tonyh29 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 1 hour ago, bickster said: Then we decided that every meeting held in the building had to be open to both sexes. they should get you to organise the UAE's gender equality awards .... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 31, 2019 Moderator Share Posted January 31, 2019 2 minutes ago, tonyh29 said: they should get you to organise the UAE's gender equality awards .... The policy had one other effect... properly pissed off the Womens Group Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 The masons should be banned. Crooked bastards and an old boy's club with links to the law. Just a construction industry gang that looks respectable 'cos they tell us they do work for charity. Thieves and fraudsters. In my humble experience of them. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 16 hours ago, bickster said: The policy had one other effect... properly pissed off the Womens Group There was a women's group and women's room at Birmingham University, but nothing equivalent for us bloody blokes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted February 1, 2019 Moderator Share Posted February 1, 2019 4 minutes ago, Risso said: There was a women's group and women's room at Birmingham University, but nothing equivalent for us bloody blokes. My niece probably still uses it, she describes herself as "an activist", I describe her as a fat selfish stupid cow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 I seem to recall that the only people who used it were obnoxious Millie Tant types. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 poor men, victims again. Did the men band together and lobby for one? Seems like if they put the effort in, there would have been no fair reason not to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted February 1, 2019 Moderator Share Posted February 1, 2019 22 minutes ago, Rodders said: poor men, victims again. Did the men band together and lobby for one? Seems like if they put the effort in, there would have been no fair reason not to do so. They had one, it was called the Masons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhatAboutTheFinish Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 On 31/01/2019 at 19:23, chrisp65 said: Thieves and fraudsters. In my humble experience of them. Is this in your experience of not actually being a mason? Interested to hear some of your personal experiences with Masons, theft and fraud though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 Just now, WhatAboutTheFinish said: Is this in your experience of not actually being a mason? Interested to hear some of your personal experiences with Masons, theft and fraud though? This is in my experience of dealing with people that were in the masons, being briefly sounded out for the masons and more recently, observing the activities of people in the masons that happily talk about how it's helped them. I think maybe 33 years in and around the construction industry, dealing with Planners, getting grants and loans for projects etc has given me a good few anecdotes. I don't mean theft as in literally pinching stuff, I mean grants mis directed, quotes bumped up and subsequently approved by the people that advised they could be higher, knowing the inside line on when monies are available but not advertised until the favoured ones have had their applications sorted. Grubby self serving low level stuff perpetuated over decades that adds up to a lot of my money and yours going to the wrong places, £75, or £500, or £1,800 at a drip, drip, drip time. Ever found out that 'last week' the council were doing grants for new windows? Or the closing date for bids on something is 4:00pm today? Or been advised not to use the top road 'cos later today there are going to be drink drive spot checks? Like a corny crap old episode of a cop show. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 I know an ex Mason. He is a tattooed singer of a punk band. He calls them and their members words removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 (edited) On 01/02/2019 at 04:23, chrisp65 said: The masons should be banned. Crooked bastards and an old boy's club with links to the law. Just a construction industry gang that looks respectable 'cos they tell us they do work for charity. Thieves and fraudsters. In my humble experience of them. Edited February 2, 2019 by LondonLax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veloman Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 ^^^^^^ 'The Stone Cutters ' IIRC. Brilliant satire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 Rebel Labour MPs set to quit party and form centre group Quote A group of disaffected Labour MPs is preparing to quit the party and form a breakaway movement on the political centre ground amid growing discontent with Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership on Brexit and other key issues including immigration, foreign policy and antisemitism. The Observer has been told by multiple sources that at least six MPs have been drawing up plans to resign the whip and leave the party soon. There have also been discussions involving senior figures about a potentially far larger group splitting off at some point after Brexit, if Corbyn fails to do everything possible to oppose Theresa May’s plans