Politics Thread!

[zip accident]

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: "Self-employment is a great way for many jobseekers to move off benefits and into work, and it's right that Work Programme participants should be encouraged to consider whether it is appropriate for them.

"We have tough controls in place to make sure taxpayers' money is protected and all job outcome payments, including self-employment, are subject to our payment checks process.

"There is a clear complaints process for participants who are unhappy with their treatment. If we were presented with evidence of fraud or impropriety we would not hesitate to take appropriate action."

Action against claimants, sure, I have no doubt whatever they'd be delighted to be able do that.

Action against Welfare to work providers? Hmm.

[gilesgoat]

For curiosity ( cause this thread ) I had a double check about the Italian thing.

I am not familiar with because I never used that stuff.

But I kinda knew but did not know the exact details of that.

Turns out in Italy you can get some benefits "only if you lost a job you already had" but you also must have had at least
52 weeks of paid work before and/or "at least 2 paid years of a certain insurance".

Note, there are "lot of different situations" it's talking about a LOST job .. if you intentionally left a job and then you are
without one you are entiled to nothing, likewise if you never had a job at all and/or any sort of insurance you paid for at
least some time again 'you have nothing'.

Also you MUST be registered to the work office and declare your situation, this also "includes some stuff" because it means
you must be in the situation you CAN be registered in that office.

My understanding is that "in a way" you are kinda "getting back some money you already paid before" and if you haven't
paid it, you are not getting anything.

Belive me if I tell you that in Italy "you don't get anything for free", it may look like "sounds almost free" but you can be
sure that "anything you get from one hand the other hand is taking it away from you".

And if you have nothing you really are into nothing, no doubts about it.

And/or "you can get something in some ways" but you can be sure at some point "you'll have to give it back" .. with interest ...

TBH I think it's rather "simpler" to go into "black market" job rather then trying to apply for all that shit ( in Italy )

[merman]

400 for, 175 against. Progress, and a great big wound opened up in the Tory party.

[Ratsoap]

UKIP seem to be having a good day so far. Is this a brave new world for UK politics? I noticed the Express had a 'darkiegeddon' type headline on wednesday (something about white people being a minority in Britain soon).

Now, I'm not racist but...

[gravy]

Scores on the doors so far, plenty of councils still to declare

Takeaways

* Ukip on the up, obviously
* At the cost of the coalition
* Being part of the coalition has done nothing but damage to the lib dems
* Labour up, which is amazing. Basically what is essentially a vacuum is giving the condems a pasting

[Dio]

The fascinating (and most concerning) thing so far is that for the first time in a very long time right-leaning votes have significantly outpolled left-leaning ones.

The libdems are actually holding up better than I thought they would at this stage. But from the campaigning, if they thought the university fees promise is well behind them they're sorely mistaken.

[gravy]

The fascinating (and most concerning) thing so far is that for the first time in a very long time right-leaning votes have significantly outpolled left-leaning ones.

That's a pretty good point

[pogo]

The fascinating (and most concerning) thing so far is that for the first time in a very long time right-leaning votes have significantly outpolled left-leaning ones.

Don't forget that this election is mostly councils in the Tory heartland. No Scotland, only Anglesey in Wales, and no London, Tyneside, Merseyside, Birmingham. Of course it's mostly Tory councillors being [re-]elected, with protest votes disproportionately favouring UKIP.

But Labour have gained more seats than UKIP gained and the Lib Dems lost. If anything among the seats contested there's been a shift to the left. Maybe not as much as you'd expect mid-term of an unpopular government but then these are very Tory areas.

[Dio]

There's been some fascinating discussion on Radio Five about whether this could be Cameron's Tea Party moment, and all the implications of that (that to placate his own party he has to shift significantly to the right, but that act actually makes you less electable).

That said I've thought for a long time this was waiting to happen for the Tories - basically, the pro-business (and therefore implicitly pro-Europe, at least the bits of it that don't add red tape) wing splitting from the nationalist wing. The funny thing is that it's come now rather than after 1997.

As gravy says though is arguably a pretty good perforamnce from Labour given the hopelessness of the top team and the utter lack of any actual vision going forward.

[zip accident]

What was the turnout like?

It looked low to me, but then I only went to the booth once, it might have been busier earlier.

[Absolute_Zero]

Another (likely different) coalition in 2015?

Maybe it's a little like the supposed 4-minute-mile psychological barrier.

[gravy]

I think you're right

[zip accident]

Another (likely different) coalition in 2015?

Maybe it's a little like the supposed 4-minute-mile psychological barrier.

The four minute mile may have been psychological, but I don't think we're going to see a three minute mile without biological changes.

[Absolute_Zero]

A career awaits if ERNIE ever conks out, zip.

[zip accident]

A career awaits if ERNIE ever conks out, zip.

I won't hold my breath waiting.

If you think I'm random, you haven't read the works of this guy:

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=39264

00=10=2

I can't imagine any notation in which 00 = 10

10 is apparently binary, so 10 = 2 makes perfect sense, but is there a notation in which 2 can be represented as "00"?