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| Thanks for the advice, Grand-mama. |
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| Thanks for the advice, Mama. |
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| Hum... Nope. |
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| The Labour Family Business. |
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| And the programme that they gave the dopey one of the family. |
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| Who would have guessed it? Bet we have the most food banks too See, the UK is at the top of a lot of lists. |
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| Aye. Vow now Brown cow... |
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| Took him a while but he's a true blue now. |
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| You would have thought that even a UKIP candidate might have been expected to knowthe name of his potential constituency. He's standing for ARLESEY. |
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| I hope with all my heart that it gave them all indigestion. Funded by the UK government! |
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| I will not pretend I liked Johann Lamont. But she was worth ten of this pillock who is trying to blame his mess on her. Man up, you slimy creep. You'll make no friends that way. |
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| You LOVE them, dontcha? |
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| Not a huge difference between them Ed would rather do business with Dave, than Nicola. |
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| Love the idea of Pickles as the fat monk. |
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| Well done Jim. Quite a turn out. |
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| Well done Nicola. Quite a turn out. |
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| Absolutely right. You politicians are nothing special You are our staff. Some would do well to remember that. |
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong Nico?
DeleteThat picture of the, not so, three wise monkeys; tells a story.
ReplyDeleteAh Jim which 3 monkeys?
DeleteBlair, Brown and that other numpty, Major.
DeleteAh that three. Monkeys might be praising them a bit. There was the one of Brown, Brown and Thatch. Could have been that.
Deletetris
ReplyDeleteIs that the People or more like the snp Mob
with their fluid concept of neverendums democracy
The SNP don't have another referendum, in their manifesto. What is it?,With the unionists banging on about independence?
DeleteWell, I was enjoying my dinner until I saw Murphy's pic! You get bigger crowds around the street entertainers at lunchtime in Glasgow.
DeleteThe old boy behind him looks a little bemused.
yeah lots of people rushing round singing dancing waving the saltire
Deletegiddy in the absolute certainty YES had won the day.........
Day Zero and % 55 to % 45
Well Niko, as Nicola pointed out to Kezia at FMQ, they are the ones that keep banging on about a referendum.
DeleteAn as you point out the Yes side lost 55 to 45. And Nicola (I've heard her with my own ears) said that the SNP is about getting the best deal for Scotland. Politicians won;t decide when the next referendum is; people will. For the moment its not in the manifesto.
Do you think it's a good thing to want to get the best deal from Scotland?
Do you think that Brown delivered on his promise to guarantee the best devolution ever of any country in the world?
Do you think that he was wise to promise that the Scottish parliament would be written in to the British constitution as permanent, when legal experts have advised that it would be impossible to do that?
Why do unionists thing that Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man and Gibraltar can have powers that Scotland can't?
Why do you think is is that all these countries have better deals for their less well off than Scotland does (pensions, social security, wages)?
Anon. Sorry for putting you off your dinner.
DeleteYou should probably not look at the blog within half an hour of eating!!
Did anyone see Miliband's sickening and utterly insincere tributes to both Jim and Maggie on tv tonight? (I was at my mums!)
Honestly it was beyond parody. Jim you have done a wonderful job of running Scottish Labour since you took over...(erm look how well you are doing in opinion polls). Ladies and Gentlemen: Your leader, Jim Murphy.
Margaret you are a wonderful person. Your politics and beliefs shapes everything you so, I'm proud to be your friend...
What nonsense.
Labour insiders have said that she is roundly hated by everyone in Labour, and no one will lift a hand to help her keep her seat. And Miliband demoted Murphy to a backwater.
Heh Niko genuine question.
Delete"Niko, you have raised the prospect of a second independence referendum on several occasions. But can you tell us now, do you believe that Holyrood currently has the legislative competence - the legal right - to call a second independence referendum?"
Plagiarised from elsewhere but applies to anyone banging on about this.
I don;t think it has. Section 30 was lent to our country by the beneficence of the Rt Hon gentleman, who, to give him his due, said (according to Ruth Davidson) that he would not rule out doing it again.
DeleteMr Miliband on the other hand has said that it will not happen if he is prime minister.
tris
ReplyDeleteYou lot are scamming or trying to gain Independence through
the sneaky back door. and all the attempted twisty obfuscation
will not hide that fact ....
Best deal for Scotland or for the snp
Scotland is not one Nation it is divided into two
one Nationalist the other Unionist and they will
never ever reconcile not now not ever.
And there is not any Democratic vote which will bridge
the divide you may as well ask a Christian to accept a
vote to become a Muslim.
You lot keep pushing and pushing but one day
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind
The whole Scottish nation made a choice only a mere
few weeks ago and yet the snp seek to stand it on its head.
Can you tell me where the leadership has said anything about a referendum.
DeleteOf course there will be members or followers who will say that kind of thing.
But there are some Labour members or followers who want stuff that Miliband would never bring in... not least you, dear Niko.
So please point me to Nicola, or any of the Cabinet saying that they will have a referendum.
I repeat, the FM told Dugdale... It's you who talk about referenda!
What doesn't help is when there are a few numpties (some of them candidates) out there who seem to be ignoring what Nicola says and feel they need to remind everyone every five minutes that the goal of the SNP is independence. Oh aye, and bears do it in the woods btw.
DeleteThe SNP has a great opportunity to the third largest party at Westminster, but most of the MPs will be brand new. They will have two main challenges - behaving at Westminster and more importantly working hard as constituency MPs. A fair few incumbents are going to get displaced. If the new MPs don't work hard, they'll be out, whereas there is a huge opportunity to remain the incumbent. Leave the embarrassing media revelations for the other parties. Sure there's plenty more to come.
