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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted -
11/01/2009
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06:04
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New Year, new topic. If you want to see the old one do a forum search for same title but 2008.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk
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Julie in Norfolk
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Posted - 10/05/2009 : 07:57
Hmmmm! What do they mean by cronyism? It is a bit bl**din' obvious isn't it!
Measure with a micrometer. Mark with a pencil. Cut with an axe. |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 10/05/2009 : 07:58
Jules was monitoring us. Mention her and up she pops!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Julie in Norfolk
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Posted - 10/05/2009 : 08:05
I don't believe in coincidence, but it must be a coincidence
Measure with a micrometer. Mark with a pencil. Cut with an axe. |
frankwilk
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Posted - 10/05/2009 : 08:10
Hi Julie nice to see you back that's what caught my attention, could you give Wendy a shove !! recently she's been missed as well.
I just scrolled down and Wendy has appeared, once again nice to see you both.
Edited by - frankwilk on 10/05/2009 08:28:12 AM
Frank Wilkinson Once Navy Always Navy |
tripps
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Posted - 10/05/2009 : 09:25
We now learn from Grant Thornton - tax experts, that MPs can nominate a house as a 'second home' a) with the Revenue for Capital Gains Tax purposes, b) with the Fees Ofice for parliamentary allowances and they don't have to be the same house!! All totally within the rules of course.
Welvcome back Julie - we've missed you.
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Tizer
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Posted - 10/05/2009 : 11:42
Hello Julie! Great to see you back - don't let them grind you down!
Solution to all this second home business. Instead of letting MPs claim for homes in London we should make them all live in somewhere like a university hall of residence when they are in London. That would have the extra benefit that we could keep a closer eye on them. I recommend a big loft conversion at Westminster and fit them all in there, living over the shop (hehe).
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handlamp
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Posted - 10/05/2009 : 15:45
I always followed the adage that a claim must not only be right, but must be seen to be right. The very people who make the laws have obviously been fiddling the system. Instead of the police investigating who was the mole who obtained the evidence the Tax Inspectors should be called in to go through all the MPs claims and deduct double where tax has been evaded and the person concerned should be thrown out of Parliament.
Ted |
frankwilk
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Posted - 10/05/2009 : 17:06
Ted
It's all in the rules mate, no problem you see my House Here is Capital Gains Tax Free. My other House is my Second Home so I can claim for its upkeep. My third house is for profit only but that has nothing to do with you ( cretin ) but after all it's within the rules. What rules are you working to ??? The ones that allow me to put one or two fingers up to the Tax Payer, bl**&y fools. Ted ever feel you have been rolled over and done!!!!!!!!!!!
Ted the cretin is not for you it's for the dull bu**ers in Goverment
Edited by - frankwilk on 10/05/2009 5:09:46 PM
Frank Wilkinson Once Navy Always Navy |
Bradders
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Posted - 10/05/2009 : 21:42
D'you know, I think the current "outcry" about MP's expenses is ,as I think Stanley wrote earlier , is a smokescreen.
The amount of money that is in question pales into insignificance , when you consider that the Bank of E has just "printed" another £50 odd Billion , and called it "easing"
Sure the MPs will have to suffer scrutiny and some will resign (maybe!), but that is across party lines and will not directly affect the government alone.
Meanwhile , for the Bankers , it's business as usual (clawing back their losses from the individual as well as being given massive handouts) and they will get off Scot Free .......(Cross topic question......where does "Scot Free" come from?).
Just watch your Bank Charges bill....I've already spotted a NASTY....
(adjusting your balance on a Friday night ....after 18.00......to take account of the NEXT Monday's Direct Debits )
That's RBS....
It may not matter if you are well within your limits , but go over at that time, and they will charge £25 "arrangement fee" .
BRADDERS BLUESINGER |
frankwilk
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Posted - 10/05/2009 : 22:26
Just point it out and they will say sorry our mistake, they did it with me last month. It's not the amount of money involved with the politicos, it's a principle of trust, and not biting the hand that feeds you!!!!!!!!!
Frank Wilkinson Once Navy Always Navy |
Bradders
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Posted - 10/05/2009 : 23:16
Yes Frank, I do agree with your view ("hand that feeds you") FULLY ...
But when it comes down to it , the little local difficulty of a few (maybe a lot of) MP's milking the expense allowance isn't going to take a generation to pay off........ The bail-out IS.
