UKMT Red October 2015: Basically D&D's Communist Motherbase

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LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/sep/30/huge-pension-shortfall-facing-uks-young-adults

quote:

The average 35-year-old has to save �660,000 into a pension plan if they have any hope of matching the standard of living enjoyed by today�s pensioners � but have so far managed to put aside just �14,000.
The challenge facing young adults today is �frightening� admitted pensions company Royal London, which carried out the research (pdf).
While many pensioners benefit from generous final-salary style schemes which give them a guaranteed income based on their salary before retirement, the majority of today�s 35-year-olds working in the private sector will have to rely on how their pension savings accumulate on the stock market.
Royal London found the average expenditure by pensioners is currently �1,183 a month, not including the state pension. Adjusted for inflation, that will rise to �2,930 by the time today�s 35-year-olds retire in 2050 � and to secure an income of that amount will require a pension pot of �660,000, it said.
�This is to be able to secure a monthly income which will only just maintain the same standard of living of today�s retirees,� it said.
Many face serious poverty in retirement, Royal London said. �Worryingly the research found that today�s 30- to 40-year-olds have a median pension pot of only �14,000, well short of the fund they require to secure a monthly income that will just cover the basic �1,715 cost of essentials in 2050. Unless this group start to save more, they could face a retirement in poverty.�

Best squirrel them pennies away.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2015 00:42

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 05:04

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Guavanaut posted:

Looks like you're right. I thought it was a bit low.

Have a mattress and a microwave for 780 a month instead.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-53770109.html

(I'm not being 100% fair. You get a toilet too. And a chandelier!)

also it is beautiful and bright, so there's that

# ¿ Oct 1, 2015 12:30

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Forums Terrorist posted:

actually the us wants britain to give up trident iirc

http://www.theguardian.com/world/defence-and-security-blog/2014/jul/29/nuclear-weapons-us-uk-cooperation
The UK, Obama added, "intends to continue to maintain viable nuclear forces into the foreseeable future." It was in America's interest, to continue to help Britain "in maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent".

In all honesty, I doubt they care much one way or the other given that our deterrent is the equivalent of a quiet surreptitious fart compared to their thunderous eggy table-rattling monster guff.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2015 14:13

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Nukechat may be terrible but wiki'ing around led me to an article claiming that Switzerland has constructed a network of fallout shelters large enough to accommodate the entire population of the country, which is amazing. Apparently, there will actually be two things that survive nuclear armageddon: cockroaches and the Swiss.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2015 15:01

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

I suspect that if the media report on the WEF data at all, they will go with the headline figure ("the UK has the world's 10th most competitive economy") rather than the sub-components, and that if they did focus on the macroeconomc environment bit they would echo the WEF's concerns about the country's large deficit and debt.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2015 17:53

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34407971

quote:

The Conservative Party is to launch its own trade union movement in an attempt to win over members unhappy with "militant" leaders.
Deputy chairman Rob Halfon said the Conservative Workers and Trade Union Movement would provide a voice for Conservative-minded trade unionists.
"There will be a voice for moderate trade unionists who feel they may have sympathy with the Conservatives," he told Parliament's The House magazine.

The CWTU - fighting hard for your right to be paid less, work longer and more antisocial hours, and have worse working conditions!

# ¿ Oct 1, 2015 19:46

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

sebzilla posted:

So, at what point will Corbyn make it clear to the "rebels" that if they don't want to represent his Labour party, they don't have to. Feel free to cross the floor, run a by-election and probably get hammered by the new Corbynite Labour candidate. Ultimately, the decisions of the membership and the electorate have to be more important than the feelings of incumbent MPs...

Polling consistently shows a clear majority of the electorate in support of Trident and the party membership shot down Corbyn's desire to have a debate on changing the standing policy at conference.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2015 20:58

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

EmptyVessel posted:

This is a serious and very important story, but the headline is blatantly false and hyperbolic - 53% of 1,020 /= 'Half of all teachers in England'. The subheading repeats the lie. The meat of the story doesn't really start until the 4th paragraph but I guess a culture of tl/dr wont ever get there, let alone look elsewhere to see if there are other angles.

