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Labour promise free school breakfasts for children
Angela Rayner is damage control. Apparently we've reached the desperate point where the idea that Jeremy Corbyn might watch the Queens Speech at Christmas via Catch Up is front page news.
Sajid Javid says the chances of No Deal at the end of 2020 are remote.
Whilst Johnson has laid out his plans for the first 100 days of Tory power in a new term. Official plans include a rise in NI threshold, a review of defense, the end of automatic release for violent or sexual criminals, charging new immigrants more to use the NHS, increase in education spending, cross part talks for social care planning, talks on improving mobile phone coverage.
Unofficial plans probably range from lying their backsides off about securing a No Deal Brexit all the way through to issuing Order 66, launching a clone army and wiping out Labour members in a coup to secure the Tory Empire.Comment
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TBH, I think all school meals should be provided freely to children; both breakfast and lunch if possible.Originally posted by Neon Ignition View Post
However, I also think that this should be predicated on that kids are given food to eat from a range of choices that are equally healthy, and if they don't want to eat that, then they can pay for their own food. I don't want the taxpayer financing kids eating oven chips and B&N own-brand pizza every lunch (which is what many schools served in the 90s; I've no idea how things are now, maybe they're better).
In Japan, the kids had no choice (not necessarily something I approve of; I think the kids should be able to make choices purely to preserve their sense of agency) but the meals were nutritionally balanced and very good for you, with 4 or 5 each term that were "treat days" where you got something moderately unhealthy.Comment
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Labour's offering is generous for young families like mine. Now, if he could say something about childcare costs that would be brilliant. Even with tax rebates we will be paying over £1000 a month for 2 children to attend nursery for 3 days a week....more like £1400 if the mother in law can't look after both on her days off (likely)!Comment
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4 Brexit Party members quit to support the Tories
Whilst Johnson see's Corbyn and Swinson make apologies for criticisms against them so makes the predictable empty move of apologising for his long standing letter box comment.Comment
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Johnson still not up for a Andrew Neil mauling. Instead he goes on This Morning, where they fawn over him and take selfies.
Last edited by QualityChimp; 05-12-2019, 12:38.Comment
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I’m past caring about individual political parties (none of them seem truly fair to me), but I just hope that somebody gets in one day who acknowledges almost the entire system is broken in this country and most of the world for that matter. We keep getting told it’s one of the richest countries in the world, but from my perspective it’s a cesspit. I’m lucky to walk a few hundred yards without being hassled by junkies for fix money, step over some passed out drunk or someone off their nut on spice. The streets are filthy and unsafe, trains are old and broken, most public services are bad already and getting worse.
Wage stagnation against inflation has meant that after several promotions I have less realistic disposable income than I had when I started as a temporary clerk. I supplement my income by selling things, writing articles and basically doing whatever work I can do cash-in-hand. No matter what I do, each month it seems just a little bit tighter. I only really live for my hobbies and it’s gutting to see them gradually being squeezed out just to pay for normal day-to-day expenses.
I’m not saying I should be loaded or anything daft (I don't even really want to be!), but there’s a limit to how much I can make every pound coin sweat. If this society is so rich, I think it’s right that anyone who does an honest week’s work deserves an honest week’s pay and should be able to live an enjoyable and fulfilling life in a nice place with good options – buy a house, buy a few nice things, go on holiday, spend time with friends, eat some good food. Not saying they should be popping champagne corks off a yacht, just having a rewarding life with stuff to look forward to. Everyone should have that right, no matter what they do. I shouldn't be going to bed with a stress headache most nights, I should be knocking off at two and going to a barbecue or something. For all the improvements in efficiency and technology we've had over the last 100 years, we're still lucky to be doing the 40-hour week, which was a proposal from the Victorian era. Who exactly is benefiting from the efficiency?
Really, there is no excuse for a job where the person doing it has a bleak and miserable existence. People have a go at folks like cleaners or McDonalds staff as if they deserve to be in a bad position. It's not fair, a job is a job. If you need a person to do it, that person should have a good life. It annoys me so much that we've got a system where so many people run themselves ragged to have no real life whatsoever, just "exist" until they eventually don't. When I see the folks in doorways huffing glue I always wonder whether I should pity them or feel jealous that they found their way out of the hedge maze and I didn't.
