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A query for Newsnight on QE as rates are held at 0.5% is that it was said King had not ruled out more QE later in the year - whilst encouraging the cuts needed to start controlling our debt Everest.

I can see that the money being cut may not have too much of a negative effect if it is largely savings and efficiency cuts and so on. But as the problem with QE has been that as Cable has pointed out it has given us recapitalisation and liquidity but that liquidity has not yet led to the banks lending to small and medium sized businesses. They are the mainstay of economic growth and job creators - that would help the coalition slim down the welfare budgets. Cable is on the case but its not clear to me how he will make that lending take place short perhaps of fines and so on.

It s also the case that as the banks look stable the markets seem happier barring the South Med sovereign debt crises. But financial reform may well in the US or the UK lead to some breaking up of the banks and that may make the markets more unhappy - though I think it should be done.

Diana Abbott and company:

Having an Oxbridge education is no guarantee of producing a smart mind; some of the thickest and incapable people I've every met have come out of that educational establishment
TV pundit and casual Labour MP Diana Abbott with her labour leadership campaign is proof that the political gene pool in the left hemisphere has gotten diluted to an extent that it has actually become frightening for us plebs. I'm still not sure if her motive is to give her profile an up-lift - so as to increase her earning potential in the TV appearance stakes or is it a genuine desire to be leader of the Labour party. I hazard a guess its a combination of the former and she's just going along for the ride because this woman has never exhibited any genuine ambition (or ability) whilst working as an MP.
I have developed an almost pathological hatred for Labour but I don't want HM official opposition to be fronted by a non-entity. And lets not single out Diana here. The Miliband Bros are not intelligent either, quick minded yes, but not intelligent. I know quick minded joke blowers but I wouldn't think they had it in them to do anything remotely important; quick mindedness should not just be the only qualification for high office. If you listened -and not even carefully - to David Miliband yesterday and his steadfast adherence to the policies that lost them the election and his dopey Bro Ed pointing this out to him, it does not bode well for the Labour party does it. As for Andy Burnam, nice fella, he's got a geography teacher aura about him, and like the rest of the contenders..no real leadership qualities what so ever.

Frank Ahrens HuffPost:

"Shares of BP dived 16 percent today, driving the stock price to below $30 per share, the worst drop on record for the company. The British energy giant closed at $29.20 per share. More ominously, investors and traders rushed to dump their BP shares: Trading of the stock occurred at four times normal volume today.

As a result, the asset-rich company is now trading for less than its book value, which is essentially all the assets it has -- oil fields, oil rigs and so forth -- minus intangible assets and liabilities."

So the media were rightly commenting on the impact that BP not paying dividends would have in the UK.

You can't see the company going bust as it has liquidity, I assume, but if the pensions company stop holding BP shares does this mean that other companies suddenly benefit?

While you can't hold Hayward personally responsible for the Deep Horizon and it may not be the time for a switch of chief executive there did seem to be a greater culture of accidents and so on at BP plants compared to other oil companies.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Gango, good luck with your exams and I hope you've got your skate board fixed.

On the Elders I look forward to their comments and indeed the World Cup.

I truly hope that the preparations have been done on the security grounds and that there is nothing on the radar to disrupt this joyous sporting festival.

There is a part of me though that still feels uneasy that they have still so many shanty towns.

I suppose though that that is a "fashionable" view as Brazil will host the World Cup and they may have proportionately many more people in shanty towns and we are all quite relaxed about them.

If the event makes a statement and amends the perceptions of the hosting country perhaps it does lead to long term tangible benefits for the citizens.

But selfishly my preoccupation is to see my country play well and honourably and ideally meet South Africa in the final.

I could be wrong:

Its gonna be the BNP, Nick Griffin and the Nazies. whats the odds eh...whats the odds!?
Some bad news for my mate Gango. I've heard that since the Torys are back in power, that right winger comic Jim Davidson is coming back to England.
Now, if they could just resurrect Bernard Manning and get rid of political correctness, the world would be a better place.

Over to you gango.

