Politics

[Sweep]

13 minutes ago, deeane Koontz said:

 

 Aye, I quite like her.  I'd definitely be more inclined to vote for her than Starmer anyhow.

If she was leader, they really would piss the next election. A powerful woman leading the nation.......the next Thatcher 😁

Edited October 9, 2023 by Sweep

[Cheese]

3 hours ago, kent_white said:

I'm not. I'm making the supposition that we would be exporting more and doing better as a country had we not made trading with our closest partners more difficult and spent the energy we wasted for the best part of a decade fannying around with Brexit on something more constructive.

And although that is now an alternate if preferable reality - it would be nice to think that the people who sold it to the country had at least some idea about how to turn it to our competitive advantage, which they clearly don't. 

The biggest act of traitorous self sabotage in my living memory. 

And as I've mentioned before. I was desperate to be proved wrong. And hoped against hope that there was a plan and that things would come good.  To give it a football analogy, Brexit is Dan Nlundulu. I hope he comes good too, but I think it's more likely he'll be an unmitigated disaster. 

I've seen literally nothing that would lead me too conclude that Brexit was anything than at best a monumental waste of time and effort and at worst economically damaging in a way that will take generations to repair. 

Again - happy to be proved wrong if you've got any good examples. I don't hate you or anything - we just disagree on this topic and always have done.

I want a strong, vibrant, innovative United Kingdom that we can all take collective pride in. One that is forward looking and not stuck resting on its colonial laurels and thinking it has a devine right to remain a leading power in the world. 

I think we're going backwards, and that sadly our relevance in the world is diminishing with each passing day. 

We've got a military that can't defend the island for more than a few days, a national health service that is on its arse, a political system that people no longer have confidence in (irrespective of what political side you find yourself on) and we can't even build a large infrastructure project that has been in the pipeline for decades, borrowing is through the roof and we are at the highest levels of taxation (direct and indirect) since the end of the second world war. 

Again - I don't think I'm being hubristic or over exaggerating. Those appear to be the facts. Austerity was a disaster and didn't work - so we lurched from that into pointlessly taking ourselves out of Europe and limiting our opportunities. Couple that with COVID and the war in Ukraine and we're not in a strong position to cope. 

That's my genuine take on the state of affairs. Be interested to hear yours. 

But just imagine that we'd spent the time we took on Brexit doing something useful, like fixing the NHS or the armed forces, or housing! 

Bravo!

[Sweep]

I've joined @Spiderclub today, with regards to work. Our largest customer in Ireland has decided to place €400K of business with our competitor in Holland. He didn't really want to, but the paperwork and hassle is too much bother for him. We actually came in 5% cheaper than our clog wearing counterparts, but the customer says it's just not worth the hassle. We are welcome to quote on the business next year though

 

Winners and Losers

[Not in Crawley]

13 hours ago, Farrelli said:

MP takes call at inappropriate moment. Great story.

I find this sort of stuff baffling that anyone, especially those who claims not to have an agenda, would use this as an example of a weak opposition.

I suppose another reflection on the parlous state of political dialogue in this country in 2023.

[deeane Koontz]

53 minutes ago, Sweep said:

If she was leader, they really would piss the next election. A powerful woman leading the nation.......the next Thatcher 😁

Absolutely. Although she's far more classier than Thatcher 👀

[Not in Crawley]

42 minutes ago, Sweep said:

I've joined @Spiderclub today, with regards to work. Our largest customer in Ireland has decided to place €400K of business with our competitor in Holland. He didn't really want to, but the paperwork and hassle is too much bother for him. We actually came in 5% cheaper than our clog wearing counterparts, but the customer says it's just not worth the hassle. We are welcome to quote on the business next year though

 

Winners and Losers

Should have planned better old chap.

[Sweep]

35 minutes ago, Not in Crawley said:

I find this sort of stuff baffling that anyone, especially those who claims not to have an agenda, would use this as an example of a weak opposition.

I suppose another reflection on the parlous state of political dialogue in this country in 2023.

I must admit, I'm not sure what's actually wrong with it - I'm not sure, like you, that it shows any weakness or lack of ability.

If Boris had picked up a call from his wife beating father, people would be falling over themselves to say how great it is, and what a great character he is

[Sweep]

3 minutes ago, Not in Crawley said:

Should have planned better old chap.

True - we knew it was coming, but we'd hoped the Government would get something sorted out. In fact we even wrote to our local MP, who said he'd look into it as it is a very important matter.......but we've heard nothing from him since, which is a shame, as he's pretty influential.

[BobyBrno]

Snowflakes😊 It’s been widely spread by Channel 4 and has more positive reactions than negative. Even my comments were neutral. You should be thanking me for sharing it. 

[Not in Crawley]

1 minute ago, Sweep said:

True - we knew it was coming, but we'd hoped the Government would get something sorted out. In fact we even wrote to our local MP, who said he'd look into it as it is a very important matter.......but we've heard nothing from him since, which is a shame, as he's pretty influential.

Don't worry, there will be a graph along shortly to let you know everything is ok and not to worry.

