Question Time tonight

[breadandcircuse]

Ah. I haven’t seen those media.

He has been on a lot of news/politics programmes over the last few years, as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury/now in the role in government.

 

[danny la rouge]

Regretfully, I’m out.

 

[PTK]

Regretfully, I’m out.

You are out in a regretful fashion?

 

[stavros]

It'll be about 40 minutes of budget stuff, followed by something about the Tory leadership and/or the US election, maybe something about people in the Middle East blowing the fuck out of each other, and then maybe a silly one.

 

[breadandcircuse]

QT is now unwatchable. I used to watch it regularly years ago, but I can't bear it now, especially with Bruce and her pro-Tory bias at the helm.

 

[tommers]

I've had to turn it off.

People moaning that they've had £1.3 million taken out of their profits and now they might have to lose two of their 30 units cos they are unprofitable.

Those are your choices mate. You don't "have to" do anything. Use the profitable units to support the unprofitable ones if you're that bothered.

Lowering the threshold costs £600 / employee. For a full time employee on minimum wage, say £22k a year, then the increase is a difference of £750, which is an increase of about 3% (assuming they have no other benefits and they will cos you need to pay them a pension for a start). That percentage will drop the more you pay your staff. Nobody likes being taxed but all this "I'll need to decide how many of my team to keep" reminds me of "tax me and I'll leave the country" that they always come out with.

 

[stavros]

It's symptom of our political system, whereby any party that gets into government will have to compromise some of what was in their manifesto. If you don't promise the moon on a stick people won't vote for you.

 

[redsquirrel]

Eh, the last general election was marked by nether of the two major parties offering anything more than the most bland beige - as you were - offerings. The fundamental differences between the proposed budgets of the two were in the grand scheme pretty minor, less than 10%.

Rather than offering the moon on a stick both the Tories and Labour offered so little that that voters detested them with their share of the electorate dropping to either the worst (Con) or third lowest post war (Lab).

EDIT: The detested above should have been a deserted them - but it kind of works anyway

 

[stavros]

Sarah Jones, Matt Vickers, Bonnie Greer and Tim Montgomerie.

Expect lots of lines similar to, "Yes, he's an utter cunt, but America is our oldest ally and everyone values our special relationship".

 

[hash tag]

Should David Lammy apologise?

 

[Ax^]

Sarah Jones, Matt Vickers, Bonnie Greer and Tim Montgomerie.

Expect lots of lines similar to, "Yes, he's an utter cunt, but America is our oldest ally and everyone values our special relationship".

also people who voted for trump are not to blame ..

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

Should David Lammy apologise?

For lots of things

 

[stavros]

Should David Lammy apologise?

For withdrawing his wholly truthful words about Trump from a few years ago?

 

[stavros]

The never knowingly undersmug Tim Stanley on tonight. I think the Telegraph are all guns blazing for Trump, so I expect him to be an apologist for the orange one.

They've also got a Green MP and the bloke from Octopus Energy on, so we might get at least one question on the demise of the biosphere and civilisation, maybe as the cheeky finishing question.

 

[stavros]

Stanley seemed to make his first contribution without invitation, interrupting one of the others to pontificate his economy-before-ecology guff. Bruce should've told him to shut the fuck up and wait his turn.

I'm glad Chowns mentioned Nick Stern, as his report barely ever gets mentioned these days.

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

It was interesting to learn that the media is so dominated by the left. I'd never noticed that before.

 

[stavros]

Bloody hell, half the programme on farmers.

I'm only halfway through, but I presume it was recorded before ICC issued the warrants for the Hamas fella, Netanyahu and Gallant.

 

[felixthecat]

It was. Recorded 2 night ago at the Civic Centre just down the road. It's the biggest thing that's happened in Trowbridge in years!

 

[stavros]

Good shout getting Daisy Cooper on when they're in Wiltshire.