You can download this as a 110-page PDF file from their website (no wonder nobody bothers to read them) but fortunately for you, dear readers, I am here to give you my breakdown of the main points in the Liberal Democrats manifesto.
Lets get into it.
The first £10,000 you earn will be tax free. This will be paid for in the following ways:
- By giving tax relief on pensions at only the basic rate of 20%, so if you’re a higher rate taxpayer you will no longer be able to claim back the difference
- By taxing capital gains at the same rate as income tax. Currently Capital Gains Tax is 18%, so this will go up to 20% for basic rate taxpayers and 40% for higher rate taxpayers
- By closing a loophole allowing properties to avoid capital gains if they are placed into an offshore trust
- By replacing the Air Passenger Duty with a Per Plane Duty, taxing air freight which currently doesn’t get taxed at all.
- By introducing a Mansion Tax of 1%, payable on properties valued over £2million
- By reforming non-domiciled status so that after 7 years their offshore income will be subject to UK tax
- By maintaining Labour’s National Insurance increase
The Liberal Democrats are scrapping the following:
- ID cards
- Prison building
- Eurofighter
- Trident
- The House of Lords
- Tuition fees for first degrees only
- Health quangos and 50% of the Department of Health
- Education quangos to be replaced by one superquango
- The £250 government payment into Child Trust Fund accounts
- The rule that forces you to buy a pension annuity at 75
- Some Regional Development Agencies if they are deemed “unpopular”
- Vehicle Excise Duty
- The Heathrow third runway
- Home Information Packs (but you still need an EPC)
The Liberal Democrats are selling off the following:
- The Tote
- The student loan book
- The Dartford Crossing
- 49% of the Royal Mail
Their eco polocies are:
- £400m will be invested in rebuilding shipyards in the North of England and Scotland to build wind turbines rather than ships
- An Eco Cash-Back scheme will provide £400 if you replace an old boiler, install double glazing or solar panels
- 250,000 empty homes will be brought back into use by giving grants for social housing or cheap loans for private owners to renovate them
- £140m will be pledged to a bus scrappage scheme to replace current stock with new eco-friendly vehicles
- Coal fired power plants will be blocked
- Nuclear power plants will be rejected
Their transport policy is:
- Lower fuel duty in rural areas
- Introduce road pricing, i.e. toll roads
- Cut the major roads budget and invest the money into reopening older railway lines
- More investment in railways, part funded by a UK Infrastructure Bank
- High rate of Per Plane Duty on domestic flights to discourage flying
- Cut rail fares so that they are 1% behind inflation, year on year
- Stop-on-request will be implemented for night buses allowing them to drop you off closer to home
- Ban private sector wheel clamping
Immigration:
- Create an “independent” immigration quango
- Give the UK Border Force police powers
- Reintroduce exit checks at all ports and airports
- Introduce a regional points based system rather than a national one, so migrants can only go to certain areas in the UK where their skills are needed
- Allow illegal immigrants that have been here 10 years to earn citizenship
Foreign aid:
- The Liberal Democrats will increase foreign handouts to 0.7% of Gross National Income
http://network.libdems.org.uk/manifesto2010/libdem_manifesto_2010.pdf
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Food for thought there, just got Roy Hopwoods leaflet through my door, its going up in my window!
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Hes GOT MY VOTE!
He will oppose house building in Wyre and wants to extend the tramway and reopen the railway, this guy is on the ball, nice one Roy!
He is my ideal candidate , as he understands local issues, reading this Gary Payne,and Russell Foreskin you pair of cunts?
and UKIPS stance on immigration, pc, EU etc is great by me.
Roy Hopwood 2010!!!
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I wish I could say the same Harold, but the UKIP candidate in Blackpool South is a complete joke. A pro-smoking publican who just wants to push his own personal agenda and doesn’t care about Blackpool. I wish we had a serious candidate like Mr Hopwood, I have heard good things about Roy Hopwood.
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yes its shame you have Shamish, hes a butt end of jokes, lol but Doreen looks a good shout?
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I agree Doreen Holt seems a very worthy candidate and I must admit some of these policies sound very attractive but others much less so. I like the fact they want to scrap tuition fees but only for first degrees, but as a potential second degree taker myself I want reassurance I will not be facing fees of £20k a year which is want Mandelson wants to allow. I agree totally with the scrappage of quangos, ID cards and the House of Lords but I totally disagree with scrapping prison building. One of the big problems I have with the Lib Dems is that they are too left-wing for me on some issues such as immigration and law and order. I want a Government that will come down hard on crime and I don’t feel the Lib Dems offer that but on many issues they have some good ideas. So I am still undecided, but I don’t want another left-wing Government.
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I cant see second degrees ever being “free”, and the only party that will make first degrees free is the Liberal Democrats.
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I can live with that as long as I can be reassured universities are NEVER given the freedom to charge what they like. I do not want to be facing fees of £20k a year, funny how Liebour bangs on about ‘fairness’ when that smarmy Mandelson wants to let univerisities put fees up. It makes my blood boil hearing people like ‘cardy’ and ‘oldbloke’ on the Gasjet banging on about fairness and how they are ‘grateful’ to be educated under a Labour Government. It is Liebour that has taken away free education in ENGLAND while Scotland get free education. But if an English student goes to a Scotch university they still have to pay.
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To: – True Blackpudlian,
When has any party ever been true to its manifesto, they all make these promises and seldom keep any, politicians at election time tell the public what they want to hear.
