itdoesntmatterwhatthissay

Fixed it for you

You'll have to help me along with that one as I always thought we set them as part of the EU which fed into international quotas. As I understood it, and I could be wrong, leaving would allow us the remove our shared quotas and start new ones which we would negotiate on our own. As we would also retain our a large potion of our waters our quotas could be higher and conservation efforts/discard policy less damaging. Would like to know if I'm wrong though so I don't keep talking carp!

No, I just get bored of reading spurious comments and thought I'd have a go myself! Hence saying that Labour voters think they want to remain. I used red and Labour because you used blue and Tory. Nothing to do with your voting patterns but we live in a two party system, owing to the fact that the Lib Dems have moved away from policy, Greens never really had any and UKIP can only manage one at a time. As a lobbyist, looking backwards at the world moving helps nobody, as we have seen in the last decade with the EU! I am not quite ready to make a decision on whether Brexit is bad or not, especially when we haven't left! But I will fight tooth and nail to make sure we can solve our energy crisis without relying on big companies like the EU does, to try and retain our fishing waters for food and conservation, to build homes more reflective of British climate etc. etc. etc.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/libyas-coast-guard-abuses-desperate-migrants-despite-eu-funding-and-training/2017/07/10/f9bfe952-7362-4e57-8b42-40ae5ede1e26_story.html?utm_term=.e34d677e6a99 The EU, such a joke. All that money spent last year and what do we get? Libyan soldiers helping migrants across the sea while beating them and Italian coastguards burning toxic plastics in the Med. Now we want to give them more money!!!!! Such a massive waste of funding when we could be tackling fundamental problems instead. Will be good to not take responsibility for throwing cash as a problem to solve it....maybe we can actually help the world! Meanwhile the EU has pledged to further help Africa....they could start by removing some of the harshest trade barriers which make EU countries rich and African ones poor!

Very similar to Labour too, we are an entrenched country. There will be millions of voters who will say Brexit is a car crash even if things remain the same or improve and they will vote for the only party wanting us to stay in the EU, the red team. That's right isn't it? Already you can see how appalling those politicians that were voted in are and still you have millions of Remain voters refusing the accept this is a problem they've made and been making for decades. Labour support will be similar.

When I tried to save the Aston Arena (Aston Villa Leisure Centre), one of the proposals I put forward was to use the site for an Olympic sized swimming pool. There are probably still pictures of my ideas on Aston Arena's facebook. This made sense because some British Olympic open water swimmers already swam in the area and others were using Newtown for their training. Yes, Newtown!!!! I can give you very many other reasons why is was a good idea, from both an economic, social and regeneration point of view but sadly some in the city had other ideas as to what the site was good for and where the money from it was going to go. I'm not saying it's the absolute best place for pool but I am saying our idea was costed in terms of build (without Council money) but we needed to consider both maintenance and further funding to support open water swimming in the lakes and canoeing in the river. Political will is weak.

Oi, cast your aspersions elsewhere....I already struggle to to make friends in here

Fresh air does strange things to polluted noses.

Not in our sector (SMEs), we are doing fine. In part it's because we don't land bank so pay existing land prices but also because our projects are finished more quickly so less time for financial worry and because we build for the local market so prices are not as speculative. Typically though the media only reports info about the biggest housebuilders. A bit like the terrible Shelter report, 'phantom homes'.

Ha, I know....I am perhaps a little too passionate about my job but it's my own fault and I accept that. Also, way too strong a word...oops lol If you're a teacher with children you have 3 months off a year, that's 3 months where you have a legitimate choice to not pay for childcare. You are also much easier to sack in the private sector, typically due to to contractual arrangements and targets. I also covered some of the other benefits and I'll throw in an ability to be wage hungry within education; for example, manager points, working abroad, being a man in primary education, moving from secondary to primary, failing as a teacher and so working in teaching related roles ha. Some public sector jobs provide key worker housing, as do some of the super wealthy companies taking on cherry picked graduates. Many self employed people and those on temporary (2/3 year) contracts also find it much tougher to get a mortgage. That means they are even further from buying a home. I accept that other public sector roles involve fewer promotion opportunities but that is a similar problem faced by say, the manager of a shop. Who is probably a graduate This might not feel important but to the very many people who are on the median salary, it is, especially when the cost of living in some places continues spiralling out of control. I am not arguing that we shouldn't pay our public sector staff more fairly but I don't think it's fair to forget about the many who struggle because they're in the private sector churn.

Perhaps not a direct comparison but at a granular level I think we should. Imo avoiding the conversation has helped speed up the race to the bottom for a few reasons. We don't talk roles or security. Why does the private sector pay so more than the public sector doing the same job, for example in the JobCentre. But in schools, with academies, that's often reversed, unless you're in high level management? Why does the public sector pay conversation focus on nurses but ignore conversations about mid-level management, and agency staff salaries? And even the benefits they don't get, for example ir35. Why does affordability not enter into this at all? For example, I mentioned childcare. But you can go even deeper and look at how planning changes have stifled the amount of key worker housing. This whole debate reminds me of the rise of UKIP. The last thing we want is to ignore a really important conversation for decades until we hit breaking point and the public sector starts dying on its behind......oh wait....

I don't think there's stamp duty under £125,000 and there used to be some discount mechanism for right to buy. SLDT on the second property though, that's an extra likely 3% unless you sell the rental. Maybe I'm wrong, I better check. something I should really know!