#2 kevseywevsey

"TV pundit and casual Labour MP Diana Abbott with her labour leadership campaign is proof that the political gene pool in the left hemisphere has gotten diluted to an extent that it has actually become frightening for us plebs."

Perhaps more frightening for English "Nationalists" who thought "the Griff" (Cambridge educated like Abbott) could be a king maker after the election?

You fail to see that to most of this happily multi-cultural the fact that many of the candidates are of immigrant descent is not a factor and is a positive feature.

I don't vote Labour and on ideological grounds reject the candidates.

As for your left hemisphere tosh and notions of "quick minded but not intelligent" lets think about you and those rubber bullets whizzing about and maybe hitting you on the head in the streets of Belfast.

#2 kevseywevsey

"quick mindedness should not just be the only qualification for high office. "

Quick feet perhaps like you needed to dodge the rubber bullets back in Belfast?

I bet you like the 10CC song!

A POLICE REVIEW:



I have a sneeky feeling there are more on the cards, so to speak.

By the way, when posting about Jerome Kerviel earlier on where I said 'You haven't seen anything yet', I was speaking about my 'freaky' shows. No, I was talking not only about fraud involving banks, but also about manipulation, abuse, i.e. enforced pimping with no agreement ever sought and 'playing' with human lives as well.

It's all there ready to be revealed though a degree of damage limitation may be in order, for the sake of the Kingdom and Country.

M

#56

Donkeyns

That's where Obama is special in not acting on behalf of just one group or another but for the sake of his own country as a whole, or the right and just causes globally, and he does not follow dogmas but is prepared to admit to being on the learning curve with those who like him are able to see well beyond personal satisfaction or gain for what is right and just.

mim

There was no party to vote for in the general election because there was no party with the wit or inclination to "kick the ass" of the bankers, fat cats and ruling classes for what they have done, and continue to do.

There was no party willing to destroy the class system which perpetuates our country's recurring economic dilemma.

There was no viable party whose existence is not dependant on the theives and chancers who perpetrate these economic collapses.

Right now the theives and chancers are busy spending their booty from the past twenty years while the rest of us replenish their stocks, ready for their sons and daughters to do the same again.

We should have seen it coming; after all, all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing

#2: last night it became obvious that Millepede the Elder is supporting Millipede the Younger into power. Elder made all the noises about "not changing course", to make himself unelectable, and used that to try to mock Younger - making Younger appear to be a 'victim' and get the sympathy vote. All blatantly obvious, and to any seasoned debater also obviously agreed over breakfast one recent morning. Balls is balls, the 3rd indentikit candidate in the line-up. Burnham is simply not Leader material - he does indeed resemble too much a geography teacher. The Civil Service would have him alongside Cable in moments. Moments, it has to be said, that are still longer than the Milliballs would take to sign up to continued privatisations and cuts.

as for Millipede the Younger, he makes puddles seem deep. Like an over-eager, terribly-anxious-to-please cocker spaniel puppy. I wouldn't leave him in charge of an ice-cream van. Exactly the kind of person you would try to keep away from what parents would call "bad influences", due to his complete lack of depth, value-stability, and intellectual rigour.

bet the Civil Service are creaming themselves at the thought of this complete lightweight being Leader.

abbot... i'm in two minds. She clearly doesn't actually regard *herself* as a serious contender, which is at least probably based upon a realistic assessment of how the Labour Party MPs will vote, carefully stuffed with nuLabour cuckoos under the Tony Brown years. Years of Central control over candidate selections have taken their toll on the representativeness of the PLP. She is also aware of this, i am sure. Many on the Left also seem unsure of her, she has not exactly been a fire-brand for reform, as far as i have heard.

considering the whole bunch of candidates though, it is very hard to see another of the candidates being able to revive Labour as a viable mass-movement political party.

personally, observing it from the relative safety of being in the only city with a Green MP, i'm not entirely sure a victory by one of the Milliballs would be an entirely bad thing - Abbot might split the progressive vote, whereas any of the others will almost guarantee a national Green victory, and the total annihilation of the PLP.

in 'A' Level politics, we had debates of higher calibre, depth of discussion, and general behaviour than this middle-school "hustings". Shame on the Labour Party, and the Labour Movement, for such an uninspiring, tawdry bunch.

the greatest shame Clare Short left the Labour Party!!