Then when they get elected they just follow the party whip and sod the electorate. till next election.
Bill
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I agree completely Bill, this Government has done nothing but lie since 1997 and yet gullible people still believe them and as you rightly say MPs just follow the party line. But then that is the same with all Governments. That is what I like about your party your candidates are independent with no whip, I have not seen your leaflet yet, any idea when they will be coming around, I look forward to reading it.
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Hi Harold,
Roy is a very nice honourable guy, he does a lot for his community especially those in need (not able to stand up for themselves)
I have know Roy for a few years and will tell him you are going to put his leaflet in your window. If you want a garden poster let me know.
We invited Roy to join us in Integrity UK but he had already given his word to stand for UKIP, so we had to respect that. He may come across sometime in the future when things get even worse in UKIP if Farage ends up in nick for fraud.
True Blackpudlian:- I believe you are right about Hamish Howitt.
In truth any party with only a few MPs can do little but ask the right questions to expose the bad policies government are implementing.
Don’t forget about Dr.Tun for Blackpool South he’s an upright straight guy.
I was talking to one of his patients’ the other day who was saying how kind Dr.Tun was because he did not charge her for a letter he wrote for her (most doctors charge for letters £15 to £30)
When I asked Dr.Tun about what this little old lady had said, he said she had not got a lot and it would be wrong to charge someone who could not afford it and it only took him 5 minutes anyway.
I think that speaks highly of the man himself.
Bill Whitehead
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Well said Bill, I am definitely considering Dr Tun for my vote. He seems like the sort of candidate Blackpool needs, a man with a mind of his own who will fight for Blackpool, not some one-issue one-trick pony like Hamish.
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With respect I think your critical eye has been blinded by the fact that this man is a quack and I don’t really see the relevance.
If it was Mr Tun the bank manager and everything else was equal (including the Porsche), would you still consider him?
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Yes I would to be honest. Yes I admit the fact he is a doctor makes him an attractive proposition to me but I like him as a candidate anyway and I like the ideals of the party he is standing for. I like the idea of Integrity as a party. I mean think about a pillar of the community a local GP versus a career politician with no connection to Blackpool or a pro-smoking publican with a blatant disregard for the law who doesn’t even represent the party he is standing for. On the UKIP website there is a profile of Hamish and he clearly refers to himself as a socialist (makes matters even worse for me), socialists don’t stand for UKIP, they are the polar opposite. It is all just a big stunt. Why couldn’t we have a serious candidate like Roy Hopwood.
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You’ve just contradicted yourself there though: on the one hand you say you’d vote for him as a bank manager then in the next breath you are comparing his job as a doctor with other jobs (career politicians).
I don’t know whether you can say Dr Tun is a pillar of the community. He lives in St. Annes somewhere I believe and is a one man band on Vicarage Lane so his surgery isn’t really a “hub” of anything and he buggers off to Fylde every night.
Harold Shipman was a doctor and look what a pillar of the community he was!
The question I want to know the answer to is why would Dr Tun take an immense pay cut to become an MP. Is his surgery being closed down to move it into one of these new health centres?
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Fair point Phil, I did make a bit of a mess there, but when I refer to Marsden as a career politician I simply meant how he is an MP for Labour, not an MP for Blackpool and the people. I feel Dr Tun (or Mr Tun) would be an MP for the people. I can’t guarantee anything unless I saw him in action but I feel from what I have seen he would be a good representative. It doesn’t bother me he lives in St Annes, its still on the Fylde Coast unlike Marsden who lives on the Southern Coast 300 miles away and then hides his REAL address on the ballot paper (stupid loopholes). That is actually a very good question also Phil, I would like to hear an answer to that one.
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Good evening gentlemen.
I Know both Roy Hopwood and Dr.Tun personally and can say without question that both men are honourable family men, both men care about their community.
Yes Dr.Tun lives in a nice house (not a palace) in St.Annes, Roy lives in a nice decent sized bungalow on the sea front north of Cleveleys.
Dr.Tun will as you say take a pay cut, but having spent a great deal of time with both of these men I can categorically say both men are worthy of your vote.
They are caring individuals who will serve the people well, they are not high flyers or particularly charismatic speakers, both have a good common sense head and believe in social justice and care about people.
You have probably gathered that I am a say it as it is person, these guys are both OK
I do take exception to Phils comment about Dr. Shipman though, does he realy think I would support anyone I did not resperct or have had checked out.
Bill Whitehead
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All I was doing was questioning TB’s remarks about GPs being pillars of the community.
Being a quack does not mean you’re a pillar of the community and Harold Shipman was my example.
Simple as that!
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Dont forget Dr Crippen…………lol
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Hi Harold, regarding extending the tramway, does he say where he wants to extend it to, I would be very interested in hearing his transport plans.
cheers Paul
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he doesnt zim ,but heres a free tel no 0800 587 587,hth.
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Got myself a Gordon Marsden leaflet today!
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wipe your arse on it?
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Nope not yet, going to write about it first!
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Oooh I look forward to hearing that.
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same here!
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Did you notice the abundance of photographs with a beaming Gordon glaring at you captioned with Gordon Dun this or Gordon dun that.
This idiot voted for the Iraq war can we call him a war criminal? Please?
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I think you can make a good argument for all the above polices (that’s not saying I agree with them all but you can understand where they are coming from). I feel this better then “ I want a big society” fogginess you got from the Cons. Or “ trust us we been in power 13 years and we know what we are doing” from the Labour party.