This is a pretty silly objection - studying a population by sampling a small group of its members is standard practice; assuming that the sampling and analysis were performed sensibly and the sample was representative, there's nothing hugely wrong with the headline.

e: actually, the headlines could be considered somewhat misleading, but only because they state the teachers' feelings more strongly than could reasonably be justified given the question they were apparently asked; the survey seems to have asked if the teachers were thinking about quitting in the next two years, which isn't really the same thing as "threatening" or "planning" to quit.

LemonDrizzle fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Oct 4, 2015

# ¿ Oct 4, 2015 15:38

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

OwlFancier posted:

I mean seriously when have jet pilots ever done anything in the last 30 years that wasn't dropping bombs on people who can't fight back? gently caress em, they signed up to kill people with impunity.

Bosnia and Kosovo.

# ¿ Oct 4, 2015 16:37

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

The government's remaining holdings of Lloyd's are going to be sold off on the cheap (via the Graun's politics liveblog):

quote:

It is the government�s intention to fully exit from its Lloyds shareholding in the coming months, and as part of this at least �2bn of shares will be sold to retail investors. Members of the public will be offered a discount of 5% of the market price, with a bonus share for every 10 shares for those who hold their investment for more than a year. The value of the bonus share incentive will be capped at �200 per investor. People applying for investments of less than �1,000 will be prioritised.
All proceeds from share sales are used to pay down the national debt.
Military personnel and their spouses stationed overseas will be able to participate in the sale, where possible. This is in line with the government�s armed forces covenant, which ensures that members of the armed forces should not face disadvantage in the provision of public services.

Osborne says Lloyds share sale will be 'biggest privatisation in over 20 years'
George Osborne told Sky that the Lloyds share sale would be �the biggest privatisation in over 20 years�. He said he did not want all the shares to go to City institutions.
I want them to go to members of the public, people watching this programme and others. So our offer is this: Buy Lloyds shares. We�ll favour small investors, we�ll favour those who hold the shares for a long time. You�ll get a discount. And we�ll help create that share-owning democracy that we want to see in this country.

An overall discount of almost 15% if you hold the shares for at least a year. Might be a reasonable way to invest a spare couple of grand.

# ¿ Oct 5, 2015 07:50

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Also, the Tories' big conference theme is apparently going to be security:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4f0f9922-6a80-11e5-aca9-d87542bf8673.html#ixzz3nfvgXSQP

quote:

David Cameron has made the UK�s security a centrepiece of the Conservative conference in Manchester, signalling extra spending on the SAS and a doubling in the number of RAF drones to fight jihadis in Syria.
Mr Cameron wants to portray Jeremy Corbyn�s Labour party as a threat to the country�s security, whether by its economic prosperity or in dealing with the danger posed by extremists and other threats.
The prime minister wants to push ahead with a parliamentary vote on air strikes against Isis in Syria, but only if he can be sure that enough Labour MPs will back the plan to give him a majority in the House of Commons.
Speaking at the start of the first Conservative conference since the general election � and the first since 1996 where the party has been the sole party of government � Mr Cameron said: �We will provide security at every stage of your life.�
Philip Hammond, foreign secretary, said: �In less than five years� time Britain would contemplate a prime minister who would share the governance of the Falklands with the Argentinians, who considers the death of Osama bin Laden a tragedy and who is an apologist for Russia�s aggression in Ukraine.�
...
Mr Cameron is expected to use his main conference speech on Wednesday to argue that Britain can have the best of both worlds as a member of the EU�s single market but detached from two of its main projects: the euro and the Schengen free-movement area.
�We need Europe to be an answer to our competitiveness, not a threat to it,� he told the BBC.

I also like how his main selling points for continued EU membership are things that we already have and which are written into the treaties, meaning we can veto any attempt to change them. Setting the bar real high for his "renegotiation" there.

# ¿ Oct 5, 2015 08:16

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Good to see that G4S are even-handed in their provision of crappy service.

