kevinjohnsonmbe

This crisis has exposed that the Army is the only part of the state that actually works WWW.TELEGRAPH.CO.UK It remains the British instinct to believe that, if all else fails in a crisis, the Armed Forces are always there to pick up the...

I said at the beginning, there will probably never be a better opportunity / justification case for universal income (including some wealth redistribution) than that which we have under the current situation. Everyone gets the same, those that choose to work harder get to top their own income up in relation to the effort they make.

I don’t disagree it’s a tough pill Mick. Mate of mine has 130 blokes sat at home on furlough because he simply can’t get the bulk supplies he needs (because the suppliers shut down rather than thinking it through properly.) On the plus side, there’s a sudden explosion of builders doing private cash jobs (or home improvements) and topping up their 80% very nicely thank you very much.... What ever system is put in place there’ll be genuine needy and greedy grabby. If only such things were simple...

Nothing at all to disagree with there. I'm seeing far more people that are milking this system as a cash cow than not. Take the supermarkets for example, prices creeping up, trading and profits through the roof, yet they are still drawing down the advantages that are meant for 'struggling' businesses. 7,000+ second homes in Cornwall & Scilly opted for business rates (on the basis of an occasional holiday let) rather than pay council tax (then receive rate relief so pay nothing) are creaming 100s of k in state aid whilst the local economy bombs. https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/claims-second-home-owners-cornwall-3962892 How is that right and proper? How come MPs got a one off £10k payment for working at home? The system is shot full of holes but adding more is not a solution....

??

You talk of solidarity? You think it right that everyone should get a bung of free cash? Are you Jeremy Corbyn? Crack pipe? Pot / kettle! Where in my comment did I suggest he work from home? Nowhere, that’s where. Go to work if you can’t work from home. What part of that are you struggling with? I wasn’t pontificating from a padded arm chair - it’s a four seater bottle green Chesterfield not that it has any relevance to the point. Save me the self pitying one man band operating out of a shipping container BS. You ‘could’ have rented commercial premises and paid your dues (probably rebated by SBBRR) but you chose the low overhead, under the planning, HMRC, VOA, radars. I don’t knock it one little bit - actually, I salute those that chose their path based upon minimal overheads. I do exactly the same. Just don’t give me the tears and Marxist chest beating, woe is me BS when your own choices turn out to be sub optimal. It’s not even that though. One’s own choices are one’s own choices. Live with them. This sounds more like the “...but he’s getting more than me and I don’t think it’s fair...” type of classic politics of envy. Just for your personal info though, don’t assume I’m not grafting. I get SFA from the current business assistance packages because I chose to re-invest rather than take profit from the business. I get SFA because of MY choices. But guess what, we’re all victims of our own decisions.

I just hoovered up the dregs of the wife’s jug, I’ve done cider, a chat with Eggs, red wine and whisky since then so all fired up....

He doesn’t say he’s struggling. Apart from a potential drop off of business, there’s no real reason why he should be. If you can’t work from home, carry on with work whilst applying PHE guidelines. Doesn’t pay rates but thinks it unfair that he doesn’t qualify for free money. Im only 2 Pimms in (and there’s real potential for less diplomatic input later) but I nominate this thread for 2020 whining bastard of the year. As with most centrally mandated initiatives, I’m hearing / seeing more abuse and misuse of the system than was ever anticipated and no shortage of indignant, misplaced outrage from those that don’t ‘qualify.’

You beat me to it! ???

The van hasn’t moved for 3 weeks!

Just pulling yr chain duck ?

QED! There you have it! A random word generator NOT a sentient human being..... If it really was a living, breathing, conscious life form, it would have sent me the parcel I’ve been waiting for and saved me struggling with a pond pump and a length of flexible 2” pipe!

I’ll have to disagree with you there Mark (again) Im not so sure Eggs is real ???

On a closing note then, and to link to your final paragraph about valuing things, and to hang with the 50k figure that I seem to be obsessed with.... ONS figures for 17/18 recorded 50k excess winter cold deaths in the UK. 50k (predominantly old, poor folk) died because they couldn't put the heating on. No fanfare, no media outcry, no COBRA meeting.... Nuffin. Just strikes me as odd that's all. Excess winter mortality in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics WWW.ONS.GOV.UK Excess winter mortality in England and Wales, by region, sex, age group and local authority.

I won't vouch for the authenticy since it's just a copy of a FB post but it might be worth a thought...

And there we have a neat summary of socialist fiscal policy! ? (that was an open door Mark, couldn’t resist!)

And the understandably uncomfortable truth that nobody wants to confront or discuss (most notable by their deafening silence are the so called “Greens”) is that population must be restricted to within sustainable levels according to the area inhabited.

Quite simply, because it provides some context to the relentless cries of underfunding in the NHS and begs the question, are ‘we’ getting VfM.

I’m sorry to hear that. Motorbike or bicycle?

It was just a return jibe after yr geographic handicap reference. Might have been too tangential. I was going to simple say I think your geographical handicap is worse than mine but thought that too dull.

I’d prefer a war of words but you’re well off your form at the moment. ?

Mark, I haven’t offered any defence of the PM, I posted a dot.gov link which exposes your previous press article as utter tosh.