Rabbie
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Posts posted by Rabbie
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Never under estimate the appeal to politicians of taxing a group who do not have a vote. Foreign second home owners are unlikely to be able to vote in France so they are a soft target. Also judging by the local feelings towards second home owners in this part of the UK there will not be much sympathy from the electorate. Taxing someone else is always popular
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[quote user="Mel"]Re: 5-element - I agree, it has never ceased to amaze me how a man in this situation is treated. We saw him in cuffs and bundled into the back of a car before any forensic testing, so all this was happening on the word of the hotel maid. And this is what happens the world over when a man is accused of this type of offence. Even if he or others in this situation are completely exonerated from all charges, many members of the public will always see them as guilty.
I am not sticking up for this man and knowing police procedures as I do, both in the UK and America, I am sure they feel they have a good case against him. But, as has been said, is their early behaviour a bit OTT? It is, but always is in these cases.
If he is guilty, lock him up for however long is deemed necessary. If he is innocent, he will never recover from this.
[/quote]Cuffing a suspect seems to be standard procedure for american police. Still I suppose with so many fire arms around they feel it is better to be safe than sorry. The doctrine of "Innocent until proved Guilty" seems to be forgotten nowadays especially by large sections of the media. -
[quote user="thepenofmyaunt"]
Sara, England is categorically NOT in deep recession. While there are certainly areas that are feeling it more, where I live in the West Country, the economy is doing well and, comparing what I see happening in my town to where I lived in France I would say that on balance we are in far better shape. I found a job within a few weeks, another friend who moved back found one in a day! My husband is inundated with work now too. I come from the South East and would NEVER move back there. It's far too materialistic and money-centric. People seem miserable. Down here, we were recently voted some of the happiest people in Europe and I agree. People are friendly and warm, don't care what size your house is or what car you drive and there is a real sense of community.[/quote]
Here in Wiltshire Matalan is advertising for 85 people. They already have over 1000 applicants following the closure of two local call centres. In our business we can fill vacanies without advertising from the number of people enquiring on spec.The number of empty shops on the high street is growing so I would not say the local economy is booming.
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[quote user="PaulT"]
Rabbie
I have formed the view that for you if you get caught and pay it back then it is OK.
He may have been entitled to more if he had claimed it but that is irrelevant. He claimed something to which he was not entitled and got caught.
[/quote]Paul, I fear I have not expressed my views as clearly as I would have liked. I have never said "if you get caught and pay it back then it is OK." . I did say he did wrong and had received IMO the correct punishment. There are degrees of guilt in any crime and a "one size fits all" approach is not correct IMO. The motivation behind a crime/wrongdoing is IMO relevant and should be taken into account in dealing with the crime.
This may be one of those occasions we should agree to differ on this and not let this descend into cheap jibes at one another. So far we all have, I hope, avoided this and if I have unwittingly been guilty of this I apologise. that was certainly not my intention.
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Au contraire, Rabbie, does the punishment fit the crime? IMO yes. I think they got it right
If, as RH has pointed out, others have ended up in prison for the self-same crime, why hasn't this fellow been prosecuted?. Probably because it was not the self same crime despite your honest opinion about it.
I suspect the coalition cannot afford to lose yet another Lib Dem! Since he resigned from the coalition goverment over 11 months ago I think you may be making an unwarranted assuption.
And, BTW, Paul, it's not 40 grand; I believe he has repaid 56 grand and that's only the part we know about! It has been fully investigated by the MPsStandards coimmittee so I think we can be sure that is the whole amount.
And I also agree with Paul, it's not the actual amount, it 's the PRINCIPLE, silly! Who are you calling silly? I don't want to get into a namecalling fight . so lets keep this debate at an adult level
You might have taken a few office pens home but you are not an elected public official who represents your constituents at the highest level, are you? You know that for a fact do you?
And, to expand on the subject a bit, I wouldn't want to have in my home those cheapo, nasty office pens...... Cheap crack - almost as cheap as the pens[:D]
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[quote user="JK"]The guy's a politician. He should be expected to act honestly. [/quote] Where are you coming from? Expecting a politician to act honestly? [;-)] [quote user="Pault"]
Yes, I frequently overclaim £40,000 on my expenses - not. For a start I would not get away with overclaiming £4 even if I wanted to try.
