SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS...
David Cameron's happiness survey shows that the average Brit rates himself or herself at 7.4 out of 10. I don't know where they did the survey but I reckon it might have been over lunch in Chipping Norton, don't you?
With temperatures set to reach 30 degrees in London, apparently trains will not be able to stop at Stratford (the McDonald's Olympic stop) because it is too hot!?!?! Makes you wonder how they manage to run trains in India or Thailand, doesn't it?
Another 1,200 troops have been deployed for the Cadbury Olympics, bringing the total to 18,200. Best not have another Olympics after this one. There just won't be enough troops. PS...are G4S supplying any people at all?
David Gauke, the tube of a minister who said it was morally wrong to pay tradesmen in cash, is, to trade a lawyer who worked for a company that specialised in "tax efficiency" (avoidance to you and me). His wife is employed in the same scam erm discipline. He also, flipped his homes and, co-incidentally I'm sure, managed to avoid paying stamp duty a few years ago. Pot, kettle.
I read that Theresa May has delayed any announcement about Gary McKinnon's extradition to America because she is...erm, busy with the security for the Coca Cola Olympics... Seriously. Apparently Olympics Security will be at the top of Mrs May's list until October or November, for some bizarre reason. Never mind the poor bloke then, he clearly doesn't count.
The Queen is having lunch with Cameron, Major, Brown and Blair today at Downing Street to celebrate her Jubilee (it seems Thatcher is no longer up to lunching in company). I'd say very nice for her, but there's not one of them I'd like to share lunch with. The real question is, why? There has already been a vast amount of celebration at huge expense for this jubilee, but to be fair, with the exception of private dinners for royalty from around the world, including murderous dictators, most of the celebrations have been for the public, and there are many people who like that kind of thing. But why this private lunch and who is paying for it?
Talking of prime ministers past, I noticed that there's a fund, set up by John Major, for giving ex-prime ministers funds to undertake official engagements. Last year Tony Blair Ltd claimed the maximum of £115,000, as did Major; Brown claimed £114,998.17 and most bizarre of all, Thatcher claimed £109,191. Seeing that, due to ill health, she doesn't carry out any engagements at all, I find that a little worrying. I also wonder Blair had time to carry out official engagements for Britain, busy as he is with making loadsamoney... and as Brown doesn't have time to turn up in parliament, I'm not sure what he's been doing for our benefit. The allowance is totally secret and was not subject to scrutiny like MPs expenses. Congratulations to Pete Wishart for asking that it be made more open to scrutiny.
tris
ReplyDeleteNice to see a post mentioning Prime ministers(the most senior political position in the great wonderful and ever enduring United Kingdom).
Without nary a nod to the First Fat Man of the snp...........
Most refreshing.
and as for Pete pish hard daring by god daring to ask for more scrutiny whilst the snp are evading/hiding/concealing as much from the Scottish people as ever the snp scum accused others of doing.
Now go on tris turn cart wheels place head up ar@E and tell the viewership it just aint so
http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/politics/holyrood-criticised-for-withholding-information-1-2424894
A spokeswoman for the commissioner said: “The commissioner’s decision expresses disappointment that the ministers continued to seek to exempt the information in its entirety throughout her investigation, despite a 2007 Court of Session ruling which considered and rejected a similar blanket approach.”
How's the nepotism going at GCC Niko and have they found those 50 missing lap tops yet? GB will not be happy as Mrs T, his idol, will not be at the jolly crony get together.
ReplyDeleteThat happiness index seems to link Labour controlled areas as the most disenfranchised strange that.
Well Niko, the post was about the Queen having lunch with her English ministers, not Scottish or Australian ones, not Canadian or Jamaican ones.
ReplyDeleteMr Salmond, unlike Mr Brown, Mr Blair, Mr Major and Mrs Thatcher, is not prime minister, nor is he a past prime minister. So I wonder why you think he would be invited to Camergoon's bash for prime minister and ex prime ministers .
The Queen entertains or is entertained by the First Minister when she is in Scotland, when she was in Ireland she met with the FM and DFM, when she is in Wales....same thing.
I just wonder if brown and Blair managed not to tear each others' hair out. I see Blair gets on well with Mr Cameron though... very close. Blair may come back as a Tory if you guys don't want a war criminal in your party. God knows the Tories aren't fussy.
As for the totally unbiased reporting in the Hootsman, that well known Labour tabloid... Jeez.
I quote: 'A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the Commissioner’s decision and are complying with her findings.” '
I wonder if Labour could possibly say the same.
As for your mate, Cameron, despite having come to power proclaiming themselves as the most transparent government since Casper the Friendly Ghost, would you call them open?
