tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post5214894998171720552..comments2023-12-20T19:39:29.865+00:00Comments on Munguin's Republic: YOU CAN DO IT WITHOUT B&QING ITMunguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16475165830302054002noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-91202974168444488802016-03-24T14:36:29.180+00:002016-03-24T14:36:29.180+00:00That's not how policy making in the SNP works,...That's not how policy making in the SNP works, policy is put forward by individuals at branch level, then on to constituency association level, then national level at conference.<br />At each stage there is an open and free vote, no rich benefactors to appease; at any stage.jimnarlenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04386665235191598525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-69303036378172954082016-03-24T14:19:42.314+00:002016-03-24T14:19:42.314+00:00Nope. Never was as far as I'm concerned.
He&#...Nope. Never was as far as I'm concerned.<br /><br />He's a really hones writer, who says it the way he sees it. Soemtimes that llooks good for teh SNP adn independence, and sometimes it doesn't.<br /><br />Only a moron would think that either independence is a magic cure all, or that the SNP is a perfect organisation.<br /><br />What differentiates Iain from so many of the British or Scottish press is that he doesn't just write what his employers tell him to. The Herald seeming do not say to him: Write anything you like Iain, as long as it shows an independent Scotland in a bad light. no matter how idiotic and flimsy your arguments, conclude that the SNP is BAAAAD about everything.<br /><br />Seriously Niko, do you think everything about the SNP is bad?<br /><br />I certainly don't think everything about Labour is bad. This blog has praised Jeremy Corbyn on numerous occasions. Apart from his policy on Scotland, we agree with a huge amount of what he says, and we've said so.<br /><br />We all know that you and I agree that much of what New Labour stood for was a pile of Tory crap.<br /><br />Can you tell me that you agree with NOTHING the SNP does?<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-71432591281821929302016-03-24T13:49:21.715+00:002016-03-24T13:49:21.715+00:00We did but remember, we only need to win once. We did but remember, we only need to win once. Provost Sluddenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11793960450021330292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-43901218010698882012016-03-24T13:07:30.480+00:002016-03-24T13:07:30.480+00:00niko,
I don't need Iain McWhirter, much as I ...niko,<br /><br />I don't need Iain McWhirter, much as I like most of his articles, or Cochrane or Euam McColm to do my thinking for me but leave them all to the gullible who believe in such things as dodgy dossiers. John Brownliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03248027418059598116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-34793961116514378332016-03-24T12:50:32.293+00:002016-03-24T12:50:32.293+00:00brownlie
Wot in a snp ruled Scotland can't be...brownlie<br /><br />Wot in a snp ruled Scotland can't be<br />Still as some nats say they got what<br />They voted for er you read Iain mcwhirter latest column the snp<br />are acting just like new labour did<br />The rich and powerful have more influence on snp policy than ordinary folks<br /><br />Well who would of thought that ??<br />Spose our Iain is back to nat enemy<br />Againnikonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-85347110442743442592016-03-24T12:48:27.068+00:002016-03-24T12:48:27.068+00:00I think that decent folk all have one thing in com...I think that decent folk all have one thing in common and that is that we can't abide to see old people, sick people, children or animals being treated badly. Not by individuals; not by the system.<br /><br />I agree that older people need continuity. They need the same friendly faces waking them and seeing to their needs. Working with older folk needs trained staff, people with a bit of a vocation.<br /><br />There's a guy I follow on Twitter. Some of you may too. His name in "Taylor". He's just gone back to work after taking paternity leave. He tweeted the other day a photograph of a bruise on his arm. He got it at work. I asked him about it. He works, he told me, with young adults with problems, and its a regular occurrence that he will be physically hurt by them. I indicated that I admired what he did and that I hoped he was well paid. He replied that he gets just above minimum wage.<br /><br />I think we have it all wrong. Folk sit about in Westminster making animal noises and have £70,000 plus a year to live on. Folk work helping ill or old or children and get about the same as these people get as meal allowances.<br /><br />I wonder if it is ever possible to re-evaluate what is important to us.<br /><br />I'm reminded that my mother (a personnel officer) once noted that when the managing director went off for two weeks holiday, no one arranged cover for him. When they guy/woman who cleaned the toilets was on holiday it was essential to have cover from the first hour!<br /><br />I know that your Independent doesn't really mean independent in many places. They are fundamentally Tories who dare not call themselves Tories.<br /><br />I hope you get something done, John. I know you'll try.<br /><br />Munguin, on a Skype call from Monte Carlo, says never mind all that. Write an article for Munguin's republic. <br /><br />Read this quickly, without pausing: <br /><br />Normal terms and conditions apply it is possible that remuneration cheques may be lost in the post but don't worry they are so small that it won't make any difference ask pandapaws.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-20162359064529750672016-03-24T12:30:58.406+00:002016-03-24T12:30:58.406+00:00True... and it wasn't a living wage anyway.