It's always a hazard.
DeleteThere are people in every party who do or say (tweet) idiotic things. We've all got our Ian Smarts. Why would the SNP be an exception to that?
You make a good point. If there are 30 SNP MPs, 24 of them (5/6) will be new and inexperienced in the strange ancient ways of Westminster, with its customs dating back to long before Scotland was anything to do with it. Wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds having all the floor tapped with sticks to ensure that there is no gun powder under the floor before the queen arrives to give her speech... and such other things, may possibly irritate.
Or the requirement to sleep in the office for 3 days so that early day motions may be have a chance of being called... Turning up to put your name on a seat at 7 am, and being there for prayers so that you can guarantee a place for a debate at 4 pm... After the comparative common sense of Holyrood, this may seem somewhat of a waste of time and money.
They will also have to put up with much resentment from the long time career politicians. I was listening to Michael Heseltine this morning. The utter contempt for the SNP coming from him was sickening, and I've always considered him to be one of the more human of the Tories.
Surprisingly Shirley Williams was also less than enthusiastic about having a pile of Scots, uncontrolled by London whips there. I begin to understand how some of the Irish MPs feel.
Ask Pete Wishart how it feels to be confronted by a snarling swearing Jim Murphy in the lobbies, screaming obscenities at you...
So it won't be easy for them. Let's just hope the SNP has chosen wisely.
They seem to have done so in the past, at least to a greater extent than the other parties.
At least, despite the fact that the Secret Police and the press will above been looking for any tiny thing that they can find about SNP top folk, so far we have had no Janners, no Brittans, no large scale theft, duck houses, etc. I suppose it helps that we have no lords.
Fingers crossed we have chosen well.
Right Niko, this is what I say to you and to quite Parnell, "No man shall have the right to fix the boundary to the march of a Nation". It was right for Ireland and it is right for us. I will take Independence anyway I can get it. Why leave our country in the hands of people who for the best part are incompetent and for the worst disinterested. Now away and play in the traffic and leave thinking to the grown ups.
DeleteNiko, if you are going to play in the traffic, leave Taz at home! :)
DeleteTris, you make good points. I think most of the candidates have been chosen well, but Westminster is truly a bear pit. One or two might be in for a shock.
Deletetris
ReplyDeleteaside from that
The best corrective is to raise the federal minimum wage. A new bill introduced on Thursday by congressional Democrats would lift the minimum from its current level of $7.25 an hour to $12 an hour by 2020. At that level, there would still be a need for public aid to ensure that some working families are kept out of poverty. But that aid would decline as take-home pay increases, leaving workers — and taxpayers — better off. If a higher minimum wage were coupled with increased tax credits for low earners, the poverty fighting effects of the higher minimum would be amplified, further reducing the need for workers to use public aid for food and health care.
A handful of states are considering ways to recover public funds from low-wage employers, say, by requiring payment of a fee to the state for each worker who makes less than $15 an hour. In 2016, California will start publishing the names of employers that have more than 100 employees on Medicaid and how much these companies cost the state in public aid.
Now thats a remarkably good idea
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/opinion/picking-up-the-tab-for-low-wages.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region®ion=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0
I like the idea that companies should repay what the state has to pay on their behalf.
DeleteAnd I totally agree with the "name and shame" policy.
I just can;t understand how a country can operate if the minimum wage won;t cover people's absoolute essentials.
It simply shouldn't be legal to pay more that people need for rent, 3 modest meals, electric and gas, etc.
Certainly not if the state has the right to DEMAND that people take these jobs, on pain of loving benefits.
Thanks Niko.
OOPs....obviously I meant "less" not "more"
DeleteI wonder what $12 an hour will actually mean in real terms come 2020. I know one thing the promise made by Labour is an absolute disgrace. I look at the minimum wage as something which was brought in to help those who were being treated as, well to put it bluntly, slaves. What actually happened that more and more people found themselves working for it. People who actually had decent wages. Too many people now find themselves unable to afford more than the basics of life and some not even that.
DeleteLabour should hang their heads in shame.
p.s moved out to the villages and we have one Unionist who has attached SNPout stickers to the various lamp posts etc. Well seem there are more of us than them, oops they have all gone, and surprise I only took two down.
It was £3.60 when they brought it in. of course it was, to be fair needed. Thatcher abolished it, and some people were paying as little as £1 an hour.
DeleteNeedless to say it was abused by some employers, and used as a benchmark. In places like Dundee it was what most people paid. I remember recruiting for a new bar opening up in Dundee. The needed 30 bar staff/waiters and it was £3.60, including working late at night and at weekends. Students were applying and the students form Aberdeen, when they found out it was £3.60 told us to stuff it.
Glad your move done then Helena.
Classy sticking sticklers on lampposts. But these things to tend to be removed. Well done!
tris and HER
DeleteThe minimum has now for many become the maximum me i would
happily abandon the min wage for the legal right to strike and take
secondary action.
Then as free marketeers say allow the free market a free hand. strange
how the neo libs like to have free markets with the workers hands tied up
in legal restrictions
tris, where can I get one of those "Robbin Hood" posters?..........regards, Ronnie.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteDamn. That didn't work at all. I tried to send you the Google search link for it, but it was rubbish.
ReplyDeleteI found it on Twitter, Ronnie. It only comes in that size. Your best bet would be to print it from this page.
One week old Blackbirds getting fed.
ReplyDeleteSorry about quality as I had to increase brightness and adjust zoom so that directional controls are usable.