for taking the UK out of the EU. Last night, three of the MPs widely rumoured to be involved in the plans for an initial breakaway – Angela Smith, Chris Leslie and Luciana Berger – refused to be drawn into talk of a split, and insisted they were focused on opposing Brexit. But they did not deny that moves could be made by the spring or early summer. Leslie described rumours of a breakaway as “speculation” but added: “A lot of people’s patience is being tested right now. I think there are some questions we are all going to have to face, especially if Labour enables Brexit.” ... more on link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Maybe one day some journalists might think to ask these 'rebels' why they haven't gone ahead and done this on any of the previous 150 times they've threatened to do it either. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted February 3, 2019 Moderator Share Posted February 3, 2019 1 hour ago, HanoiVillan said: Maybe one day some journalists might think to ask these 'rebels' why they haven't gone ahead and done this on any of the previous 150 times they've threatened to do it either. Its a question of who retains the brand and this is exactly the same as the situation with the Tory Party. It's about the brand and the party machinery that goes with it. That and in some cases like Berger, they are probably sick of the abuse they get with regards to the antisemitism issue. This also comes at a time when Labour's support in the younger age groups is plummeting (you know the ones that got Corbyn in, in the first place) due to the party's Brexit position and for the first time under St Jezza their finances have gone into the red, donations are drying up massively for the Labour Party. Peak Corbyn has been and gone and we're on the downslope of that bandwagon. This country is crying out for a centrist party (preferably left of), the two main parties have been driving fast to the extremes of their respective ideologies for the last five years or more. In some respects, I hope that the exact same thing happens to the Tory Party. We need more parties, we need rid of the two-party system, more parties can only lead to the death of FPTP in the HoC. The country needs a political revolution, not the sort with bloodshed on the streets but the sort with changes in our representative (yeah right) democracy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 (edited) 20 minutes ago, bickster said: That and in some cases like Berger, they are probably sick of the abuse they get with regards to the antisemitism issue. Luciana Berger is MP for Liverpool Wavertree and has a majority of 67%. It's one of the five safest Labour seats in the country. It is of course possible that she will leave the Labour party, and effectively end her political career, out of principle. But it's also not hard to see why she keeps not pulling the trigger here. In the end, the reason they all keep not actually starting a new party is because they can achieve the effect they're actually aiming for - some bad headlines for the leadership - by calling Toby Helm at the Observer and telling him that this time, they're really thinking about it, and every time he plonks it on the front page without question or any apparent investigation. Maybe one day they will all up and leave. But skepticism is the appropriate reaction, not credulity, when they've cried wolf so many times before (that's not meant as a dig at you, or at snowychap, who I don't think posted it in that spirit in the first place - it's firmly aimed at Toby Helm) 20 minutes ago, bickster said: This country is crying out for a centrist party (preferably left of), the two main parties have been driving fast to the extremes of their respective ideologies for the last five years or more. In some respects, I hope that the exact same thing happens to the Tory Party. We need more parties, we need rid of the two-party system, more parties can only lead to the death of FPTP in the HoC. The country needs a political revolution, not the sort with bloodshed on the streets but the sort with changes in our representative (yeah right) democracy There's a few points in this paragraph, and some of them I don't disagree with, but the first point, that the country is 'crying out for a centrist party' seems wrong on a number of levels. To believe that, you have to believe that there are a large number of people, large enough to be electorally meaningful, spread out across the country, who are desperate for someone to vote for and won't mind (probably) wasting a vote and who all agree that they won't vote for the Lib Dems and who will agree on the New Party's manifesto. It's true that there are loads and loads of people who like neither May nor Corbyn, and a smaller but still large number of people who like neither Labour nor Conservatives. But finding people who dislike a thing is easy; the challenge is to unite them in agreeing on lots of things. What would the new party's policy on immigration be? The last attempt at a new party decided that they would be in favour of immigration, because that would make them stand out. Then they focus-grouped the issue, and found out that being in favour of immigration was really unpopular, so they decided to change that policy. They did something similar with Brexit as well. In the end, it's not possible to