itdoesntmatterwhatthissay

I think that's the worst thing about the Euro and one reason I was overjoyed we kept the pound all those years ago. It's why I raised the question earlier about where the survey was taken. Perhaps a well earning Dubliner is okay, but my partners southern Ireland father certainly doesn't agree the switch was positive. Similarly I've never lived with someone from Madrid but with Spaniards from 8 other cities and they despise what the euro has done for consumer prices. It's fine when wages increase but that's almost impossible across a whole nation. Very interesting that you brought up owning a house too; the housing crisis in the UK has been pouring fuel over the EU fire for years. Though some of that is our own fault and not the EU's.

Cheers for that piece of research. I have never seen it before but it's a really interesting document. 28,000 EU citizens were polled; fair play to the researchers. 5,000 pooled outside the EU too. I read back over the years too, v interesting to see how opinion changes. This evening I'm going to check where all those interviews took place. At the moment I don't really know what I'm reading....well I know, but I haven't yet worked out whether it holds any bias....though it's clear that the currency question doesn't ask about the impact of the Euro but rather participants desires to have one currency for all nations.

They have to join the Euro as that was the term of their membership (no date thank god). Apologies, I assumed you were replying to that specifically as my original point was based around the Euro and major change delivering economic prosperity and security for its citizens. The inequality will continue without specific policy protecting certain roles and maybe even cities/towns. Those jobs for big companies will become redundant when new jobs move to the next tax break nation or next tax break job. How will Poland and the EU navigate that? In the long term, your generation (the modern skilled sector) will own Poland, are you going to give it up for the next generation of Poles? Or will you protect your increased wealth/house price/investments/job? Also the reduction of farming jobs (in modern counties esp.) is a global trend that has given rise to poverty and malnutrition. These are economic and cultural problems for Poland as I'm sure you know very well. Construction may very well be next if we're not careful. In many ways Brexit was given its platform because of the lack of manual labour focus by the EU. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) certainly has its part to play there. I'm glad you don't share my concerns but I'm v surprised you didn't know about the Euro. People are right to be baffled by PiS but they've made a few points that both Scotland and the EU really need to listen to.....we ignored the real opinions are now we're left with Brexit. Imo an ignorant left is as bad as an ignorant right; I hope the Scottish people are aware of that because Sturgeon and May aren't.

All I can go on is occasional conversations with my Polish family and the news I read/watch so I am of course much less informed than you. It's good to hear that the country believes the Euro will be good for them....maybe the positivity will help. It's not the opinion I read so clearly I am out of touch. As I understood it (perhaps past tense now!) many people are overjoyed at the new society and investment the EU brings (esp. security) but I'm not sure the long term economic prosperity is suiting all people in Poland. We're a big country! Many people talk about the amount of people leaving the country, low skilled jobs seeing wage stagnation, the running out of EU funding, many Polish companies being bought by international ones, agricultural employment loses (a major employer) and the rising price of Polish homes. There are many more examples but from what I read and understood there are many in the country who are concerned that when Poland does 'catch-up' (whatever that means, Spain is certainly treated like it's caught up) the EU will already have put them on the downward spiral and found a new country to support. You work in Lodz, but I am guessing you don't work in textiles? Maybe finance or tech? And perhaps not even for a Polish company? (Not expecting an answer btw, too personal) Being part of the EU is one thing; running your country under outdated, inflexible EU regulation is quite another. I hope it never happens because I love Poland but I am certainly concerned that EU and Polish politics/ideals will clash heavily in the future,

I definitely agree with you but I used 'England' for a specific reason. (I also used Britain in the same sentence.) Scotland constantly blurs the lines between the UK and England when they are throwing about insults and criticisms.

I agree there and I personally love the idea; I just hate the farcical practice. If you consider that EU membership requires the Euro I don't think Hungary, Poland, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Sweden, Denmark, Latvia or Lithuania would agree with you that the major change delivers economic prosperity and security for its citizens. Poland is one country that has highlighted the endemic problems of currency and micro economic weakness when the EU gets involved. Scotland might have more obvious economic power than Poland but strategically it's less valuable than a gateway and border country.

Why don't you think so? Many non-white people live in manufacturing decimated regions with poor employment opportunities and even lower standards of educational strategy. Couple that with high costs of healthcare (Obamacare didn't really do enough) and a general feeling that a black president didn't fight for ethnic communities and there's a good chance you'll see either apathetic voting or voters not polling honestly. Remember, Hillary wasn't mentioned and arguably as a political leader she was more divisive for the voters than Trump. She definitely caused people to stay away from the ballot box.

