Politics

[Sweep]

3 minutes ago, Wanderlust said:

Can't imagine anyone would support it. If they do I hope they get lifted for "looking at me funny".

There's plenty who do support it. I don't particularly, it does seem like something you might hear of in North Korea. 

Anyway, as is often stated here, if Labour are against it, then they can just put that in their manifesto and we can let the public decide at the next GE

[Wanderlust]

46 minutes ago, Sweep said:

 

Anyway, as is often stated here, if Labour are against it, then they can just put that in their manifesto and we can let the public decide at the next GE

I presume that would mean they'd be thinking of an act of treason? I guess the Tories could rush through a return of the death penalty a couple of days before Starmer was arrested for it.

[Wanderlust]

Looks like you've had too much to think Sir.....

Edited May 12, 2023 by Wanderlust

[Mounts Kipper]

1 hour ago, globaldiver said:

Fair points. We are stuck in a deluded loop of low interest rates and ever-increasing borrowing, much of which is for current spending or debt, which will be difficult to sustain. We can either continue with the myth, or stop and go down a different route.

I think the starting point would be to ditch the BOE as setters of interest rate. The government are taking the rap for inflation, so might as well have the tools. I’d then commence the conversation around interest rates, bond markets and fiscal sovereignty, with the population and markets, but immediately reduce rates. This would be interesting……

It would increase inflation. There is no short term fix from my viewpoint. 

[Sweep]

14 minutes ago, Mounts Kipper said:

It would increase inflation. There is no short term fix from my viewpoint. 

I agree, we just need to grind through it, and for some it's not going to be an easy time. Anything we do short term, just pretty much kicks the issue down the road, and makes it worse

[RoadRunnerFan]

12 hours ago, globaldiver said:

Should be and should have been.

Should have been

I understand the immediate reaction to the financial meltdown in 2008. That the “powers that be” then created money and kept interest rates at around zero, which has created huge issues for now and the future, including inflated asset price bubbles (housing in particular), corrupted the allocation of capital, lead to undue financial risk-taking (as investors were forced to “chase for yield”), and contributed to the ongoing pensions crisis.

Mark Carney claimed that ultralow interest rates and quantitative easing would produce the “escape velocity” to lift economic growth in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. But low rates and QE have had the opposite effect: lowering productivity growth, encouraging an excessive build-up of debt and contributed to ongoing financial instability.

Interest rates should have been positive through much of the period, the roof should have been repaired when the sun was shining.

Should now

The current bout of inflation has been caused by one off shocks, from the Covid response and the Russian war on Ukraine. What sane mind would use the standard reflex solution to inflation (increasing interest rates) to cure one off shocks? I think it’s silly.

Or is there something else going on? I think so. I think that Andrew Bailey (who was poor at the FCA,  in my view) is using the situation to increase interest rates towards the “correct” rate, as he knows that the BoE fucked up during the previous period. 

They've little choice but to follow The US Fed, and the ECB are in the same boat. Which im pretty sure you know full well. 

[Sweep]

1 hour ago, RoadRunnerFan said:

They've little choice but to follow The US Fed, and the ECB are in the same boat. Which im pretty sure you know full well. 

We don't need to follow anybody, we plough or own furrow now. Rule Brittania. 

[RoadRunnerFan]

Just now, Sweep said:

We don't need to follow anybody, we plough or own furrow now. Rule Brittania. 

Indeed, in Liz we Truss. 

[Sweep]

22 minutes ago, RoadRunnerFan said:

Indeed, in Liz we Truss. 

Its incredible that she ever got anywhere near the top job. I still don't know how that happened

[Winchester White]

2 hours ago, RoadRunnerFan said:

They've little choice but to follow The US Fed, and the ECB are in the same boat. Which im pretty sure you know full well. 

How VERY dare you! 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇬🇧

[Gonk]

58 minutes ago, Sweep said:

Its incredible that she ever got anywhere near the top job. I still don't know how that happened

A cabal of fucking idiots voted for her

[tomski]

8 hours ago, Gonk said:

A cabal of self serving fucking idiots voted for her and probably made a very tidy profit at the expense of many others.

 

[kent_white]

Is everything still going dead well. I've. Not checked for a while! 

[bolty58]

23 hours ago, Sweep said:

You're obsessed by this it seems - you do realise that the world isn't being "fooled" by left wing media. You'll start warbling on about MSN next, which is the sign of a real loon. The largest selling newspapers, I believe, in the UK are The Daily Mail, The Express and The Sun and I'm struggling to see them as being overly left wing.

 

You struggle with many things.

[bolty58]

23 hours ago, Sweep said:

you missed out the word "creeping" otherwise it would have been full house 😁

 

Biters gotta bite eh?

[bolty58]

22 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

I have massive reservations about the Public Order Act recently passed as it stinks of Russki totalitarianism.

Totally understand the governments' discomfort with protesters and strikes but we already have laws in place that cover every eventuality.

The much-abused Stop and Search law was bad enough but the new POA allows the police to actually arrest people purely on the grounds that the officer suspects that someone is about to commit a crime - as if we had a police force of mind readers.

