andyjsg

No, no and no. I swear I write one thing and you read another. What I said is that we shouldnt be held to ransom by Sarkosy, that we shouldnt be in a position where finance work can be done cheaper in asia, hence the "worldwide" part of the tax. I agree with it if it is worldwide, we need to be competitive, I really dont understand why you dont understand that. Aon for example are moving their HQ here within the next couple of years, this will create more jobs and more tax, surely this is what we want? I have issues with the Public Sector due to the amount of waste and high cost for what are essentially poor quality public services. I agree with effeciencies being brought in to fix the overhead. I think in a lot of cases they are unavoidable....

Oh no!!! I'm gonna have to drug him :-)

That makes no sense whatsoever. So are you really saying we should not have a minimum wage because Cambodia is able to offer a few pence per hour? Nope, I'm saying we can't compete, end of. Are you aware of what the Robin Hood tax is all about? Investment into the country is fine and dandy as long as it is not at the expense of others. Trading in Chinese currency etc through London potentially would increase funds into here (I would have thought that other financial markets would also look at this method), but to achieve this we surely do not need to pander to the financial world (again) and remove any blame for the mess the world already finds itself in because a lot of their actions? I wonder when we will here the next instalment of "they will move their business overseas" as some sort of justification? Fully aware of what its about but I believe it has to be worldwide and yes I do believe "they will move their business overseas" is a full justification. Whilst you point out the many public sector jobs that are lost it seems perfectly acceptable to you that those in the financial sector loose their jobs. I have a lowly job in an Insurance Company so I should loose my job to fit your ideology?

Many congrats, look forward to no sleep.... Im 7 weeks in now and things are improving sleep-wise but might be a while before a whole night.

I'm not, but little we can do to compete with places like Cambodia. Lot's of that going on recently isnt there :-) I think the Robin Hood Tax is good but only if worldwide, Im suprised you dont actually agree with the Tories stance on this. You may say they are protecting their mates, but they are also protecting a large amount of income for the country. Personally I think all the finance industry needs is more regulation.

So you are happy to basically break the law? I cant condone breaking the law, but using the tax system to your own advantage maybe. My main job I pay normal tax like anybody else but for my private work I use the system to suit my needs as I think Im getting taxed more than enough already.

I guess we can find some things to manufacture but unfortunately people wont work at the rates of some far eastern countries and will end up going on strike after 5 minutes anyway. Also when we make cheaper stuff like Rovers it ends up being god awful and nobody wants to buy it. Of course we can make the high quality stuff but the only people who can afford it are the same people who most on here want to burn on a cross, so maybe that one is out too. Or we could provide financial services for the rest of the world....

You sure about that? I think the credit agencies disagree with you. Also I see Ed Balls has woken up and smelt the coffee regarding cuts, only a year late to waking up to reality. So I assume you all disagree with your own party now?

I get this too on my right knee. I find using a foam roller and rolling my IT bands help. Hurts like hell mind but certainly helps. Back to running properly again tonight, been half-arsed last couple of months since moving and Mrs having baby. Noticed the trousers are getting tight again and I still have a Triathlon to complete in September, so training starts in earnest.

:-) - priceless Lost me completely is what you are trying to justify now. On one hand you can't use hindsight and then on the other it's perfectly right to do so? Again your justification for (IMO) the failing policies of the Tory party (endorsed by Glegg) is that you say "ahhh but Labour" "Balls would have done .....". The question re Ireland was a valid one in that as Gideon has said they are a key part of the UK economy, and they have followed / been forced to go through a series of major cutbacks. The results of these seem to be negative in terms of its result according to the recent figures, and as such the question should be asked is this the best way forward and can other countries learn from this apparently failed idea. Agree? It's funny how people say "Ball's would have done this...." "Ball's would have done that ....", and then use this as some sort of fact that it would have happened. Correct me if I am wrong but was Ed Balls the Chancellor? Does Gvmt policy (assuming Labour had remained in power) then have to follow what Ed Balls put forward as an idea - despite it being different to nearly all the other Labour party leaders? What about the views published today by Milliband about how the approach to deficit reduction should be carried out? Maybe the reality would have been a phased / slower paced approach with targets rather than the weak and vulnerable like we see now, but the stronger in the society, those who can take the pain a bit more? Bit of a plan B don't you think? I think "Ball's would have done this...." is the same as any ideological comment about what the Tories do and dont want to do. In the end it is all speculation from both sides on what the other would have done or is doing. I think he would of just kept it going the way it was or even worse as thats what he said he would do. It's only now that Ed has realised that people have seen through the empty policies and that he has to come up with something or find himself under a few votes of confidence in the coming months. I still think the government is doing what they can. It doesnt help when the Unions attempt ridiculous demands when their mates arent in power anymore. I would like Cameron to crush the Unions but he wont do that. I would like them to fix the welfare state but again they are fiddling with it to keep the perception that they are doing good rather than just getting on with it. I think things like HS2 (a Labour plan originally) are a great idea (see that I praise the Labour party) to create jobs and at the same time improve public services. I think they should be doing more things like this to keep our own economy moving forward and get people working.

This was just a comment on some the links used for fact, whilst I use the evening standard. Big paper here in London, on a number of occassions those of the left leaning persuasion have used random bloggist of which one was convinced he was being watched by the CIA. I was taking the piss. The article made me smile as Ken automatically gave an excuse to not trying out coding. It was an irrelevant and jovial attack on labour. I was not being serious.... I think this will just end up being an ideological arguement. I think the Tories arent perfect but they are steadying the ship and have successfully stopped a run on the country unlike what has happened to even the bigger players in europe (France close to losing credit rating despite the economy being in better condition than ours). I also believe that a lot of people struglling financially have put themselves into the position so have little sympathy. I also belive there are skilled jobs out there but people are to lazy to learn to do these tasks.