# ¿ Oct 5, 2015 10:39

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

quote:

I�ll always pay tribute to the role the Labour movement played in building the NHS and establishing rights in the workplace.
But that sits alongside the equally proud story of Conservative social justice.
The National Living Wage is the latest page in that story.
For it was Conservatives in previous Governments that ended the slave trade;
That stopped children working in factories and gave them universal education;
That gave equal votes to women�
� and equal rights to disabled people.
Now it�s Conservatives in this government that have banned modern slavery;
Legislated for gay marriage;
Given new shared employment rights to parents and today extend them to grandparents too;
It�s now Conservatives in this Government who are shining a light into the darkest corners of our prisons and bringing the best education to the poorest of our children.

# ¿ Oct 5, 2015 12:12

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

So with the devolution of business rates, local authorities that are already home to lots of successful businesses get immediate big boosts to their budgets and spending power while those that don't have quite so many get dead pigged. Nice.

# ¿ Oct 5, 2015 12:30

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Guavanaut posted:

I think you underestimate the great services that pawnbrokers, cashing services, pound shops, and bookies with video poker machines bring to our nation's high streets.

You're forgetting the lettings agents here, my friend.

# ¿ Oct 5, 2015 12:31

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

serious gaylord posted:

This is a massive thing. High Streets that are flooded with Charity shops that don't have to pay business rates will get even worse off while the rich shopping precincts in well to do london/manchester/birmingham etc will get even better. Its shocking that this is being spun as a good thing.

But those less well-to-do areas can just cut their rates to zero to attract investment! What business wouldn't want to set up in an area with no other surviving firms and dilapidated infrastructure that the council can't afford to maintain?

# ¿ Oct 5, 2015 12:56

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

JoylessJester posted:

Jesus, you would of thought someone would have robbed them by now seems like it was a fairly well known thing locally.

Given that the company is obviously pretty shady and going out of its way to avoid official attention, you have to assume that if you robbed one of their bagmen they'd employ.... vigorous extra-legal methods... to recover the cash. Maybe the potential robbers just figure they'd rather not be kneecapped and have their families burned out of their homes.

Also, what the hell is going on in the world with buzzfeed now doing serious investigative journalism?

# ¿ Oct 6, 2015 12:46

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Pissflaps posted:

I thought it was quite common practise now for southern councils to help unwaged members of the public relocate up north?

Don't know about "common practise" but it's certainly been happening, at least if Birmingham counts as "up north":
Tory-led council of Wandsworth accused of �bribing� social tenants after sending out letter offering up to �7,000 to relocate to the West Midlands

# ¿ Oct 6, 2015 14:40

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Prince John posted:

That really need to implement this pronto. Especially for traffic-related fines. There's so many loving Audi, BMW and Range Rover Sport drivers just waiting to open their wallets.

Driving a flash car doesn't necessarily mean that you have very much money; chances are that most of those guys are buying their motors on the never-never rather than having �30k+ to throw around.

# ¿ Oct 6, 2015 15:41

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Here's John Harris' rather bitter "anywhere but westminster" piece on the Tory conference: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2015/oct/07/conservative-party-conference-protesters-video

Not sure how he can claim that the Tories are uninterested in mainstream politics given that they are, you know, running the government.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2015 11:47

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjzU3-RUqjY

# ¿ Oct 7, 2015 13:27

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Gonzo McFee posted:

The past five years were just something that happened to other people.

This is largely true for the people he's targeting. He's not pitching to people who are getting their tax credits cut or are being subjected to the bedroom tax, he's going after people who are reasonably financially secure and who vote Labour because they want social justice and support the welfare state.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2015 15:30

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

thespaceinvader posted:

I'm glad this got reposted because this was exactly my thought when this was announced. You can be drat sure that 'maximum price 250k' will mean 'all priced 250k' because they're being built by private developers maximising profits, and... 250k is really not affordable AT ALL. My wife and I together earn nearly 50k annually, and have no children, and we could only afford 80% of that with a lot of help from parents and grandparents. The idea that 250k is affordable is laughable. Especially when they're making it happen by stopping developers from being forced to provide affordable rentals in order to get their developments done.

