Presumably she is well-bread.
Jeremy Corbyn - Not Not Labour Party(?), not a Communist (BBC)
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I like Corbyn, but he doesn't seem to be acting like a Labour Leader, more like a campaigner.
And should he last till 2020 (imo he won't) he has to look like a potential pm which at the moment is a long way off
Even his antics in Manchester got my mum scratching her head, its where I got the campaigner from and she's right. In fact that protest was a bloody farce, throwing balls at neutrals and tories alike, they even booed Owen Jones before they realised it was him
.So where did this maximum wage cap of £1mil come from?
Also how is it possible to renationalise the railways? Can the government forcibly buy them? Can they do this to any private business?
Corbyn floated the maximum wage idea, dont think he ever put a figure on it though. RE the railways, they're on rolling contracts so the contracts just wouldn't be renewed. Apparently a third of them expire between 2020 and 2025. Though they'd have to buy the rolling stock still iirc.
Even his antics in Manchester got my mum scratching her head, its where I got the campaigner from and she's right. In fact that protest was a bloody farce, throwing balls at neutrals and tories alike, they even booed Owen Jones before they realised it was him
He spoke at a rally for Royal Mail in Manchester which had no connection to the protestors at the Conservative party conference beyond being held in the same city.
They've mugged him over there if he hasn't specifically mentioned £1mil. That would be madness.
I ask because I can see the taxpayer grossly overpaying to renationalise them. Rolling contracts sound like it could be done a little more favourably to the taxpayer at least.
A schoolboy could have told Corbyn that most people would believe the two groups were the same. Just another naive piece of PR.
Also if the franchises know they can't renew they probably won't upgrade infrastructure or maintain non essential stuff - so in reality you would need to negotiate something with them or you would inherit a backlog of issues... Its doable but it's not as easy as some suggest.
What they would do with network rail and it's quasi commercial status and maintenance is the big unanswered question
Maybe. But people criticising him for it should be made of aware of that and/or phrase their criticism appropriately.
Eg. I think it's outrageous Corbyn attended a protest in the same city as a protest I disagree with.
Yeah I did notice silence after the people laughing about the million cap were asked to back it up. It's the issue with English politics. Certain newspapers have too much influence and scaremongering is Plan A.
It's sad that that's seen as a negative but you're right,
These comments were made in August, and are i suspect the basis upon which that question was asked:
Part of the problem is that a university education value has decreased so much due to much higher numbers having that qualification. Older folks aren't wanting to pull the ladder as you put it, but are questioning the value of a degree, and the funding of it giving a good return on investment for the UK taxpayer. When I look to recruit someone, their degree is the last thing that I'm interested in, it means nothing, university is a lifestyle choice in many ways.
Exactly, it's definitely not a case of the older generation wanting to keep the young down. Jeff, you seem to be forgetting that in many cases it's our own kids you're talking about and we've got our hands in our pockets paying for that education directly or at least trying our best to ensure the loans don't go too high.
My tuition fees were free at Uni in the 80s but means testing meant I got no grant and had to rely on loans and my old man paying my way and I'd have happily done the same where my daughter was concerned but it's a bit rough asking us to pay the maintenance grant ourselves and then pay higher taxes for 5 times the number of tuition fees there were in my day, especially when a great many of those degrees serve no real purpose in terms of making the holder more suitable for the workplace.
Indeed, and given the scepticism present among all too many members of the shadow cabinet, you'd think that Corbyn and McDonnell would be making a particular effort to communicate their ideas. It also won't be good for morale if ministers can't be sure of the message they are attempting to put across.
Perhaps it's all about distancing themselves from the Blair years... You know slick delivery , people on script (all overseen by malcolm tucker (well ok Campbell)
So they do the opposite
Don't think even the Tory MPs are comfortable with these cuts.
Don't forget winning.
I think you will find a lot of MPs on both sides are more than comfortable with them.
There are lots of things that lots of people are quite comfortable with in life that they wouldn't open admit in public.
On two occasions during the Election Cameron said he would not be cutting Tax Credit.
I don't think MPs will want to face the (patronising) "Hard working people" having lied to them.
I don't think MPs will want to face the (patronising) "Hard working people" having lied to them.
So the chinese pm is over this week and amongst other things it looks almost certain they will be providing a chunk of funding (about a third) for hinkley point C (and announcing a Chinese reactor for Bradwell).
It will be interesting to see how Corbyn handles this as he is going to meet with the Chinese PM and also the Chinese Pm will address parliament - will he behave more like the campaigner as some have suggested and protest about human rights and nuclear energy (or potentially snub him) or will he embrace the chance to look like a PM in waiting and get involved at a senior level with the leader of the 2nd largest economy? - or will he dress like a geography teacher and bumble his way through it trying to do a bit of both whilst his MP's brief contradictory lines to the press... yeah Im going for option 3 but it will be an interesting test to see if they can at least hold a party line for most of the week.
