UKMT May: Elections! (which won't fix anything)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > UKMT May: Elections! (which won't fix anything)

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

notaspy posted:

As much as I enjoy having a moment in the spot light, that voting guide isn't mine. And drat you for stealing the op, now next month's (that I here by bagsie) will be even more neo-liberal!

Well no in the interests of competition you should set up your own thread and let the free market decide which one is better unless you want to be a shirker and not a striver :ancap:

e: yaaay shakeybeef is back

# ¿ May 1, 2014 11:29

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 12:13

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

At least you can trust the hotbed of multiculturalism that is London to keep the crazies out http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/ukip-local-elections-candidates-racist-language-is-exposed-9310580.html

Evening Standard posted:

UKIP was engulfed in a new racism row today after the Evening Standard unearthed evidence of its London election candidates using offensive language.

James Silverfox, an official Ukip candidate in Barking & Dagenham, made the comment �How did I know he is Nigerian?� on a news story about a fraudster plundering the bank account of a murdered British engineer. Challenged by the Standard, he denied the remark was racist.

Gary Port, standing for Ukip in Greenwich, admitted his Facebook page shows a �like� for a group devoted to the far-Right British National Party. Approached by the Standard, the removal man said: �I don�t think it�s that clear whether the BNP are racist...�

Matt Pavey, standing for Ukip in Lewisham, suggested that the case of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence had received disproportionate amounts of media attention compared with two killings of local white women. He told the Standard he had not intended to cause offence and denied being racist.

Heino Vockrodt, standing in Brent for Ukip, described members of Right-wing protest group the English Defence League � which has been criticised for attracting hooligans to demonstrations staged in mixed-race areas � as �honest normal people� .

An investigation by the Standard found a tweet in the name of another Ukip candidate who implied that �multiracial� schools had inferior results. The new row for Nigel Farage�s anti-Europe party comes days after Enfield candidate William Henwood resigned over tweets that said comedian Lenny Henry should emigrate to a �black country� and compared Islam to the Third Reich.

Trevor Phillips, the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, commented: �I am shocked that Ukip is prepared to have people with these views as their candidates.

�Anybody who wants to stand for office in London must know that comments like these are not acceptable in a cosmopolitan city.�

After being passed details of comments apparently made by seven Ukip candidates in London, a Ukip spokesman said each would be examined for possible disciplinary action: �Ukip is a non-racist, non-sectarian party and all candidates and members are expected to uphold these values. Where evidence is produced to indicate a breach it will be considered at the earliest opportunity by the National Executive Committee.�

But Mr Farage�s election campaign continues to be dogged by controversial or offensive views held by senior party figures and council candidates.

A major Ukip donor has claimed that rape cannot exist within a marriage. Demetri Marchessini said: �If you make love on Friday and make love Sunday, you can�t say Saturday is rape.�

A senior Ukip MEP was exposed today for once claiming homosexuality was �abnormal and undesirable�. Roger Helmer, 70, made the claims in 2000 while a Conservative. In a statement on his website, Mr Helmer said he was �deeply shocked� by today�s story, and insisted it was �morally acceptable to prefer heterosexuality over homosexuality, or vice versa�.

The candidates and their views
James Silverfox
Candidate for Gascoigne ward, Barking & Dagenham
The former soldier, 66, made the comment �How did I know he is Nigerian?� on a link to a news story about fraudsters who plundered the bank account of a murdered Briton. But he told the Standard he was unrepentant about branding Nigerians as fraudsters. He said: �I was the victim of an online banking fraud and lost hundreds of pounds. I was told that the fraud was carried out by a Nigerian gang operating out of a house in Streatham.

�They [Nigerians] are well known for this type of crime and I am speaking out as a victim. I have not met any [Nigerians] that I know of but I would be wary of doing business with them after what I have been through.� But he flatly denied he was a racist, saying: �My wife is Asian and my daughter�s partner is from the West Indies and we get on well. How can I be a racist? I have two grandchildren who are black and two who are white � You won�t find any Nazi symbols in my flat!�

Matt Pavey
Candidate for Whitefoot ward, Lewisham
On his Twitter account, @WhitefootUKIP, he spoke out about allegations of police corruption in the case of murdered black London teenager Stephen Lawrence. He recalled two unsolved murders of white women and tweeted: �Does anyone remember the name Jean Bradley murder unsolved in Acton, London in 1993. Anyone looking for corruption here? No thought not.� Challenged by the Standard he said: �I did not mean to be offensive or malicious � I just wanted to highlight that some cases get overlooked. The way it was interpreted caused offence. I have nothing against the Lawrence family and am not a racist.�

Gary Port
Candidate for Charlton ward, Greenwich
On Facebook, he lists a page about the BNP as �liked�. He also �liked� a page for a group called the �South East Alliance� which contains anti-Islam material, such as an image claiming that 96 per cent of rapes in the UK are committed by Muslims.