You're absolutely right but meh, teaching us a lesson will only make Europe weaker. Plus Scotland leaving England is imo v different from Britain leaving the EU. The whole European union has to change and until that time it's pretty likely that the EU will fall one nation at a time. (economically and not just by membership). I cannot wait to see the SNP campaigning for the Euro. If that's your opinion I look forward to your further explanation in US politics Do zobacenia.

And it isn't helped by Merkel being hacked in 2010. Distrust runs deep.

How very interesting.

I live with a Dane and we chat a lot about his homeland. People do pay for care because public healthcare is still under pressure and so people are forced to go private. This means there are collection agency issues, perhaps for loans taken out to fund medical care. Dane's don't have credit cards as we know them. In fact my housemate still calls his debit card his credit card. 'Credit' is generally frowned upon. Also nonsense that people don't use their savings. I couldn't say if that is true but under the two different healthcare systems surely that stat doesn't work? Modern fake news.

Well yes, obviously, but when was the last time any political party did that! Even the Lib Dems were guilty of that and they didn't consider themselves all that powerful! I'd rather have a party who says. 'yup this isn't working' and makes changes than sticks to failure for the sake of its electorate or media spin.

Sod Scotland, the interesting one is Catalunya. if their referendum goes ahead it gives Spain a hell of a headache, especially as they might run it without a blessing from Madrid. And for the EU, well it's far more pressing than Scotland and the fall out will no doubt create some new ground for Scotland to either leap onto or off.

Well it was Cameron so no, he didn't have a clue. Plus it was a London/South East based policy. Also on your flat situation, lots can be done at the local level if there was the motivation. I'm trying to change the way local policy comes from central but I'm running into local authority pushback on my flats idea; sadly. Though at least their argument is based in reason.....for a change. Wouldn't surprise me. The opposition to development is very strong because politicians don't want to lose their jobs. And remember the majority of Tories are in the affluent South where opposition really is tough. Then again I live in Brighton which is Labour dominated and tbh it's worse than central for caring about housing. Even when the Greens were in it was a joke. They ONLY look for large sites that deliver lots of 'planning contributions' or sites they can build themselves to make themselves look like they're doing something meaningful. I attended a meeting on Friday where a govt official told me there was little to no land for development in the South East.....Politics is the housing crisis maker but ignorance is as much of a problem.

Well that depends what you term as affordable. In my industry we didn't feel starter homes (which is what they are reeling back on) were affordable and tbh 'affordable' is a meaningless tag that the media/politicians have latched onto quite nicely. What about affordable over its lifetime? You might as well roll back on a policy than deliver a failed one; such as the 1 for 1 replacement on 'right to buy' which was an awful promise. However, starter homes south of Oxford are vital as land prices and opposition are real barriers. Having them should encourage investors to start releasing their stock which will really help. As an example have a look at the Homewise 'retirement' portfolio on Rightmove. Up north, houses are built for well under the £250,000 ceiling so it makes sense to not focus too heavily on starter homes as a major supply solution. This government appears to be having serious discussions about diversification and moving away from starter homes is a smart move in that respect. Starter homes need local authority engagement at a time when they are resource stretched. Also not all regions will have brownfield, especially in the South West. This will mean reliance on less complicated large sites, sites for the major housebuilders, and delivery will be stagnated again. Much of the affordability challenge can be driven by a diverse competitive market.

There are some good funnies being posted today, However it's the best name ever. High benchmark to set, party humiliation if it fails. The Democrats are probably right staying silent and letting Trump set his own noose, he's got a habit of hanging himself.