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One of the policies that concerns me is the rejection of nuclear as a source of energy. It’s well known that we’re on the way to electricity blackouts in the next 7 or 8 years if we do not build more plants, and if the Liberal Democrats are blocking coal power plants, what other options are there apart from non-eco-friendly fossil fuel plants?
http://philtheone.com/2009/11/british-nuclear-fools/
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I feel nuclear power is the way forward. Yes it can be dangerous but the chances of anything happening are minimal. Nuclear power is very clean and super efficient. You have to remember historically there have only been a few major incidents most notably Windscale in 1957, Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. I am all for renewable energy but some forms of renewable energy are not yet efficient and cost-effective enough to be used on a major scale.
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I agree a power station near a travellers site or next door to rge Pollitts would be ideal, lol.
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Yeah there might have been incidents but you have to look at countries that have deployed it on a more grand scale, such as France.
It’s been so economical for them that they actually have to shut down nuclear power stations because they have too much energy!
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could use all the fart gas from westminster, lol?
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I missed all this about nuclear power they are so economical we should just let the market start building them right now. Hold on one second isn’t nuclear power plants old-style centralized way of making power? Does this match the way we use energy now? Isn’t 1/3 of power generated by power stations wasted travelling to where it should be? If nuclear power station are such good value for money why hasn’t the investors come forward to build them? Could it be that they do not offer investors any kind of decent return on their investment. Nuclear power stations are enormously expensive not only to build but also to clean up (decommission) at the end of their useful life. Nuclear power makes economic sense only with massive government subsidies.
So what we need is smarter, “micro” power: more decentralized power production, with many more homes and buildings generating their own electricity and supplying what they don’t need to the power grid. What a load of rubbish renewable energies will never work. Renewable energy already supplies around 20% of the world’s energy and investment in renewables is currently growing at 20-30% per year. A classic American study found that, pound for pound and dollar for dollar, investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy is seven times as effective as investing in nuclear. Perhaps nuclear isn’t the way to go here after all.
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That only works if the Government are willing to pay for it, and at the moment they are not.
The ROI on £20,000 of solar installation is so many years that it is not worth installing it unless you’re about 3 years old and plan to live in the same house all your life. Same point as yours about nuclear.
Most people would be glad to have their own energy source, particularly one that produced a surplus. But even with a full blown solar install, I’m not sure whether it would be enough to meet the needs of an average household never mind generate a surplus.
You can look at as many studies as you want but the whole microgeneration thing only works if the Government are going to provide huge incentives like the German government did.
Nick Clegg has promised £400 incentives on microgeneration. But only for one year. Why only 1 year? Is the eco problem solved after 1 year, then? And why only £400? It’s not going to encourage anyone to blow £20k on a solar install to save that amount.
Furthermore, if the £400 is offered through the same channels as the Warm Front boiler rebate is now for over 60′s (you get a £300 “cash back” voucher from the boiler installer), it just means that microgeneration installers will quote you £400 higher and give you the money off.
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So are you saying phil the government should invest in renewable energies rather then spend all the money on nuclear?
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If that equates to the availability of solar panels that can power most of an average home’s needs and giving home owners these solar panels, yes. But that would cost the Government about £200bn.
If it equates to wind farms, hydroelectric, tidal, etc, then probably not.
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Well of course its going to be a mixture of both but if renewable energies can be invested in as much as nuclear has to be then we would have no need of nuclear.
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Indeed, but as ever with this green thing, the issue is the cost.
It’d be £200bn to provide 10m homes with a £20k solar panel installation.
Nuclear power stations cost £1.2bn each to build plus on going costs, so even with 10 nuclear plants it’s only 6% of the cost of the renewable option.
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I don’t know where you got you’re figs but i think they are wrong.
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The nuclear power station ones are right, solar installs are about £20k are they not?
I guess 10m homes is conservative?
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2.5 billion the Finland plant cost and thats not going to be the end figure. These plants take 5-10 years to build then you have to run them and take them down and a third of what they produce will be wasted. I don’t feel that it is a clear cut as some of you seem to think.
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Even if it was £10bn per plant, its still far cheaper than kitting every home out with solar.
To go the renewable route requires an enormous war chest up front and the savings come later. But nobody has that money at the moment and blackouts are forecast in 2017,
What’s the solution?
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Renewable energies. Once (if this is the only investment in renewable energies we are going to do) the solar panels are up they begin to generate KW there and then (no 5-10 year build time like nuclear) this reduces (stops) the homes from drawing KW from the national grid and in some cases feeds KW back into it. So the more we invest in renewable now the less likelihood of black outs in the future.
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I don’t need to read the LD manifesto the fact they favour closer ties to Europe than any of the other 2 and whose immigration policy consists of an amnesty for the illegals already here and practically opening up house to all and sundry is enough for me.
The only real alternative is none of the above!!
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Well there are some good policies and some bad ones. I don’t think it’s right to stop giving 40% back for higher earners into pensions. The whole idea of the relief was so that all pension contributions came out of pre-tax income and you were taxed on your income as a pensioner. This party of fairness is advocating double taxation on the income and I’m against that in principle as you’ll get higher earners not putting as much into pensions and into other things instead such as investment properites like they did when Gordon reduced the amount of money going into pensions from dividends and massively increased regulation costs and building up funds for other pension schemes that weren’t managed properly (and that hasn’t been good for the country as a whole).