Awesome It's all personal but in my opinion if I could cement a roof over my head any salary I had would serve to top up the value of my house when/if I wanted to move. Or in your case, maybe rent it out. Obviously I don't know where you live but if it's in the Midlands then £50k is a good price for a house, I guess you'll know your local market. The price isn't going to drop unless you're in Scunthorpe and if anything, it will go up in value, particularly at £50k. There's lots that influences the value of a home but at 35 in this jobs and housing climate, I'd love the security of homeownership.

If I had the chance of security for that sort of money I would go for it. Good luck to you whatever you decide. Ahhh housing policy. For the few, not the many.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/11/contaminated-blood-scandal-theresa-may-orders-inquiry

Thanks for posting. It would have taken me a few days to listen to the whole speech but I'm more inclined to get it out of the way. Goddam twitter twonks.

That's more than many university students first jobs and regularly, with higher final salaries. In the long run that counts for a lot. You also don't need to go to University to become a teacher but it's the most recognised route. I would like to throw a few things in the mix. Teachers not only get more holiday but potentially cheaper childcare and 3 months without it, around £50 a day. Public sector employees are typically on a points system which means they can get pay upgrades as standard and earn more with extra responsibilities. Teachers also have a skill that is internationally recognised (where salaries can be quite high) and many keep their experience points when they move jobs. Their jobs are also fairly secure. 60/70 hour week? I'd kill for one of those plus a teachers salary. But many of us choose the jobs we go into and regularly that is not representative of workload, inflation or living costs. The workload really is the killer though, it not only needs to be reduced but made more representative of the actual job. Imo that's the biggest problem for teachers and is very unfair. At least my 90+ hour weeks are deliverable projects and not just admin...well....lol There's also a difference between primary and secondary school teaching, including workload. We need to start teasing out that conversation because it doesn't just impact teachers but teaching itself. A quick look at the academisation of the two (and salary/security potential in each different role) shows you the problem is more complicated than pay and workload.

Don't forget very good pay too!

Exactly! And May was rejected wasn't she?!!!! The media saw through it and the electorate gave her a kicking! I am not asking for sympathy for her, I am asking people to look past their ideologies and solve our problems! That's us guys, voters, MP's, parties, the media...everybody! If government needs ideas why not help them? Just because they asked before the election and it wasn't reported the the public sphere doesn't mean it didn't happen! Just like the pathetic stores run by pro-Labour papers this morning, it's rhetoric or the worst kind of politics. I fully expect someone like Corbyn to co-operate because while he hates the Conservatives, he's not entrenched enough to be for the few and not the many.....well, time will tell!

Maybe the press wasn't interested in stories of co-operation, or they might have published info about the many cross party Brexit meetings that have already happened? The Conservatives have 100% invited all parties to get involved well before the election. I know because I attended some of the meetings! Is it enough? Nowhere near, neither is the conversation! But it's many many times better than what Labour are, or aren't doing.

Maybe! But do you think it's better to stand on a platform of opposition or stand up to be counted in the conversation? I know what sort of party and MP i'd want to be and which should get my vote. Who cares! Set an agenda of solutions because you understand policies and the campaigning will take care of itself, especially if you're Labour! That's basically how Corbyn finally achieved his platform, because others didn't co-operate! Even his party! Plus, compromise lifted so many people out of income tax, stimulated apprenticeships and delivered pupil premiums, but heck, what's cooperation worth when you can be anti-Conservative instead.

There's a strong element of truth to that but so what? Their job is fix the country, not cement their careers! For the many not the few indeed! Whatever side of the house, spectrum or debate you are, if you can't co-operate during Brexit (and don't want to), then you really should get punished by the electorate.

I don't see the relevance unless you care less about policy than politics? Why argue who is the bigger prat when we should be solving problems? You can say 'begging' if you like but it would be very helpful if Brexit conversations got cross-party support. Other parties have tried to get those meetings together (and we've had some successful ones) but Labour seem particularly disengaged and their ministers don't appear to know a thing. Maybe they do, but it would be nice if they showed that instead of saying stupid things like 'the conservatives are begging for policies" Good job we have this new type of politics eh!

What's happened? I hope you're not talking about May asking for Brexit contribution from other parties?

In part, it requires predicting future/identifying existing market opportunities and supporting them accordingly. It could be through direct access to investment finance, regulatory change, procurement or other. When we wanted to lower VAT for green deal products the European Court of Justice ruled against us. That impacted our high tech design industry who in the advent of technical changes to manufacturing, both in the supply and manufacturing process, we not able to invest in British made/designed products. Consumers were also impacted as no good standard was established. This not only stifled an innovative sector we have been leaders in (Aston Uni for example) but impacted the employment opportunities within that field. We also saw good wind companies being bought by foreign investors as they couldn't find enough capital or investment here....in part due to a nervousness from Government about competition law. Being outside the EU we could encourage growth in very many industries, particularly with how the supply chain of components works internationally and the advent of something like 3D printing. But it's not just industry. New fisheries policy could simultaneously lower domestic prices and increase exports. Conservation projects (which we would need to have to manage fish stocks) would improve academic and tourist opportunities. Imo we have a very warped way of looking at rural and coastal communities contribution to the wider economy.. I understand it's a bit of a 'utopia' and it's a bloody difficult challenge but I feel we do have some great resources that in the modern world, could benefit both our domestic market/society and embrace many of the changes going on in the burgeoning economies. For whatever reason, and I don't always think it's the EU, I don't feel we've done a good enough job at supporting our natural resources....or even identifying what they are!