http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/30/david-cameron-inquiry-competition-energy-industry Cameron calls for immediate inquiry into competition in energy industry David Cameron at PMQ's Inquiries, reports, debates, select committees etc etc.More prevarication and side stepping of the real issues, by intent and design rather than accident. There is a principle in English law of "res ipsa loquitur" which, when used in the context of the current situation, could be interpreted as an argument for "cut the hot air, rhetoric and the endless chatter, and do what everyone, (except the energy companies and their political co conspirators) knows to be the only solution". Either the energy companies must be controlled by new, effective and legally enforceable legislation, or they must be returned to public ownership. There is no other option so there is nothing to discuss.
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http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/10773873.Angling_society_reaches_for_lifeline/ Weymouth Angling Society reaches for lifeline as Council Officers reject Management Board decision. Supporters and members of Weymouth Angling Society welcome the vote on 22 October COUNCILLORS have voted against plans to demolish the harbourside clubhouse used by Weymouth Angling Society. They recommended the club be offered a new 10-year lease for its Weymouth inner harbour site. Anglers celebrated the outcome of the vote after the meeting but said the future of the club was not secure until a final decision was made at Weymouth and Portland Borough Council’s management committee next month.(Dorset Echo 22nd October 2013) Who actually runs Weymouth and Portland Borough Council? Elected members or the "officers"? The council’s harbour management board (elected members) voted to renew the lease for 10 years, but the "officers" (un elected and un accounta...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/all-in-it-together-energy-chiefs-feel-heat-from-mps-8911466.html Representatives from Big Six accused of behaving like a 'chorus line acting in concert' as they attempt to justify recent price hikes Energy company bosses at Commons select Committee The energy companies treat their customers with contempt because nobody is prepared, or able, to stop them. Consumers are unable to take on the companies because energy is a basic need and no matter how often people "switch" suppliers, the end result is ever increasing domestic charges. The political parties are unwilling to legislate to prevent such excesses and in many cases are more likely to actively support the energy companies position in the name of "free markets and competition". The notion of "self regulation" in the supply of energy would be as effective in this market as it has been in any of the other areas where the fox ha...
http://www.independent.co.uk/money/loans-credit/payday-loans-defended-by-new-consumer-champion-8906441.html Payday loans defended by new consumer champion Sue Lewis, head of the FCA consumer panel Sue Lewis, the new chair of a City watchdog for consumers, is clearly living in a world of her own creation. The example of a £50 charge on her credit card for a meal as being no different than the usury practiced by many if not all of the so called "Payday loan" companies in the high street or on the internet, is both facile and patronising. To the vast majority of those having to resort to the "services" of these parasitic money lenders, the notion of paying £50.00 for a meal is completely scandalous when they may have only that amount for food for a week or even a fortnight to feed their families. A sample of the payday loan companies Only recently, Wonga one of the biggest money lending companies reported profits of £84...
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/27/energy-companies-tax-avoidance_n_4167501.html?utm_hp_ref=uk#comments Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has sent a tough message to energy firms over their tax avoidance, telling them: 'Stop it.'The energy firms must be shaking in their boots with fear of the mighty Alexander. Or perhaps more likely to be laughing into their Champagne cocktails at the thought of this inept Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury having the front to threaten them. Like someone once said "Being threatened by Danny Alexander, is rather similar to being savaged by a dead sheep"
http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/woman-to-spend-three-days-putting-5000-clocks-back-an-hour A most futile and pointless practice. I woke at my usual time this morning. My usual time that is according to my body clock, which for many, many years, has determined that I should wake (all other things being equal) at any time between 04:00 and 05:00 every day, including weekends.. This morning, I woke at 04:15. I knew it was that time, because the little traveling clock, which has served well for a number of years, indicated such when the button on top was pressed to turn on the light to illuminate the digital face. Apart from the sound of rain against the window, and the beginnings of the winds promised for later today, it was very quiet and peaceful. Suddenly a cold and very disturbing feeling came to mind and I looked at the clock again. It now showed 04:22 and then I realised what had taken place over night. Some faceless shadowy set of bureaucrats or "admini...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/time-for-debate-dont-forget-the-clocks-go-back-overnight-but-should-they-8904258.html Time for debate? Don't forget the clocks go back overnight... but should they? Someone, somewhere just has to grasp the nettle and decree that the ludicrous practice of changing the clocks by one hour in spring and autumn of every year will cease as from now and is forever banned in the UK. I say now” in order to secure that Great Britain, or at least England if the others do not choose to join in, is permanently locked into BST or as some prefer, British Summer Time. Why we have to be subjected to the forward and backward motion of clocks every year has always been a mystery to me and I suspect many others.It may, almost but not quite, have been understandable in wartime even with the British Double Summer Time, but today it is beyond logic. Another advantage to having permanent ...