Mr Port, a 35-year-old removal man, said of the BNP page: �I �liked� it, not to join in, but to see what other groups and parties were doing.

�It�s like a news feed, so I just �liked� it to get information on my own page because it brings up what issues other people are dealing with, it wasn�t to say I like it. It was a few years ago now, before I joined Ukip.�

Asked if he considered the BNP to be a racist party, he said: �What do you class as racist nowadays? At what point is something racist in this day and age with all the cultures? Obviously some parties are pushing that issue more than others.�

He added: �I don�t think it�s that clear whether the BNP are racist, from what I understand there was a big hype about it many years ago but I�m not sure what they�ve done about it.� But he added: �If I was racist I wouldn�t be doing the job I�m doing now. I do removals for council tenants and you could probably say the majority of them are ethnic. If I had a big problem with it, I wouldn�t be in that job.�

He said he wouldn�t �outright condemn� the �96.3 per cent of rapes in the UK are by Muslims� claim in a South East Alliance post because he would have to �look into the national figures�, but added: �I think personally that�s going to be far too high.�

He said both the Alliance and EDL are disaffected working-class groups, adding: �Like all groups you get some good and some non-good people.�

Heino Vockrodt
Candidate for Dudden Hill ward, Brent
He described members of the English Defence League, whose protests have triggered violent clashes, as �honest normal people�.

He stood by his views on the EDL when approached by the Standard. The commercial consultant, 52, who moved to the UK from Germany 18 years ago and is married to an Asian woman, said: �It appears to me that they [the EDL] are normal, hardworking people like builders.

�I do not agree with their policies but they do sometimes get unfair treatment. If anti-fascists go to their rallies and there is trouble they are always blamed. They get an unfair press sometimes I think. I have an Asian wife and am in no way racist. Ukip is not a racist party.�

# ¿ May 1, 2014 16:03

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Phoon posted:

Somehow I doubt good grammar will help me get laid

your wrong their

# ¿ May 2, 2014 16:12

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Media Monkey is the best bit.

# ¿ May 2, 2014 17:17

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Maybe have a flick though here http://www.britainfirst.org/publications-library/ and see what jumps out at you.

# ¿ May 6, 2014 09:51

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Their whole thing is ooga booga muslims "othering" them, a crusade to "Take Back Britain" (from whom?) and bring back hanging for people we don't like (i.e. anyone who isn't christian).

# ¿ May 6, 2014 10:21

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

A new people's champion arises http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/the-wouldbe-next-bob-crow-who-revels-in-bringing-london-to-a-standstill-9325940.html

# ¿ May 6, 2014 21:34

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Oh, bollocks

# ¿ May 6, 2014 22:03

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

baka kaba posted:

Ohhhhh, so 2 AM is when all the balance/extreme leftist bias occurs

Here you go http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01y76ws

BBC posted:

Wealth Inequality: The Growing Gap Between Rich And Poor
^{Duration: 55 minutes | First broadcast: Wednesday 07 May 2014}
Today we're devoting half of the program to a discussion on wealth inequality and whether a growing gap between rich and poor is the inevitable outcome of the capitalist system left to find its own way. In his new book, 'Capital ...' the French economist Thomas Picketty says that is most definitely the case and he argues that higher taxes are the only way to fix it. In our Washington bureau, two eminent economists: Professor Peter Morici from the University of Maryland, and Mark Weisbrot, co-Director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research. They fight over whether Piketty is right or wrong.

Also in the programme: Obama tackles climate change; is South Africa's economy too skewed towards big business?; Rahul Tandon on the Indian election trail in Shantiniketan, West Bengal.

Oh, and Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times has a few top tips for those seeking world domination.

# ¿ May 7, 2014 09:53

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

The vote won't pass, the greedy bastards will be too busy off playing golf to turn up.

# ¿ May 7, 2014 11:41

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

DELICIOUS TEARS ALERT :siren:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/10812086/I-make-120000-but-I-cant-recall-the-last-time-we-went-out-for-dinner.html

The Telegraph posted:

E: OH FOR FUCKS SAKE TWOOT
� For ideas on paying less tax, saving money and growing your wealth, receive our weekly money newsletter. Click here and enter your email

I mean the top bit of the article (which I didn't bother quoting) so nearly goes in the right direction just that madness at the end.