"Paul Mason will be asking why we have moved so quickly from fiscal stimulus to austerity measures"

Since about the 1970s the West has dodged full-on depressions (debt deflations to purge mis-priced assets and misallocated funds) through two mechanisms; Government stimulus and Central Bank intervention (lender of last resort to prop up zombie asset prices and mask underlying profitability problems).

Austerity is just an admission that these two economic crutches are on their last legs. The trick is to turn the screw ever so slowly, so that the peasants don't revolt. They pushed it too quickly on Greece and the public lashed back. Meanwhile, we may just lie back and think of England, while the IMF (Washington Consensus) shafts us:

#7 kevseywevsey

"Its gonna be the BNP, Nick Griffin and the Nazies. whats the odds eh...whats the odds!? "

Lets think about this together. If you aren't the BNP then why would you care and you just skip on to the next post and don't read mine if you get terribly upset.

If you are the BNP - and you said that you were an English "Nationalist" and that "the Griff" could be a king maker after the election - then what's the problem?

If that were the case and you believe in democracy and putting forward your ideas to people then so can other people.

In the past I have found some posters were staying within the house rules but still trying to deter democratic posters from making their points or pointing out their lies and/or misconceptions. That would include those that felt the Holocaust was "made up" and that there was a "mountain of evidence" that it did not happen. Hitler was a peace lover and democracy is not the solution to our problems ....

You might have thought sometimes that they were trying to lean on other posters to not post so that they could use a publicly funded site to promote their propaganda and that ain't going to happen.

The vast majority of Newsnight viewers would reject any racially based tripe anyway you may argue but I think you don't give the far right anything at all.

My #4 got boshed or some reason that is not obvious so I will try to reword it.

I am open minded to the coalition notion of free schools but one concern is how you can ensure freedom of expression and religion and prevent cults and far right groups from setting up educational establishments that are intrinsically anti-democratic.

#12 donkeyns

Some would say that whilst social mobility is not what it should be the old notions of the class system marked by deference and so on does not exist anymore.

Its also unlikely that the economic crash was perpetrated deliberately by thieves - though the financial regulatory system needs full reform.

As for good men doing nothing so evil can succeed you are leaving out what it is they should have done as you offer no prescription beyond suggesting that there is no political party that you subscribe to.

The good thing about democracy compared to other systems is that anybody can start a party and put forward new ideas - though first past the post does inhibit that at the moment in the UK.

Its so lucky that the UK is content with the democratic process as expressed in the voting shown at the last election.

#7 kevseywevsey

I am posting a lot today but then there is nothing to stop others posting a lot so where is the harm.

"Some bad news for my mate Gango.I've heard that since the Torys are back in power, that right winger comic Jim Davidson is coming back to England.
Now, if they could just resurrect Bernard Manning and get rid of political correctness, the world would be a better place."

Thing is we aren't mates in any way shape or form.

Remember that I am a "Prozac" Lib Dem voter who utterly rejects the racial nonsense that what I would call far right activists try to promote.

You by contrast bragged about the realities you can grasp having come from Belfast where the rubber bullets whizzed and you chucked bottles at the British Army and embraced religious hatred as I believe you put it.

You also seem by contrast to me to be conflicted as you are an English Nationalist but then seem very sensitive about anything that I say when I challenge the basis of any posts promoting the far right and the BNP.

Now rather than continually talk around your views what is it that you feel is being inhibited by political correctness?

Some may think of Davidson and Manning as making racially based jokes that could be used by others to facilitate the division of races.

Yet any thinking person is well aware that in scientific terms genetic studies have shown that all of the races are descended from a very few individuals and that we are all very closely related.

Why do you think that the BNP have not contested the EHRC requirement that they comply on non-racial membership rules?

They can't because it is an evil fiction that there are such differences.