It will be interesting to see how Corbyn handles this as he is going to meet with the Chinese PM and also the Chinese Pm will address parliament - will he behave more like the campaigner as some have suggested and protest about human rights and nuclear energy (or potentially snub him) or will he embrace the chance to look like a PM in waiting and get involved at a senior level with the leader of the 2nd largest economy? - or will he dress like a geography teacher and bumble his way through it trying to do a bit of both whilst his MP's brief contradictory lines to the press... yeah Im going for option 3 but it will be an interesting test to see if they can at least hold a party line for most of the week.
He's secured a private meeting with the Chinese PM to discuss things like human rights. Out of interest, which Labour MPs are going to brief contradictory lines to Corbyn's views on China's human rights? It's no secret they have a terrible record.
I've noticed an interesting silence about some of the deals that are going through with China, by the way. Days after Tory ministers said the shutting down of the Redcar steelworks was inevitable because there was no demand for steel, they're negotiating a contract with China to import steel.
I've noticed an interesting silence about some of the deals that are going through with China, by the way. Days after Tory ministers said the shutting down of the Redcar steelworks was inevitable because there was no demand for steel, they're negotiating a contract with China to import steel.
Im thinking more nuclear power being the one that could have a range of views - Hinkley was of course initially proposed under a labour government and to the best of my knowledge there is no official stance on nuclear energy from (New Old) Labour - though they have previously backed it but Corbyn is known to oppose it - so its quite conceivable (unless they can agree a policy and get everybody on message today that when questioned on it tomorrow they may come out with contradictory views)
And there is no demand for redcar steel as the Chinese steel is far cheaper - hence negotiating a deal to buy it (redcar was loosing £2m a day)
Chinese steel should not be cheaper than British steel, not when you calculate in the cost of sailing it half way round the world. Even avoiding the potentially libelous accusations of sub grade steel originating from China getting into the UK market and the potential safety risks that may pose in construction (and there's 100s of articles in the NCE and CN about that issue), you have to look very scathingly at the whole Chinese steel industry and Osborne's cosying up to them at time that 6,000+ UK workers are losing their jobs.
China has hogged steel production and manipulated global prices for the last 20 years to suit it's own pace of construction to maintain the 10%pa growth rates. It has done this largely by dominating the global production of coking coal and ignoring the health and safety issues in their mines and the environmental regulations that tie coke manufacturers everywhere else in the world. Chinese coke manufacture is now around 70% of global production, the next nearest being Russia on 5%. This allows them to govern the price anyone else in the world can manufacture steel at and allows them to control their own building rate and then when things slow down dump their materials on the world market at rates nobody else can match.
On the issue of nuclear power I'm sure both new and old labour and even Jezza are on the same line as most sane people in regarding it as the least worst option until we can go 100% sustainable, nobody really wants the risk of a nuclear accident but compared with fossil fuels it's a no brainer.
as of 2014 all steel used on construction sites (throughout europs) has to by law be CE certified regardless of origin and the company who supplies it to site is legally responsible for ensuring this (with fines / prison if you are found to have not fulfilled this and there is an accident)... I know this pretty well because we sell and build steel structures all over the world so have had to become CE certified!
isnt corbyn against new nuclear though...
http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/lab...ts-over-nuclear-power-1-3893727#axzz3p1KApaUY
As for chinese steel being cheaper - well if it costs less to send clothes half way round the world and phones and all the other things china produces then it its hardly inconceivable that they can produce steel quite cheep as well (shipping is charged on deck space (m2 or m3) and you get a lot more value in a m3 of steel than t shirts- the fact that they have been using so much in their own high rise developments, the advanced state of their export and shipping connections plus the fact that their plants are a lot more efficient than the very old redcar plant give them advantages - as does the labour and energy costs.
We actually get most of our steel done in germany - again it costs a lot less than the uk (more than china but we get quicker delivery times) - but for asian projects its china all the way.
isnt corbyn against new nuclear though...
http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/lab...ts-over-nuclear-power-1-3893727#axzz3p1KApaUY
As for chinese steel being cheaper - well if it costs less to send clothes half way round the world and phones and all the other things china produces then it its hardly inconceivable that they can produce steel quite cheep as well (shipping is charged on deck space (m2 or m3) and you get a lot more value in a m3 of steel than t shirts- the fact that they have been using so much in their own high rise developments, the advanced state of their export and shipping connections plus the fact that their plants are a lot more efficient than the very old redcar plant give them advantages - as does the labour and energy costs.
We actually get most of our steel done in germany - again it costs a lot less than the uk (more than china but we get quicker delivery times) - but for asian projects its china all the way.
