en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/10467731 Comments by BrianH13 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/chris-skidmore-global-britain-must-lift-its-gaze-beyond-the-sunlit-uplands-to-the-stars-and-beyond.html#IDComment1097590926 I'm really not trying to offer a 'cleverer than thou' argument. Just inform you how things are around here. Your suggestion that "...the option of going to the foodbank releases funds..." is ridiculous. For those using the foodbanks here in Dundee, they have no other option, and they use them reluctantly. The usage does not '[release] funds'. They have no funds to release. And that condition has been made more acute during this pandemic, because incomes have dropped. Your shoebank idea is great - though we already have many recycling and upcycling pathways. But food is an immediate need. Tue, 16 Feb 2021 01:17:50 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/chris-skidmore-global-britain-must-lift-its-gaze-beyond-the-sunlit-uplands-to-the-stars-and-beyond.html#IDComment1097590926 https://www.conservativehome.com/localgovernment/2021/02/tom-bell-councils-can-rapidly-accelerate-clean-transport-by-championing-autonomous-vehicles.html#IDComment1097590027 Please do remember 'woke' is good. It is not a pejorative term. Tue, 16 Feb 2021 00:29:24 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/localgovernment/2021/02/tom-bell-councils-can-rapidly-accelerate-clean-transport-by-championing-autonomous-vehicles.html#IDComment1097590027 https://www.conservativehome.com/localgovernment/2021/02/tom-bell-councils-can-rapidly-accelerate-clean-transport-by-championing-autonomous-vehicles.html#IDComment1097589966 Autonomous vehicles? Yes. Start on the railways. Smart routing for both passenger and freight. Electric Vehicles? Not convinced as a sole solution. But mixing different types on the same infrastructure always seems to cause problems (which is perhaps why bicycles are not allowed on motorways) Tue, 16 Feb 2021 00:26:44 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/localgovernment/2021/02/tom-bell-councils-can-rapidly-accelerate-clean-transport-by-championing-autonomous-vehicles.html#IDComment1097589966 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/stephen-mcpartland-and-royston-smith-to-build-back-better-ministers-must-regain-the-trust-of-leaseholders-entangled-in-the-cladding-crisis.html#IDComment1097577743 That was my first thought too! Well said. Mon, 15 Feb 2021 12:43:07 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/stephen-mcpartland-and-royston-smith-to-build-back-better-ministers-must-regain-the-trust-of-leaseholders-entangled-in-the-cladding-crisis.html#IDComment1097577743 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/chris-skidmore-global-britain-must-lift-its-gaze-beyond-the-sunlit-uplands-to-the-stars-and-beyond.html#IDComment1097565314 It is a pity that your response is not equally well thought out! Mon, 15 Feb 2021 00:34:10 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/chris-skidmore-global-britain-must-lift-its-gaze-beyond-the-sunlit-uplands-to-the-stars-and-beyond.html#IDComment1097565314 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/chris-skidmore-global-britain-must-lift-its-gaze-beyond-the-sunlit-uplands-to-the-stars-and-beyond.html#IDComment1097565262 Auntie. Please! "... I have not come across any evidence of people going hungry over the past year during the pandemic..." If so, you are looking in the wrong place. There is ample evidence of significantly increased use of foodbanks during the pandemic. People using foodbanks are not debasing our language. They are just hungry. Mon, 15 Feb 2021 00:29:02 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/chris-skidmore-global-britain-must-lift-its-gaze-beyond-the-sunlit-uplands-to-the-stars-and-beyond.html#IDComment1097565262 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/chris-skidmore-global-britain-must-lift-its-gaze-beyond-the-sunlit-uplands-to-the-stars-and-beyond.html#IDComment1097565223 "...[Brexit about] democratic accountability..." You're having a laugh, aren't you? It was always about money (£350m a day to be precise) Mon, 15 Feb 2021 00:23:32 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/chris-skidmore-global-britain-must-lift-its-gaze-beyond-the-sunlit-uplands-to-the-stars-and-beyond.html#IDComment1097565223 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/chris-skidmore-global-britain-must-lift-its-gaze-beyond-the-sunlit-uplands-to-the-stars-and-beyond.html#IDComment1097565169 Erm? Astro-Zeneca is an Anglo-Swedish Company. (but I agree with you main point) Mon, 15 Feb 2021 00:15:35 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/chris-skidmore-global-britain-must-lift-its-gaze-beyond-the-sunlit-uplands-to-the-stars-and-beyond.html#IDComment1097565169 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/anthony-browne-why-the-uks-fall-in-gdp-is-not-the-worst-of-the-g7-but-in-the-middle.html#IDComment1097544888 "...For most countries, there is little difference between real and nominal GDP. But because of the UK’s methodology, there is presently a huge difference..." I'm confused. I thought the difference between 'real' and 'nominal' GDP is simply that the former is adjusted for inflation, whereas the latter is not. Am I wrong on this? Sat, 13 Feb 2021 22:51:49 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/anthony-browne-why-the-uks-fall-in-gdp-is-not-the-worst-of-the-g7-but-in-the-middle.html#IDComment1097544888 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/julian-gallant-politics-can-support-the-arts-without-disturbing-the-artist.html#IDComment1097521551 So you agree a more thoughtful response would have been: "I object to taxpayers money being used to subsidise anything, including ‘the arts’..." Sat, 13 Feb 2021 00:52:11 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/julian-gallant-politics-can-support-the-arts-without-disturbing-the-artist.html#IDComment1097521551 https://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2021/02/we-have-been-terrific-at-pure-research-and-useless-at-translational-research-what-our-industrial-strategy-should-aim-to-change.html#IDComment1097520140 