While I obviously don't know the details of your finances, a couple earning ~�50k pretax should be able to get a mortgage on a �250k house at 90% LTV without too much fuss given current lending standards. Google's mortgage comparison tool suggests that lots of banks would be willing to lend you �225k based on two incomes of �25k, and the repayments wouldn't breach the typically quoted ceiling for accommodation costs; if you both had student loans to pay off and put 10% of your salary into a pension, your mortgage payments would be ~35% of your joint takehome.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2015 20:13

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

feedmegin posted:

So you would need 25 grand cash money then?

Yes, you will need a cash deposit of at least 10% (preferably 20%+) if you want a loan with a reasonable interest rate.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2015 22:07

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

ShaneMacGowansTeeth posted:

Let's play a game. I'll turn up 15 minutes early for my final JSA appointment, the JCP will ignore me for how long and will it be my fault. Currently been here for 57 minutes

sounds like you're three quarters of an hour late for your appointment and need a good hard sanctioning, shirker

# ¿ Oct 9, 2015 09:49

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Oberleutnant posted:

Seriously if you voted tory and you're not an owner of the means of production you just gaped your arsehole for david cameron, gideon and IDS to pull a train on you and you didn't even ask them to use lube or wear a rubber or nothing.

tum-te-tum tum-te-tee

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...on-schemes.html

quote:

The Government is gearing up for a major raid on some of Britain's most generous pension schemes which could see doctors', teachers' and senior executives' retirement funds cut by more than a quarter, the Telegraph understands.
In private talks with industry, Ministers have floated plans to move savers with final salary pensions into a separate tax regime. They would then receive less generous tax perks than other savers.
The move, which last night received fierce opposition from public sector unions, would be the most radical attempt by any Government to water down so-called �gold plated� retirement benefits.
Although some senior, private sector executives would be affected, the biggest losers would be well-off public sector workers. Altogether more than two million workers could be hit.
The move would be seen as dragging public sector pension provision back into line with the private sector, where such generous schemes have undergone cuts or been closed down altogether over the past 20 years.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2015 11:17

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Hoops posted:

Lol what the gently caress is this.

"brown on the outside, white on the inside"

# ¿ Oct 10, 2015 23:32

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

ONS Labour market data for the last quarter have been published: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_417237.pdf

The employment rate is at an all-time high of 73.6%, the unemployment rate (5.4%) is lower than it ever has been since early 2008, and real wage growth is running at 3.0% including bonuses (or 2.8% excluding bonuses).

e: also, there are several harvesters in Kairdiff so Wales is clearly not a horrible backwater devoid of lovely chain restaurants.

LemonDrizzle fucked around with this message at 10:16 on Oct 14, 2015

# ¿ Oct 14, 2015 10:03

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Good news, good times:
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/oct/16/average-monthly-rent-hits-record-high-of-816-highlighting-housing-shortage

quote:

Inflation may have dipped into minus figures, but rents have leapt by an average of between 6.3% and 8.5% over the past year, according to two reports, highlighting the dramatic extent to which the cost of a place to live has uncoupled from the cost of living.
The average rent paid by private tenants in England and Wales reached a record high of �816 per month in September, compared with �768 a year earlier, said letting agents Your Move and Reeds Rains. Meanwhile, the latest official inflation figures showed UK prices were 0.1% lower than this time last year.

http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/analysis-and-data/data/changing-the-mix/7012193.article

quote:

The past two months have forced housing associations to look deep into their souls and consider overhauling their mix of activity and approach to the future.
Social landlords across England have been redrawing their business plans following chancellor George Osborne�s shock announcement of a four-year 1% rent cut from next April.
The move, which the government estimates will hit associations� rental income by �1.6bn in 2020/21, has prompted the regulator to call on providers to submit fresh financial information by 30 October.
...
Nearly one in three (31.9%) of 135 chief executives to respond told us their organisation is likely to stop entering new agreements to build homes for sub-market rent, with 11.1% of overall respondents saying it was �extremely likely�. And that shift of approach doesn�t just apply to deals they are yet to sign. More than half (53%) of 132 executives said it was likely their associations would renegotiate their existing agreements to build homes for sub-market rent.

# ¿ Oct 16, 2015 10:19

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Jose posted:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/17/tory-mps-at-risk-tax-credits

Seems a big risk to make the tax credits cut

Not necessarily, because a large fraction of those tax credit recpients are almost certainly non-voters or were already voting non-Tory.