Also the future is a boot stamping on James Delingpole's face forever. A glorious future.

# ¿ May 7, 2014 15:41

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Why are they calling for Boris to go on strike? I mean I'd love if he hosed off for let's say the next two years, but it seems very unlike the Sextator to call for that sort of thing considering he used to be their dear leader.

# ¿ May 7, 2014 16:09

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Gonzo McFee posted:

�563 a month for this "Studio" apartment in London.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-44093635.html

Where's the toilet?

That's more than I pay for a shared room (in London) and 'amusingly' I couldn't afford to live in that cupboard.

Renting is hosed, demolish Chelsea and build high rises.

# ¿ May 9, 2014 11:38

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

No I think they mean housing asylum seekers in concentration camps and/or murdering refugees.

# ¿ May 9, 2014 13:09

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Good news, everyone!

We might get to do The Sports again http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/could-rio-games-come-to-london-olympic-bosses-make-secret-plea-to-use-2012-venues-9344084.html

Evening Standard posted:

London has been secretly asked if it would be able to take over the 2016 Olympics because Brazil is so far behind on preparations, the Evening Standard has learned. An informal approach was made by Olympics bosses to discover whether enough venues from the triumphant 2012 London Games could be brought back into use.

The disclosure follows growing panic at the International Olympic Committee over the shambles in Rio, where organisers are badly behind schedule. IOC vice-president John Coates has called Brazil�s preparations �the worst I�ve experienced�. He told a Sydney conference last month that construction had not begun on some venues, infrastructure was significantly delayed and water quality was a major concern with just two years to go. "The IOC has formed a special task force to try to speed up preparations but the situation is critical on the ground,� he said, calling the intervention �unprecedented�.

A source told the Standard: �At a comparable planning stage in 2004 Athens had done 40 per cent of preparations on infrastructure, stadiums and so on. London had done 60 per cent. Brazil has done 10 per cent � and they have just two years left. So the IOC is thinking, �What�s our plan B?� Obviously, the answer would be to come back to London. It�s very unlikely but it would be the logical thing to do.�

The chances of London being asked to step in were described as �infinitesimally small� by figures close to the Olympic movement, because it would be an unprecedented snub to Rio. But a source said: �If London were asked to do it we would certainly want to have a go.� One possibility is that the capital could share events with Glasgow, which hosts the Commonwealth Games this July.

London has hosted the Olympics in an emergency before. In 1908 the event was due to be held in Italy but a disastrous eruption of Mount Vesuvius forced a move. Will Glendinning, director of the major event consultants Allium and who worked on the London Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, said there was �more than enough time� for the capital to be ready. �Yes of course it can be done,� he said. �One of the UK�s greatest exports is our major events capability. The expertise exists and regarding facilities we are a couple of years away � more than enough time to get things ready. If I were the IOC I would make sure I had a plan B and a plan C.�

Some 2012 venues such as the velodrome, Lords for archery and Wimbledon for tennis, could be brought back into action quickly. But the plan for �London 2016� would be a worst-case scenario because many of the other 2012 sites have already been converted for public use and transforming them to competition-standard venues again would cost billions and cause major disruption for the clubs currently using them.

Another difficulty is the fact that the athletes� village, which housed 17,000 competitors during the Games, is now being populated by private residents. A spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee said the question of the Rio Games being moved to London was a �non-starter and unfeasible�.

Or, newspaper writes about something that's not going to happen, more at 11.

# ¿ May 9, 2014 13:18

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

nuzak posted:

I wonder if he feels the same about other kinds of elections, like conservative party leader elections, or general elections.

Well no because remember The British Public wouldn't understand the Alternative Vote system even though Labour and the Lib Dems both use them to choose their party leaders (Conservatives do some wacky batshit thing where everyone votes again and again until the right chap wins more than half the vote).

Obviously they're totally different and they don't hold the country to ransom and damage valuable public services like those drat nurses or the RMT or the police or the prison service or the fire brigade :clegg:

# ¿ May 9, 2014 17:12

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

bloo bloo bloo :qq:

Why won't they tolerate our intolerance? :qq:

# ¿ May 13, 2014 10:24

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

IceAgeComing posted:

Somehow this has gotten worse; ITV's new thing literally has a segment called "Wheel of Cash!" on it which I'm sure has been used as a joke in some TV programme somewhere...