CGT changes sound good to me. I never understood why the source of the income you got affected the tax rate as there’s no logic to the principle and a lot of tax avoidance on this basis.
NI increase is a tax on jobs – and quite frankly we need as many of those as possible – so a terrible way to tax. Income tax would have been fairer using age related personal allowance adjustments to not affect pensioners so badly unless they could afford it.
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Well said Frustrated, the other big reason I oppose these gimmicky socialist ‘Tax the rich 90%’ policies is because the well-off contribute much more to society than lower earners. People on medium-high salaries like doctors, accountants and lawyers are already heavily taxed. Plus people who earn more are statisically less likely to use public services like the NHS and social security. I don’t support these ‘robin hood’ policies. Yes the genuinely needy should get the support they need. But I get annoyed when Labour supporters bang on about taxing the rich when they can’t be bothered to help themselves. Precisely why I don’t buy all this phoney ‘I believe in middle-class aspiration’ crap Brown was spouting, socialists don’t support aspiration.
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Read penny martins leaflet, all she goes on about is tax credits etc, talk about buying votes, lol
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When I watched that Politics Show the other week she came across that way more concerned with trying to buy votes and smear Paul Maynard and the Conservatives than representing the people of Blackpool North and Cleveleys and I thought it was downright arrogant of her to introduce herself as ‘the LOCAL candidate’ she quite sternly said. Paul Maynard has as much right to call himself local as she has. He has made the effort to live in the area since he was announced as candidate. Which is a damn sight more than Marsden has ever done in all his 13 years. LABOUR OUT 2010 MARSDEN OUT 2010 KEEP MARTIN OUT 2010 KEEP HAMISH OUT 2010!!!!
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As I said the only thing Penny would get from me,certainly wouldnt be my vote, lol.She has some appeal in the non political arena, lol.
Seriously though, as soon as I saw tax credits mentioned, I thought parasites: The odious Pollitts, who are public enemy (family) no 1.
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Still no leaflets from the Lib Dems, BNP, UKIP (thank god) or Integirty yet, although Bill Whitehead did say the leaflets were coming in the post. The election is a mere two weeks away and yet walking around Blackpool the only party making any effort is the Conservatives. I see Conservative billboards everywhere, there is a gigantic one outside the airport and in a car park on Bond St there is about 4 or 5 lined up in a row surrounding the car park. The only Labour advertisement I have seen is Marsden’s office (“constituency home”) plastered with Labour propaganda. I think that loophole should be outlawed by where a candidate can put their party office address as their address. They should have to put their real home address even if it is 300 miles away.
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Not heard anything from Integrity, and all I have got on Dr Tun is a sighting of a black Porsche 911 hammering it down Woodlands Road earlier today with TUN on the numberplate and a Burmese looking lady driving it!
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That must be his wife presumably, when I pass by his surgery on Vicarage Lane I have seen the black Porsche and a nice silver Mercedes both in TUN on the plates, so his family must work with him.
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Makes your heart bleed for these poorly paid NHS workers doesnt it
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Doesn’t bother me, Dr Tun is a GP. GPs on average earn 4 times a nurse’s salary, they are fairly paid (unlike nurses) and he has earned it. I feel GPs are among the hardest working doctors in the health service despite the unfair media stick they get. They have to put up with so much Government interference as well which is why if I become a doctor I don’t want to be a GP. I truly believe in all that crap Brown bangs on about if you work hard and get a good career then you deserve a nice house and a porsche.
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Hi Phil, the Porsche 911 belongs to Dr.Tuns wife who works as the practice manager, he says its too fast for him and is happy with his 10 year old Mercedes.
Just for your information they are generally in his surgery by about 07:30 till about 20:00, the guy works hard for his money.
Please get to know him before you tar him with the same brush as many other involved in politics.
Bill
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Harold and Penny up a tree…
She does nothing for me I’m afraid! Tax credits are bollocks, its just a way for big government to tell you how to spend your money.
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new office for scroungers…………POLLITTBUREAU….lol
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hahahaha cracked up
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lol BNP manifesto here, have a laugh and read it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8640896.stm
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Some of the polices I actually agree with like cutting Government waste like regional development agencies and other quangos. But then there is some really OTT stuff and also I can’t back a party that wants to amend the smoking ban, one of the very very few things Labour has got right.
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I agree some policies are good, they have common policies with UKIP but some policies are bizarre, lol.
one thing is for sure, they arent boring!
a penal colony in south georgia was mentioned on the TV;hooray a new place for the POLLITTS!, lol
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I must be one of those climate change deniers referred to by Clegg last night even though there is explicit evidence in circulation that raises some very serious questions about the truth of it.
Again the big three work in tandem denying a debate on the issue given the lucrative avenues it gives them for taxing us.
Clearly they do not want the profile of this raised in case many more people in the UK wake up and smell the coffee and see climate change for what it is which is an almighty con.
For all of you that label people like me deniers look at google the evidence is out there if you look for it. There are as many scientists that do not support the view as there are that do.
The Chinese can see the big lie which is why the blocked an agreement in Copenhagen but those reasons are never aired in the MSM.
As for the Lib Dems I would be more likely to vote for Marsden than them and I will tell you why.
They are closer to Europe than the other 2 main parties meaning ties to and legislation from would be increased under a Lib Dem influenced Government.
