asquith

asquith

70p

376 comments posted · 2 followers · following 0

7 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Timothy Stafford: Four... · 0 replies · +1 points

In a similar vein, is anyone listening to this? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b083vwp2

You can catch up on them and the next one is at lunchtime tomorrow.

7 years ago @ Conservative Home - Ted Yarbrough: The Ang... · 1 reply · +1 points

No need for that, they already know everything.

And can make free trade deals just by wishing them into existence without doing any work.

7 years ago @ Conservative Home - Spencer Pitfield: We m... · 1 reply · +1 points

You're not wrong there, I didn't agree with the Tory welfare reforms but the system as it stood in 2010 was a mess and needed to be intelligently sorted out, which hasn't happened.

The forest of benefits and "credits" (that word puts off many older people who associate it with debt and don't claim what they're entitled to), people not knowing what to do in case they lose their benefits, the whole thing is out of control.

Peope move into and out of ill-paid work and there is no more recognition of the realities of life than there was in 2010, the only answer is a basic income which will allow people to survive but isn't a lot, and therefore people won't starve but it will be made clear to them that any work will improve their lot in life substantially without their "credits" tapering off.

I would probably have voted against the October 2015 proposals but that's not to defend the status quo, it's to say that we need more intelligent thought on the matter and I wish Damian Green well but won't be holding my breath.

7 years ago @ Conservative Home - Spencer Pitfield: We m... · 1 reply · +1 points

So there was no poverty in the 80s, when immigration was a fraction of what it is today?

No one was unemployed in Thatcher's day, and all workers earned high wages!

Areas such as the north-east, where almost no immigrants live, are renowned for how well-off they are.

7 years ago @ Conservative Home - Eamonn Butler: Remembe... · 0 replies · +1 points

"Free to choose", unless you're one of General Pinochet's peons.
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2...

7 years ago @ Conservative Home - James Frayne: Britain'... · 0 replies · +1 points

Yeah, let's go down the pub and make a free trade deal with the lads. How hard can it be?

7 years ago @ Conservative Home - Peter Cuthbertson: The... · 0 replies · +1 points

What about North Sea oil?

7 years ago @ Conservative Home - Andrew Gimson's Confer... · 0 replies · +1 points

You're not wrong about the BMAG,, it's one of my favourite places, and don't miss the Catholic and Anglican cathedrals too. This is my favourite:
https://bmagblog.org/2011/11/07/byam-shaw-the-boe...

Get yourself down Mission Burrito in the Bull Ring if you want something to eat, it's not far from the Waterstones where they've got free wifi. My girlfriend lives in Birmingham so I'm a frequent visitor.

Readers may be interested in "Our Joe" by Nick Timothy, who's gone on to become Theresa May's adviser, it's a recap of his legacy and what it means for the party he never actually joined but had and, it seems, continues to have a great influence on.

7 years ago @ Conservative Home - "Let’s rise to this ... · 2 replies · +1 points

At what point does it occur to people that disgraced former defence secretary Liam Fox and his friends are talking substance-free stuff based on utopian dreams that have nothing to do with, for instance, the livelihoods of Nissan workers?

You can't just go down the pub with world leaders and make a trade deal, or magic a prosperous future into the air with platitudes about going out into the world, head held high, etc. There needs to be something there and it's obvious that disgraced former defence secretary Liam Fox and speak your weight machine Boris Johnson have nothing to offer.