Yeah but Andi Peters!

# ¿ May 14, 2014 18:02

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Squalitude posted:

Let's get some cheer up here! I had a great experience a few years back, our east London letting agency went into administration, meaning we didn't have to deal with any of their bullshit for the last 9 months of the tenancy, the actual landlords were nice people who sorted out the (very few) problems quickly and efficiently, and when it came to our deposit - which we were shitscared about because if a bankrupted letting agency didn't put our deposit in the protection scheme then how can you sue them for compensation? - we just got it all back with no hassle, which is the only time that's ever happened.

If only every letting agency could go bankrupt!

I rented a place through a pack of bastards that I later discovered were owned by the landlord and let out all of his properties. I couldn't have been happier when I saw one day that someone (presumably another disgruntled tenant) had stolen a land rover and driven it through the front of their shop.

# ¿ May 14, 2014 18:45

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

haakman posted:

There's a bunch of UKIP signs in fields all the way to Chelmo from Ipswich. gently caress farmers. The lot of them. I guess they got pissed off with all the europeans stealing their hereditary estates and pheasants. loving farmers - never have I seen a more callous, self serving bunch of douchenozzles.

lol I'm sure the farmers will be real pleased when we leave the EU and they stop getting ~�3.3billion a year in Common Agriculture Policy payments.

idiots

# ¿ May 15, 2014 10:59

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Fans posted:

It's not entirely wrong. Our membership fee is about �54M/Day to be in the EU.

Nope. https://fullfact.org/economy/cost_eu_membership_gross_net_contribution-30887

quote:

In 2013, UK government gross contributions were �14 billion. After rebates and other receipts, our net contribution was �8.6 billion, or about �24 million a day on Nigel Farage�s framing.

# ¿ May 15, 2014 15:36

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Anyone who tries to get on Murdoch's good side (ie at the moment the SNP & Tories, as far as I'm aware) should be aware that doing so means you must be totally ready to bend over and accept a full on media campaign for 0 hour contracts, which is what most of the backroom staff at The Times/Sky News are on.

# ¿ May 15, 2014 22:55

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

baka kaba posted:

How was it there, anyway? I always avoided that channel like the plague, and they still employ the dynamic shitehawk duo, but whenever I've seen it recently it's been surprisingly decent, going into depth and taking some critical stances on the official lines. Is there a selective Murdoch line everyone follows, or is it just full of renegades and rebels?

I dunno about upper management being told what to do, I wasn't there for very long, but down on the floor we just tried to do the best, fastest (hence the ~~Never Wrong For Long~~ First For Breaking News tagline) but it was pretty galling when they were doing features on zero hours contracts going "hey email us with yr opinions" and I'm there like "uhhh I am on 0 hours I work at that desk just off camera".

But I don't think anyone gives a poo poo about the Murdoch's opinions, everybody trying their hardest Not To Get Fired and not have the channel shut down, as it's basically a pit into which BSkyB pours money for no tangible gain. Here's a good blog piece by another ex-Sky bod http://fryingpanfire.com/2010/06/skys-the-limit/

quote:

Life under Murdoch, at least my erstwhile parish Sky News, is not the plot to Tomorrow Never Dies. Rupert does not have a secret phone to editorial footsoldiers on newsdesks. When I was on the foreign desk, producers invoked the muscle of John Ryley, Head of News, when they were trying to swing the editorial eye. �John�s very keen� is a line often heard. Clever editors rebut with �let�s give him a call�.

Critics of Murdoch bias will invariably bring up the Adam Boulton and Kay Burley affairs during the last General Election. Casting personal opinion of these strong-willed stakeholders aside, let us look at the facts.

In Adam�s case, as Political Editor he was the pivot point for Sky�s election coverage. He is also a workaholic who hadn�t slept for days. When pitted against the stable and calm winds of Alaistair Campbell, Adam buckled. A moment of abandon � to be seen by all on YouTube.

In Kay�s position, a gaggle of demonstrators took advantage of Sky News having an open broadcasting stage as opposed to the BBC�s enclosed one. It�s like offering a crowd a large screen and a live Twitter feed. Someone is going to abuse it for a laugh.

Gaza, the Israeli raids on it and Sky News� refusal to run the subsequent DEC Appeal is the only time I truly felt a corporate hand muzzling the mouth. And that on the day both the BBC and Sky said they would not be running the appeal, Sky News correspondent Emma Hurd opened a news item with a wide shot of the Gaza Strip and the line �this is the scene of a war crime�.