conjure up an electorate for a new party. It would need to emerge organically out of a real, repressed desire among the actual electorate, and it just hasn't, and shows no signs of doing so either. Edited February 3, 2019 by HanoiVillan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted February 3, 2019 Moderator Share Posted February 3, 2019 3 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: Luciana Berger is MP for Liverpool Wavertree and has a majority of 67%. It's one of the five safest Labour seats in the country. It is of course possible that she will leave the Labour party, and effectively end her political career, out of principle. But it's also not hard to see why she keeps not pulling the trigger here. Erm you've made a big assumption that she won't be deselected. (moves has been suggested for some time) You'd also be unaware of the HUGE rift that's currently happening in the Liverpool Labour Party. As much as everyone jokes that you could pin a red rosette on a dog and it would win the seat, the Labour Party is in civil war in Liverpool and either faction could come out on top. Also don't underestimate Berger's name in the constituency, she is generally recognised as a very good constituency MP, the hate for her comes from inside the party not inside the community. There are an awful lot of people that are perplexed by Corbyn's Brexit stance, Liverpool loves Europe more than it loves Corbyn. Liverpool always has this knack or bucking the trends in the Labour Party. Don't count her out leaving and winning the seat. It would be an interesting contest to watch 11 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: that the country is 'crying out for a centrist party' seems wrong on a number of levels. To believe that, you have to believe that there are a large number of people, large enough to be electorally meaningful, spread out across the country, who are desperate for someone to vote for Yes I absolutely believe that, to not believe it is to wear blinkers and ear plugs You stick to your two-party state, the rest of the country aren't listening, the rest of the country are being completely turned off politics. They need something new to reignite them 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 3 minutes ago, bickster said: Erm you've made a big assumption that she won't be deselected. (moves has been suggested for some time) You'd also be unaware of the HUGE rift that's currently happening in the Liverpool Labour Party. As much as everyone jokes that you could pin a red rosette on a dog and it would win the seat, the Labour Party is in civil war in Liverpool and either faction could come out on top. Also don't underestimate Berger's name in the constituency, she is generally recognised as a very good constituency MP, the hate for her comes from inside the party not inside the community. There are an awful lot of people that are perplexed by Corbyn's Brexit stance, Liverpool loves Europe more than it loves Corbyn. Liverpool always has this knack or bucking the trends in the Labour Party. Don't count her out leaving and winning the seat. It would be an interesting contest to watch I disagree that she would be competitive if standing for a new party in that seat. We'll have to agree to disagree. 4 minutes ago, bickster said: Yes I absolutely believe that, to not believe it is to wear blinkers and ear plugs You stick to your two-party state, the rest of the country aren't listening, the rest of the country are being completely turned off politics. They need something new to reignite them Not quite sure why you've removed all the remaining list of impediments from my comment there, but of course if you pretend half of the obstacles don't exist it gets a lot easier to imagine. The idea that 'the rest of the country are being completely turned off politics' seems a strange one after an election with the highest turnout for twenty years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted February 3, 2019 Moderator Share Posted February 3, 2019 Just now, HanoiVillan said: I disagree that she would be competitive if standing for a new party in that seat. We'll have to agree to disagree. Just be honest you really wouldn't have a Scooby Doo if that was the case or not, so your disagreement is based on a chemical reaction upstairs and nothing else 2 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: Not quite sure why you've removed all the remaining list of impediments from my comment there, but of course if you pretend half of the obstacles don't exist it gets a lot easier to imagine. The truth is, I couldn't be arsed answering them, I was bored by then as you appear to be wedded to the two-party state, you are either happy with the status quo (which will never see the Tories out of power) or are in denial as to the possibilities of someone breaking through and smashing the current system 2 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: The idea that 'the rest of the country are being completely turned off politics' seems a strange one after an election with the highest turnout for twenty years. Yep after all those people who never bloody vote got off their arse for the first time in decades. When this is all over watch them return to type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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