They would give every single illegal in the UK an amnesty and invite more across. The other two have some sort of semblance of an immigration policy albeit unworkable.
The main problems with Immigration are foisted upon us from Europe in any event. We are all aware of the large Eastern Euro family migrants that are allowed to enter with little or no skills in the hope of being awarded social housing! We are literally importing unemployment at a time when many hundreds of thousands of jobs are to be trimmed from the public sector. This is wrong we must provide employment for British citizens first. Then and only then should we allow economic migration.
Then there is defence. The retention of Trident is a must in an ever changing world. The next twenty or so years will see shortages start to appear. Oil, raw materials perhaps even fresh water, shortages of this type lead to war and for war we need a suitable deterrent and that’s before we get into the realms of rogue states such as North Korea or Iran or even Nuclear Terrorism.
I could go on an dissect that manifesto line by line. but will leave you with the last item. Increasing the foreign aid budget to 0.7% of gross national income. Is it right we increase aid spending when we as a Country have perhaps the largest deficit in the developed world. £200 Billion has been printed into existence over the last year or so and all that there is to show for it is a knats piss of a glimmer of growth.
Was that impetus worth it? On the basis it has sold our grandchildren into serfdom for their lifetimes?
Never ever forget Government borrowings of today are the tax increases of tomorrow.
My vote. I feel pretty sure now Brown will not have enough seats to form the next Government that for me was the crunch. If it was to be a close call I would probably have gone with Bell turning a blind eye to his indiscretions in the interests of getting Brown out.
Now that is not such a priority I cannot bring myself to vote for Bell given the fact he is in Kensington Developments pocket. For me the ills of today, the banking crisis, the deficit was brought about due to speculation in property and the Brown government allowing it with poor regulation in the financial markets. (I see the whole Western Financial system as a huge ponzi scheme as Goldman Sachs are finding out now they have been sussed but that is for another thread).
There has to be a new way and we have to get away from the ways of the past. Bell well may not have done anything wrong but the suspicion is there.
So even is Marsden gets back in the fact Brown won’t,, will be sweet enough. If Marsden is ousted then it is simply the icing on the cake but beware the devil you don’t know!!
So that leaves me with a minority party. For all his faults Hamish will get my vote. Not for what the individual has done but what his party stands for. UKIP is the one party that reflects my views on Europe (other then the BNP) therefore they get it. Maybe a wasted vote as clearly Hamish will not be on the 9.25 to Euston on the morning of May 7th but if the party gets a sizeable vote then the big parties will have to start to listen to the concerns over Europe.
For too long the electorate have been ignored on Europe the Government must start to listen to them.
The result in Buckingham will be pivotal. Can Farage over turn centuries of tradition and unseat a sitting speaker!
I for one will be glued to the TV come election night. It bill be a cracker!!
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I can’t disagree with most of that, in fact it echoes my thoughts on many issues.
The reason I will be voting Liberal Democrat is simply this: Ron Bell is no longer the second placed candidate in my view.
If I thought he was, I’d vote for him, because my aim is simply to get Gordon Marsden out. Who knows the impact this Liberal Democrat surge may have on Mr Marsden’s turnout.
(Yeah I know, probably not enough!)
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I am definitely giving Doreen Holt consideration but I just wish she would send her leaflet out, I haven’t heard anything from the Lib Dems yet. I am the same Phil more than anything I want Marsden OUT, the only person I want in less than Marsden is Hamish, but that pipedreamer won’t even come close, so that doesn’t worry me. I think UKIP will get their lowest ever vote share in Blackpool South because of their crap choice of candidate (not that the members are to blame!), Hamish has driven away many would-be UKIP voters.
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I want farage to win!
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Even if by some miracle UKIP came out as the majority party, he wouldn’t be PM anyway as he isn’t the leader.
It’s Lord Pearson. Heard of him? Thought not!
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yes I have and Geert Wilders is his friend and Geert is my friend as well, lol.
Geert likes to open new mosques……………….with a bulldozer, lol.
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I believe Farage to be as dishonest as they come and he is in UKIP purely for the EU gravy train. No doubt the police will be talking to him about the OLAF investigation, they have apparently sent their files to the UK police, don’t forget there is already one UKIP MEP in jail for EU fraud. He got 2 years last November. And OLAF reports files have been sent to the police about 4 others.
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UKIP have just become a joke; they are widely seen as a one-issue party and some question how an anti-EU party can have MEPs in European Parliament, surely that is a bit of a contradiction of terms? The leader lacks any kind of credibility and to top it off they are forcing law-breaking pro-smoking landlords unwillingly on party members turning the party into a pro-smoking party. Hamish doesn’t even believe in UKIP policies, he is a socialist. Socialists and right-wing parties are like chalk and cheese. RIP UKIP.
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Who or what is OLAF?
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To:- geezer466
The EU fraud squad, they have spent several months investigating several UKIP MEPs and have sent their findings to the UK police for action. I believe the likely outcome will be Nigel Farage and several other UKIP MEPs ending up in jail for a couple of years.
see the following details
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WxRCvMGXb2g/S73XkprtKAI/AAAAAAAAC_A/wJ-n6Aekwkc/s1600/scan0001.jpg
Monday, 1 March 2010
UKIP MEPs to face UK police investigation
You will recall that both GLW and this blog have mentioned that OLAF has passed on certain files to the UK police. We understand that they are now with a ‘central police authority’. See: LINK
We have been told that the MEPs are:
Nigel Farage
Godfrey Bloom
Mike Nattrass
Derek Clark
Graham Booth – ex-MEP for the South West.
