The last Open Thread filled up faster than the showboating politicians’ seats at Mandela’s memorial service…so here’s a new one….

    Emily Maitlis not really on the ball:   Massive respect for Charles walker mp honesty – " I'm not going to be holier than thou and say I won't take the pay rise " #newsnight — emily m (@maitlis) December 9, 2013 "We are hurtling towards having a parliament of the independently wealthy "- charles walker on the refusal of MPs to accept pay rise. — emily m … Continue reading →

  High population  (High fertility, High life expectancy, High migration)        Result:    Population……131,871      This is from the Office of National Statistics so the BBC can’t shout ‘racist’……. UK population could hit 132 million, warn official figures New Office for National Statistics data predicts Britain’s population could surge even faster than previously thought The population of Britain could more than double in the next century unless immigration is tightly … Continue reading →

    The BBC’s basic instinct kicked in today when it had to report this from the OECD: Labour energy freeze plan ‘could bankrupt investors’   As said this report came from the international OECD, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development……listening to 5Live report this story their conclusion was that…the OECD is a fan of the  market economy and so would be expected to be philosophically opposed to Miliband’s … Continue reading →

  This morning on the BBC’s ‘Wake Up to Money’ they talked about this: Growth in job vacancies hits ’15-year high’   That came from a report by KPMG   You would think that such a positive statement on the economy would be headline news….but the report on ‘Wake Up To Money’ was the last I heard of the subject. It hasn’t been mentioned once as far as I know … Continue reading →

The week begins, and so a new open thread … enjoy … And as the Mandelathon continues, just remember that I’m sadder than all of you, I’ve shed more tears than all of you, so therefore I’m better than all of you. “Mandela touched everyone who met him.” So did Jimmy Savile…

        “She is an enemy of apartheid……We have much to thank her for.”   Guido has linked to the letter Mrs Thatcher sent to P.W Botha setting out her vision for ending Apartheid.   My rebuttal of the case for sanctions rested on two main premises: that sanctions do not work, indeed are likely to be counter-productive and damaging to those they are intended to help: and that it … Continue reading →

    Cutbacks at the BBC…they’re even repeating the News now…… Ed Balls had a bad performance during the Autumn Statement showdown this year but isn’t this BBC  ‘Ed Ball’s’ story from last year’s Autumn Statement?: Ed Balls explains hesitant Autumn Statement response   Last year he blamed his bad performance on his stutter…perhaps the BBC didn’t have the heart to ask him what the cause was this year and … Continue reading →

  If you’ve had occasion to read any of the Labour websites recently you will have noticed that Labour, behind the scenes, is in turmoil.  The most damaging revelation perhaps that the backstabbing u-turner, Ed Miliband, isn’t trusted by many in the Labour Party. Falkirk and his craven surrender to the Unions and his knowledge and worse, his approval, of their vote rigging activities were hidden from view by the … Continue reading →

  Poverty (relative of course) is almost at a record low. Living standards have been declining since 2003…not since 2010. Fewer working adults were in poverty in 2011/12 than in 2008/09 under Labour. Child poverty is lowest for 25 years. Pensioner poverty at lowest in decades.       Funny…none of those are the attention grabbing headline message from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the BBC. The BBC of course … Continue reading →