Huguenot

I rather imagine that one of our more right wing contributors has posted this as a drunken 'no lose' gamble. The 'thanks ever so much' seems a wee bit sarcastic. The justification being that if people pay then they are mugs, and if they don't then they are hypocrites. It's a bit of a blow-out if they don't give the Paypal account: how are they going to decide how to hate?

Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is quite specific about the correlation between bed wear in public, liberalism, pacifism and the end of the world as we know it.

If you're reporting an instruction from the police without embellishing I can't see why it would be a problem?

That's an unnecessarily anti EU agenda there Top Banana. The FSA has NEVER been in the business of making preventative spot checks by DNA profiling meat at point of entry. So your suggestion that they have been handicapped by the EU is utter bollocks. The common market was created with a view to LOWERING handicaps to business when trading overseas, in order to drive productivity and growth. It means that the same rules apply to operating within the EU as within the UK. It is the responsibility of the distributor to check that their supplier is up to scratch. Your proposal to spot check every supplier in every deal would be the enemy of business throughout the UK. As is standard in these situations, I wonder what the motivation is for people to fabricate allegations about the EU.

Scotland were excellent. Nobody expected that!

I don't think we'd need to wipe out the tax breaks all at once Loz - we could start by capping tax at 2% and raising it over 10 years to 25% or more. That's why I'd go for this model first - it can be phased.

I don't think that legislation was created to target neighborhood chat rooms any more than anti-terrorist legislation was created to imprison accountants for poor jokes on Twitter. I'm sure it wouldn't require guidance from the Director of Public Proescutions to see that!

shelly2012 will need to change it. I have no idea what DJKQ means by 'it's a common occurrence'. Bizarre.

I think Loz has the sum of it in terms of maths. I don't agree with his conclusion that if BTL dies there is no property to rent in London - that's not logical. All the property still sits there, and if the landlord can't pay the mortgage it goes back to the bank and out on the auction market etc. The property doesn't disappear. I totally agree with his view that most approaches to resolving it result in a property crash. More importantly a property crash isn't an isolated problem for 'rich home owners'. It would be the end of the economy as we know it. However, I also feel that as an increasingly scarce resource, housing will need to look different in a hundred years time than it does now: mainly down to controlled distribution. In that sense the idea of individuals being able to own multiple residential properties and charge 'market rates' is not sustainable. Demand will far outstrip supply. So the only question is how fast can we get there? I think the first thing we need to see is an end to tax breaks on mortgage interest, followed by increasing restrictions on ownership of multiple residential properties (starting at no more than 10 and ending at no more than 1). I'd like to see multiple properties transferred into taxable property holding companies, and have those companies subject to tight regulation on rents chargeable. The goal within 20 years would be to see those property owning companies mutate into non-profit making trusts, and in 50 years into social ownership. The market argument is always that this is either 'unworkable' or results in property decay because of lack of owner investment. However, in Singapore 85% of property is owned by government through the Housing Development Board. They are rent controlled and subject to tight ownership restrictions. It has to be, it's a tiny nation with loads of people. They are also pristine and well maintained. Housing needs to change, it will change. The only question is how fast we can make it happen. The world is just like Singapore - limited space and loads of people. The solution will be the same.

Hee hee "I'm not sure I buy this 'the Tube will ruin ED' line. It hasn't ruined Richmond or Hampstead, the places referenced above." Yes, because you can afford to live in Richmond or Hampstead right? 'Ruin' is a value judgement. The one thing that ED won't be is the one we know and love with various social tribes rubbing along in harmony save the odd 'first world problem'. (Read push chair sniping).

Careful mate, they're not hot on immigrants because they're not hot on immigrants. You would be, ahem, an immigrant. You're not confusing being English with 'not immigrant regardless of where I am' are you?

Everything's possible apart from 4, 2 or 1

Lady D is a professional in this if I remember?

Hmm, I don't think the observation was about whether or not Kiwis are annoying lane lover, but about Visa requirements.

Haha, uncleglen, given your documented unease with enemies near (the Scots) and far (eastern Europeans) and avowedly secular convictions I can't imagine where you have in mind that would fulfill your very exacting requirements. It only gets worse you know, you should enjoy what you have!

