Johnny Bognor

This forum is predominently left wing, although I am not sure if anyone buys socialist worker round here anymore or votes for Arthur Scargill for that matter

An interesting insight... Thatcher closed more grammar schools than anyone else and comprehensive schools were first opened under conservative governments. Yet those to the left seem to be against grammar schools, whilst those on the right, support them. Anyway, carry on...

Is that any different to middle class parents moving into a catchment area with a better school, thus squeezing out the less well off?

Discuss http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-34535778

£107 midweek in November.... https://www.expedia.co.uk/Venice-Hotels-Hilton-Molino-Stucky-Venice.h1583191.Hotel-Information?chkin=11%2F11%2F15&chkout=12%2F11%2F15&rm1=a2&hwrqCacheKey=6715086f-9e7b-4706-8e9f-137f86643771HWRQ1444842364200&c=9fda89df-2e43-4d59-9218-a6f5c42f1c4e& I paid £250 a night in August, which considering a London Hilton is that all year round, I thought was quite reasonable. I would thoroughly recommend it. Yes it is a fantastic building. Quite a few people were staying pre and post cruise.

Now that's a holiday!

They're both 10 (twin girls). I wanted to go for a pool in case they got bored. Having said that, they only went in the pool once, as they loved mooching about and getting lost in the little side streets. But it was useful having it as a back up. We caught the bus from the airport @ €8 each to the bus station and then a water bus @ €8 each to St Marks Square. Then the shuttle boat to the hotel. Whilst it was a bit of a pain, it was a nice little adventure for €16 each. Venice can be expensive out and about, but they were quite happy grabbing a pizza for dinner. I went for an executive room at the hotel which include complimentary cooked breakfasts, soft drinks and snacks all day. We went back on forth on the shuttle boat a few times as it was the only free excursion. They, and consequently me, had a great time. Our other choice was Naples/Sorrento/Amalfi coast, as you have Vesuvius+Pompeii and one of the most stunning coastlines in the world. Maybe next year, although the girls want to go back to Venice again!!

I took my kids at the end of August. Absolutely loved it. Needed a hotel with a pool (not many hotels with pools in venice). Stayed at the Hilton on Giudecca. Stunning views from the roof top pool Was expensive in August, but only £100 a night at this time of year.... they run a free shuttle boat every 20 minutes to St Marks Square

I think this had less to do with being or not being in Europe. Decades of a lack of investment by the owners of large companies, and the restrictive practices imposed by the unions, meant that British products were outdated and extremely expensive when compared to foreign goods. British Leyland were turning out French quality cars at German prices, whilst the Japs were turning out German quality cars at French prices. British Leyland simply couldn't compete and was doomed to fail. No one would invest in the UK when simply the mention of a strike could bring the government down. We were a basket case and this was some years after joining the EEC. The unions had too much power and were more interested in playing politics. It is only when union power waned, that our fortunes turned around. Being a member of the EEC alone would not have achieved it.

Undecided. On the one hand, there are tangible benefits to coming out, on the other "the better the devil you know"

So failure to control / manage immigration is the main issue, not necessarily the housebuilding. But even if we had built enough houses, that doesn't solve all our ills. When I just think about Chichester with the growth in house building that we have had, coupled with zero upgrades to road infrastructure, it's no wonder this place permanently gridlocked. So with building more houses, comes more infrastructure upgrades. Seems to me that slowing down immigration would take the pressure off, would it not?

I would add in that part of the demand for housing is the increase in divorce rates. More and more couples, that previously lived in one house, now live in two.

I think Cameron's attack was unnecessary. He doesn't need to get involved in that type of bull****. It should be easy enough to defeat Corbyn's ideas with a little bit of basic common sense. His attack lacks class and looks like the type of response someone gives, when they've lost the argument. Play the ball, not the man (afterall this is a footy forum afterall)

Or donating to charity, as many do?

But it is not just about the me me me. As others have pointed out, it is who you think would be better (or the least worse) to run the country overall. The young aside, anyone who thinks that a party with a chancellor who wants to destroy capitilism is good for the country, is on another planet. As the saying goes, you vote with your head. I personally would like a credible opposition and we don't have one. There is no one to hold the government to account and whatever side of the fence you sit on, that's not good. I guess on the bright side, the current Labour Chancellor might be able to say "No more boom and bust" with more conviction than G Clown and actually be able to deliver it.

My old man used to say if you don't vote labour when you're young, you haven't got a heart, but if you don't vote tory when you're old, you haven't got a head. I think there is some truth in this. It is easier to be idealistic when you are younger but more difficult when you are older. Its easy to scream "tax the bastards" when you have no assets, but harder when you become one of the bastards you despised as a youngster

Dictionary definitions are a bit simplistic compared to the FT and the Economist.... http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=austerity-measure http://www.economist.com/blogs/buttonwood/2015/05/fiscal-policy So with this in mind, reducing taxation is as much anti-austerity as is raising public expenditure. Maybe Corbyn and Cameron aren't that different afterall...

If you increase income (through taxation) to balance the books, that is austerity. Austerity means balancing the books. Raising taxation is an austerity measure, as is cutting spending. Which measure is is the right thing to do is up for debate, but austerity itself is not a negative thing (despite lefties having you believe otherwise). So stop peddling austerity as a negative thing. Cuts may have negative connotations. But tax rises do too. It just depends on which side of the fence you sit, but we all must embrace the concept of austerity.... we owe it to future generations. I would have thought caring sharing lefties wouldn't want to burden future generations with their own excesses. It is something you would expect of someone of a selfish me-me-me right wing disposition.

According to a poll by the NUT, 60% of teachers will quit in the next two years, so there'll be plenty of opportunities.

I love it how the word "austerity" has negative connotations as if it is something bad. Simply put, it means living within your means. How can anyone be anti-living-within-your-means when it is totally immorral to pass on your debts to your children??? So austerity is no bad thing at all. How it is achieved is another thing. Some argue budget cuts, some argue tax increases, but austerity in itself is what we should strive for. Any one who is anti-austerity is irresponsible and not fit to govern

Obviously if I miss a game or two, we would drop down the rankings http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/13793268.Saints_fans_among_the_best_looking_supporters/

Crawley (as my mates company used to be shirt sponsor and had some cracking corp hospitality days there) Brighton (as I have travelled to England games with a good bunch of Brighton) Vitesse Arnhem (they are my new european team)

if you look at the national socialist party manifesto from 1920, at least 15 of the policies from a total of 24 would comfortably fit into a labour manifesto. Only 8 of the 24 look like tory policy.

I'm not saying the NHS should prescribe. In fact, if they did, it would wipe my grubby little business out. I was merely highlighting that if you are a smoker, vaping is a great way to get yourself off the cigarettes. Hey and if I can make a few quid out of it, why not.