Tweaked? Surely you mean 'sent it to the Guardian for ignorance editing'. If you have experience you'll know SMEs typically build on these small sites and in many cases pay a disproportionate amount more in planning and build costs than the volume housebuilder. You'll also know that consequence policy (when a LA fails to deliver supply) favours the biggest companies. I won't go into the planning costs of SMEs as I'm sure you know them inside out and it would bore everyone else....even more than I'm doing now! Firstly, yes it is about maximising profits because the industry has lost two thirds of its SME housebuilders in the last two decades and the rest are still struggling. Very few SMEs can afford to plan a job in front; this means they can't guarantee their own work force, local supply chain spend or negotiate lower material costs. But when you say maximise profits do you mean 20%-40% as the volume housebuilders/Housing Associations are making, or 5-15% as many SMEs do make? Or is that not important? Is all profit bad to you in the context of housing? What about the pay of top executives? Does it matter they are on £200k-millions more than their equivalent SME guys? To your second 'edit'; when Britain built 250,000+ homes it was the SMEs which delivered supply. As the preferred partners for Councils, Housing Associations, self/custom build, co-op and latterly CLT's, SME capacity is vital. Also remember, the barriers SMEs experience are also faced by Councils, HA's, CLT etc. If planning (not contributions) for 8 houses can cost SMEs £60k+, it's costing them that amount too, as well as 18+ months for planning. When I look across our membership your second statement makes even less sense. Some of our guys only do retirement or key worker housing (inner city locations too), others do Passivhaus, many work in the poorest areas which mean only low income homes (otherwise they won't sell), a couple literally built their small town community and others only work for Registered Providers. So do you want to support the sector which delivers variety? Or the sector which for the last 20 years has been volume based on large sites with small flats escalating the price of the rest of the market? Are you against a competitive housing market? As I say to every local authority I meet. What homes do you want or need? And where/why? Not many have the answer. In many cases the enablers simply haven't enabled and that's impacted employment, prosperity, investment and the cost/supply of housing.

I lobby for SME housebuilders and I have to say 2010-2016 were very lean years for us. We got one huge measure through, affordable housing exemptions on small sites, but various local authorities challenged the policy which was directly aimed at increasing the capacity of the local supply chain and bringing homes forward more quickly. The biggest dismantling of this policy was via Labour local authorities who are having trouble understanding what the policy means in practice. But why do they do it? Ignorance? Cashcow before community? Or votes? I attended some of the recent Housing White Paper meetings, in Brum, South East and South West. I spoke to many local authority cllr's/planners/policy makers and it's not just government that fails to understand the value of SMEs. (In construction, local government is the real enabler) I'm not going to criticise May just yet because the housing industry has asked for change and on many topics the Housing White Paper has delivered for SMEs. Whether that translates to actual policy we shall soon see but while I would definitely agree that SMEs have typically not been part of any obvious strategy and too often the really hard choices are not made, for example you cited pensioners NI, my experience in the last 8 months has been very positive. That's not a bad angle either; solve the housing crisis and something like NIC changes become low priority.

Yup. After decades of broken manifesto pledges it's not surprising that May has broken one already. I wonder if in the future there's a way we could hold politicians to account or even vote digitally for changes.

Manifesto says they won't increase it but NIC legislation doesn't say they can't.

I am desperately trying to get through Earthlings at the moment as many people say it's superb. I'm not really through any considerable part but so far it's reinforcing my carnivore instincts. Hopefully it improves but if people actually think that's what the farming industry is like (or was like, it's 10 years old now) then they need to get the f out of the debate. I'm really struggling to find docu's that aren't one sided, and yes, I know, Earthlings is the opposite of one of those. For example that Russian World Cup doc on hooliganism was so annoying, I literally spent my time screaming at the screen 'What about normal fans!!!!' Oh I also watched that new grime docu on BBC and I felt it was pretty boring. It felt as though 60's pirate radio was forgotten entirely.

Exactly. The referendum was about more than their focus on immigration.

Didn't know that. For god's sake, just when it was going well for him. Well we know that Bruce is prepared to reward young players who sign new contracts....we never now.

I'm not so sure. Natural DM positioning is really key to the role and Gardner instinctively looks forward. Also staying close to move the attacker away from goal is a real skill. If his passing was epic and he could spray a ball to counter I might agree with you but he can't, sadly, and few players really can. We just need the club to recognise they need a replacement asap. All this multi role stuff is fine if you have the quality but if not you could end up wasting a players actual ability.

@Xann All this generalising has probably led me to do what I criticise Ministers/journalists for; not recognising geographical differences. Waste is nationwide but education delivery definitely varies by need in differing locations. My knowledge around London schooling is definitely light, though if you're talking construction skills in London I can add a lot about its failure. It will be interesting to see what your friends think. That website is great btw. Good points brought up and I've definitely seen it in inner Birmingham too. No doubt your friends are more than a credit to the profession. Historically, teachers always helped with a students family life but the modern burden is almost insurmountable. I have a huge amount of respect for teachers that believe their pupils welfare may need help after the bell goes. That side of the problem identifies a real lack of understanding from successive governments. Class sizes really are important. It's good to see schools split up rooms to make smaller groups but it doesn't half put pressure on the teacher as many teaching assistants aren't teachers. Actually that's one thing Labour should be commended for, the class size discussion was prominent and in the early years (of govt, not the foundation) they did a lot to make changes.