I...True... and it wasn't a living wage anyway.<br /><br />It it was, they could get rid of tax credits and reserve housing benefits for the unemployed.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-29830254095057643892016-03-24T12:29:48.177+00:002016-03-24T12:29:48.177+00:00Yep Gerry.
The wee Black Book, with all the facts...Yep Gerry.<br /><br />The wee Black Book, with all the facts you'll ever need to say, we told you so... <br /><br />Looking forward to a good read later, and I'm sure it will be a source of reference for this and many other blogs.<br /><br />Thank you Stuart.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-88773174136525602662016-03-24T12:27:03.173+00:002016-03-24T12:27:03.173+00:00It's very true Helena, that it gets more and m...It's very true Helena, that it gets more and more difficult to choose a company.<br /><br />I left BT (I had no idea about their practices) because they were useless and infinitely more expensive than the competition for a terrible service. <br /><br />Bad connectivity; limits on downloads; refusal to use the email of your choice when informing you; rude staff (except when you called India, where they were polite); endless waits on help lines, with irritating music and posh voices telling you that "your call is important to us", "we are experiencing very high traffic" and worst of all, in my case, when I left them an offer to match the price and deal that Virgin gave me.<br /><br />Of course, I don;t have a huge amount of time for anything to do with Virgin, but they are cheaper, there is no download limit, and they don't keep going offline. So even if their trains don't run on time and they are buying up the English health service, for the moment, I'm with them. And I'll NEVER be with BT again.<br /><br />Completely agree with you about NEXT. <br /><br />Kids don't want clothes that last forever. They want tops to wear a dozen times or so and then bin. (Please give them to charity shops or refugee centres).<br /><br />So Primark t-shirts are pretty much ok at £2.50 or so.<br /><br />It must be years since I was in NEXT but I remember recoiling in horror at some of the prices.<br /><br />I doubt, though, that Homebase will be holding that many barbies in Scotland ... <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-27953148834274805922016-03-24T12:14:39.939+00:002016-03-24T12:14:39.939+00:00I'm a big believer in buying locally, local pr...I'm a big believer in buying locally, local produce, where I can.<br /><br />But unless you are pretty well heeled you have to submit to foreign-owned supermarkets, and chain stores.<br /><br />The corner shop sells a specific loaf at £1:40; Morrisons sell it at £1. I'd love to buy from the wee man on the corner, but his prices are sky high. A bag of peanuts for the birds £2:40 in the corner shop; £1 in Home Bargains. <br /><br />There was a wee hardware store opened up for a while, but his prices for virtually everything were outrageous. I did buy stuff from him from the garden, or for decorating, but it cost me at least 50% more than if I'd bought at B&Q.<br /><br />If and when you can afford to buy locally, then I say, do so... but not everyone can, or at least not all the time. But one day, if we don't they will disappear.<br /><br />I was just thinking, in this respect about how difficult it must be for older people whop don't have access to transport (or don't use the internet and can't click and have delivered) when they have to do their entire shopping from a corner shop. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-40198343315265318182016-03-24T11:05:21.950+00:002016-03-24T11:05:21.950+00:00Tris,
I was interested in the comment from Anon r...Tris,<br /><br />I was interested in the comment from Anon regard Dundee Council staff. By sheer coincidence I last week visited an elderly neighbour who lives in a local council 'care' homes and was shocked, in talking to staff, about their working conditions. <br /><br />Apparently they have around half untrained relief workers with little or no qualifications who can be called in at a moment's notice putting extra strain on permanent staff. |The permanent staff seem to be on various contracts of nine hours, twelve hours and so on. Given the working involved staff constraints mean that it is not always possible to get meal breaks but they are still docked for their meal-breaks. Even the night-shift staff who are never in a position to take meal-break away, from the work environment as they are legally entitled to, have their meal-break time taken off them. They also for some obscure reason have various shift starting and ending times and shifts are changed at short notice without warning. <br /><br />Being mentally alert he relates that other residents who are less so and more dependent, can be confused and bewildered by ever-changing members of staff with ever-changing routines and that if there is one thing that upsets the elderly and infirm it is changes in personnel and routines. <br /><br />I have spoken to my MSP and MP about the situation but the one of the problems, apart from the statutory legal aspect, is that the council is run by a majority of 'independent' councillors but not in the way we regard as independent - being more right-wing than left. As far as I could tell there is no union representation and workers seem to have no knowledge of their employment rights.