Arguments against a Murdoch monopoly are usually based on events in print. Sky News knows it can�t get away with blanket bias on air. They can�t declare an allegiance to a political party like their ink-stained counterparts. Actions are watched closely by Ofcom and if one side of an issue appears to be getting too much air time, balance is restored one way or another.

Because television is not �self-regulating�, quality and content are dictated by public interest � or an editor�s perception of it. It�s hard to break truly original journalism in broadcast because editors closely monitor their competitors to see what they�re running � and run that. The process becomes a mobius strip of information dependent on precedence of events.

(by "strong-willed stakeholders" read "total pebbledicks")

# ¿ May 16, 2014 11:18

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

LemonDrizzle posted:

Why are news organizations keen on zero hours contracts? They're only really beneficial to employers with very unpredictable workloads - I'd have thought a daily paper or newsdesk would have a very steady flow of work and so would be better off just giving people regular contracts.

Because you don't have to mess around with disciplinary procedures if someone fucks up, you just stop giving them shifts. This is the same reason the contracts are for 13 months, you never become a permanent employee so they can fire you instantly if they don't want you.

# ¿ May 16, 2014 11:35

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

baka kaba posted:

I guess I really meant to ask if the editorial line follows Murdoch's agenda, and all the critical analysis is a calculated way of positioning themselves, that gets dropped when it would conflict with Roop's interests? Or is it down to the ground-level management saying "I don't give a gently caress, we report the news here!". Because it honestly seems more Mirror than Sun sometimes, and during the floods it seemed to be the only channel even questioning dredging and suggesting it was government spin. I was having a lot of double-take moments

Is it me or is that blog post implying that people's opinions of Burley and Boulton (i.e. they're poo poo) are based on one isolated incident each? Stockholm syndrome?

Oh I don't know if there's a top down editorial line from BSkyB or whoever, but the guidelines say this:

I know the management aren't as hand picked as the Fox News lot though.

As for that blog post it was written shortly after the general election so I think they were using the two most recent high profile examples.

# ¿ May 16, 2014 19:36

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

I'm on Plusnet Fibre and they're all right, basically exactly the same thing and price as BT Infinity (because they're owned by BT) but with UK based call centres. Also like most places they do referrals based signups so if you know someone with it, then you / they can get slightly cheaper internet (I assume it's not allowed here so get someone irl to sort it out)

# ¿ May 20, 2014 14:57

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

I started asking potential ukip voters why they'd vote for them to be MEPs, as MEPs don't have the power to remove the UK from the EU, but MPs do so they should vote for UKIP at the next general election. Also pointing out that The UKIPs don't participate with europarl so why not vote for another party who might milk the europeans for all their worth and get back some of are money etc..

# ¿ May 21, 2014 13:00

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

StoneOfShame posted:

My Dad loves them to he gleefully plays a game of guilty or not along with them, normally making his judgement as soon as he sees them especially on the border control ones. Its depressing how often his racial profiling turns out to be right gotta love TV editing!

For the BBC shows like Traffic Cops etc., when there's a new episode (not a repeat), blurred faces mean not guilty/not yet gone to court, visible people mean dangerous crims (occasionally innocent bystanders) who were guilty guilty guilty because it magically becomes in the public interest/reporting on a crime.

Now next time one is on you can ruin it for him.

# ¿ May 21, 2014 23:11

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

I voted for the greens as they have the Least Worst Policies. Nuclear/sciences they're a bit poo poo on but at least they're not fill-yer-boots privatise everything bastards, liars, warmongers or racists.

# ¿ May 22, 2014 09:59

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Heisenberg1276 posted:

I just left the polling station (south east). Very surprised at how many right wing parties are running. Basically the whole first half of the sheet.

Apparently already there have been a few people who've voted for "the wrong ukip" because of there being so many similar sounding parties. https://twitter.com/oakeshottm/status/469381165829586944

ha ha ha gently caress 'em

Cerv posted:

frankly i don't trust anyone who gets up early to vote before work.

I did because there's the wrap party for a show I worked on months tonight and I'm gonna GET ENDGAME SHITFACED FOR FREE.

# ¿ May 22, 2014 10:36

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

huh http://news.sky.com/story/1266550/royal-mail-posts-430m-in-full-year-profits

Sky News posted:

Royal Mail Posts �430m In Full-Year Profits
Royal Mail has reported an operating profit of �430m in its first full-year results since privatisation. The figure for the 12 months to March, after transformation costs, is up from �403m in the previous year - a rise of 6.7%. But the company warns it is facing a number of "headwinds" including increasing competition in parcels.

