threegee

I think the Carillion failure highlights a problem with HOW the contracts are awarded. The government actually encourages shaky companies to underbid, as a large government contract provides them with cash flow to try to dig themselves out of trouble. The government is a monopoly buyer in these circumstances and could easily draft a contract which avoids this pitfall. The contracts should require that when public funds are involved public money is placed in escrow in favour of subcontractors and their employees, any use of those funds to shore up the main contractors balance sheet should be declared fraudulent and therefore a criminal offence. The government could also dictate the maximum delay in paying subcontractor's invoices. Superficially this would add to the cost of the contract, but in fact those costs wouldn't be anything like they first appear because it would give smaller subcontractors more incentive to enter the market and lower costs that way - I'm told that many subcontractors simply refused to deal with Carillion because of their ridiculously extended payment periods, and any sensible subcontractor would factor the finance costs into their bid. The argument about public/private is all rather artificial, because at some point everything in government is furnished by privately controlled resources. Blair's Labour government rightly recognised this, but as is usual with our politicos they went totally overboard in favour of what "seemed like a good idea at the time". The government should be encouraged to carry out limited experiments with public funds, but these experiments shouldn't become general public policy until the results are in. This, of course, doesn't suit the "I have all the answers" politicos.

Shallow thinking CL - the sort beloved by the left. A club where membership requires you to hold two self-contradictory views in your head at the same time, and convince yourself that both accurately represent reality. Amusing that Manfred Weber has stood up in the EU parliament in the last few days and deployed exactly the same spurious argument that you've deployed in the number plate debate. Needless to say the shallow Verhofstadt though this was another hilarious example of British stupidity.

Yup, "the science is settled". That's apart from the fact that anything that IS settled isn't science. Strange days we live in!

I wonder what that flag is Merc? No, actually I don't! That's far from the case here. But... to paraphrase Herr Juncker: The EU flag is losing its importance in Europe. I think CL needs to think a little more deeply on the matter: at least as deeply as those on the Brussels gravy train.

The creator of the petition simply wants the right to be British by default again, and not to have to jump through hoops to assert this. To him/her being British is the default state, and so why should things be different? In part it's generational, but by no means entirely. I'm delighted that your flag is the same as mine, and that neither of us are "xenophobes"!

I understand the EU flag it's pretty much imposed on you; but whatever, the petition is a signal to the government for when the law is redrafted to exclude EU diktats. It's up to the level where the govt has to respond now, so we'll be able to read the response in a week or two. At a practical level: in this part of the EU nothing much is enforced and Brits drive UK registered cars around for years - I will start looking closely but can't remember seeing a GB sticker. I was using a UK driving licence for almost ten years before swapping it when renewal was required, and that's the norm in these parts. Crash helmets and seat belts are pretty much optional, that's unless the mayor is struggling to pay the local police wages (which is increasingly the case these days). They've been going through the old records to try to find property tax bills they've overlooked in previous years in a desperate attempt to keep the town solvent. So, all the EU propaganda about an economic recovery is just that, and the true state of things is clear in so many other ways. I don't think I'm going to be using Euros for very much longer!

Happy New Year CL+Pete_+Joe+All! I'm not telling you what my resolutions are though CL!

SIGN THE PETITION 10,373 signatures as at 31st December 2017

The questions are: exactly how much public money was used to gain this estimated boost, and what could have been achieved if this money had been used in a more phased and considered way? Five minutes of fame might not bring too much business to the places that really need it. Politicos have a poor record of spending wisely, and they often can't resist the temptation to do things which they think will gain them maximum votes. This is simply an observation and not a specific criticism, but I do think this sort of thing needs a little more justification than we actually get. The chief problem we've had in our area is one party rule stifling proper accountability. Maybe times are changing, and I sure hope so!

Just when you were doing so well Ronnie! You go and support the establishment, and badly damage the UK's negotiating position in the process. What on earth were you thinking by supporting the Tory rebels, and voting against your constituent's best interests? Come the next GE this will be remembered. But, perhaps you've already decided to retire on your parliamentary pension and don't want to rock the boat. Some answers please?