# ¿ Oct 18, 2015 20:14

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

without further comment

# ¿ Oct 18, 2015 20:43

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

If I were Muslim, I think I'd be pretty unhappy about having Daesh described as "the Islamic state".

# ¿ Oct 19, 2015 16:58

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

there's a reason we try to confine scotpol to its own little ghetto

# ¿ Oct 19, 2015 18:57

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Guavanaut posted:

What was the social cause of the Thatcher/Reagan move towards focus on the individual? Or is there no such thing as social causes and they just made a series of bad choices as individuals?

The ideas underpinning Thatcherism and Reaganism have been around for centuries. They came to the fore in the late seventies/early eighties because the oil crisis and stagflation fatally undermined confidence in the postwar Keynesian consensus, and people were casting around for an alternative. The monetarists/neoliberals/whatever-you-want-to-call them were ready and waiting with a diagnosis of the problem and an alternative solution of their own.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2015 20:07

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

OwlFancier posted:

What is an approval rating and who decides it so I can put them on the list?

An approval rating is the difference between the proportion of respondents expressing a favourable opinion about a politician's performance and the proportion expressing a negative opinion. It is determined by surveying a representative sample of the general public, so I guess your list will have to include everybody.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2015 21:20

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

quote:

Patrick Wintour ‏@patrickwintour 1 min1 minute ago
First Labour parliamentarian and ex Minister resigns Labour whip tonight saying Labour no longer a credible party of government in waiting.

Wonder who it is. Can't be Danczuk or Mann because neither has ever been a minister.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2015 21:23

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

Oh, apparently it's Lord Adonis. Makes sense, I suppose.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2015 21:31

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

turns out it's not adonis after all:

quote:

Patrick Wintour ‏@patrickwintour 21 secs21 seconds ago
Lord Warner resignation letter "I fear for Labour's future if your supporting activists gain ever greater control of the party's apparatus"

# ¿ Oct 19, 2015 21:45

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

There isn't going to be a coup and even if there was, Corbyn would automatically be on the ballot paper AFAIK.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2015 22:13

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 05:04

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fec064e6-73f4-11e5-bdb1-e6e4767162cc.html#axzz3p6akQCDg

quote:

George Osborne is demanding further cuts to welfare spending � including disability benefits � as he seeks to protect key aspects of national security in next month�s spending review.
With some Conservative MPs already expressing concern at the chancellor�s plans to cut tax credits by over �4bn from next year, his search for steeper welfare cuts will be controversial.
But the chancellor wants new savings to help fund the fight against organised crime and illegal migration and to boost international diplomacy, as he seeks to ensure that cuts do not undermine national security.
...
The chancellor is seeking �20bn of further savings in real terms by 2019-20 and has run into opposition from Theresa May, home secretary, and Philip Hammond, foreign secretary, who claim the cuts will hit security.
Those close to the spending review say that Mr Osborne has some sympathy with their position and is anxious to protect policing, border security and counter-terrorism work.
To help maintain that work, Mr Osborne wants to reduce spending on disability benefits and jobcentres. But such cuts will be tricky, with some Conservative MPs already urging Mr Osborne to tweak his tax credit changes before they come into force next April.
...
Ministers are not seeking to reduce the levels paid in disability benefits but the Treasury is keen to explore whether the assessments for the benefits can be applied more quickly and rigorously.
In 2013, new claimants began receiving the personal independence payment (PIP), rather than disability living allowance (DLA), the older benefit that is being phased out.
From this year, those already on DLA have begun to undergo assessments to be switched over to PIP. The Department for Work and Pensions wants all claimants to be receiving the new benefit by May 2018.
But the Treasury is keen to find more savings, urging the Department for Work and Pensions to consider whether the switchover could be accelerated and whether the tests could further reduce the caseload.
�Disability benefits is a big area of spending so it�s to be expected that [the Treasury] would look at that,� said a Department for Work and Pensions official, adding that negotiations were still at �an early stage�.

# ¿ Oct 20, 2015 12:10

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > UKMT Red October 2015: Basically D&D's Communist Motherbase

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