The Royal Mail also warned a move to direct delivery of letters by rivals TNT Post could threaten the financial sustainability of the universal service without action by the regulator Ofcom. The company is legally obliged to deliver to every address in the country for a single price, and it warns the TNT plans could lose the firm �200m. Chief executive Moya Greene said: "We can't just sit around waiting for the damage to be done, there has to be action now. Ofcom's duty is to secure the financial sustainability of the Universal Service Obligation."

But an Ofcom spokesman said: "We do not believe that there is presently a threat to the financial sustainability of the universal postal service. We have a duty to secure the universal service, and if we identify any future threat we have powers to step in to protect it. We would expect Royal Mail to take appropriate steps to respond to the challenge posed by competition, including improving efficiency."

Parcels now contribute more than 50% of Royal Mail's revenue - �4.82bn - after a 7% rise, although volumes remained flat. On Wednesday, the firm announced it will start delivering parcels and opening delivery offices on Sundays, in response to the rapid growth of online shopping. Ms Greene said: "The competitive environment on the parcels side is more intense. We are taking steps to remain the leader in this growing market." The group's letters performance was at the better end of expectations, with revenues down 2% to �4.6bn on a year earlier. The amount of letters fell by 4%, but the trend improved over the year due to better economic conditions and one-off factors such as energy companies writing to customers about price rises.

Shares in the firm opened more than 3% lower. However at 553p the stock is still much higher than the 330p valuation placed at the time of the flotation. The Government still own a 30% stake in Royal Mail, which was sold off last autumn.

But the privatisation was heavily criticised for not delivering value for money for the taxpayer. The Government robustly defended the sale against sharp criticism from the National Audit Office, which found that "deep caution" shown by ministers when pricing shares in the Royal Mail cost the taxpayer more than �1bn.

Good thing the government's finances are in great shape and we couldn't use �430million to pay for some schools or hospitals or anything.

# ¿ May 22, 2014 14:32

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...ed-9423200.html :lol:

Independent posted:

Ukip blames London election performance on difficulty appealing to the 'educated and cultured'

While Nigel Farage is busy claiming "the Ukip fox is in the Westminster hen-house", party spokesperson Suzanne Evans has uttered a sound byte UKIP would probably rather forget. Asked to explain the party's relatively poor performance in London on Radio 4, Evans said they had difficulty appealing to the "educated, cultured and young."

Elsewhere in the country Ukip had better luck however and took seats off the Tories, though at present they are still fifth in the local elections with 102 council seats, lagging behind the independents.

The party has seen a modest surge in support despite a rocky campaign, with shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander suggesting people have turned to Ukip as a protest vote. "We recognise the alienation and the anger that has found expression in a lot of people voting for Ukip last night but we still believe that we are well placed if we do the right things and we take the right steps in the coming 12 months to win that general election," he told BBC Breakfast this morning.

Ukip press officer Alexandra Philips was quick to gloat about their gains on Twitter, writing: "Dear Other Parties & Their Media Chums and ESPECIALLY to spiteful left wing organisations...IT DIDN'T WORK YO! Love from UKIP Press Office x".

Also for all the "ukip are serious players it's a political earthquake" bullshit they're spouting, they're fourth out of four.

# ¿ May 23, 2014 10:36

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Jippa posted:

Ha did any one see the shard got hit by lightening? What are those fuckers doing in there? It's like the building from ghost busters.

shard more like shart amirite????

#jorts

# ¿ May 23, 2014 11:23

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

lol the ukips

http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2014/05/22/local-elections-2014-as-it-happens posted:

15:46 - The BBC have released their projected national share for the local elections. Here it is:

LAB 31% CON 29% UKIP 17% LIBDEM 13% OTHERS 10%

So after all the talk of a "Ukip earthquake" their national share of the vote is actually down six points on what it was in the 2013 local elections.

# ¿ May 23, 2014 16:07

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

My ward's council election results are in, the Lib Dems (who used to run the borough in a lib dem/tory coalition) came 4th behind Labour, Greens, Tories in that order. The UKIPs didn't even bother running a candidate because inner London won't elect them.

# ¿ May 23, 2014 17:41

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

winegums posted:

Imagine it was truly the case that there were groups of people coming here just to mooch off of the British taxpayers. People who have nothing but contempt for us, who want to utilise the system we've built but do nothing to support it. I would genuinely dislike this group of people.