<br /><br />Sorry for the long rant but I am annoyed and depressed by this situation in an area where the elderly and infirm are supposed to be cherished and treated accordingly.<br /><br />Incidentally, tell Munguin I'll resurrect my blog but not necessarily in Gaelic!John Brownliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03248027418059598116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-68848289249310340332016-03-24T10:40:56.686+00:002016-03-24T10:40:56.686+00:00doing the same in Wilko...paying the living wage t...doing the same in Wilko...paying the living wage to these companies means lowering all other payments so that total wage bill doesn't change. Some employees win, others lose. The whole point of a "living wage" is defeated.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15856929787041515440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-59443741078458731602016-03-24T09:39:50.561+00:002016-03-24T09:39:50.561+00:00This is the trend and it is not a recent trend, wa...This is the trend and it is not a recent trend, want to know what happened in BT (Open Reach) a good few years ago. They moved the boundaries, threatened their staff and put them all on 7 day working patterns, even those it should not have affected. So they could call people out at a whim. What did the Union do, went along with it.<br />I am glad to be one of the non working useless but still tax paying pensioners who tries very hard not to use either B&Q or as we know B&M, the Bum shop. Unfortunately it is becoming harder and harder to only use ethical stores I think if you look closely at any business in this benighted country you will be hard placed to find one.<br />Listening to TV this morning and hearing that NEXT expect to have a difficult time, may I share a secret with them, you are too expensive for many and how do you think you can stay in business whilst your potential customers have had little or no wage rise in the past seven or eight years, indeed many have had wage cuts. It is laughable when I compare Primark, who have staff on zero hours contracts sell t-shirts for a fiver which is within the price range for people struggling, and Next want fifteen and made in the same sweat shop I dare say. Here in Dunfermline they are next door to each other.<br />I suggest to all business if you want it too flourish try paying people and stop buying another Aston Martin for the chairman of the board, do that and you never know you just might survive other wise, well we all saw, those of us old enough, what happened when business which failed to make a profit in the eighties.<br />As for B&Q, Homebase has been sold to an Australian Company, one who holds barbeque on Sundays for it's customer, let us hope it doesn't get contaminated by ahem "British" business practice. Helena<br />Ps Niko got what he wanted, learn to live with it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-72751450414747289452016-03-24T08:23:35.561+00:002016-03-24T08:23:35.561+00:00If you can it would be best to buy from a * local ...If you can it would be best to buy from a * local * hardware store. If you buy on-line, try to find a Scottish based firm. <br /><br />Remember Westminster can fudge the allocation of VAT (in GERS) if you buy from a chain that has an HQ in London.<br /><br />That applies to everything you buy.<br /><br /><br /><br />bjsalbanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-63748144292675871142016-03-24T06:41:55.295+00:002016-03-24T06:41:55.295+00:00Tools usually Tris. So it's Halford for me, or...Tools usually Tris. So it's Halford for me, or online. <br /><br />Check out Wings for The Wee Black Book. gerry parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13084355248869307762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-45861265068745433562016-03-24T00:06:25.491+00:002016-03-24T00:06:25.491+00:00You should read this Niko.
http://www.theguardia...You should read this Niko. <br /><br />http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/22/sick-man-benefit-hell-suicide-tory-cuts-devastating-families?CMP=share_btn_fb#_=_<br /><br />I was in tears at that guy's predicament. Telling his wife to go to her mum's while he got rid of himself so she could go back to work and have some money.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-54784924459940290322016-03-23T23:25:13.154+00:002016-03-23T23:25:13.154+00:00Jim Predictive text, a blessing and a curse at the...Jim Predictive text, a blessing and a curse at the same time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-52696454522704042772016-03-23T23:24:20.049+00:002016-03-23T23:24:20.049+00:00Depends what you're looking for, Gerry. I gues...Depends what you're looking for, Gerry. I guess the supermarkets or Homebase?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-57534334542442309772016-03-23T23:23:17.747+00:002016-03-23T23:23:17.747+00:00You can't argue with that Niko.