Many comments here rightly point to the issue of British companies being sold to overseas interests. However none has noticed that successive governments have claimed that same foreign investment as an indicator of the success and strength of the UK economy. Meanwhile those same governments applauded the UK investments overseas as indicative of UK global influence. I'm struggling to reconcile these. Fri, 12 Feb 2021 23:25:49 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2021/02/we-have-been-terrific-at-pure-research-and-useless-at-translational-research-what-our-industrial-strategy-should-aim-to-change.html#IDComment1097520140 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/paul-maynard-there-are-better-ways-to-help-low-income-families-than-the-universal-credit-uplift.html#IDComment1097516833 "...No cooker, for example, may mean a focus on costly takeaway meals for those who are ‘time poor’. No washing machine means paying £4 down the launderette (and a further £3 for a drier) rather than 25p for an average home wash..." Chucking around random numbers like this simply irresponsible. 'No cooker' may (like my daughter) lead to creative use of the microwave - not a reliance on carry out. The Daily Express suggests a home wash costs 50p per load, plus 35p to dry (no data on load size). Fri, 12 Feb 2021 20:10:31 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/paul-maynard-there-are-better-ways-to-help-low-income-families-than-the-universal-credit-uplift.html#IDComment1097516833 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/kevin-hollinrake-time-for-an-honest-conversation-about-taxation-here-are-seven-practical-reforms.html#IDComment1097516073 So you prefer wealth taxes. Those that the truly wealthy are so adept at avoiding? Is that not also unfair on the the poorer? Fri, 12 Feb 2021 19:31:16 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/kevin-hollinrake-time-for-an-honest-conversation-about-taxation-here-are-seven-practical-reforms.html#IDComment1097516073 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/kevin-hollinrake-time-for-an-honest-conversation-about-taxation-here-are-seven-practical-reforms.html#IDComment1097515946 A rare point of agreement. Thank you. Fri, 12 Feb 2021 19:24:35 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/kevin-hollinrake-time-for-an-honest-conversation-about-taxation-here-are-seven-practical-reforms.html#IDComment1097515946 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/julian-gallant-politics-can-support-the-arts-without-disturbing-the-artist.html#IDComment1097515902 Why single out 'the arts'. Your logic should apply to all taxpayer subsidies. Fri, 12 Feb 2021 19:21:58 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/julian-gallant-politics-can-support-the-arts-without-disturbing-the-artist.html#IDComment1097515902 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/julian-gallant-politics-can-support-the-arts-without-disturbing-the-artist.html#IDComment1097515816 "..If Star Wars fans can make fan films using CGI, why can't more mature, richer, and more intelligent conservatives create "fan films" about the battle of Quiberon Bay..."? Because that would require conservatives with creativity beyond the field of accounting. It's a free market. Fri, 12 Feb 2021 19:16:02 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/julian-gallant-politics-can-support-the-arts-without-disturbing-the-artist.html#IDComment1097515816 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/kevin-hollinrake-time-for-an-honest-conversation-about-taxation-here-are-seven-practical-reforms.html#IDComment1097487521 "...Clamp down further on tax avoidance by multinationals including the banning of pre-tax payment of royalties..." Agree. Similarly disallow pre-tax payment of 'management fees', 'franchise fees' or 'loan interest' to any offshore company. Thu, 11 Feb 2021 20:52:28 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/kevin-hollinrake-time-for-an-honest-conversation-about-taxation-here-are-seven-practical-reforms.html#IDComment1097487521 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/kevin-hollinrake-time-for-an-honest-conversation-about-taxation-here-are-seven-practical-reforms.html#IDComment1097487310 The 'deferred wages' argument collapsed when public sector pay rates overtook private sector pay, and when the private sector moved from defined benefit to defined contribution pensions schemes (something that should have happened decades earlier). Thu, 11 Feb 2021 20:38:11 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2021/02/kevin-hollinrake-time-for-an-honest-conversation-about-taxation-here-are-seven-practical-reforms.html#IDComment1097487310 https://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2021/02/andrew-gimsons-pmqs-sketch-this-unbrushed-unkempt-pm-reckons-he-can-beat-the-nats.html#IDComment1097458079 Yes, many Scots emigrate to England, it's a feature of the UK's skewed regional economics, and one an independent Scotland could begin to redress. The reasons the franchise was limited to Scottish residents (including EU and Commonwealth residents) were twofold. First administrative simplicity and second international recognition of any result. Wed, 10 Feb 2021 18:08:12 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2021/02/andrew-gimsons-pmqs-sketch-this-unbrushed-unkempt-pm-reckons-he-can-beat-the-nats.html#IDComment1097458079 https://www.conservativehome.com/thecolumnists/2021/02/henry-hill-as-the-scottish-government-digs-in-calls-grow-for-a-judge-led-inquiry-into-the-salmond-scandal.html#IDComment1097436072 Hmm. I think you would legitimately be upset, rather than outraged. Personally I do not think this "strikes at the heart of accountability of the state." It is a spat, perhaps much like that between Heath and Thatcher, but one that has escalated. Wed, 10 Feb 2021 00:14:48 +0000 https://www.conservativehome.com/thecolumnists/2021/02/henry-hill-as-the-scottish-government-digs-in-calls-grow-for-a-judge-led-inquiry-into-the-salmond-scandal.html#IDComment1097436072