Just a wee word of query...maybe you know the answer to this Niko. Why is it that the Scotsman go to that liberal blokey for a quote. I mean the man leads 4 MSPs...hardly a major party.
Why not ask Patrick Harvie, or more importantly, Ruth Davidson. Fair does, she'll blether a load of sh*t, but at least she represents a few people in Scotland.
Or is it that they can guarantee that no matter what the subject the Liberal bloke will have something bitter, twisted and angry to say about absolutely anything the SNP does. Don't need to even tell him what the subject is, just give him a call, and say: "would you like to say something disparaging about the SNP?" He's bound to oblige.
Ah CH. Might be because of the misery of living in a long term Labour voting area, where the party enriches itself (The Noble Lord Martin for example) while leaving the people to live in ever greater poverty.
ReplyDeleteYou think about what having a Speaker as your MP means. Every minister will fall over themselves to oblige him... and yet the only people who got rich out of that slug's speakership were himself, his wife, their cleaner and his "Honourable" son, auld lang face himself, whining little aristocrat that he is.
Then, despite the lords made it clear that they didn't want him because he was a disgrace to Westminster (and God knows that saying something) the ghastly man took his elevation and slithered along to the upper house to further pollute it with his fiddling.
Meanwhile I've driven through his constituency... and it was far less agreeable than a drive I took through the back streets of Tirana.
No, you wouldn't be happy living in a forsaken dump like that, but when your MP and your MSP don't give a damn...what do you do>?
I see the happiest place was an SNP constituency.
There are more Troops on the streets of London than the streets of Afghanistan - 'FACT' as David Brent would say.
ReplyDeleteThis guy David Gauke (some people would be better off with a number for a name) has a dodge knocked off brass neck.
ReplyDeleteIf I were this toad whose trade is ducking and weaving around the tax system, I would have been mim about drawing attention to myself especially with his "form.
Why would this inanity come out with this insanity and more particularily, at this time. What time, you say?
This time.
A new report published this week by the Tax Justice Network says that between $21 trillion and $32 trillion has been stashed offshore by around 10 million of the richest people in the developing world.
Either he is seeking his 15 minutes of fame and hoping to advance his political career, which is risible, or he has another agenda, such as deflection on his mind.
So in order to deflect interest from the core corruption which is the basis of this Westminster Executive, he pops up this shite and, dutifully and timed to a dog whistle, the MSM, BBC, Skye etc go apeshit with handmade headlines,megatweetfests galore, phone ins and spitting image type "experts"
It is not illegal or morally wrong to pay cash for anything. Hint here, Tesco will take cash for Champagne purchases. Cash payment is not illegal or morally wrong, it is all about what the recipient does with it the that problem lies.
However to oput this into context, of our how much money did the Westminster Executive give to the criminal bankers to bail out their morally wrong gambling debts? That is all OK because they are too big to fail and too difficult to prosecute and anyway they bung loadsamoney to fund our democracy, corrupt our legal processes and have turned our news estate into a well oiled propaganda machine.
Deflection and obfuscation, swiftly followed by Bread and Circuses.
Time for revolution, but I fear that within the UK this cannot happen; the English are really very docile.
Scotland on the other hand shorn of the Westminster Executive just could.
2014, bring it on.
Morally bankrupt politician tells other people they are morally wrong to pay trades-people in cash.
ReplyDeleteSeriously?
No, but really?
Oh my, he was being serious...
I'll be honest, I do most work required myself if it crops up but now, I'm going to get someone in to do it and I might (as in definitely will) insist that they do it off the books.
Its like they're actually trying to be crap, the entire edifice is coming apart and they wheel out some witless cock to utter something daft in the hope it'll deflect attention?
Anyone in Scotland still in any doubt about how to answer the referendum question in 2014, must surely be unswayable at this point. I mean to say, what would you have to do beyond what's already going on to persuade people?
It doesn't matter how smug you think Alex Salmond is or how nannying the SNP poplicies are, they can't be as (and have at least demonstrated themselves not to be as) crap as the coalition currently fucking things up down south are.
The mind boggles.
I see, Anon, that they wanted the troops to wear tracksuits rather than their army fatigues, because they were a bit worried that it looked like the place was some sort of military state.
ReplyDeleteFortunately the troops, or presumably their management said, no.
But wouldn't it have been a coup for Coca cola to have the army wearing tracksuits that advertised their gut rot.
Yes Wolfie, weird name... weird bloke.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea about why he would have thought it smart to draw attention to tax avoidance when he was, and his wife is, a tax avoidance lawyer.
I can see no reason to want to remind people that he avoided tax in the form of stamp duty, by flipping his homes.
