Off with his head!

[dwynnehugh]

Plaid Cymru will jump into bed with anyone if it  gives them POWER!!!

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[JayCeeDee]

dwynnehugh wrote:

Plaid Cymru will jump into bed with anyone if it gives them POWER!!!

Isn’t that like paying it forward – the LibDems having already been screwed by the Conservatives??!! Or more akin to  “sloppy seconds”??

[Bob Williams]

Shaun enjoyed that one JayCeeDee.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Ed P]

The Democrats through their CIA contacts obviously know some of the contents of the ‘Russia Report’, as why else should Hilary so publicly interfere in our elections. It follows then that the non-publication of the ‘Russia Report’ before our elections can only mean that it is damaging to the Conservatives or the Brexit cause. Having said that, I’m not convinced that revelations about Russian influences would have any real impact on pro-Brexit/Conservative voters.

[Dave Rice]

No, they are only outraged if it’s going to “Marxist” Corbyn when it’s then all the proof you need.

[Les.]

I get the feeling some of this is about “Bias”. Tories v Communists (sorry, Labour) and Labour against Tories.

And then of course we have the BBC. Monday’s “I am sorry, I haven’t a clue”. First one very pointed Boris joke, then one very tasteless Farage joke. I waited for the famous “BBC balance”, but of course I am still waiting.

It rather looks as if fake news and bias are here to stay.

Les.

[Ed P]

Slight switch of subjects – assuming that Brexit goes ahead in some way; what are the plans for the Isle of Man? Do you just sit back and take the best of both like Northern Ireland?

[Les.]

Edp, contrary to the views of most, IofM is NOT in the UK, nor is it in the EU; it is a self governing crown dependency. However for practical purposes, in most things we are treated as if  we are part of the UK. There is a protocol linking us through the UK to Europe, so we are obliged to follow Europe in most things. I guess things will just continue as if we are part of UK. No special ties with N.Ireland any more so than Scotland, which is of course our nearest neighbour. UK residents visiting Mann seem to have more rights than Manx residents visiting UK, and in EU we have even less.

Real effects post Brexit? Only timer will tell.

Les.

[Dave Rice]

From what I’ve seen of these FAQs, unless they declare independence the Crown Dependencies are at the mercy of the UK Government’s negotiations because they piggy back on what we do (Protocol 3) rather than anything in their own right. It’s different for Gibraltar as the UK’s membership of the EU extends to include them.

They’re not interested in independence as their major trading partner is the UK but apparently they do have a disproportionate amount of EU citizens which could impact adversely on them if that aspect goes TU. They’re assuming as part of the UK customs union that they would be included in any new UK Free Trade agreements on goods, but acknowledge that’s not a given and any terms may not be in their best interests.

They would not be in a NI situation and have no desire to be as it may cause them more harm than good. In short in their view, come what may, they will be better off staying as they are, aligned to us, as they are too small to go it alone.

[Bob Williams]

Reading those FAQ’s Dave and Les, it seems to me that IoM citizens are given clearer, more simplified information than anything coming from Westminster. It also occurs to me that, if by some horrible misapprehension by voters the UK gets a Corbyn government, any departing EU citizens may be replaced by even more wealthy UK residents. The ones who wish to remain wealthy, that is, but are not quite wealthy enough to afford a Caribbean or Asian pad.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Les.]

Bob, only a couple of days ago I told Tamara that if Corbin did get in as UK PM, we would see house prices rocket over here as there would be a big influx of people from UK getting out ASAP. Some of the policies espoused by Macdonald are frightening rather more than just the very rich. UK used to have a Brain Drain, if labour do win, they will have a massive drain of people with money from top to middle.

Dave, don’t forget the manx emblem and motto.

“Quocunque Jeceris Stabit” literally translates to “Whithersoever you throw it, it will stand.”

Here’s hoping.

Les.

[Bob Williams]

Well the PM’s salary is obviously insufficient, Boris has a new job:

It must be true, it’s on the BBC:   https://tinyurl.com/wc6u3r8

It’s enough to make a bloke check out his mental processes.

Who Nose what he thinks? Whatever you find up there Jezza, we don’t want any part of it.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Les, if you get a highly inflated price for your house, will you sell up and go back to Trentham?

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Les.]

Bob, NO, not selling and moving back. I like the Isle of Man. A VERY good section of the VMCC (vintage bikes), very few motorists who try to kill motorcyclists. Some will move over to let you pass. Back in the UK, if they did that, you knew they were going to pull out as you did overtake, so you never accepted.

Of course this place has problems. Planning controls are CRAZY. My recent application was refused after 6 months, because the planning officer CLAIMED it was possible, if driving down the lane, to see my extension’s flat roof. Frankly you can not see it, but here bureauocrats are far more numerous, stupid and “god almighty” than in UK, where you get refusal in 3 weeks, or you can go ahead (as I understand it).

However, today I had a minor victory. I had an interview with the P.O., gave him two pages of criticism of my planning application’s treatment, there lack of communication, and their “piddly” reason for refusal.

After that, I showed him a photo of a building with a dummy pitched roof, then offered a new plan with the end walls pitched, slates on top (say 18″ wide only) and retaining my now out of sight flat room.,

He started chuckling, then laughing, then went to show it to his colleagues. Returned and said “That should be OK”

The sting in the tail is that I still have to put in a new P.A. with all its costs and paperwork, but at least SWMBO is a bit happier.

A pal applied before me, and his application to extend a very small cottage is “pending”. My understanding is that he may only extend by 50%, but there is a minimum size for a dwelling. He needs +68%, so is stuck in a limbo of regulation!

Madness.