Carte blanche for the police to arrest anyone, at any time, without a crime having been committed, without any evidence that one was about to be committed and to abuse the law to promote political agendas or exercise their own personal prejudices - something they have a track record of doing.

Worse still, they have zero burden of proof  other than "I suspected".

So in theory, a cop could restrain and cuff Sunak and the Cabinet and march them off to the cells on a whim.

Stupid, ill-conceived nonsense that needs to be repealed as soon as possible. I'm all for law and order but I draw the line at Russian-style policing and the general undermining of British values.

 

 

...and yet your avatar suggests otherwise? Unless you mean their actions since the bloc disintegrated? It was even worse before.

[bolty58]

11 minutes ago, kent_white said:

Is everything still going dead well. I've. Not checked for a while! 

Of course. Trade deal with Australia. Suggestions that the next GE may produce a hung parliament. Wanderers going to Wembley again. All beltin' mate.

[Spider]

19 minutes ago, bolty58 said:

Of course. Trade deal with Australia. Suggestions that the next GE may produce a hung parliament. Wanderers going to Wembley again. All beltin' mate.

A trade deal with australia

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

never change

[London Wanderer]

22 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

I have massive reservations about the Public Order Act recently passed as it stinks of Russki totalitarianism.

Totally understand the governments' discomfort with protesters and strikes but we already have laws in place that cover every eventuality.

The much-abused Stop and Search law was bad enough but the new POA allows the police to actually arrest people purely on the grounds that the officer suspects that someone is about to commit a crime - as if we had a police force of mind readers.

Carte blanche for the police to arrest anyone, at any time, without a crime having been committed, without any evidence that one was about to be committed and to abuse the law to promote political agendas or exercise their own personal prejudices - something they have a track record of doing.

Worse still, they have zero burden of proof  other than "I suspected".

So in theory, a cop could restrain and cuff Sunak and the Cabinet and march them off to the cells on a whim.

Stupid, ill-conceived nonsense that needs to be repealed as soon as possible. I'm all for law and order but I draw the line at Russian-style policing and the general undermining of British values.

 

 

Well said

[bolty58]

1 minute ago, Spider said:

A trade deal with australia

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

never change

You have no fucking idea. Nowt new there then.

[Spider]

1 minute ago, bolty58 said:

You have no fucking idea. Nowt new there then.

I remember it was going to add 0.003% to our economy.

which is the equivalent of a pallet of Vegemite and some XXXX

all been worth it. 🤣🤣🤣

[Farrelli]

42 minutes ago, kent_white said:

Is everything still going dead well. I've. Not checked for a while! 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65199705
 

yes it’s just one never ending stream of benefits 🤔

[Winchester White]

The trade deals with AUS and NZ have been criticised by some Tories as being shite.

One of those involved said Truss gave away too much, how the hell she got to be PM is beyond laughable. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-63627801

[Wanderlust]

38 minutes ago, bolty58 said:

...and yet your avatar suggests otherwise? Unless you mean their actions since the bloc disintegrated? It was even worse before.

What?

Your avatar suggests you're into the Middle Ages and/or the Crusades where the Christian Europeans had their ass handed to them by the Muslims, the final humiliation being the fall of Acre in 1291 - which was ultimately a good thing for Europeans as it ended 200 years of poverty and massive taxation to pay for a pointless war.

So are you supporting

1)  Saint George - the Turk?

2) Christian religious fanatics oppressing ordinary people?

or 3) Muslims whupping Christians?

My avatar is North Vietnamese artwork celebrating the end of French colonialism and the defeat of the Americans - although the reason I like it is because - it's artwork.

That said I do like the way that some communist countries present their version of history and would strongly recommend a visit to the Museum of the Revolution in Havana - it's brilliant. My favourite bit was the rusty tractor with two steel plates welded on the side and a plaque outlining how it defeated the American tanks. Hilarious.

Edited May 13, 2023 by Wanderlust

[London Wanderer]

2 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

What?

Your avatar suggests you're into the Middle Ages and/or the Crusades where the Christian Europeans had their ass handed to them by the Muslims, the final humiliation being the fall of Acre in 1291 - which was ultimately a good thing for Europeans as it ended 200 years of poverty and massive taxation to pay for a pointless war.

So are you supporting

1)  Saint George - the Turk?

2) Christian religious fanatics oppressing ordinary people?

or 3) Muslims whupping Christians?

My avatar is North Vietnamese artwork celebrating the end of French colonialism and the defeat of the Americans - although the reason I like it is because - it's artwork.

That said I do like the way that some communist countries present their version of history and would strongly recommend a visit to the Museum of the Revolution in Havana - it's brilliant. My favourite bit was the rusty tractor with two steel plates welded on the side and a plaque outlining how it defeated the American tanks. Hilarious.

You can’t mention colonialism to Bolty on here. He’ll tell you’re crippled by guilt before going on a rant about the Aboriginals. 

Edited May 13, 2023 by London Wanderer