As for him falling on his sword when it was found out making him a Saint I think not. Now, if he had come out with 'I have overclaimed £40,000 before it was found out then that would have been a little more noble.
All these people who fall on their swords never do until they are caught. So what do they do if they are not caught....just carry on.
Paul[/quote]You don't seem to get the point that he was entitled to more than the amount he claimed incorrectly for. He wasn't doing this to line his pocket unlike the MPs who have been convicted of Fraud.
You say you have never overclaimed on expenses but have you ever taken something from the stationery supplies for your own use? I know I have taken office pens home for my own use.
David Laws did wrong. He has been punished. That should be an end of it.
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[quote user="Pommier"]So, what happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?[/quote]Went out the window when we introduced "Trial by Media"[;-)]
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As usual S17 you make your point in a sensible manner. I think all of us who have studied this case in detail can see that it was not the most serious breach that some here allege. He has been treated more harshly than some other offenders but IMO the punishment came at about the right level. There was clearly no attempt to claim more than he was legitimately entitled to - the offence was in the manner he claimed and not in the amount he claimed. However the whole system of MPs expenses is clearly flawed and should be put on a proper footing. There is an argument given the large number of applicants for each vacancy that the salry/expenses are too high and should be reduced. Perhaps MPs from outside London should be given accommodation in Government owned properties furnished to a sensible level.
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[quote user="NickP"][quote user="5-element"]
Are you sure Pat???
If I did that, my annual figure would be...19,032 euros!!! Can't be right, surely!
[/quote]
Looks like the Dordogne and Brittany will soon be empty [;-)] Seriously there's a lot of guessing going on a nobody has yet got the full facts and figures, So until the government process has run it's course and they actually tell us how much we will be liable for , I think we should all chill out? and start saving [:D]
[/quote]Excellent advice. I suspect that a lot of people will grit their teeth and pay the new tax despite the pain. Apart from anything else it won't be so easy for them to get rid of the properties in the present economic climate. -
[quote user="cooperlola"][quote user="Rabbie"]an explosion of holier-than-thou-ism in the press here in England .
[/quote]The British media? Who'd have thought it?[/quote] I know. Still a first time for everything. [:D][;-)]
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[quote user="NickP"]
Rabbie wrote: Lets keep a sense of proportion over this. If he had claimed legitimately he would have got more of your tax money. Is that what you want?
Excuse me, that doesn't make what he did allowable or legitimate, he cheated and lied; if you are happy with that so be it.
[/quote]Agreed. I have never said it was justifiable. He has apologised and accepted his punishment. I just feel there has been an explosion of holier-than-thou-ism in the press here in England and I probably over reacted to the comments here. Please accept my apologies.
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[quote user="idun"]
Makes one wonder if all politicians are self-obsessed, amoral chancers - or are those just the basic qualifications most of them need to apply to get in ?
[/quote]There you have it in a nutshell [:)] -
[quote user="NickP"]
Rabbie Wrote: On Question Time last thursday it was noticable how people with different political affiliations were actually praising his integrity.
So Rabbie that makes it alright for this dirt bag to steall my tax money then does it?
[/quote]Lets keep a sense of proportion over this. If he had claimed legitimately he would have got more of your tax money. Is that what you want?
[quote user="Hoddy"]
I sometimes wonder if MPs inhabit the same world as the rest of us. Many of us know people who work away from home in the week or for longer periods and who are expected to present a very thorough explanation of their expenses to their employer or to the taxman if they are self-employed. If they fiddle then it's fraud.
For the life of me I really can't see a major difference and yet it seems that the MPs can.
[/quote] The somewhat generous system of MPs expenses was brought in by Margaret Thatcher in order to persuade them to accept a pay freeze at the time and give them more money by the back door.It has been suggested we might get better MPs if we paid them more. After all if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. I agree that the present expense system is a farce.
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[quote user="JK"]The telling thing is how long it's taken him to fall on his sword. [/quote]He actually resigned in May 2010 as soon as this came to light so I don't think he delayed at all. The delay was caused by the time it took the investigating committee to come to a decision. On Question Time last thursday it was noticable how people with different political affiliations were actually praising his integrity.
