Re: The Bigger, Badder, Even More Serious Thread [5]

[Eldorion]

Is a complete Greek exit from the EU on the table or is it just their Eurozone membership at stake?

[Pettytyrant101]

They will have to leave the EU, they shouldn't have been allowed in the first place.  - Figg

Stay or go will now be up to the Greek people, but you are right they should not have been allowed in in the first place, them and a few others-the trouble with the Euro was not the idea it was the rushed implementation of it- they fudged the economies when there were massive gulfs in difference in spending and debt and then tried to apply a one currency fits all to it- it was unstable enough because of this before the US crashed the worlds economy- and it was in way robust enough to stand up to the shock of that when it did happen.

Eldo- complete out not just out the currency union out the trading block altogether as far as I understand it.

[Mrs Figg]

I understand austerity hurts bad, but the alternative is worse imo. The Greek PM promised no more austerity and that was an astoundingly false promise, they have to continue with austerity no matter what, because they have NO CASH LEFT. its going to be austerity whether they like it or not. its crazy. I reckon this latest gvt is on its last chance.

[Pettytyrant101]

Well there is a chance the pain might be more short term out than in- something similar could maybe happen as happened to the pound when the UK crashed out the Exchange Rate Mechanism on Black Wednesday- at the time it hit finances heavily, but it let the government get control over the money and get a grip on interest rates and in the long term boosted the value of the currency back up.

[Pettytyrant101]

So the budget has been and gone- the first truly conservative budget at that- and wghat a sleightof hand osbourne tired there- a very political budget and little else.

But under all the clever stuff he has actual revised the stuff he said they had to do and moved getting back in surplus back by yet another year (remember on the original Tory promises we should have been back in the black two years ago now and austerity would be a thing of the past!)
But his biggest attempted con was the so called living wage- first its not the living wage if it was it would be over 11 quid not 9, its just the minimum wage topped up a bit, but, and this is the important bit, nowhere near as much as cutting working tax credits to low paid workers takes away.
So they give you a wage increase with one hand, but take away significantly more in tax breaks, so the poorest workers are worse off. Weren't the Tories claiming to be the 'party of the working people?' That they were going to 'make work pay'?
Also the cut in corporation tax- unneeded it was already the lowest ever, now its the lowest in the developed world and only helps the already rich multinationals, but its main aim was political, as it undercuts the SNP argument for the devolution of corporation tax as its now pointless to do so as the SNP had no plans to make it lower than it now is.

This was one of the most politically motivated budgets Ive seen in a long time, ole Gideon Osbourne has his eye on PM, but I dont think people are falling for it (last nights QT audience certainly didnt seem to), not when you have independent bodies pointing out that it unfairly hits the poorest and it unfairly hits the low paid whilst barely effecting the rich at all.

[Mrs Figg]

its all smoke and mirrors

[Eldorion]

So Tsipras and his government engaged in negotiations that went nowhere for five months.  Mere days before the big deadline, he called a referendum for after said deadline.  He campaigned heavily for a "no" result that would reject austerity and most of the creditor's demands.  He won the referendum with 61% of the vote.  And now he has offered a deal to creditors that includes almost everything that they wanted and that the Greek people just refused.

Alexis Tsipras might be the most politiciany politician of all time.

[Pettytyrant101]

Yup its a whole new level in incomprehensible politics- either he is some sort of political genius with an end game so cunning no-one else can see it, or he is completely incompetent.

[David H]

Alexis Tsipras might be the most politiciany politician of all time.

We farmers have more earthy words...

[Pettytyrant101]

So the Iran deal?
Peace in our times or nuclear arms race set in progress?

(I noticed FOX keep referring to Iran as the worlds biggest sponsor of state terrorism- I always thought that was America!)

[David H]

I noticed FOX keep referring to Iran as the worlds biggest sponsor of state terrorism- I always thought that was America!

I think our record speaks for itself

[Pettytyrant101]

No wonder that eagle is shedding a tear!

[Pettytyrant101]

Well the government has officially declared war on the BBC today.
They have launched a 'root and branch' review asking the following questions-

What is the overall purpose of the BBC?

What services and content should it fund?

How should the BBC be funded.

How should the BBC be governed and reegulated.

Problem is the panel doing the review is stuffed with broadcast 'experts' with a track record of being anti-BBC.

'The culture secretary John Whittingdale has said it will cover the scope, the scale, the funding and the governance of the BBC. Not least the notion that the BBC should be a much smaller organisation providing public service broadcasting. In other words, specific programmes that the commercial sector cannot provide. It could mean an end to shows like EastEnders, The Voice and Strictly Come Dancing.'- BBC

I assume Top Gear like shows and of course Doctor who would also be axed under such proposals and all the BBC would be allowed to produce would be programming deemed ' worthy' by whatever lot of billionaire toffs get to sit in judgement on such matters.

[azriel]

If that happens it will open the door to rival channels that will fight over the most loved & highest viewer progs like Top Gear, Dr Who etc. coffins & nails spring to mind ?

[Pettytyrant101]

I see Labour choose to take the cowards way out over the welfare bill- choosing to sit on the fence and abstain- what a disgrace no wonder the party is dying on its arse. Had they joined the SNP, Liberals, Greens and the Welsh nationalists the bill could have been defeated and saved the poor and working poor for Tory ideology allowed to run rampant in the guise of necessary prudence.