We understand that both Dr John Whittaker (former UKIP MEP for the NW) and Gerard Batten have been cleared by OLAF.
A decision on Roger Knapman and Jeffrey Titford has yet to be taken.
The OLAF investigation has been lengthy and widespread. Many witnesses have been interviewed and many statements have been taken. See: LINK & LINK
The allegations concern the alleged misuse of EU funds and allowances. OLAF was very interested in the way UKIP funded the regional organisers and other members of their staff.
We understand that both Don Ransome and Stuart Gulleford are mentioned in the OLAF files.
Don Ransome is Derek Clark’s regional organiser in the East Midlands. He was recently convicted of drink driving. See: LINK
Stuart Gulleford was Jeffrey Titford’s political advisor. He now works for Stuart Agnew and David Bannerman – UKIP MEPs in the Eastern Region. He was also a UKIP MEP candidate.
You may recall that John West was the first to contact both the police and OLAF with concerns about Jeffrey Titford and Stuart Gulleford. He did this after being made aware of alleged wrongdoing in UKIP’s Chelmsford Office.
It is interesting to note that one OLAF witness was sent a threatening letter during the investigation. See: LINK
Mr West was later expelled from UKIP for going to the police and OLAF. See: LINK & LINK
It appears that he has now been vindicated.
We also understand that other non- UKIP British MEPs may also face a police investigation.
More details to follow from Junius and GLW as soon as we get them.
Also see: LINK
Posted by Junius at 22:28 1 comments
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With all due respect that is hardly an authoritative source! It is a blog by a former UKIP member who or may not have issues with the party.
If and when charges follow is when I will sit up and take notice!!
As for the the integrity of OLAF presumably the Anti European Fraud Department it speaks volumes when the EU parliament itself has failed its own audit for donkeys years?
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2008/11/eu-fails-its-spending-audit,-again/63002.aspx
Is this not one of UKIP’s biggest griefs against the European Parliament.
You will recall that Farage (all his video’s are on you tube) is not backward in coming forward to speaking his mind in the Euro chamber, That will make him a marked man as increased levels of support for non conformist parties is not in keeping with the European plan.
In situations like this I always tend to look for the vested interest view. Those with a keen agenda in driving European integration forward would have a large vested interest in silencing Farage and those like him.
Anyway even if these rumours are proved true are they any worse than Blair flogging off honours for cash donations for the Labour party? In retrospect I would say Blairs is the biggest crime.
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Your question was what is OLAF
It not rumour that a UKIP MEP is in prison for EU fraud its fact.
If you search the internet you will even find OLAF investigation numbers etc.
If it was not true Farage would have been taking court action.
Time will tell.
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I have heard of him but only is so far that he is the leader of UKIP.
Anyway there is a precedent for a member of the Lords being PM as Lord Salisbury can verify (if he was alive). The PM simply speaks in the Lords easy enough in these days of TV mass media!
The Mandlechild was hoping he was next in the Que but hard luck tosser!!
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Funny have spoken to three or four people in the last 2 or 3 days and they are indicating they will vote BNP.
Even a die hard Labour supporter has told me he will grudgingly vote for Marsden on the basis of the money he has won for the town? Presumably the new Promenades ect!!
Shame about jobs and that school leavers have no hope of a decent job!
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1268436/Some-ordinary-northerner-How-Nick-Clegg-really-man-extraordinary-privilege-family-chateau.html
Can see quite a few reasons there no to vote LD. Seems Clegg is a man of privilege and the story goes quite some way to explain his fondness of all things Euro!!
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That is why I can’t really support the Lib Dems, far too left-wing and europhile for my taste, but I would consider Doreen Holt because I feel she would be a good MP for Blackpool and if she could keep Labour out of Blackpool then she is worth considering. MARSDEN OUT 2010!!!! I actually did a ‘which party?’ quiz on the ITV website and it suggested I should vote UKIP but I certainly won’t be for obvious reasons.
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TB is a shame you have Shamish, otherwise I believe you would vote UKIP?
I cant understand how he got in?
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Hi Harold simple he was forced in by a prat of a UKIP RO against the wishes of the UKIP membership, because of the smoking ban and under the direct instruction of Nigel Farage. Like the bloke in Chorley.
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Exactly Bruiser, UKIP is just a joke and they can forget about my vote, they lost it a long time ago.
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Apologies for the name, I am using someone else’s computer and I had to retype my name and the keyboard doesn’t agree with me.
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Its all very well voting for the local person and what that local person can do for the town but never ever forget at the end of the day they are whipped to a party line.
If Mrs Holt was told to support a bill bringing about the demise of Sterling she would do what she was told like a good little drone MP.
Far to close to Europe for my liking…. My vote is a protest against all three because none of them reflect my view on Europe. On that basis it is of no consequence that the local man for UKIP is a mumpty… If UKIP get say 10% of the vote then perhaps it will make the big parties sit up and listen to the concerns over Europe!!
By the way I heard last night he chaired a meeting within the last few days at the Crazy Scots bar (wonder if they had a smoke in
) to do with the proposed changes to the town’s dedicated holiday zones. He was going around saying if the council put the changes through it would wipe £20,000 off the value of all property in Blackpool?
Total bollocks of course but most of the mumpties will beleive it.