I lived in America (well, Texas) for some time and I know that Americans are NOT basically anti-British. I've been giving some consideration to the present BP problems, most of which seem to be emanating from Obama's hysterical anti-BP remarks, despite the fact that the company has tried to do everything that's asked of them, even before they've been TOLD to do so. At first I thought this might be a front for a potential acquisition by for example EXXON, with the President's co-operation. But, honestly, given the emotional explosions and unstatesmanlike language used - I'm wondering if Obama is SANE or if the pressures of his office have unbalanced his mind. Any thoughts?

Could you please cover the following if you haven't done so already - another thing that seems to have slipped through under most of the media radar but will worsen what already is an unfair system for tenants. If you read the accompanying comments if you can you will see what I mean. Shapps has promised landlords not to do anything about the proposals that were going to take place under the old govt and has told tenants if you have a problem your coucil may or may not be able to sort it out. Unfair on tenants and councils.

Brightyangthing

I'm sitting on the steps of All Souls Chiurch.in Langham Place facing the oval building with an architecturally fitting modern attachment housing the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ where I just attended a Media Society event re: the coverage of the election night by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, Sky and Channel 4.

I asked John Mair who used to work for the Corporation and who chaired the meeting how it was to work with Jeremy Paxman. 'Very rewarding', he said, and Craig Oliver, who was actually in charge of the election night said something along similar lines.

By the way, did you know that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ coat of arms has a hat in it?

P.S. The meeting took place in the Council Chamber where all the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ big wigs meet to discuss big issues.

#19: his ratings are slipping as the progressive Americans figure out he is no different from the rest of the plutocrats. He is worried that his '9/11' moment is coming re Iran, but the Public are more clued up than under Georgie boy. He has an opportunity to attack a foreign corporation for environmental damage (were it Exxon, would his rhetoric have been the same?). Most of all, perhaps, the oil lobby must be going spare about the anti-oil message this spill has created in the American social consciousness, and he has to placate his financial backers.

also, it seems likely that the American 'underground' is growing, with the awareness that they have been deliberately stuffed economically, politically, and socially.

plus, the US simply cannot afford anywhere near the amount of military spending it has been wasting since Bush Jr ramped it up by 2-3 HUNDRED percent. But cut-backs will open him to accusations of being 'soft on terrorism', as well as harming his support in Congress, as the pig-troughing senators have their special interest programs looked into.

all in all, having a public hysteria fit over BP probably seems like the easiest angle to drive the news in.

also, the actual ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER *is* catastrophic for the entire basin, surely that has *some* effect upon him? He is not Bush and New Orleans - he would actually LIKE to end it if he could. He is not sitting back with his buddies, watching the poor suffer on TV, giggling at the tragedy unfolding. Unlike Jr, it hardly needs stating.

news: "The uk asking the US to 'tone down the language' ROTFLMAO :lol: :lol:

ohhh, for those halcyon Empire days eh? ;)

I would like BP to start defending itself a little better than it has been up to now with regards this accident. It can start by dragging Haliburton and the other chaps [whose name escapes me for the moment] into court and sueing them for compensation as they can take, some if not all of the blame for this accident. After all, they were holding themselves out as experts, and experts have responsibility for their actions, when employed on the basis of that expertise... Does that make sense?
Secondly, doesn't case law limit consequential economic loss by people not directly involved with an accident?

#17 thegangofone

It's your type who perpetuate this mess I'm afraid.

Democracy is good but unfortunately does not really exist in the UK. Obama may be the first polititian who's ever truly understood democracy - I may eventually be proven wrong though...

If our universities are so great, why don't any of our students have a grasp of basic economics? Their bleating is non-stop.