[Mounts Kipper]

4 hours ago, kent_white said:

I'm not. I'm making the supposition that we would be exporting more and doing better as a country had we not made trading with our closest partners more difficult and spent the energy we wasted for the best part of a decade fannying around with Brexit on something more constructive.

And although that is now an alternate if preferable reality - it would be nice to think that the people who sold it to the country had at least some idea about how to turn it to our competitive advantage, which they clearly don't. 

The biggest act of traitorous self sabotage in my living memory. 

And as I've mentioned before. I was desperate to be proved wrong. And hoped against hope that there was a plan and that things would come good.  To give it a football analogy, Brexit is Dan Nlundulu. I hope he comes good too, but I think it's more likely he'll be an unmitigated disaster. 

I've seen literally nothing that would lead me too conclude that Brexit was anything than at best a monumental waste of time and effort and at worst economically damaging in a way that will take generations to repair. 

Again - happy to be proved wrong if you've got any good examples. I don't hate you or anything - we just disagree on this topic and always have done.

I want a strong, vibrant, innovative United Kingdom that we can all take collective pride in. One that is forward looking and not stuck resting on its colonial laurels and thinking it has a devine right to remain a leading power in the world. 

I think we're going backwards, and that sadly our relevance in the world is diminishing with each passing day. 

We've got a military that can't defend the island for more than a few days, a national health service that is on its arse, a political system that people no longer have confidence in (irrespective of what political side you find yourself on) and we can't even build a large infrastructure project that has been in the pipeline for decades, borrowing is through the roof and we are at the highest levels of taxation (direct and indirect) since the end of the second world war. 

Again - I don't think I'm being hubristic or over exaggerating. Those appear to be the facts. Austerity was a disaster and didn't work - so we lurched from that into pointlessly taking ourselves out of Europe and limiting our opportunities. Couple that with COVID and the war in Ukraine and we're not in a strong position to cope. 

That's my genuine take on the state of affairs. Be interested to hear yours. 

But just imagine that we'd spent the time we took on Brexit doing something useful, like fixing the NHS or the armed forces, or housing! 

No answer to my question then. You said you'd prefer eu to be running UK plc because UK business wasn’t thriving I asked compared to who in Europe, you couldn’t answer it, seems the eu can’t get business thriving, so your point was invalid, just a pro eu rant with no basis in facts. 

[Not in Crawley]

Reeves' fag packet gag was an actually decent political joke.

Anyway, this already seems like a very different conference week to last.

[tomski]

1 hour ago, Sweep said:

I've joined @Spiderclub today, with regards to work. Our largest customer in Ireland has decided to place €400K of business with our competitor in Holland. He didn't really want to, but the paperwork and hassle is too much bother for him. We actually came in 5% cheaper than our clog wearing counterparts, but the customer says it's just not worth the hassle. We are welcome to quote on the business next year though

 

Winners and Losers

They sound like babies. Get rid and give em to the poxy Dutch. Only a couple years of high earner salary.

[Winchester White]

I want to know why import checks from the EU have been put off 5 times and still not implemented?

[Sweep]

5 minutes ago, Winchester White said:

I want to know why import checks from the EU have been put off 5 times and still not implemented?

probably something about the EU being inflexible and not applying common sense, or something like that. That's usually the answer

[Spider]

2 hours ago, Sweep said:

I've joined @Spiderclub today, with regards to work. Our largest customer in Ireland has decided to place €400K of business with our competitor in Holland. He didn't really want to, but the paperwork and hassle is too much bother for him. We actually came in 5% cheaper than our clog wearing counterparts, but the customer says it's just not worth the hassle. We are welcome to quote on the business next year though

 

Winners and Losers

You should have been prepared.

No sympathy.

Rule Britannia.

[Farrelli]

https://www.ft.com/content/13aeb762-5636-4423-b964-9128e2d9137d
 

Mark Carney is backing Rachel Reeves to be a credible chancellor. Bring it on!

[tyldesley_white]

4 hours ago, Mounts Kipper said:

No answer to my question then. You said you'd prefer eu to be running UK plc because UK business wasn’t thriving I asked compared to who in Europe, you couldn’t answer it, seems the eu can’t get business thriving, so your point was invalid, just a pro eu rant with no basis in facts. 

Well they are 400k better off then Sweep

[Cheese]

👏

[Not in Crawley]

She's had a very good day. Business leaders forming an orderly queue now, even those lifelong Conservative supporters.

As I say, its had a very different feel to last week. Feels like we're seeing the next government rather than a protesting opposition, they're speaking like one in waiting as well.

[mickbrown]

22 hours ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

Yesterday afternoon, the Labour Party conference

Well that’s shite timing

[mickbrown]

20 hours ago, BobyBrno said:

The futures bright, the futures Labour.

Just for NIC. I never disappoint 😅

 

What exactly is your problem with this?

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

This country seems intent on committing suicide

 

[Not in Crawley]

10 minutes ago, mickbrown said:

What exactly is your problem with this?

He doesn't have one, we should be thanking him for highlighting it now I believe, or something.

[Sweep]

7 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

This country seems intent on committing suicide

 

That's just ridiculous, can he not just have a terrible "accident" whilst in prison?