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I can only consider UKIP, BNP or the EDs, NEVER EVER Lib/Lab/con;they have been written off.
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It is worth mentioning at this point had the UK joined the Euro in 2003 or whenever it was we would be in exactly the same boat as Greece today with the IMF on the doorstep and with swinging cuts imminent in the public sector.
Comes in bloody handy that huge printing press in the cellars of the BOE. We only avoided it as we have the latitude to print something the Greeks do not have!!
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lol and inflation has increased, is this due to QE Geezer?
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More money in the economy chasing fewer goods is a recipe for inflation… The big shocks from QE are yet to come which is part of the reason why I think all three parties are secretly hoping for a hung scenario.
None of them have the bottle to enact the swinging cuts that must be made we are in reality talking about hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs being cut and that is before all the cuts in departmental (ministry spending) another example at Defence the RAF is to be done away with in favour of a carrier based force (to operate from the new flatdecks on order) whilst they will keep Transport command the rest will essentially go. There are other radical changes we can only dream off in the pipeline to come also.
In a hung parliament they won’t reach agreement on these cuts, que the IMF being brought in who get blamed for the nasty medicine to come.
5 years on they all go into the next election with clean slates (more or less) and with an economy that has pretty much been sorted out.
The bad news unemployment 2 years from now could be around the 5 million mark.
The good news benefit claims will be really means tested. If you are capable of work you work or claim job seekers allowance!!
End of the day the money has to be saved somewhere
To be honest the UK we will be looking at in 2015 will be so far removed from the one we see today it will be hardly recognisable!!
The only question in my mind is will any particular party be prepared to dish out the harsh medicine or will the IMF do it.
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We’re already getting inflation. To some extent we’re lucky that Greece is going bust because of that’s devaluing the Euro too. But oil’s traded in dollars and fuel increasing in price for us because of that affects the cost of the vast majority of things we have to buy. Japan didn’t have it easy when it tried quantitive easing. In fact it was widely judged a disaster. And by this virtual printing of money they decreased the value of everyone’s savings massively (as well as the rate cuts so that you don’t get interest). And this is the party that now attacks David Cameron’s plans on the economy because it will “hurt pensioners”. They beggar belief how they have done enormous harm to pensioners – but think it’s ok because they guarantee a minimum pension via the pension credit system you need to claim of £132.60 if you’re single and £202.40 for a couple. Not exactly much is it to pay bills.
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Any party creating 5 million unemployed would surely be committing political suicide??
why not identify all these benefit families, like the pollitts and slash their money?
what annoys me is why should those who already work, lose their jobs so the pollitts and their ilk remain in benefits?
Que BNP votes if you ask me.
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It’s impossible to take the benefits away from the Pollitts because it would mean they’d end up in poverty. Can’t remember how many kids she’s got off hand (was it 8 or 9?) but if they stopped all the cash then the kids would end up suffering, and after all it’s not their fault.
Perhaps if after the second or third child the Government said the child benefits were no longer free and that they accumulated in a giant loan which will be taken out of any estate upon death, couples would be less inclined to keep having more.
Do remember that the Pollitts live in a house with huge grounds and are able to afford horses somehow.
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I would strip them of all their assets.
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The only real way to deal with these people having so many children so that they don’t have to work is to stop giving benefits after the second child (with an exception made if the second pregnancy was a multiple birth not caused by IVF) and if the children aren’t provided with everything they need by their parents, then take them into the care and adoption system. There’s a point where the “caring” state becomes a mug. We pay for IVF treatment for childless couples then pay again for people with too many children compared to their income. A big family should only be able to be a choice for those who can afford it.
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Political suicide…. Very Possibly
But if the IMF were to be the bringer of bad news……………
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Then nobody gets blamed!
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A hell of a lot could be done to lower benefit costs. For example housing benefit is only as high as it is as the Government have allowed private landlords to pretty much set the rate on the area where they are. It was also this that was partly responsible for the BTL brigade and runaway house price inflation over the last 10 or so years. If the were to cut it unilaterally across the board then it would have the effect of reducing rents all landlords are in the same boat so the like it or lump it. And that’s before they get into the legislation arena!
On that point remember there is no such thing as good inflation (property values rising) and bad inflation (food prices rising) they are both exactly the same thing and are bad!!
Course it would all mean a severe correction with property values but that is coming anyway!! Once the job cuts start in earnest across the public sector there will be a flood of distressed sellers coming to market which will drive down asking prices. Rack that in with the BTL brigade that are only currently hanging on by their fingernails due to extremely low interest rates and you can see where it is going.
Post election = bloodbath
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Like it, lump it or do something else with it.
Landlords have only set prices in the same was as any product prices are set. Whilst there’s a buyer at a price, the prices will reflect this.
The problem the Government has got is if they cut rental payments, then the landlords might find another use for the house or might keep it empty, meaning that more social housing is needed. There are already in Blackpool about 1500 families waiting for a home to be provided, and taking a load of rental properties off the market is only going to make that worse.
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Why don’t council buy houses and rent them out to the people who need them we could call these homes council houses. That sounds familiar didn’t we use to have such a thing what happened to all of them.
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Very.
There’s nothing stopping that happening now though is there?
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A lot of BTL’s won’t have council people in anyway. They have to top up the housing benefit payment themselves, the council is always slow to pay what’s owed and far too often a tenant flits after setting a nice fire or ruining the property by some other means. If a BTL can afford not to have tenants, they don’t tend to bother anyway. On the whole these houses and flats are for capital growth, not an income stream.