I don't know how to break this to you CL - maybe you need a strong drink too - but the guy behind your house is an impostor! Santa Claus has been here for almost 1000 years after being kidnaped by some local syndicates who made the Turks "an offer they couldn't refuse"! He decided to holiday in Moscow this Summer (and it seems he's quite popular up there) - I blame global warming! After almost 1000 years he probably needed a holiday though. Here's a sneak shot I got of him on his way to Moscow in May (don't you just dig his luggage!):

Was never more CL! Merry Christmas from Santa Claus Land!

Oh dear, it seems that someone did tell the Irish! How could this possibly have happened as we have a UK government and an EU, both so utterly united in themselves and singing from the same songsheets? There must be someone somewhere who isn't thinking of the greater good of us all, and wishes for things to go very wrong. We must find that selfish person and shame them - maybe a Twitter storm or a FB campaign? Now who, in either the EU or the UK government, could possibly be operating to a personal agenda? This is hard, I think I need another strong coffee.

Seems like it isn't only the EU that is two faced. I sort of get the impression that we are heading for a bad case of "irreconcilable differences" before the pantomime is over. Well.. that's what a lot of us are really hoping!

So... "Black Friday" is almost gone, and despite looking and looking I've resisted all temptation. Perhaps temptation is too strong a word, because I've hardly been interested in anything on offer let alone persuaded to reach for my credit card. Have I finally reached maturity at this ripe old age? Is it just that BF isn't what it originally was? Have I already got too many gismos/books/videos? Is this a first step down the path to taking up holy orders even? Or - as I strongly suspect - am I not alone in shunning yet another, and increasingly dreary, consumer fest? Oh, hang on: before attempting an answer to any of these profound questions I must break off for a few minutes to do another quick search for bargain Chromebooks.

I'm tempted to reply... sausages - but I won't!

Any relation to Mrs Todd who had the wet fish shop on Front Street West until the mid/late 1960's? Pretty much the left hand side of where the TSB is today.

Thanks for the compliment Merk, even if it was a tad backhanded! It would have sparked mass civil disobedience. The targets would have been obvious, and included the political classes. There's a very good chance that the military would have become involved, and it wouldn't have been on the side of the politicos. We've been a lot closer to a military takeover in our lifetimes than a lot of people would care to admit. As the revolution would have been on behalf of the monarchy and country, the Queen would have had no alternative but to suspend parliament and (after lots of consultation) appoint people who would command public respect. Basically our political system would have finally exceeded all former cronyism, and made itself redundant. Not too many people would have shed tears about that. The ruling classes know this, and that their tenure isn't as firm as they pretend; hence why the referendum result could have be nothing other than binding. Large numbers of them still believe they can hoodwink the public though. Blair and Osborne are not alone! Catalonia will be overstamping Euro notes, as the Greeks should have done. It really doesn't matter if it's accepted outside Catalonia at the moment as long as local trade proceeds. Official acceptance at the local level is all that is required. What is the Euro backed by? The answer to that is nothing but promises the German taxpayer isn't really aware of - yet! What happens when the German taxpayer wakes up and says enough? Merkel is already struggling to form another government, and is going to have to make major compromises in order to cling on to power. On NATO: Just because there's mutual interest in one sphere don't run away with the idea that this extends to others.The EU doesn't actually want any part in NATO (hence they don't pay their dues), and NATO wouldn't become involved. Our mutual friend Mr Trump would make sure of this. As the snowflakes are told it's the EU that has maintained peace in Europe since 1945 why would "Europe" need an Anglo Saxon dominated and controlled body? The EU is busting a gut to form its own army and a beefed up civil intervention force. But this has to be done by stealth, or even more people will smell the Juncker rat. Spain doesn't present them with the desire excuse - quite yet. They'd actually want a total mess in Spain, so they could step in and compartmentalise it into EU regions.