These people do exist, they're called members of parliament :downsrim:

# ¿ May 27, 2014 11:50

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

# ¿ May 27, 2014 12:03

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

Re: trainchat privatisation times http://leavesontheline.tumblr.com/post/3487259985/why-privatisation-sucks this is only the relevant bit from
Bozza's awesome effortpost but it's all worth reading at the link

Bozza posted:

How about then, a fully nationalised system? (aka Bring Back British Rail!)

BR of the late 80s was a fantastically efficient, well run company which should have been left alone and had money literally thrown at it. There I said it, and pinned my colours to the mast.

Let me start by telling you why, before we critique how this can be reapplied in the 21st century, which is a far more interesting prospect.

The 1980s for BR brought a lot of challenges, not least one Maggie Thatcher. Though Thatcher wasn’t exactly wild for privatising the railway (she was a scientist after all, even if she was an awful sociopath), people could see the writing on the wall as parts of the non-operational business were systematically sold off, often to the nationalised rail operators of other countries! It also saw BR’s budget cut, and pressure increased to cover more of the cost of the network through ticket price rises.

The BR board panicked and in 1983, ordered a vast, sweeping restructuring which turned the bloated ex-Big 4 regions into the more streamlined ‘Sectors’. Express services were made into the famous ‘InterCity’ brand, south east and London commuter routes became ‘Network SouthEast’ and everywhere else became ‘Regional Railways’, non-passenger stuff went to ‘Railfreight’ and ‘Parcels’ (who are fairly self explanatory).

The sectors stripped out the bullshit of the Big 4, focusing on the business aspirations of three major subsets of passengers, and enhancing their services and requesting engineering developments where needed. Engineering functions (maintenance, enhancements, renewals) operated both integrated directly into their local sector, but also within their national engineering functions, thus the Head of Enhancement Engineering for Network SouthEast would report to both the Head of Network SouthEast and the Head of Enhancement Engineering, meaning that joined up thinking was applied throughout the nation. BR really cut a lot of fat during the 80s despite rather harsh financial pressures put on it by the government.

BR suffered from only one major problem during this time, and that was budget. BR received an annual budget, which had to be allocated between maintenance, enhancements, renewals and day-to-day operating costs, and not receiving any sort of long term investment.

It is hard to plan a large scale resignalling scheme (which will take at least a couple of years to design and probably at its most efficient a year to build, test and commission) when you only know where the money is coming from for the next 12 months. Long term vision was virtually impossible without ringfenced money (this was how the electrification of the East Coast Main Line was achieved, for instance, by direct government investment) so a short term ‘patch and make do’ approach was taken rather than big investments which would have made a real difference.

When people argue about how efficient BR was, this is the era they use. If this model had been kept, but with five year budget allocations like NR receives through huge government consultation about what it needs and why, the British Rail network would look vastly different to how it does today. For one thing, the BR HQ Signal Engineering team wouldn’t have been sold a packet of magic beans like the dynamic business leaders who ran Railtrack were on the technology for the West Coast Mainline upgrades (this is perhaps a story for another day).

I, as you can probably tell, am all for the return of this model. However, unless we literally tell the TOCs et al to get hosed, this won’t happen. You would literally have to renationalise the entire asset again, probably at huge cost, which will then gently caress the Department for Transport’s budget for the next century.

So, getting to crux of this history lesson, I propose a new approach to nationalisation. Network Rail is a great place to start; it currently owns all the infrastructure and has built up in the last several years a lot of engineering expertise. This needs to be expanded on and grown back to the levels BR had, with contractors used to prop up big engineering jobs, and also return to their more natural environment of developing new technologies (lots of money in this if anyone is interested!) with central guidance.

The first thing the government needs to do to make this plan work is simple. Get back our loving trains! Either buy back or order new builds of rolling stock and systematically block the RoSCoS out of the market, because these are the biggest arseholes in the whole bloody set-up. This will require long-term planning and investment from government that must be free from meddling or it won’t work.

Secondly, create a new TOC under either a similar model to Network Rail, or perhaps as a mutual. The latter was actually suggested, by an alliance of the three big railway unions (ASLEF, the RMT and the TSSA, who are collectively perhaps worthy of their own article) as an option for running the currently nationalised East Coast franchise, which operates under this model currently, but with profits heading straight to the DfT. This was unsurprisingly blocked by the government for bullshit reasons so some other bus company which may or may not donate large quantities of money to the Labour or Tory Party can take it over instead.

