Patrick Bateman

Get realistic. A bonus is just that, a bonus, if the company does well and you meet your personal targets - the company don't have to pay a bonus. Overtime and commission can be changed at will, in every company I've been in, this happens. The person can leave and find a new job, or carry on under the new scheme. But again, the point is that you should not be living beyond your base salary means. Simple really. Then when a company is in the poo and decides not to pay a bonus/change the commission structure/withdraw overtime, you aren't royally shafted. I have bugger all sympathy with BA cabin crew at Heathrow.

"I'm a BA crew member and these changes mean that all of us will have to work harder for less money" LOL - welcome to the real world and joining the rest of us!! "I am a BA cabin crew member on longhaul. This change is being imposed - our union has not agreed to this. Around 50% of my salary is made up of variable pay, i.e. money I receive depending on which trips I am rostered." Again, welcome to the real world. 'Extra' money you earn should be considered a bonus and saved, you shouldn't be living above your base salary. Ask any salesman that. Ask anyone who does overtime. Idiots.

You have anger issues. He didn't questions the quality of teaching at all, he asked how you would deal with an unruly child when teachers now can only use voice and sanctions. He asked what YOU would do? Where's the link to your school's OFTSED report then out of interest (i.e. name of school)?

Often talk about yourself??

Rubbish, I know a LOT of teachers, having been married to one for 10 years and with another one now (I don't learn!!) ... most of them would love to beat some of their horrible horrible, rude, obnoxious, moronic kids. Also, I know for a fact the ones I know will be refusing to strike.

I heard that!! Made me chuckle - "Stu from Romsey".

Good shout. Maybe you heard from the same taxi driver as me who picked him up from Southampton Airport and drove him to the training ground?

I do agree that it's completely ludicrous. You pay tax on your earnings, tax on your savings, tax on what you spend (on most things), tax on buying your house, tax on your pension, then tax on what you've got left after that when you die. Weird. I thought the general idea of inheritence tax is that it was brought in years and years ago (i.e. hundreds of years) to tax landowners who owned a significant portion of land. The thresholds haven't changed much in recent times. So I do agree with scrapping it up to £1m. £1m falls back (in my opinion) to richer landowners (unless you live in Mayfair where £1m buys you a parking space ... ) Regardless, our tax system is FAR too complicated. I don't think any party has even thought about addressing that issue?

Mind if I don't sign, thanks. As the internet grows (10 million more people use the internet now, than 10 years ago), more policing is needed, that includes limiting the amount of pirated and illegal material. Also please note; MOST MPs didn't bother to vote. I think this is disgusting. I know someone who has written to his local MP saying he'll be tactically voting to remove him for not voting. Voting on issues like this should be mandatory. THAT is the concerning point about this whole #debill issue.

Agree with that, every one of his stand-ups since have been a let down!

More than likely same number of teams (3) will go up, with a similar knock on to the leagues below, I would have thought?

I saw this, it made me laugh. Maybe that's not the right reaction, but ... it was so utterly stupid, pathetic and backwards. It's everything a "sensible" political party shouldn't be, it makes George Gallaway look normal and balanced. The picture of Churchill?? Is it supposed to be some kind of sick joke? For a party that wanted to move away from racism and be taken seriously (haha), it was a very very bad move.

Great table BTF! I always thought Switzerland was supposed to be a tax haven!? Hence why Phil Collins and Lewis Hamilton ran off there ... Switzerland 25% 45.5% 7.6% So I'm confused, does this mean it's a haven for non-Swiss nationals as they don't have to declare their income if they live there?? Sorry if this seems a dumb question.

5% is still ridiculous when it should be zero rated (as I thought it was). But then 5% of £2 a month (I'm guessing here!!) is 10p, so hardly a bank breaker. I believe incontinence is VAT free only if you're registered with a relevant medical condition.

I refer you to my post above, no they don't. Every day items?? Food, loo rolls and news papers are VAT free. If someone wants to go and buy a new car or TV, then it's up to them, if they can afford it, but it's not essential, far from it.