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/25/royal-mail-shares-record-price Royal Mail sell-off advisers allocated millions of shares City advisers were given the opportunity to buy 13m shares in Royal Mail The "advisers" including Goldman Sachs and UBS, advice to Vince Cable, results in the government selling the shares at a "discounted price" of £3.30. The "advisers" are allocated millions of shares which are now trading at £5.50 per share. There is something very smelly about the whole privatisation of Royal Mail scam which has made hedge funds (one of which is now the major shareholder in the "new" Royal Mail), institutional investors, speculators and "advisers" all a very great amount of money, at the expense of the British taxpayers and the people who are (currently) working for Royal Mail. Vince Cable and the ConDem coalition government, have some very serious questions to answer about this latest rip off of p...
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/25/immigrants-not-causing-housing-crisis_n_4161952.html?1382695221&utm_hp_ref=uk Elderly More To Blame For Housing Crisis Than Immigrants Planning Minister Nick Boles Nick Boles, Conservative MP, Planning minister and complete arsehole, claims that the elderly are responsible for the housing crisis. The "crisis" which many commentators and contributors to the comments sections of the Mail, the Telegraph and yes even the Huffington Post, argue does not exist and is in fact no more than a sinister left wing plot created to destabilise the government and create alarm amongst the people. Clearly, Boles is out of step with that analysis. We should perhaps take some comfort in the knowledge that the housing crisis has nothing to do with years of neglect by successive governments and their collective failure to address the problem of affordable housing. Moreover, since Thatcher decreed that building of ...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/24/tony-blair-pain-mediator Tony Blair: 'I am good at absorbing others' pain' Tony Blair A Blair quote which speaks volumes for the mental state of this warmongering megalomaniac. He now sees himself as some form of deity as well as all the other incarnations he has assumed over the years. Perhaps we may even see a "Pope Blair 1st" in the future.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/24/nsa-guardian-35-world-leaders_n_4159208.html?utm_hp_ref=uk#comments NSA Spied On 35 World Leaders The National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders The real reason why the Americans are so hysterical in their persecution of Edward Snowden. Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and probably others. It has nothing to do with leaking "state secrets" or putting the country's intelligence network at risk or compromising "sources". It is and always has been, about embarrassing the American government and the security organisations, by exposing their dubious and illegal intelligence gathering methods and the way in which they assume that they are above the laws of any country, including their own. Edward Snowden The arrogance of the American establishment is breath taking in their deeply held conviction that they have some automatic right to spy on anyone they choose ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/23/russell-brand-v-jeremy-paxman_n_4151743.html?1382565649&utm_hp_ref=uk Russell Brand Takes On Jeremy Paxman Paxman can be a really irritating individual sometimes. The question "How do you have any authority to talk about politics then?" after Brand confirmed that he did not vote, demonstrated that Paxman was either being deliberately provocative, incredibly naive or perhaps just plain frivolous. I am not and never have been a great fan of Russel brand, however he raises a number of valid arguments, both in this interview and in a number of previous appearances on "Question time". The fact that a person does not vote, does not automatically exclude them from having an opinion on any given subject and expressing that opinion in any forum they happen to be. For example, I do not vote. In fact, I have not voted since Blair, Brown, Mandelson and Campbell took over the ...