#22

Nobody was giggling tonight, starting with the Receptionists, through the journalists and other media professionals gathered in the Council Chamber or on the big screen in the front hall to Mr Alan Yentob who I shared the sofa in the hall with, not that I noticed anyway, and not even when I asked the Panel what David Dimbleby meant when talking on the election night about the 'extraordinary theatre'.

nighty, nighty

Gango at multi posts up above:

Sorry I've not responded till now. I generally watch NN on iplayer if I've missed an episode from previous evening, scan the posts and if Bovvered, I'll leave one. After that, I'm off about my day, I'm not hanging about because I've got things to do. For example: I had to pick up my white cloak and hat from the dry cleaners today. Whilst at a BBQ, standing on top of a hill and under a burning cross at the weekend, my cloak got covered in soot and smelt terrible. Then after that visit to the dry cleaners, I went to the Adolf Hitler memorial in Basingstoke, A secret location above a pub. I shared a cup of tea and a buttered scone with Nick Griffin.

Anybody who questions immigration and your tiresome and consistent MO goes wild. The above pictorial images enter your brain. And then you try and 'out' the poster as a BNP member/supporter. And what if they are BNP supporters or members anyhow, that is their choice.
And you clearly can't spot sartorial comment, even if it was followed with a disclaimer.

But just for the record and with no satire or humour:
I know, (and not a belief) multicultural and multi-religious societies are problematic. Knowing this fact does not make one hateful or bigoted.

I accept there are differences between the races. Knowing this does not make one hateful or bigoted.

As for large scale and uncontrolled immigration within these Islands and the concerns shown from the long established tribes..their concerns are valid but were shouted down by the mentalists from the left. This in turn has bred anger and hatred. Your unbending twisted belief and ignorance is responsible for this response. The thing you feared the most is getting rocked in a cradle, suckled by fear and anger. It will eventually terrorise our future. One more thing. We will rue the day we ever allowed Islam to flourish in the west...you can mark my words on that Gango.

A suggested read for gango.

An Austrian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst wrote and published a book. Its called 'A mass psychology of fascism'. He wrote this after fleeing from the Nazies when they gained power in the 30s. The book is regarded as a classic then and know.
From the rise of national socialism in Germany, to expanding the ideas of Freud. The authors name was Wilhelm Reich. I thought you may have heard of him considering your interest of Nazi Germany and its dangers of re-emergence. But since you ridiculed him, I assume you've never heard of him -which was a bit of a surprise i must confess. His written work on fascism sits along side only a handful of others that explains the why and how societies can turn sick.

"jobs tax" - this was mentioned by the actual Tory bloke on the QT panel (not referring to the Tories on the right of Dimbleby). Lets cut through the BS, shall we?

this was a proposed increase of National Insurance, a tax that should be devoted to maintaining the Welfare system for the benefit of the Public, which is divided between the employers contributions, and the workers contributions. This is because employers make profit off each worker they employ, thus forcing exploiters to pay for the welfare of the people they are exploiting (unless it is a cooperative).


this was a proposed tax to reduce the Public Deficit, that the current Tory Govt is willing to sacrifice schools, hospitals, emergency services to fill its voracious maw. The increase would have meant Corporations like Tescos and McDonalds would have had to pay a small amount more, consider they do everything to avoid minimum wage legislation, and make multi-£1,000,000,000s in profits every year, some might think a small increase of their contributions towards reducing the National Debt would be just. Possibly even, dare i say it... "fair"!

But according to the Tories, this small extra contribution (something like £15 a month or less), would have meant Tescos and McDonalds would somehow have cut staffing even more, a (the) Dreaded Jobs Tax!!! [pause to look suitably scared :o !!!]

to put that baldly, in the attempt to reduce the National Debt, the Tories would prefer to close schools and hospitals, cut pensions and wages for normal people, rather than place a (very) small tax upon multi-national corporations. Feel betrayed?

it gets worse. Although they opposed the increase in Employers contributions (the £15 or so per month), they fully supported the increase on the *workers*!! This is still to go ahead, an effective increase of tax on the large majority of people who work for a living. One of the Tories first acts upon entering Govt has been to prevent new taxes on blood-sucking Corporations, whilst increasing them upon the actual workers - and once again, the heavy taxes to fall upon the middle-middle classes, whilst the super-rich pay ever and ever less.

then again, is this *really* a betrayal? The Tories, even under Camoron, have never hidden their contempt for the majority of the UK that isn't filthy rich. We should not even be surprised.