[Mrs Figg]

Tories are better by far than spineless Labour. the Tories have a vision and they are going for it come hell or high water, that vision is to screw the vulnerable so hard they bleed, but hey at least its a clear message.

[Pettytyrant101]

I wouldn't disagree with that Figg.
They are going for their idealogical wish list and with Labour offering no effective opposition they are getting it all (except what the SNP has been able to stop them in so far).
If Labour had even voted for the bill that would still be better than abstaining on it- at least then we would know where they stand- abstaining means nothings save cowardice.
And had they voted with the other opposition parties the bill would have een defeated- so when those vulnerable folk you mention get hit even harder and pushed even further into poverty (and I include the working poor here not just social security recipients) Labour will be as much to blame for it as the Tories are.
Abstaining allowed it to happen- and thats unacceptable for a party which is supposed to represent the worker and the poor.

[Mrs Figg]

they are starting to look very much like the Thatcher years. that was grim for poor people but this seems worse, theres nobody fighting back this time.

[Pettytyrant101]

Its like Hatcher maxed- a frightening thought if your not one of the rich already or the upwardly mobile upper middle classes. The rest of us are fucked even if we are working 50 hours a week (which we soon will be if the Tories managed to negotiate an opt out of the EU rules on maximum working hours per week).

[Pettytyrant101]

In today's 'you couldn't make it up' news the 2nd most senior person in the House of Lords, and Head of the Standards and Conduct Committee has been caught in a video snorting cocaine off a prostitutes tits.

'Lord Sewel is facing a police inquiry after quitting as House of Lords deputy speaker over a video allegedly showing him taking drugs with prostitutes.
Lords Speaker Baroness D'Souza said he had also quit as chairman of the Lords privileges and conduct committee in the wake of the Sun on Sunday's story.'- BBC

[Forest Shepherd]

Blimey!
( )

[azriel]

The higher up the 'wealth ladder' you go the more money these people have, plus opportunity more chances of not only trying things out but, if it all goes clammy you have your pompous mates to rally round you.These are the very people that are hitting us with the 'lower classes stick' & making out WE are the scum, filth, spongers, lying cheating, lazy good for nothing dole scroungers when really all those words are applicable to them. They cant handle being caught out. So much better to NOT get to know the general public but, as there's so many of us cockroaches, it would be easier to tar & feather the masses, divert attention from their own debauchery & greed. Wonder who's at the top of the ladder ? be interesting & fun to see when we get there

[Pettytyrant101]

Yup- since the Tories came to power the poor have apprently been responsible for everything from the collapse of the banks to low wages and have been called every name under he sun: scroungers, leeches, a drain, lazy, work-shy.

Funny how if you're unemployed and get tax payer help paying your rent you are a scrounger and a drain on society and an affront to those in work paying taxes, yet if you get a grace and favour house at huge expense in the heart of London at tax payers expense but you are an MP earning over 60 grand a year and just got a 10% pay rise, its deserved and justified and right.
Most folk I know who have claimed benefits also work when they are able to and have paid into the system- how many jobs have our current political elite had? Any outside of being a politician permanently at the teet of the tax payer? and how much have they paid I before taking back out in expenses, second homes and apparently coke and prostitutes too!

[azriel]

Half the stuff in their shabby minded lives is claimed back via tax forms. Everything from black cashmere socks, made by hand by a 102yr old Tibetan woman high in the Himalayas to a 15 bedroom mansion out in sunny Surrey not far from HRH & any posh sounding drug peddlers. Me ? I get grief ! 24 hr, every day grief. And I should be grateful for it ! How dare I moan ?

[Mrs Figg]

what he said about Salmond was true though.


Lord Sewel of Gilcomstoun, 69, is said to have been recorded branding Mr Cameron "the most facile, superficial prime minister there's ever been" during the session with two £200-a-night prostitutes at his Dolphin Square flat in Westminster.


He reportedly said: "He just shoots from the hip. He is false. He makes one-off commitments and cannot deliver."

• Profile: Lord Sewel and the 'Sewel Motion'

He labelled Mayor of London Boris Johnson "a joke" and a "public school upper class twit", adding: "He plays well in London because they like a cheeky chappie.

"Can you present Boris Johnson in Preston, in Burnley, in Manchester? No, they just think he's an a---hole."

Lord Sewel, who was responsible for upholding standards in the Lords, also described Scottish MP Alex Salmond as a "silly, pompous prat", according to footage obtained by The Sun.

Asked by one of the women, whose voice is disguised, about former Labour prime minister Tony Blair's decision to go to war in Iraq, Lord Sewel said the former party leader did so "because he fell in love with George Bush".

He claimed Blair's wife, Cherie, was "obsessed with money".

A bottle of what appears to be vodka sits on the table while Lord Sewel drinks from a glass at various points during his conversation with the women.

The Sun also reports that Lord Sewel said the Labour leadership race was "in a f---ing mess".
He is said to have called Jeremy Corbyn "useless" and "a romantic idiot" and claimed Andy Burnham has been "terribly contradictory" and "goes whichever way the wind is blowing".

He said Yvette Cooper was "OK but not strong" and appeared to forget Liz Kendall's name, describing her as "a Blair supporter who is just too naive".

The one politician Lord Sewel did say something positive about was George Osborne, the Chancellor, who he described as a "very, very consummate politician" who would one day be prime minister.

The Lords authorities have said they will call in Scotland Yard over the footage, with sources suggesting that the peer will be asked to accept a caution.