Rather than the little local difficulty we've been fed by the media it rather looks like the second spanish civil war is about to break out. A complete mishandling of the matter by Madrid being the major factor. What we are seeing in Spain is what we've always been careful to avoid in the UK. It's also what could easily have happened if there had been an EU-style attempt to ignore or overturn the referendum result. The Catalans seem to be going about it in the right way in launching their own currency. If only the Greeks had had this much sense, or at least the sense to ignore the ECB and let the printing presses run whilst they still had the ability. Spain's plot to use Brexit to enslave the Gibraltarians is now looking like a silly joke, as yet another plank of the remainer case (the allegedly sensitive Gibraltar issue) is kicked away. Will the Basques seize this opportunity, or will the EU's mounting problems surface somewhere else first? The Leave campaign said we needed to be clear of the EU as soon as possible to avoid getting dragged into the looming mess with British forces becoming involved - we are not clear yet!

So... the result is no longer "advisory" and to be ignored in typical anti-democratic EU fashion? Ah, well, at least we've made some progress there! It's easy to see why you - as an inveterate socialist - have a problem with the word "my". It's a declaration of belonging and duty (particularly duty to past and future generations), not an expression of property rights. Guess what's happened here since the sub-saharan invasion got really industralised? Yes, crime has shot up and the loony lefties are making all sorts of excuses for what's obvious to ordinary thinking people. We help illegals on an individual basis because they are all human (and thankfully MOST of them are Christian at the moment), but it's got to stop. It's a matter of numbers, and socialists simply can't count (hello Diane!). Their even more delusory assertion that Islam is benign is very dangerous denial of reality. The socialist that has caused most of Europe's current problems - our dear Frau Merkel - has now admitted that multiculturalism doesn't work, and was a mistake. Unfortunately we've still not heard these words from the dysfunctional UK Labour Party, that quietly imposed it on our own country. I leave the matter of whether you regularly attempt to diminish and deride your own country up to others to judge.

Pretty much says it all about how remonians view our country. Pity it got so depleted of its more worthy citizens during two world wars liberating a Europe that has now totally forgotten their sacrifice (or in the case of some of them actually resenting it). As you mention maps: here's the SS map of the European Union (yes, they did coin the name). Do you notice the subtle difference from the similar EU regional map? The difference is that at least the Nazi founders of the EU didn't actually seek to erase all cultural differences. You deride your own country, and in doing so deride the hundreds of millions of others around Europe who wish to leave a failing socialist experiment whose anti-democratic nature denies them any opportunity to express this. We can all work very happily together, respecting our own and other nation's cultures, without having every aspect of our lives controlled and regulated by a political class that contributes absolutely nothing of substance. Glad it was you who raised the shocking increase in crime. This is what happens when societies break down because they no longer share common values. A major element in those common values is the nationhood you are so keen to deride. Size only matters to people who lust for power.

Not the 38degrees petition, and frustrated by the General Election (why I didn't post earlier), but we've finally secured a parliamentary debate on the matter. (It got over 125,000 signatures): This will be an interesting debate to follow.

Only a modest 100,000 needed this time around Eggs! Which money would that be? The Brussels Broadcasting Corporation is part of the plot, and Merc's exchange rate is against the USD not the new Deutschmark - so he's obviously rooting for Mr Trump and not the EU-krauts (or.. maybe not?) Me, I just demand my country back; how about you? If you are still singing in the rain then you must at least change into dry socks!

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200165 48,963 signatures so far.

Well, he's the closest thing to Max Headroom to grace our screens for a while, but here's a hilarious example of a genuine EU bot at work (len Eldritch simply thinks he is being EU trolled): More work needed on the code I think. Yes, this is how a sizeable chunk of our EU contributions are being spent, and where money they blackmail May into handing over will find its way toward! Please remember this when a politico tells you there is no money for something important in our own community. There's a recent Guardian article about social media bots here.