access the work), mean its big companies again who win the work. SMEs used to build the majority of projects in the UK. Of course we could do more but you'd need every local authority and every party to change their mind on procurement and they don't even recognise it's a problem. In fact in my experience the only people who know anything about it are the Conservatives, when I meet them they know, Labour don't and the trade unions are even worse. There's no appetite for change or realism! Also not completely true about internal investment. We could do more as Slovakia has shown and we've wasted those opportunities but at least you know that! Few do! But I don't think you realise how powerful the ECJ has been, for example, because I've explained it fully, with the Green Deal. Why did we not invest in LDV/Rover like we did with British Leyland....we couldn't, because of EU competition law. What a waste! The same happened with our great automotive trades in after sales components. We lost loads of businesses because government couldn't invest, after a while they were asset stripped by foreign investors....do I blame Labour? I did at the time until I learnt they had their hands tied. Then I blamed them for doing nothing about it in the years after, like Cameron in his 'negotiations'. I should have said renewable powerstations. The EU used to fund a variation of renewable energy projects,19 I think, but they've chosen to now only support 3 major companies. That's the EU solving the EU's renewable energy infrastructure. Absolutely nothing to do with the UK! But everything to do with a failed decision. In fact a British win company was looking for investment from the UK govt, we couldnt do it but a wealthy Dutch private company could. There are also some issues with the EU mortgage directive making lending very difficult on more expensive properties. It's not as simple as you make it seem or present. It's complicated and that's because it's a one cap model that never fit all when we were less than 10, let alone 28. I agree with the last comment, it's been an agonisingly head shaking 7 years that followed a heart shattering 9.

Unfortunately first hand opinion isn't important. Brexit anyone? The best thing you can do with the entrenched on here is show them a Guardian video or article, I've lost count of the times it's moved the conversation on. Glad your daughter caught on early, we must find a way to reduce misinformation and get people involved in policy and not politics. Clearly many on here are too long in the tooth to change. If she has any ideas on how I might do that please pass them on!

EU is the answer to all our problems, but only if you ignore a whole group of peoples opinions. One way ticket to Venezuela?

It's utterly pathetic that labels are thrown around as easily as they are but heck, if you throw one at me and offer an illogical comment then if the cap fits, expect one back.

The ECJ thing, hopefully not Euroatom as that's a terrible example? And while I agree public opinion may have shifted, if it was less 'doom and gloom' and more 'wow we're amazing' things would be v different again. And please, stop being so small minded and blaming the Tories. Both before and after this referendum, Labour have been despicable and spent all their time playing politics, including silencing their leader. In fact I am sad to say a party I campaigned over a decade for, the Lib Dems, have been as unhelpful to the process. But well done Labour for stealing many of their votes and momentum with their EU remain misinformation. New kind of Politics baby! Let's assume everything you say is true? Why not rethink both sides failures? Under the EU we have lost 85% of our small milk producers. The SME construction industry has shrunk to levels never seen in this country. Overnight we saw prices double for more than 50% of EU countries. Africa has become a a tool for EU prosperity at the cost of Africans, the real poor. New farmers have been kept out of the game. Internal investment of very many kinds is stopped because it's protectionist, despite the EU protecting from outside influence. Millions and millions of people find life unaffordable, particularly in housing. Individual countries in X,Y and Z have been asked to take the strain, eg - Italy and immigration. Energy policy has moved away from innovative producers to the big few. And then a survey telling us how happy everyone in the EU is justifies them continuing unabated. In 10 years time our evolution remains in our hands; without reform and in 10 years time, 27 member states will see theirs in the hands of people who don't know them, who don't care for them and who don't give a hoot about the granular impact of their policies. These are all facts, and they're all related, or most of them to the sheer incompetence of the EU.