I watched Brick again this week. Splendid. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_(film)

Crossrail 2 is a bit of a daft comparison. It's under consideration because Euston is intended to be the hub of a new high speed line running from Edinburgh and Newcastle to Paris and onwards - bringing the huge influx of international traffic and commerce that needs to be channelled to commercial areas. Since we don't have a high speed international rail in East Dulwich and the consequent additional 20,000 passengers we're hardly on the same playing field are we? Unless there are some considerable urban regeneration projects in development we can't anticipate the uprated rail service any time soon. If you prioritize an LU service, be prepared for ED to no longer be the ED that you know and love.

I wonder what they legal scenario is for a 'fit to fly' charge - if they're also charging the exchequer for the appointment that's a double charge.

Istanbul Airport - I'd happily spend a couple of years in Istanbul :) In the airport the only saving grace was that my HSBC Premier card allowed me into a canteen/lounge! Passing through transfer lounges was a mess of untidy queues and pushing and shoving. For information on the impact of colour on mood I refer you to greater powers, but this particular shade of blue is like nails down a blackboard. It leaves my teeth on edge, and certainly not in a position to sleep. Everything else I thought was fine.

I'm not sure there was ever demand for a general meeting. There's loads of special interest groups in the What's On section. There's a variety of council meetings that can be attended also. There's irregular forum drinks when someone wants to go through the paid of organizing :)

I accept that nuclear power has its challenges, but what I'm concerned about is that these are NOT put in context. If we reject it, the real question is what is the cost environmentally, economically and socially of the alternative. George Monbiot had a great summary here: "Germany also decided to shut down its nuclear power plants after the Fukushima crisis, due to the imminent risk of tsunamis in Bavaria. Last year, as a result, its burning of "clean coal" ? otherwise known as coal ? rose by 5%. That was despite a massive cut in its exports of electricity to other European countries. One estimate suggests that by 2020, Germany will have produced an extra 300 million tonnes of CO2 as a result of its nuclear closure: equivalent to almost all the savings that will be made in the 27 member states as a result of the EU's energy efficiency directive. If the UK fails to replace its nuclear plants, which generate 22% of our electricity, the same thing will happen. Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy ? which is essential if we're to have any chance of meeting our climate change targets ? is hard enough. Replacing fossil fuels and nuclear power with renewables is harder still. As thermal power plants perversely attract less opposition than wind turbines, the temptation to replace nuclear power with fossil fuels will be overwhelming. Abandoning a proven and reliable low-carbon technology as climate breakdown accelerates is a special form of madness." Of course he fails to mention the economic impact of reliance on international fossil fuel markets or the social impact of the resource crunch - global conflict. Even disasters like Fukushima are a drop in the ocean compared with the 600,000 that died in the Iraq conflict (a war for control of oil resources) - yet Fukushima results in frenzied anti nuclear protests, whilst people blithely ignore Iraq as they drive their kids to school.

I only flew short haul from Istanbul (small and somewhat disorganized airport) to Bucharest. I wouldn't want to stay long in Istanbul. The service was fine, but the main concern was the internal colour scheme, which was the kind of aggressive sky blue that goes at you like a circular saw right between the eyeballs. I'm not sure I'd get any sleep in that kind of environment.

The Swiss aren't even trying to claim they behaved reasonably during the war regarding either refugees or cash management. Their very own Bergier Commission pulled every last strand of wool from their eyes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergier_Commission#Refugee_policy I particularly noticed this example of gutter expediency: "In 1941 when the Nazi government stripped German Jews of their citizenship, the Swiss authorities applied the law to German Jews living in Switzerland by declaring them stateless; when in February 1945 Swiss authorities blocked German Bank accounts held in Switzerland they declared that the German Jews were no longer stateless, but were once again German and blocked their Swiss bank accounts as well." The Swiss institutions helped themselves to Jewish gold any way that they could, redefining the status of Jews to suit whatever asset stripping excercise was likely to prove most effective at any given time.

Swiss railways making $2,000,000 a month from unjustified fines? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21294241 Surely not?

The wisdom of Yoda, no less!