Unfortunately with the British Electoral system many of us have no choice in who our representative is. Regardless of party there are too many safe seats so the MP is chosen by a small group of the party faithful
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Of course if he had claimed openly for his house in his constituency he would have received more money perfectly legitimately. I assume that all the posters condemning him have never done anything wrong
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I just thank my lucky stars that I am not superstitious[:D]
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[quote user="AnOther"]As an aside there is a school of though which says that it's impossible to achieve some of the capacities claimed, 2300mAh for instance. To genuinely draw 2.3 amps for an hour out of a tiny AA battery would cause it to get so incredibly hot that it could easily melt the plastic of whatever it was being used in and destroy itself in the process ![/quote]Just because a battery has a capacity of 2300mAh does not mean you can draw 2.3 amps out of it for an hour. it should mean however that you can draw 23mA for 100 hours
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Pepper corns seem to keep indefinitely but I have found that ground pepper can loose its flavour after a time. I don't think it would ever be dangerous to use. I have seen best before dates on bottled water in the UK which is ridiculous given that the label explains how it has been filtered through rock for thousands of years. But you can't beat EC rules and regulations[:D]
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[quote user="Devon"]
[quote user="Pickles"][quote user="Devon"]A tax of 20% on rental value is going to be a lot of tax. How would any rental value be worked out? I would guess my place would be 200 euros a week to rent (but in truth I haven't got a clue) which would present me with a tax bill of around 2000 euros a year. That sort of money is enough to deter a lot of people owning a second home in France and I do not believe even politicians are so stupid as to implement a tax that would drive a huge amount of investmnent from their country. I think I will wait and see what happens before I get my knickers in a twist.[/quote]
If you look at your existing TF and TdH bills, you will find that the TdH is a percentage of a notional "valeur locative brut" which is stated on your form, and the TF is a (higher!) percentage of a base figure exactly half of the notional "valeur locative". My understanding is that the new tax will be 20% of the base figure as shown in the TdH (and hence 40% of the base figure for TF).
Regards
Pickles
[/quote]Thanks Pickles. I am just finishing rebuilding a total ruin (3 walls were all I stated with) at the moment and it will be completed by the summer. I guess I will get all the information when I notify the appropriate authority of completion. Maybe I should refrain from informing them for a while [:D]
[/quote]Or possibly refrain from completing the last (insignificant) bit of work[:)] -
When looking for a property the EPC comes relatively low on my list of priorities well below location, price and facilities.
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[quote user="audio"]Rabbie wrote: ‘It is always the people who have had problems getting their money that complain about insurance companies. Only rarely do people bother to spread the good news when everything works well’. What’s wrong with complaining about bad insurers? We should not have to complain, all I and most others want is reasonable value for money. I.e. if you have a valid claim the insurers should pay up without question, not argue, raise our blood pressure and make us seek legal help. As for spreading the good news, what good news, when’s the last time you praised your local insurance agent for giving you good value for money? No you won’t do that, he will raise your premiums.[/quote]There is nothing wrong with complaining about bad insurers. My point was that you don't get a balanced view from comments on forums for the reasons that you give.
So often people go the cheapest rather than checking up with friends etc on how good the company is when you make a claim.
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It is always the people who have had problems getting their money that complain about insurance companies. Only rarely do people bother to spread the good news when everything works well.
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[quote user="idun"]
I'm sure in the UK people on state pensions can work and it never affects their pension in any way, apart from income tax.
[/quote]This is correct. In the UK you can continue to work after receiving the state pension. The pension counts as part of your taxable income but you do not pay any National Insurance. -
[quote user="PaulT"]
So the US and Bin Laden are one and the same.
[/quote]In certain aspects Yes. Neither seems to think that International Law applies to them when it is not convenient.
Self-weighing of fruit and veg - mnemonics
in Shopping
Posted
Our Super U has lovely scales have a touch screen that start with two picture catagories - Fruit or Vegetables. Whichever one you press then shows all the items under that catagory,
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Yeah but that doesn't always work out f'instance, a tomato is quite clearly a fruit but where do you find it? Under 'Veg' of course
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The difference between Knowledge and Wisdom is neatly defined by knowing that a tomato is a fruit but having the wisdom not to put it in a fruit salad[:D]