There is nothing wrong with increased VAT, it's a good thing. Correct me if I am wrong, but there is no VAT on essential items, is that right? So food, books, newspapers, sanitary items ... note the word essential. Buying a new TV is not essential. Most items aren't, 'essential'. What do you need to live? Food, water, sanitary products, papers (for info), a bed, a sofa (which you can get from charity shops and there are some goods around) etc. Also, you can argue that those with a higher disposable income buy more non-essential "stuff". They'll spend more on bigger/newer TVs, cars, games consoles etc., so, are in fact paying more tax. So the "poor pay more tax" argument doesn't stack up.

To be honest, it won't lose much more value for the next 5 years, so unless there is anything major wrong with it (cambelt, tyres, discs etc), then you may as well keep it as a commuting wagon and destroy it. I wish I had done that more in the past!! Cars are such a bloody waste of money. Having said that, the 320d BMW will give you almost 60mpg, so if you did have any costs coming up, it's worth looking at the saving you'd get in fuel and BMW's 2 year servicing plan etc.

Yes, but you must have put down a hefty deposit and have it BMW Select or something if your monthly repayments are that low??

I can't. All 3 parties are offering tougher stances on immigration. Therefore, any "tactical" voters will be more easily swayed than having to stoop so low as to vote BNP. The BNP policies are laughable (yes, I read them as well) ... so superficial, with no substance at all (should I have expected any?). It's like a wishlist that you could write on some note paper. "We want British jobs for British people" Great statement. Tell me how? Tell me why? Tell me how much it'll cost? Tell me how it benefits the economy? Tell me how extra tax it'll raise? Tell me about how we avoid being chastised by Europe for not adhering to Equal Rights? etc. A very simple example in itself, but you get the idea.

Why should they answer? Answering shows weakness that they think they won't be the majority party, but showing the kind of strength that they think they can do well and not need to support one of the other 2 parties, they can subconsiously make their supporters believe they can win - hence more votes rather than people "tactical" or "protest" voting. Simple really!

And this matters why? So he had a good start in life and comes from a grounded, intelligent family. Gosh, I'm so worried about someone like that potentially leading the country. I'm undecided on the whole Trident thing, it's not a decision point for me, having read (in depth) the manefestos for the 3 main parties, the Lib Dems stack up the best. Having completed a gap analysis; I can't see too much difference between the Conservatives and Labour, but Labour are ruled out as I couldn't possibly bear another 5 years of that bumbling Brown idiot and his cronies! And change is good!

Not having a clue how jet engines work (like most of the UK public I'd guess), just wondered how they differ from propeller engines. Is there any form of air intake on a prop plane that could still be affected?

No way, that's such a shame. A decent Palmer should keep for years, I can only suggest you got a lesser vintage (i.e. a 97) which probably had no more than 5 years storage life, or, it was just not stored in ideal conditions/moved about. Wine needs to be kept at a constant temperate (under 16 C) and in the dark. Light and heat and variations of both, as well as movement will age a wine and ruin it. My wines are stored in a cellar unit which is a constant "cellar" temperature. I've many nice Bordeaux in there and a couple of excellent Californians (it pays to shop around, I found an Opus One for £180, managed to sell it for £300, result). I believe Chateau Palmer was owned by an Englishman (someone Palmer) in the 1800s and the name stuck. Lynch-Bages was owned by someone Lynch, an Irishman, again, it stuck. I actually stayed in the Relais de Margaux, which is next door to Chateau Margaux, a stunning building. I recommend Chateau Pichon-Longueville as well, awesome wines, amazing building. Sorry, I could talk Bordeaux all day!! Baj - last went down in 2005, a visit is LONG overdue. Apparently the 2009 wines down there are showing well, may get down in the summer just for that reason

The lake bit is odd, but cool - with a beach as well, if I remember rightly? I liked the fact there were no brits anywhere to be seen. We stayed for a couple of days as a break from one of my many wine trips down there. That time, we stayed in St. Emillion for a few days, then Bordeaux for a couple, then in Margaux for 8 days or so as a base - the beach at Lacanau-Ocean was nice and totally different to sitting on the Medoc! Good times!

I meant the South West of course, I'm a dunce.