Meanwhile, attention is deflected from a much bigger crime, for which our current PM (and latterly Chancellor) has a lot to answer for...............
Who can forget all those TV presentations when he said what a good state the British Economy was in , because of his Prudence!
Smarmy Git !
Oooops........getting a bit excited now...Sorry!
PS The man on the phone from RBS told me that the "Friday/Monday thing" was what "we always do", and did not seem at all concerned when I pointed out that I thought it was outrageous ! (fortunately no costs were involved.....THIS TIME !...but I'll bet there will be a lot of people who get caught if it isn't stopped)
BRADDERS BLUESINGER |
Julie in Norfolk
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Posted - 11/05/2009 : 06:33
Thanks for the heads up on the RBS specially formulated method of getting more out of Julie. I must also advise my daughter as unexpected events keep happening with her account.
Measure with a micrometer. Mark with a pencil. Cut with an axe. |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 11/05/2009 : 08:48
The bottom line for me on banks is that they have managed the crisis wonderfully, they have been bailed out by the taxpayer for their incompetence and greed and as far as they are concerned it is business as usual. See my recent experience with Barclaycard visa after 31 years impeccable record.
As for the MP's expenses. The bottom line is that the whole institution is still trying to work like a 19th century gentlemen's club with rules based on the premise that they are all honourable and above the law. This was always a suspect policy (selling peerages etc.) but as modern pressures and mores have pressed in on it the present concept has completely broken down. This is why we see them concentrating on politics instead of policies, it explains why we get recurrent scandals from vituperative emails right through to the incredibly incestuous relationships that are allowed in the field of advisers, members of quangos and ministers supprting legislation that benefits a sector than retiring and going on to the board of said sector. Give PE its due, it has been flagging this decline for years and providing the evidence. If they are wrong why have the individuals not sued?
I've said it before and no doubt I'll say it again, we need a new model of government. They could start by taking all control of the essentials of our infrastructure away from politicians. Management of health, education, transport and energy should not be a party political matter. Think rail, energy and post office for starters. Parliament's job is to maintain freedom, the rule of law, an equitable constitution, defence and foreign policy, not to micro-manage wind farms. The problem with all the leading figures in all parties is that they are steeped in the old management. We shall not see any improvement until they abolish themselves and start with a new model. The only route I can see to this end is a completely new party, the UK constitutional party with new management under a new leader, it could be done tomorrow if all the good men got together and acted in concert. Despite all the bad news about MPs I'm naive enough to think that there are more good independent men than bad and they could swamp the existing parties. A couple of votes of confidence, a general election and the Glotious Revolution of 2009 could be a fact. Go to it lads and clean the stables!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 11/05/2009 : 10:57
Did you hear about Halifax's latest trick? They are offering mortgages in the Irish Republic for half (or less) the interest rate here in the UK. All supported by UK taxpayers' money of course.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 12/05/2009 : 07:05
HSBC are in the trough as well. Better quarterly results than last year due to prifits from bond and currency trading. In other words, funny money with no added value involved. I just heard the chairman of the mortgage broker's association saying that the FSA have done nothing to change the regulatory framework to close down the dodgy trading. Time for action.
Speaker Martin seems to have lost the plot. He evidently lays the blame for the current unpleasantness at the door of the press and those who have spoken to them. Not a word of the new committeee as he promised but only a meeting to 'discuss' the matter. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't there a whisper about his expenses about a year ago? Anyone remember the Attorney General Derry thingy and the wall paper?
What struck me was the wealthy tory who seems to have sent the accounts of the running costs of his estate to the Fees office and asked what he could claim for. That's how we finished up paying for cleaning the moat and his housekeeper. Funnily enough, this could be one way out of the mess, send all your expenses in and let the Fees Office or an independent body decide what was eligible.
Meanwhile, as the fog of suspicion and alerts drifts across the parliamentary scene we hear nothing about the really important matters like inaction on financial regulation, the avenues for possible retrenchment in public spending like IT contracts, Trident and obsessive micro-management of public infrastructure. The next cloud obscuring the scene will be the over-promotion of an attack on Speaker Martin. Of course he should go but this is an internal matter and shouldn't be allowed to add to the fog. Scapegoats will be found, remedies fudged and all will continue as before. We are living in a mushroom farm.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |