The Politics Thread

[Finnaldo]

36 minutes ago, Strokes said:

Oh god, I remember him. Wasn't he the one who was outed as a massive racist?

 

Just a bit  reading that back again I'd never heard of the 'Steadfast Trust' that he wanted to teach children the "English culture" they weren't learning at school, so I decided to take a look...

 

"The Steadfast Trust is a far-right English organisation (formerly a registered charity) devoted to supporting people of Anglo-Saxon descent, working in association with various English nationalist outfits such as the Anglo-Saxon Foundation, the English Shieldwall, BNP, NF and British KKK."

 

 

[Strokes]

1 hour ago, Finnaldo said:

 

Just a bit  reading that back again I'd never heard of the 'Steadfast Trust' that he wanted to teach children the "English culture" they weren't learning at school, so I decided to take a look...

 

"The Steadfast Trust is a far-right English organisation (formerly a registered charity) devoted to supporting people of Anglo-Saxon descent, working in association with various English nationalist outfits such as the Anglo-Saxon Foundation, the English Shieldwall, BNP, NF and British KKK."

 

 

Crikey 

[Lionator]

2 hours ago, Thracian said:

Given that Brexit discussions will involve lots of people for a lot of time when and how would you suggest any Government in the current situation might reveal or introduce benefit changes.

 

Front page, back page, on the inside or by leaflet, you seem to find the changes quickly enough. And that's despite it being a limited market in terms of news value. News carries fast enough where benefits are concerned with leaflets everywhere in appropriate places. 

 

Do I really want to buy a national newspaper to learn that there's been a two per cent reduction is some obscure benefit? No. The proper place for that is in the doctor's surgery, on the care home notice board or even the internet.

    

Let's hope you never end up disabled as I'm sure you'd be shouting from the rooftops if the government cut access to help improve your life.

[Finnaldo]

1 hour ago, Strokes said:

Crikey 

 

I know  I have no problem debating with some of the conservative posters on this forum e.g. You, Webbo, MattP etc. but whilst people like digitalalba are allowed their opinion, at the end of the day it's bloody daft isn't it?

[Webbo]

5 minutes ago, Finnaldo said:

 

I know  I have no problem debating with some of the conservative posters on this forum e.g. You, Webbo, MattP etc. but whilst people like digitalalba are allowed their opinion, at the end of the day it's bloody daft isn't it?

I hate banning anyone for their opinions but iIrc I did ban digital alba.

[Sharpe's Fox]

Pound shop Thatcher is a proper chest beating bible humper and it's right weird like

[Finnaldo]

1 minute ago, Webbo said:

I hate banning anyone for their opinions but iIrc I did ban digital alba.

 

 

I know you're pretty fair with opinions and viewpoints as well, guess it's fine lines though when it comes to those kind of views.

[Rincewind]

2 hours ago, Thracian said:

Given that Brexit discussions will involve lots of people for a lot of time when and how would you suggest any Government in the current situation might reveal or introduce benefit changes.

 

Front page, back page, on the inside or by leaflet, you seem to find the changes quickly enough. And that's despite it being a limited market in terms of news value. News carries fast enough where benefits are concerned with leaflets everywhere in appropriate places. 

 

Do I really want to buy a national newspaper to learn that there's been a two per cent reduction is some obscure benefit? No. The proper place for that is in the doctor's surgery, on the care home notice board or even the internet.

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

         

    

A  £20 drop in income mat seem insignificant to you but to a disabled person struggling to pay bills it is a big drop.

But hey why worry about it. It is probably their own fault anyway.

[Thracian]

3 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Let's hope you never end up disabled as I'm sure you'd be shouting from the rooftops if the government cut access to help improve your life.

D'you reckon?

You clearly don't know me. 

 

[Nick]

1 minute ago, Thracian said:

D'you reckon?

You clearly don't know me. 

 

 

And with the horrible, inflammatory, fisher price, hate crap politics you post, who'd want to?

[Thracian]

2 minutes ago, Rincewind said:

A  £20 drop in income mat seem insignificant to you but to a disabled person struggling to pay bills it is a big drop.

But hey why worry about it. It is probably their own fault anyway.

I'm struggling to see what reference to the changes has to do with my view that there's no need to put the story on the front pages. 

My mother is 94, disabled, and still lives in and looks after her own house.  My disabled mother-in-law was the same until she died in her bed just before Christmas, aged 92. They just got on with it.

If they needed help they asked the family. If they'd needed benefit assistance, fine,

But they still wouldn't have expected to source the appropriate information on a national newspaper's front page.

You're just being political again. I often wonder why you don't become a professional activist. You'd earn the £20 you mention, plus extras, and could probably afford to give the rest away to others you care about. Win/win.             

[Rincewind]

1 hour ago, Lionator said:

Let's hope you never end up disabled as I'm sure you'd be shouting from the rooftops if the government cut access to help improve your life.

The point I was making was that not everybody has internet access or capable of using a PC or even able to searching various places for leaflets. They will receive letters out of the blue saying their working tax credits is being stopped. 

While people are talking about Brexit important as it is, they are not talking about other things that may affect theirs or others lives. It is effectively sneaking things through the backdoor when nobody is looking. They could have brought a law in banning over 70's driving on motorways and nobody would know. I bet some would not like that on here.

[Rincewind]

Never mind. I tried and failed. Footy time. I Don't just dislike Tory MP's. I just distrust more of them than the rest.

[Thracian]

1 hour ago, Lionator said:

Let's hope you never end up disabled as I'm sure you'd be shouting from the rooftops if the government cut access to help improve your life.

 

Actually, my wife did end up temporarily disabled after open heart surgery that was necessitated, in our view, by NHS neglect.

After the operation she wanted to continue working and get herself fit again. We applied for a parking permit.

Had we lied we could probably have got one but we didn't.

Big mistake but one that made me pretty cynical about the truthfulness of other claimants.

So after doing two jobs for most of my 50 years of working life and my wife having worked most of her adult life too, we couldn't get so much as a (temporary) parking permit from a system which you think I should "shout from the rooftops" complaining about.

Well, I can assure you I wouldn't demean myself.

Not now or ever again if I, or my family, can possibly help it.

  

[Thracian]

22 minutes ago, Rincewind said:

The point I was making was that not everybody has internet access or capable of using a PC or even able to searching various places for leaflets. They will receive letters out of the blue saying their working tax credits is being stopped. 

While people are talking about Brexit important as it is, they are not talking about other things that may affect theirs or others lives. It is effectively sneaking things through the backdoor when nobody is looking. They could have brought a law in banning over 70's driving on motorways and nobody would know. I bet some would not like that on here.

By the time Sadiq Khan and a few others have finished we won't have anywhere we're can drive into for free, even in our own sodding country.  

[Nick]

10 minutes ago, Thracian said:

By the time Sadiq Khan and a few others have finished we won't have anywhere we're can drive into for free, even in our own sodding country.  

 

What's 'our own country' got to do with anything you daft racist?

[Finnaldo]

Funny how a congestion charge is total outrage but a benefits slash is absolutely fine. Opinions, eh.

[Rincewind]

Sometimes you have to speak up for rights or the bureaucrats and those in power will walk all over you.

Apathy does not help you. 

[Thracian]

4 hours ago, Finnaldo said:

Funny how a congestion charge is total outrage but a benefits slash is absolutely fine. Opinions, eh.

You and Rincey seem perfectly capable of making enough noise about benefits to speak for an entire nation.

 

I'm more concerned about politicians not accepting responsibility for the consequences of their own bad advice and irresponsibility.

 

There should be a peaceful protest affecting every city this injustice is to be affected. And compensation for all involved. Outrageous is exactly the word. 

 

 

    

[Jon the Hat]

17 hours ago, Finnaldo said:

 

This was brilliant, basically just an expanded country fayre, the sort of thing that only people 60+ would attend. He just couldn't get his head around the idea that very, very few people would find it interesting yet alone pull themselves over to Abbey Park to participate  

Its worse that that.  It is stupid.  The stuff on his list happens all over the country all the time. Country / May fairs, Medieval Jousts / Open days at Castles (kids love it, and there is a beer tent!)  Food festivals celebrating and promoting local food and drink, as well as countless farmers & produce markets.  Shakespeare?  I reckon there are one or two of his pays on around the place now and then.  Football on the big screen.  The only thing we dont routinely come across thankfully is the racist propaganda.

[Jon the Hat]

8 hours ago, Thracian said:

You and Rincey seem perfectly capable of making enough noise about benefits to speak for an entire nation.

 

I'm more concerned about politicians not accepting responsibility for the consequences of their own bad advice and irresponsibility.

 

There should be a peaceful protest affecting every city this injustice is to be affected. And compensation for all involved. Outrageous is exactly the word.     

To be fair Thrac, given we know that diesel particulates are killing people in major cities, it would be criminal not to do something dramatic to stop most people driving diesel into central London.  The fact that they are in parallel ducking the blame for everyone driving them in the first place doesn't change that. 

 

If the government seriously wanted to change this they would jack up the tax on Diesel company vehicles, vans etc.

[SMX11]

Unitended consequences by government once again. Their obsession with CO2 overlooked the real problem with the real pollutants, not entirely sure what is the least harmful way of sorting this issue though as those affected with these taxes will be the poorest.

[leicsmac]

3 hours ago, SMX11 said:

Unitended consequences by government once again. Their obsession with CO2 overlooked the real problem with the real pollutants, not entirely sure what is the least harmful way of sorting this issue though as those affected with these taxes will be the poorest.

 

I'm pretty sure that history shows a lack of regulation regarding pollutants hasn't worked particularly well either.

 

It's not rocket science - advancement based on mutual self-interest and therefore self-regulation doesn't work when the (possibly really, really dire) consequences are so far away (possibly more than a lifetime) as to appear abstract to the individuals involved.

[SMX11]

22 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

I'm pretty sure that history shows a lack of regulation regarding pollutants hasn't worked particularly well either.

 

It's not rocket science - advancement based on mutual self-interest and therefore self-regulation doesn't work when the (possibly really, really dire) consequences are so far away (possibly more than a lifetime) as to appear abstract to the individuals involved.

I am not against regulation/taxes of externalities such as Nox and particulates assuming it is not excessive. The problem usually is the fact the government does something without thinking of secondary of tertiary effects, or even worse, the regulation gets captured by big business or other special interest groups and tailor it to their liking. Who do you think pushed diesel engines?

[leicsmac]

8 minutes ago, SMX11 said:

I am not against regulation/taxes of externalities such as Nox and particulates assuming it is not excessive. The problem usually is the fact the government does something without thinking of secondary of tertiary effects, or even worse, the regulation gets captured by big business or other special interest groups and tailor it to their liking. Who do you think pushed diesel engines?

 

Business being in bed with government on a matter like this is of course a massive issue, because the regs then mean jack. There does have to be clear distance between them.

 

However, my point is there has to be at least some regulation of some kind that has teeth, and the only organisation that is big enough to take on the kind of businesses that pollute on a wide scale tends to be government. If there's another way to enforce, I'd love to hear it.