Also, Bubsy wasn't a bad game, it was just a fairly middling one.Comment
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That's the thing; so many people will say "you have no right to these things", usually followed by "I have those things because I worked 80 hours a week for ten years in the 80s, never saw my kids, why do you deserve better?"Originally posted by Hirst View Post
I'm always puzzled why these people, who supposedly went through so much hardship, are so keen to make sure that hardship is inflicted upon the next generation. I worked 80 hour weeks for long stretches in the 2000s; my goal in my industry, from this point on, is to make sure that my staff never have to do that, because it shouldn't be necessary.
What this all comes back to, for me, is simple: right now, there are people working in **** jobs. There are millions of people in the USA who don't have medical care. There's Flint Michigan, a place in the US which lacks clean water, something which has been going on for years. If these things can persist, what is the point of society?
We've built all these things; courts, legal processes, oversight organisations, QNGOs, infrastructure, governments, parliaments, councils... Sometimes at great expense. All these things mankind has built to try and impose some semblence of order and fairness on an uncaring universe, to try and make sure people can live their lives in some manner of peace & security.
If the US can't provide people drinking water in a city, then what was the entire ****ing point?Comment
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Andrew Neil issuing a challenge to Boris Johnson and he's right, if Johnson can't handle 30 minutes with Neil, how is he going to handle other nation's leaders?
The coward needs to stop taking selfies and get his arse on set.Comment
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[MENTION=7652]Hirst[/MENTION], do you live in the NE?
None of the politicians seem to live there!
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I live in West Yorkshire and we have a choice between someone who lives in Islington, someone who lives in Cumbria, a bunch of people who will lose their deposits, or drawing a nice picture on the slip to cheer up the people counting the votes.Originally posted by QualityChimp View PostComment
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This is utterly ridiculous. It should be against the rules to stand in a constituency in which you're not resident (and I don't mean owning a second house there either!).Originally posted by Hirst View PostComment
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Yeah, it's quite often the case that they don't have that much involvement in the constituency they've been allocated.
This is quite interesting:
"The People-Power Index: How did your MP score?
The People-Power Index should be viewed as a health check of how Parliament is working and how our MPs are listening to, and engaging with, their constituents.
To make the Index, we used ten data sources which measure the following, in priority order
1.Your MP’s availability to their constituents.
This looks at how your MP is available online (email and social media), offline (holding “surgeries” in your local area and a caseworker), and whether your MP is distracted by a second (or third) job.
2.Your MP’s participation in Parliament.
This looks at your MP’s participation record for voting in Parliament, so that your constituency is counted when new laws are passed, and how often your MP raises issues from your constituency in Parliament
3.How an MP listens to the public.
An MP’s top priority is their constituency, but they also have a responsibility to the wider general public to bring political attention to mass public campaigns and priority issues by discussing them in Parliament."
My local MP is 516/650 . How does everyone else do? [MENTION=9465]Brad[/MENTION] is the winner of this game.
Another one that's interesting to look at is:
"You shouldn’t have to be an expert to understand what goes on in Parliament. Your politicians represent you… but what exactly do they do in your name? TheyWorkForYou takes open data from the UK Parliament, and presents it in a way that’s easy to follow – for everyone. So now you can check, with just a few clicks: are They Working For You?"
A selection of my MP's votes
- Consistently voted for fewer MPs in the House of Commons
- Voted against a wholly elected House of Lords
- Almost always voted against paying higher benefits over longer periods for those unable to work due to illness or disability
- Almost always voted for a reduction in spending on welfare benefits
- Consistently voted for replacing Trident with a new nuclear weapons system
- Voted against removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords
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Corbyn has clearly identified his key strategy as he produces a second leaked confidential report, this time on Northern Ireland and customs checks. He claims the report proves Johnson is lying to the public about his deal with the report said to confirm a post-Brexit hard border between NI and the rest of the UK, increased goods costs and significant economic damage to Wales and Scotland.
Meanwhile key Tories are out supporting candidates with backgrounds in islamophobia and another candidate has stated that people with learning disabilities should be paid less because 'they don't understand money'Comment
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