Eames

Tony was never comfortable giving references

Is that because the never leave alive?

**** me that's some serious pack opening.

Best of British to you JJ But remember. If your board doesn't look like this: You've lost already.

You wont find me disagreeing with much there Bicks. Edit whoops. Not quite what I meant to say.

Eames you were Trolling - unless you actually believe that the NUM at that time had to provide permission - given that official records are freely available now for that time it would b good to see your evidence for your statement I "liked" your second post specifically on certain points re Tax evasion, but there other bits in there I certainly do not agree with. You are seemingly going down a well worn path for Tory VT'ers of "ahh but Labour ...." in respect to your comment "Why wont Labour ....." etc. That is not nor is it ever the point but often gets used a distraction when people question Tory policies. IDS is an obnoxious man, has been for many years and continues to be so. His tenure as minister in charge of basically screwing the less fortunate has seen some of the most disgusting attacks on the most vulnerable in UK society all typically based on a flawed and very vindictive long term Tory ideology. See ATOS etc for perfect examples. Re your comment on the wiping of value from shares, that actually shows up so much of what is wrong in the UK society and specifically why the policy is certainly one that should be explored further. You say that the IDS reforms are not unreasonable, I would love to see how you justify that because from where I am sitting and seemingly from so many comments from other members of society they certainly are not. It would be good to see and know what we are missing here. Genuinely can you tell us why you hold these views for at least discussion on a civil manner in here No. I said the "general principles behind" the reforms were not unreasonable. I've also explained why in principle they are a good idea.... and then went on to say that the execution had been poor. ATOS being another good example. Of course their needs to be some assessment of needs when it comes to disability benefit, but again, the execution of the policy has been terrible. I fundamentally disagree that impact of Government policy has been a "disgusting attack" and therefore the result of a "vindictive ideology". Perhaps I am more charitable in believing they are unintended consequences of an incompetant political class. That said "vile" and "disgusting" pretty much does sum up some of the more er.....unusual figures in the Tory party... Michael Fabricant being one of them. Can we also get away from the "Tory VTer" stuff. Its not helpful. I have voted Conservative in the past.... but I am pro-European and probably only small "c" conservative with a little bit of small "l" liberal thrown in. In fact.... a lovely shade of green if you will minus the lentil stuffing environment stuff.

I think people ought to be very skeptical about Mr Massara's comments and perhaps cynical about the intent that lies behond them. That aside, the impact on shareprice and pensions is undeniably bad for the vast majority of "hard working people"

You're both wrong. That is why Lescott is on £100k+ a week at the wealthiest club in the league and why Clark is at Aston Villa.

Agree the comparisons are laughable...but why then if the policies are so "disgusting" why won't Labour commit to repealing them? Why don't the make any policy suggestion as an alternative? So far Eds solution to his "cost of living crisis" is to wipe billions off the share prices of energy companies, which, far from upsetting a few fat cat shareholders knackers everyone's pensions whilst creating a climate where energy companies won't invest because they may not be able to make a return on their investments. The general principles of IDS reforms are not unreasonable. Those being...."If the state is supporting you by providing a house, it is not unreasonable that that house is the right size for the size of your familiy." A better way of introducing this policy would have been for example "changes effective on all moves from April 2014" and at least then you don't stress out the disabled and vulnerable in the short term. Benefits should be sufficient to support those who are unable to work however, it should not be a long term solution for those who are able to do so and chose not too. You should ALWAYS be better off working than not unless you are unable to do so. Tax evasion should be tackled equally - regardless of scale. No deals with Vodafone to reduce liabilty - the same enforcement for all. The tax code should be made as simple as possible to remove loopholes and dodges. Sadly every political party of every persuasion is guilty of failure on one or more of the above.

Drat, I'm fairly sure arbitrarily grouping people is against the forum rules is it not? I'm surprised given your willingness to remind others of the guidlines that you appear to have neglected to follow them yourself? I'm sure the impact of the cuts hasn't been as bad generally as Labour would have people believe, and that the Tories have over exaggerated their message as well. But then....thats politics.

^^ I though Peston gave a very accurrate summary of Davos on R4's PM a couple of days ago. Something like "Of the 15 people I have spoken with today, 5 are genuinely concerned about how the rich can help and have a responsibility to the worlds poor. 5 are journalists..... and 5 were just gits"

. Simply not true.Labor did shut many pits' you are right about that. But it was done in a carefully managed way , with full consultation with the NUM. Heavy investment was put into the remaining pits, so that within a few years Britain had the most efficient deep mined coal in the world. We were actually self sufficient with the coal stocks we had, the only way foreign coal could compete was by importing from countries that either paid their miners a pittance ie Poland and China, or was mined cheaply by strip mining from opencast mines, the most environmentally destructive. Germany always took the attitude that coal mining was a strategic industry and so warranted subsidies to support it, that's why coal mining still exists on a fairly substantial scale there. We still have enough coal stocks under our feet in this country to last 400 years. Tory industrial vandalism means that unfortunately it will stay there. I assume here you meant to write "permission from"

Pretty much. It was enjoyable for a few hours, but at the moment there aren't enough cards, I don't really like the class system in a TCG, and games are over far too quickly. It has nowhere near the depth of a game like MtG. See.... I like the rapid fire element, its holding my attention so far but then I'm new to it. I also like the fact it doesn't take itself too seriously as opposed to MtG which appears to have an almost reverential following. Agree the depth of cards needs to grow but it is still in Beta so more may be in the pipeline.

Liked for Nespresso love.

it was a spar mate. It's my local shop so asked why I couldnt have a Scratch card and he said he didn't know, was just the law. Its not the law. I would imagine its to do with the fact that the retailer doesn't recieve a % for selling lottery tickets. So, by paying by card.... by the time they've paid the card handling fee (2.5% of the transaction IIRC) they are actually out of pocket. Tescos and bigger places will swallow it because you will probably buy other stuff as well to offset that.

Nespresso machines FTW. Ive done the "grinding my own beans" thing and its a real ball ache. EDIT In before the innuendos. Fnar fnar.

I can't stand the little buggers and will nuke them at every possible opportunity. I had a piss easy win yesterday and chose to pyroblast one of the gits just for shits and giggles.

Is it Kakuta on loan or to buy? Haven't seen a credible article.

I love Okore. He's brilliant. "**** Bring Polite!"

Who is the "other" loan? Bertrand and .....?

A thing of beauty is a joy forever .

He has been recalled from his loan spell Wiki says yes. On 2nd Jan. Click Clickety Click

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Best 1. Rimmer 2. Spink 3. Bosnich Worst 1. Ebckleman 2. Kiraly