I don't k...You can't argue with that Niko.<br /><br />I don't know for the life of me what people see in the UK.<br /><br />It reminds me of an elderly gentleman who once was something, maybe an actor or singer who was popular and powerful, but who has fallen out of favour and although he was once handsome and attracted the girls, he's old and fat and past it. No one wants him any more. But he still thinks he's Erchie! Still gets dressed up in his now rather tatty clothes and plays the big man, then goes home to a tin of sardines on toast.<br /><br />That's Britain. Once great nation that ruled half the world and went to war with the other half, reduced to this state. It still struts the world stage in its tattered finery, but it gets home to pot holed roads, 1970 trains, underfunded NHS, miserably low wages and the worst benefits in the Western World (currently under investigation by the UN and Council of Europe).<br /><br />Maybe you can tell me what you see , that brings a tear to Cameron's eye when he talks of "this sceptred isle; this England".<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-69764889721291459952016-03-23T23:14:02.615+00:002016-03-23T23:14:02.615+00:00It's wicked what some of them do. They know th...It's wicked what some of them do. They know their employees are suffering and claiming tax credits and housing benefits, and they do nothing because they are raking in more money.<br /><br />Story goes that in Dundee, D C Thomson paid their caseroom, stereo and pressroom people quite well. It was a prestigious job, secure too. But but by bit the wages fell adn more and more people were getting Housing Benefits. The Housing department used to send out very distinctive yellow forms for employers to fill in, showing what a person earned, by way of verification.<br /><br />One day one of the Thomsons walked into the room that the clerk responsible for wages worked in. He saw a pile of yellow forms and asked what they were. The clerk explained. Mr Thomson was horrified. The reputation of the firm was at risk. What kind of company would pay its people too little to pay their rent off.<br /><br />The next week there was a massive hike in wages.<br /><br />Maybe shaming companies is the answer. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-2362643826002609912016-03-23T23:07:00.618+00:002016-03-23T23:07:00.618+00:00Yes you did Niko. And I agreed then and I agree no...Yes you did Niko. And I agreed then and I agree now. The Tories will never clamp down on that. I saw a graphic the other day about how much people fiddling social security cost the UK, and how many people are actively trying to uncover and prosecute them. Massive amount of money and a lot of people, but the amount of money involved was TINY by comparison to the amount that is stolen in tax evasion/avoidance. And the number of people investigating was massive by comparison to the handful looking into the lost tax revenue.<br /><br />Still, that is the way the UK works. it was almost undoubtedly the same under Brown and Blair.<br /><br />And that, as the guys say, is what unionists voted for.<br /><br />Now of course we can't guarantee that that is not how an independent Scotland would be.<br /><br />But I predict that it would tend to have a government on the real left of centre. Possibly SNP, possibly a rejuvenated Labour Party. Possibly one the enmity is over, even a coalition. <br /><br />I think these parties would have more of a chance of stopping that than the Tories.<br /><br />There's nothing as cruel and heartless as the Tories let to run free.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-14420362205227524902016-03-23T22:58:06.540+00:002016-03-23T22:58:06.540+00:00I did that with them too. A few years ago I had bo...I did that with them too. A few years ago I had bought a wall fire with flame effect. It stopped working and I was about top throw it out when a friend suggested that surely it wasn't THAT long since I'd bought it.<br /><br />Turned out it was 11 months previous, and complete with receipt, I went to the store and returned it. I would have accepted another fire the same, but they had none, so I got £100 back!!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-3478936482710498352016-03-23T22:55:06.426+00:002016-03-23T22:55:06.426+00:00At the same time, Marcia, as making more and more ...At the same time, Marcia, as making more and more people redundant.<br /><br />What an unpleasant country this UK is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-26119293061365901072016-03-23T22:07:26.129+00:002016-03-23T22:07:26.129+00:00That's it for me and BnQ then, I can find some...That's it for me and BnQ then, I can find somewhere else.<br /><br />I still won't buy a Timex watch - even after all these years.<br /><br />gerry parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13084355248869307762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-38230825389048781352016-03-23T21:26:29.585+00:002016-03-23T21:26:29.585+00:00Loyalty, not loyalist...can get a rant, without pr...Loyalty, not loyalist...can get a rant, without predictive text getting in the way.jimnarlenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04386665235191598525noreply@blogger.com