Eh? Again what the hell are you talking about? - Labour had published plans (in its manifesto), the Tories had published plans even the Lib Dems had plans. Maybe you subscribe to the Tory Plan A = only plan approach that Gideon and Cameron are taking? Maybe you can contribute by justifying how that is working? What do you think of the reports from Ireland about how they approached dealing with their deficit? What do you think about Gideon's complete U turn when talking about the Irish economy? - You know some of the real things in this thread not some made up stuff Manifesto's are complete bollox, if you havent learnt that by now you are even more naive than you seem. I think we can safely say that in hindsight it is easy to talk about what the parties thought about the boom year and in the end all parties were pretty much wrong (apart from Cable - on one of his many predictions - if you throw enough shit and all that). As you seem to have chosen to ignore others comments I dont know why I need to type it out again. Summary, Ireland is under tough financial sactions from europe which is making it difficult for them. If we had followed Balls position we would have ended up in the same place and having our cuts chosen by the lenders. But I guess you will ignore it again, so why did I bother?

Nope my point was about hypocrisy, Im not sure it was that hard to fathom out. Really, Im pretty sure you were the one comparing and I was saying you cant compare, school playground analogies with bare faced racism. I have no idea where you went off to here, I didnt use the word "conspiracy" I used thewword "conspiracist" which makes the whole statement very different do you not think? You should really learn to read things..... As for the stamp duty thing http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/politics/article-24025519-osborne-will-take-on-stamp-duty-dodgers.do Because I question your ideals and thoughts? Again you went on the attack, proved my point nicely. As for the Boris thing, it made me smile which is why I posted the link, it makes me smile that Bloomberg and Boris were willing to give coding a go and Livingstone made excuses as to why he couldn't. Sounds like someone from the Labour party to me.

What bollox. You state that as if it were fact and as some sort of poor justification for your views. Labour had different plans of dealing with the debt issues that the UK face and these plans were arguably more adaptable than the Tory ones when dealing with ever changing world conditions. Again though funny how the justification for the Tory heavy handed cuts is to say "ahhh but Labour". It's becoming quite tiresome now, it's as though the Tory supporters realise they what is happening with Gideon et al is actually pretty crap I assume by "different" you mean "none"?

Not quite, but certainly more centre ground than red Ed. That's what made Nu Labour sort of electable....

Also why have a go at Boris, at least he wants to challenge himself unlike Ken http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16440126

Yes you did say that she was a racist. Who else were you talking about if not Abbott? Flashman Cameron is an accusation that many, and not just Labour supporters, hold. He has a record of it that stretches back a while now. When you then see that his fellow Bullingdon members Gideon and Boris both have similar experiences of such behaviour there is a common link that cannot be ignored. (Note: Interesting when Boris used the Tourettes "joke" a couple of times Cameron insisted that he apologise - nice going Dave!). These people are at the top of the Tory party and as PM, Chancellor and Mayor of London have far more responsibility to behave than you would expect from a backbench MP. That is not excusing Abbott at all before you jump on any high horse, Abbott often is a complete idiot with her words and actions and as said previously considering her opportunity to influence as a black woman in a high profile place in society, it's one serious opportunity missed. As MereGreen pointed out, Cameron for all his spin and his attempts to suppress what is quite a nasty vindictive side fails and we see the real Cameron out there, usually quickly followed by a swift PR led apology. The Tory party have for a long time held the title of being "the nasty party", actions and behaviour we see from it's leadership show that the title is still fitting quite snugly on their heads Nope, again another Labour supporter reads what they want to. I did not say she was racist, I said she made a racist comment, these are two mutually exclusive statements wether you think so or not. As I clarified, I think she is an idiot. Do you think you can compare Abbot's comment to Cameron's? You seriously think they are the same? It is like saying Boris Johnson plays football like somebody with one leg. So should all amputees be offended by that comment? Again you use lots of "they say", "they are called" etc and then when you provide an example it is usually from some left wing conspiracist. Anytime anything positive comes out for example Osbourne closing loopholes for stamp duty (something Labour didn't do in their 13 years) you ignore it or state it as lies. I find in debate sometimes it is good to be open-minded rather than constantly on the attack....

I always love how labour supporters use interpretation to assume what Cameron is thinking or doing without actually knowing. But when it comes to one of their own making racist comments they ignore it as a mistake and not what they are really thinking. Hypocrisy alive and well on the left.... Yes WOW - you got it right Dianne Abbot is certainly a right wing racist...! As ever missing the point (and getting it very wrong in the process, been taking lessons from Ed I see) and if anything clarifying it. I didn't actually say Diane Abbot is a racist (a hypocritical idiot maybe), I said that Labour supporters seem to read what they want to read (like you just did) rather than what is actually said.

I always love how labour supporters use interpretation to assume what Cameron is thinking or doing without actually knowing. But when it comes to one of their own making racist comments they ignore it as a mistake and not what they are really thinking. Hypocrisy alive and well on the left....

This times a million

This made me laugh alot. It's a conspiracy, it's a conspiracy... Do you think people follow you home and watch you?

Thanks!! :-) A boy, we are calling him "Blake"

My little future villa fan finally turned up last night

Today is due day but after what looked like a possible starter at 1:30am this morning has seemed to have quietened down since. Still choose to work from home just in case...

Wow you guys pay very cheap rent!!