But the Tories continuing to spin the lie that the increase in employers N.I. contributions was an economic disaster-in-waiting is completely unacceptable. This is a political Lobby Group (the Conservative Party), opposing taxation that harmed its financial backers (the multi-national Corporations). It is nothing more than less than overt Corporatism, and Plutocracy. It is most certainly NOT concern about the Economy, which frankly can only *benefit* from increased taxation upon these economic monstrosities, for the benefit of the Public.

help 'subsidise' the Arts by having Govt pay for students from poorer schools to go to High Art performances (like that dance piece in Brighton that was on NN Review). This both subsidises the arts, and also helps the education budgets!!

on stelzer & Rasmussen:



--the comments leading up to mine last ones are *very* revealing when compared to what they said tonight.

#27 a bit more

A very significant aspect of my visit to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ just off Regent Street was that once inside I wasn't faced by even one silly willy, something which I found very pleasing to my heart and soul.

mim

Witnesses:

A hat, a lion holding a thunderbolt, a couple of eagles, the globe and 7 estoiles were once witnesses of a meeting between the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ big wigs and the MI5:



and once again they may find it interesting to play their role in another review of the Corporation, of a fundamental sort this time.

P.S.

Rather than be filmed and in order to see all the other participants of the event, I took a seat in the back row. As I was starving, I opened my round shaped lock & lock plastic box and munched throughout the meeting on the goodies I'd put in it: a blueberry muffin, Japanese rice crackers and banana chips only to realise that there were some crumbs scattered on the floor once full lights were switched on. Apologies to the cleaners.

Brightyangthing

I had a great ride back home last night. The air seemed fresh and there was hardly any wind so even going uphill I didn't have keep switching gears all the time /I normally have them set at H, i.e. high on the left and 4 on the right/.

Anyway, as always I couldn't stop myself taking snaps with my iPhone camera so after doing some snapping at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ I kept stopping off to take more photos, including the Eros in Piccadilly Circus, the 4 horse carriage driven by an amazing winged creature on the corner of Picadilly and Hyde Park and a few others with a stop over at the Anglesea Arms in South Ken.

Hope to hear from you later

mim

#33 another thought which dawned on me while puffing away one of my minty Windsor ciggies:

Ideally both the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and the MI5 should mtually re-evaluate and re-examine their policies and priorities. Aren't they supposed to be serving for the good of the Kingdom and the Country as a whole or 'act' at the behest of silly willies?

M

#35

giggling silly willies would be a more precise term, methinks

#36 a bit more about giggling

I don't mind people giggling if I'm being funny. Nobody as yet has told me that I can actually make them laugh rather than being a permanent bore.

Giggling about misery, not having the right kind of looks and abuse is a different matter, goes without saying. However, I don't really mind that as those who do giggle at the things I've just mentioned must obviously suffer from a very poor quality of their sense of humour.

(^_^)(^_^)(^_^)(^_^)????****????!!!!

mim

Spending splurge...



Yes I realise it's the Mail and right wing! ; )

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

#38

Ecolizzy

Most noble causes, apart from the obvious one, but the timing completely wrong.

Re: your italicised message -

Some things cannot be helped.

All the very best. I mean it.

mim

#40 Thanks for you good wishes mim! : )

Yes a lot are good causes, but what a stupid government to spend money we haven't got and have got to borrow! It makes you feel as though we were being bought!

Me at 39. "Further consideration"

Okey. the post may be top-heavy sarcastic. Sorry Mod, its habit due to profession.

I'll just leave the Geert Wilders Dutch politician election report 'shocker' link. Anti-immigration party could be king maker/part of coalition in the Netherlands.

if we had a society building science we could explain why germany is an economic powerhouse and the uk an economic basket case and correct it. But we don't so the govt dosen't know and merely aims to 'manage decline'?

The Uni Bar

most courses could be taught online. the old model is out of date and a a bit luddite to cling to it?

world cup

a mass bbc holiday?