In this fantasy world, this TOC will then inherit the franchises one by one as the current ones run out, and we will end up with a pseudo-nationalised TOC working for a pseudo-nationalised Infrastructure Controller (Network Rail). We could seriously leave it here quite frankly, as most of the bullshit between the TOCs and NR is legal wrangling, with no respect for overall vision for the future of the network, as it is short-term profits over long-term investments and gain.

In keeping with EU competition rules about open access, this will also allow small operators to bid for access from NR for specials which can’t be provided by the nationalised TOC. The best way to think of this is that the NHS provides you core healthcare, but if you want to get something fancy that is outside of its budget, you have to go private. This is how I envisage services to the continent beginning, but it could also work the other way, with the nationalised TOC being able to expand into the European markets through an era of interoperability that is beginning to emerge through the European Rail Authority.

# ¿ May 28, 2014 00:13

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

ronya posted:

the government presumably has to pay the shareholders for their shares, where do the funds come from?

Not if when their franchises run out the TOCs all lose their bids to the government's very own British Rail 2: Track Electrification Boogaloo or whatever it's called. The shareholders of transport companies that currently run services should know renewal of franchises isn't guaranteed so must be prepared to suck eggs as has recently happened with FiWorst Capital Connect.

# ¿ May 28, 2014 15:42

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 12:13

Rude Dude With Tude: Apr 19, 2007; Your President approves this text.

the system works :toot:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05/29/middle-class-uk-proletariat-elite_n_5408916.html

An Underpaid Journalist At The Huffington Post posted:

UK Will Be Left With A 'Tiny Elite And Huge Proletariat' In 30 Years, Warns Expert
Britain will be left with a "tiny elite and huge sprawling proletariat" who have no chance of "clawing their way out of a hand-to-mouth existence" in 30 years, a government adviser has warned.

David Boyle, a fellow at the New Economics Foundation think-tank, issued his stark warning as he predicted that rising property prices would effectively render the middle classes extinct as the dream of home ownership becomes ever more distant. This group of Britons, which politicians have dubbed the "squeezed middle", would need to take three or four jobs just to make ends meet and no longer have time for cultural activities, according to Boyle. Speaking at the Hay Festival, he predicted that the average house price would hit �1.2 million by 2045, forcing many young people to rent and be "in hock" to their landlord. Meanwhile, research showed that central London property prices have risen by �729 a day over the last year.

Boyle said: �The really scary thing is if in the next 30 years house prices rise as much as they have done in the last 30 years then the average house in Britain will cost �1.2 million. We cheerled the rise of property prices not realising that it would destroy, if not our own lives, but the lives of our children. The place where this is heading is a strange society with a tiny elite and a long struggling, straggling line which is the rest of us, a new proletariat, who will be in hock to Landlord PLC. We won�t own our own homes, we won�t be able to afford it. It will constrain our dreams and constrain the dreams of our children. It�s a new kind of economy where there are no middle classes at all. Nobody in society will have the kind of space in their lives, space in their homes, space in their careers for any kind of culture at all, because we will be having three or four jobs to make ends meet. I think it will impoverish society, make it more intolerant and make it more difficult to live.�

Boyle, who was commissioned to lead an independent review into access to public services for the government, said that the rising cost of living would end up polarising society. �Very unequal societies are very inflationary societies and in the end it drives out those other degrees in society until it becomes very flat and very desperate," he said. �You could say that it doesn't matter and that a more classless society would be a good thing. I think if there is no place in the middle that anywhere can go to claw their way out of desperate hand to mouth existence, and the precariat, then that condemns us all to a precarious existence because there is no ladder.�

Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics revealed that there has been a 25% increase in households with 6 or more people, and a 25% increase in unoccupied homes.

Dan Wilson Craw, spokesman for the Generation Rent campaign group, said: �Today�s statistics confirm that our broken housing market is creating deep divisions in society � wealthy property owners can afford to leave houses to stand empty, while more people who can�t buy are forced to squeeze into overcrowded private renting. The government has no hope of reversing this trend with a scheme like Help to Buy � the nation�s renters need better rights in the rental market if they want to live somewhere they can genuinely call home.�

The Bank of England has warned that the housing market boom could end in another crash, but governor Mark Carney has stood firm on his current plan to only start raising interest rates next spring.

No class except elites! Then, R E V O L U T I O N.

# ¿ May 29, 2014 16:21

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > UKMT May: Elections! (which won't fix anything)