Les

[Bob Williams]

I was pulling your leg Les, didn’t really believe you would contemplate a move. If you think though, that Planning Officials are any better over here, think again. In the 25+ years that my daughter has lived in her cottage, she has had battle after battle with the Planning department of the local Council.

She began with a ratbag husband who dumped her and our 8 month old grandson, then left, leaving her in debts of £thousands. She was working 3 jobs and bringing up our gson alone in a 200 year old cottage which had one coal fire, single glazed windows and 2 bedrooms. The first thing she did (whilst divorcing said ratbag) was fit double glazing and that was her first battle: they had to be a certain pattern, which was of course a lot more expensive. Then she faced battle No.2 when she worked to pay for fitting gas central heating, which had to be Calor gas as the village has no mains gas. They demanded that she had to have Oil CH, but she got legal help and won, with costs. Losing that battle upset them, because her battle No.3 was a conservatory: she won, with costs, on that one too. By now her female solicitor had lost patience with the PO and worked for no fee, she was so angry at them. Battle No.4 was the big one: a whole rebuild into a large 3 bed house. With our help and working very hard, she moved into a flat, by now with a partner and a daughter, whilst the house was rebuilt. Said partner has proved to be golden, working on the house in his spare time after his own work, with the local builder. The builder lived over the road and he was a big help with Planning, but the PO was always there with spanners to chuck into the works.

After all this, she now has a beautiful house that is about 250 metres off the main road and up into lovely countryside. An original purchase price of £85K, is now valued at £265K and I cannot help but have a little chuckle when I think of her ex, who has been now divorced twice and never paid a penny in mortgage payments or support to his son, yet managed to talk the court into giving him half the 85K when they divorced. She paid him that to get rid, and I would love to be the one to meet him someday and inform him of the present value. Daughter will be 50 next year and is the strongest person I know. I am very proud of her.

And the same PO allowed her only neighbour (a Parish Councillor)* to build a stonking great workshop behind her outbuilding, yet would not allow her to fit bedroom windows overlooking his home and field full of ducks, geese, chickens and dogs. I might add that some of his eggs mysteriously find their way into her larder occasionally. Guilty, but she won’t let me nick any chickens!

*It ain’t what you know, it’s who you know. But you would think that an (originally) single parent would have better treatment from officials, wouldn’t you? Not so.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Ed P]

In our part of the world there is a slight whiff of corruption in the PO with free foreign holidays at someone’s foreign pad being rumoured.

[Bob Williams]

I was instrumental in exposing incompetence by a Council Planning Officer in my former District. When we bought the ex-NCB house in my old village, a kitchen extension had been passed by the PO and built. Within 12 months we began to smell a growing problem and eventually realised the floor was damp. Contacted insurance, a plumber inspected and revealed that there was a sewage drain and a cold water pipe under the extension. He also said that the extension should never have been built over these pipes. We had the deeds from the solicitor, read the plans and saw who passed it. The cost of repairs was almost £2,000 – in 1992. The insurance company was Direct Line and they took the Council PO to court, retrieving all they had paid us for the Claim and leaving our No Claims intact. Then we used a solicitor to eventually receive an out of court settlement from the Council, which paid for at least 50% of the work required to rectify the extension placement and also bring the house into the 20th Century, with internal refurbishment, gas central heating and double glazing.

I heard later that the Officer responsible had ‘moved upstairs’ before the cases were brought, and was given early retirement. Probably with a healthy sum.

We had a few problems with that house that might have cost us a lot of money. In 1997, whilst I was now working as a Legal Services clerical assistant at the County Hall, rats were found in the drains and Severn Trent sent a couple of Suits, then a camera team, to inspect all the drains behind our long row of ex-NCB properties. Meanwhile I began researching the estate, recalling something my dad had told me: my parents having been the 11th family to move into the village, in 1926. Nottingham City Library Reference section provided the information that the whole estate was originally built by Lord Newstead for the first generation of miners and families in the 1920’s. The waste and water from each dwelling to the waste and water mains,  was to be the responsibility of Estate management In Perpetuity. I checked every document I could find: this had all been passed out of private ownership and into Nationalisation with the NCB. It had never been changed. Thanks to working in Legal Services, employed in Common Land and Borders, I was able to find and document the relevant legal paperwork. (In my own time, with permission.)

At the end of Severn Trent’s investigation, they produced a beautiful glossy booklet with all the pictures of broken sewer pipes and rat nests. They had carried out a cost estimate for each resident to pay for their own stretch of the drains and waterways. That is when I hit them with my own booklet, not as lovely but full of the facts they did not want to see. It must have cost them tens of thousands, due to their own plans quoting the very best in materials and methods.

That was very, very satisfying and I was a hero, missus and I couldn’t buy our own drinks anywhere in the village for a long time. I just love puncturing bureaucratic balloons!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Ed P]

‘Police investigating illegal Conservative election bribes.

With friends like Farage, and Johnson telling so many lies that he can’t help contradicting them – who needs enemies? All we need now is the Mid-West polar vortex to stay with us over the  election day to make this an election to remember!

[Ed P]

There is a strong possibility that all those who vote Conservative to back Boris will finish up with Raab or even Mogg!

Against Conservative Central Office advice Johnson has decided to defend his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency even though the chances of his retaining the seat are 50:50 at best. This result may happen because this is a constituency where the young now outnumber the old by 2:1 and the young have at last become organised to use their political clout. Brunel University is mobilising its students to get young people to vote and remove Johnson.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

Not so much the young as the imported Ed. Even though Uxbridge is close to heathrow it had resisted the settlement of immigrants until about 10 years ago. Not now though.

Remember I have lived in Wembley or Harrow for the best part of 50 years and seen it all before. The immigrants ALL vote Labour until they gain a few bob and move to somewhere posher.

[Author]

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