That is what worries me. Is he so stupid he can't make a connection. If so what on earth is he doing in a ministerial position?
Or is he such a wing nut that he thinks that it's ok for him to lecture us about this, but it doesn't apply to people like him.
For fear of a tradesman somewhere coming out and dropping them right in it, Cameron, Clegg and Osborne have all admitted paying cash, whilst stressing that they NEVER thought about getting a discount of avoiding tax. Heavens no. As if!
But if you boil this sort of thing down, where does the line come.
Bob a Job? money put into a charity tin? How do you know that tax is paid on it?
What about if your cousin paints the spare room for you and you take him for a few pints. Should he pay tax on the night out?
What about pocket money given to your lad for washing the car and cutting the lawn?
Why don't smart asses like Gauke shut up?
They are there to make laws in parliament and run their departments. I don't want David Cameron's or David Gauke's lectures on morality. That is not their function.
Their morality is a long way from mine in any case.
Unfortunately Pa, that is what happens when a really hated government (and in Scotland one wished upon you by other people's votes), gives, totally unasked for and unwanted moral guidance.
ReplyDeleteWe go out of our way to make sure that we do not take it.
I usually do decorating kind of things myself. The one time when I got a bloke in, I did pay him cash...no questions asked. I certainly have mates who do car type things, or shelf putting up kind of things for me... and I in return am happy to help them with their gardens, or decorating. Should we all be paying tax on these services?
Like you, if I need to use a real tradesman I will from now always propose a cash deal.
You're bang on. It doesn't matter if you can't stand Salmond. That's not important. He won't always be there.
You have to be able to see that being bossed around by the likes of Gauke, Cameron, Osborne, Hunt and all the other privileged, never done a proper day's work in their lives, Tories has to stop.
I seriously can't imagine any self respecting Scot saying "I dislike being told what to do by these self righteous Tory hypocrites, but a fat smug Scot would be FAR worse".
Tris
ReplyDeletePeople like Gauke are not be allowed to sound off about policies and other controversial points without having them vetted by further up the food chain.
Either Gauke was given the nod or he was not. If he was not Cameron is even more hopelessly disfuctional as a leader than I thought. What was even more hootable was that Gauke shows evidence that he is as hopelessly disfunctional as Cameron. That could well be it, the Lord Snooty Oxford class honours in political nous.
Wolfie: Of the fact that Cameron is dysfunctional, there can surely be no doubt. I'm straining to remember one thing that he has got right... not one thing that I APPROVE of... that would be nearly impossible to find, just something he didn't cock up.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing.
From day one he's managed to get everything wrong.
Could be bad luck i suppose, more likely to be what I said klong ago, and what dean critiocised me strongly for.
A guy who is not very bright but got where he got because of his money and his connections, and who thought that being prime minister was lunching with the Queen and waving from big cars ... being called sir and "prime minister" and getting a seat in the lords after.
A stupid man has to appoint stupid deputies, otherwise he is continually outshone.
But for me he can stick around until we are independent.
Oops it seems that someone raised the South Korean flag for North Korea at Hampden one can just read the headlines 'The separatists accused of diplomatic blunder'. Where is Dean by the way is he having a sabbatical?
ReplyDeleteNico,
ReplyDeletePerhaps you can tell us what the UK Government and its allies had to hide when David Milliband, who I believe has a brother, refused to release details of the Lockerbie trial in case it had an adverse affect on international relations. Did the 2007 hearing play any part in that decision?
I'm always amazed, but not surprised that the Tories, who you previously hated with a vengeance, are now your allies in the Better Together cabal without a word of protest from you bearing in mind that the Tories are the curse of the working class and that the Labour party are the party of the working class.
Toe the line, Niko, touch the old forelock and doff the cap when your masters call for you to do their bidding. After decades, stay on your knees and eat the crumbs from the ruling party's tables.
I've just posted on it CH.
ReplyDeleteI dare say it will be the fault of the evil SNP, at least in the mind of the BBC, and the Unionist press.
They'll be employing every journo to see if they can find something that can lead them back to Alex Salmond, king of darkness.
BTW, there is another Facebook page Trade Unionists for Independence..
They are springing up all the time now.
John. My mum was talking about you tonight...
ReplyDeleteLabour supporters are happy eat crumbs it seems. It's all they ever got from their own leaders as people like Tony Blair swept up everything he could lay his hands on and put it into his Swiss bank account.
What does it matter if they eat Tory crumbs. Maybe they will develop a taste for crumb of pheasant and oyster.
And it's ok if the Labour party hides information... I might mention the Crone Report... It's only when the SNP does it that it becomes wrong.