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And the cost of that is…? Fylde council (well New Fylde Housing) have done that – and bought some quite expensive large properties at the height of the boom. You don’t house many people for a lot of money that way. And if they do buy cheaper properties with the right to buy, you can have to pay out again in full in a few years’ time anyway.
And this council was demanding commuted sums for estates being built with the “affordable housing” element for years. They got £2million just from Queen’s Manor on the old Queen Mary school site. And several other developments had to give money too. Yet this money was squandered buying up ready built property rather than compulsory purchasing some of Kensington’s land and getting what housing was “needed” built. In reality the housing need survey in Fylde was “Housing need and desire” so we’re building on the basis of what people want, not need, including asking people who weren’t living in the area, or from the area. The figures are totally rubbish.
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Like it or lump it or do something else with it. If they choose to be in the business of housing rental then there is more than one way to skin a cat!!
Being a landlord is a business venture. I have a business venture and have to pay business rates on my property.
Triple council tax on empty properties in the interests of providing affordable housing to the masses would be one simple way.
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The best way forward to increase homes for ordinary folk is to stop these large building companies building anything but very low cost housing, on brown field sites only. And BAN all development on our green and open spaces without exception.
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put the politts et al in gas chambers, lol
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Why waste the gas it adds to the global warming, concrete boot are better! and it will feed the fish to.
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lol lol nice one Bruiser, POLLITTS = VERMIN!
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Just got another Ron Bell leaflet talking about local and national issues with a new website http://www.imbackingblackpool.co.uk Also I saw a Conservative battle bus in St Johns Square yesterday. They really are making the effort for this election which is a damn sight more than can be said for Marsden. I got into a scuffle with that Labour sheep ‘cardy’ on the Gasjet yesterday who was denying that we have a fragile economy and he kept saying he is voting Marsden because of how ‘hard’ he works for Blackpool and another contributor ‘Foxhead’ has been conned also saying he has never seen an MP work so hard. Marsden doesn’t work hard, he is never even in Blackpool and doesn’t even live here. MARSDEN OUT 2010!!!!
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TB do u know if the conservatives intend to give more money to carers, or is it the lib dems?
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I don’t know to be honest but I would definitely support more help for carers. I recently attended a presentation about carers and the lack of support and money they get from this Government is just appalling. The Government doesn’t seem to appreciate that it is a 24/7 job and I feel these wonderful, selfless people should be more recognised rewarded for their efforts.
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The Tories have festooned the small car park at the junction of Bond Street and Station Rd (South Shore) with 5 giant posters of [Vote for Me] Gordon…
Nearly shat myself when I walked past the other day…..
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Could this picture be food for thought?
http://www.thestraightchoice.org/full.php?q=2189#l5274
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Eventhough I agree with some of the leaflet I wouldn’t be caught dead voting UKIP. Fred Mcglade is the guy who forced that pillock Hamish on the Blackpool members. As long as that muppet is the candidate in Blackpool South and as long and he and Nick Hogan are in the party I will not back UKIP.
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ukip all the way!
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for you TB: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8638211.stm
Do u know of this?
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I do I mentioned it up there¬…….You think the pen pushers and various levels of do bog all management will be putting themselves forward for job cuts?
Thats what the cannon fodder are for!!!
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Thanks for the link Harold, I agree with geezer466 it should be the jobsworths who are taking paycuts and redundancies not the frontline clinical staff. No matter how bad the country’s finances are we need doctors and nurses.
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I agree,just wished someene would deal with scroungers like the politts, god I detest them!
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Well said Harold, socialism (the politics of envy and jealousy) doesn’t work, literally. I believe unlike Brown the Clown and Labour that if you want to be well-to-do then bloody well get off your arse and work for it. The trouble is that these scroungers will continue to keep voting Liebour because they are blindly loyal to Labour and they fear a Conservative Government because they will have to work for a living. Labour bangs on about the 80s and unemployment, the only reason unemployment has ‘dropped’ under Labour is because record numbers are on benefits.
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I agree, my worry is that these cuts will affect proper people who wor.k NOT the Pollitt lice etc.
I would love to build workhouses, strip the pollitts of all they own and dump them in these workhouses;thats what they deserve!
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Have a look here for examples of the excesses our councils get up to… No worry for them in the affordability stakes if they need a few more sheckels they know where they can rustle it up from.
http://www.taxabuseroftheweek.com/
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Few of the non jobs from here:
http://www.taxabuseroftheweek.com/nonjobs.htm
Befriending Scheme Co-ordinator, ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA
Climate Change and Sustainability Manager, SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL
Climate Change Manager, BRAINTREE DISTRICT COUNCIL
Climate Change Officer CUMBRIA COUNTY COUNCIL
Climate Change Programme Support Officer, DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL
Gang Prevention Project Officer, ISLINGTON COUNCIL
Geo Spatial Data Manager, LONDON BOROUGH OF NEWHAM
Fill yer boots there are hundreds of them……
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Jesus H Christ, I see what you mean, they are NON jobs!
“Climate Change and Sustainability Manager”
what the fuck is that????
scrap them!
no public ector manager should earn more than the pm, simple as!!
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This is exactly what I mean, why do we need these jobs and why do they get paid so much. many of these pointless jobs are on 2 or 3 times a nurse’s salary.
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