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I'm a civil engineer and have lived and worked throughout Asia and have been on the redundancy end of Chinese and Korean dumping into the more stable Asian markets twice, surprised having moved back to the UK that it's just as prevalent here as I'd thought the shipping costs might make the markets safer. I'm also more than familiar with the Chinese routes around legislation such as CE marking. When collared for dodgy CE labeling on geosynthetics recently one Chinese manufacturer actually managed to state with a straight face that the CE logo on their labels stood for Chinese Export and that it was a complete coincidence that the fonts were identical to the CE mark. We also recently lost an order on a major Russian contract and found out that the contractor had ordered the materials through a Chinese distributor and had 5 container loads of material identical to the material we manufacture in Germany right down to the CE labels and our company address.
You're off on your shipping costs too, you do indeed pay by the container volume (usually 20ft or 40ft) but there is a 28T weight limit per container for port handling and distribution so your steel volume could only take up a maximum of 10% of a 20ft container or 5% of a 40ft, hence my surprise at the success of the deliveries. If you're shipping mesh where there's a large volume of air then not a major problem but not exactly convenient for straight bar or beams.
There's a danger in reading too much into Corbyn's principles and ignoring his words, the Scotsman article says there's a clash in the shadow cabinet over new nuclear and quotes an interview in The Ecologist with Corbyn where he states his concerns over nuclear power's continued production of dangerous nuclear waste and the risk of accidents or nuclear proliferation. Not a straight up we will not allow new nuclear plants and no mention of the fact that nuclear is still sadly the least worst option in the absence of viable safer and greener alternatives.
You're off on your shipping costs too, you do indeed pay by the container volume (usually 20ft or 40ft) but there is a 28T weight limit per container for port handling and distribution so your steel volume could only take up a maximum of 10% of a 20ft container or 5% of a 40ft, hence my surprise at the success of the deliveries. If you're shipping mesh where there's a large volume of air then not a major problem but not exactly convenient for straight bar or beams.
There's a danger in reading too much into Corbyn's principles and ignoring his words, the Scotsman article says there's a clash in the shadow cabinet over new nuclear and quotes an interview in The Ecologist with Corbyn where he states his concerns over nuclear power's continued production of dangerous nuclear waste and the risk of accidents or nuclear proliferation. Not a straight up we will not allow new nuclear plants and no mention of the fact that nuclear is still sadly the least worst option in the absence of viable safer and greener alternatives.
you don't really ship structural steel beams in containers though (well we dont) - its deck space and yes its more expensive than container space as they cant safely stack on top of it its not that bad (if we have the time we tend to use oil tankers rather than traditional container ships as you get far better rates on shipping (deck space) as they have a lot of dead space on top that's perfect for bridge beams etc - so unless speed it a major factor it evens out pretty quickly - a lot of tanker companies will provide fee handling at both ends as well because as I say its essentially money for nothing for them - its just finding ships moving at the right times but with the right contacts its fairly straight forward - they often help with customs as well plus will insure your kit with theirs for a nominal fee as lets face it a tanker of fuel and the associated clean up costs is so high its negligible for them to give you insurance with it.
We do ship stuff for armies and disaster relief operations in smaller containerised segments but as you can imagine cost is not much of a factor in those jobs its speed speed speed.
We are actually taking a European government to court at the moment who procured non CE stuff on a project - its taking a bit of time to bed in but it will get there... we are 99% sure we will win (or settle out of court - I have had three UK government tenders in the last month stipulating CE and the level of proof they want makes me certain that nobody is slipping through the net by writing CE on there)
The chinese manufacturers are doing nothing wrong though with the CE stuff- there is no obligation if sold outside the EU - its the people who are taking it to market in the EU (ie their distributors / re-sellers or main contractors who procure it)
The CE China export thing - Yeah I have seen that as well - but as I say it does not worry us because an engineer needs to specify with execution class in mind (by the way we have had our engineering CE certified as well - thats a challenge!) and a company who sells it has to prove its CE to that standard (declaration of performance, audit trail etc) - haveing a CE mark on something is nothing and any main contractor would know they need to see the factory certs etc as well.
Would probably derail this thread (and bore most people to death on here) but drop me a PM if you want to discuss CE - I'd be interested in your take on stuff and how your are finding industry knowledge / take up?
We do ship stuff for armies and disaster relief operations in smaller containerised segments but as you can imagine cost is not much of a factor in those jobs its speed speed speed.
We are actually taking a European government to court at the moment who procured non CE stuff on a project - its taking a bit of time to bed in but it will get there... we are 99% sure we will win (or settle out of court - I have had three UK government tenders in the last month stipulating CE and the level of proof they want makes me certain that nobody is slipping through the net by writing CE on there)
The chinese manufacturers are doing nothing wrong though with the CE stuff- there is no obligation if sold outside the EU - its the people who are taking it to market in the EU (ie their distributors / re-sellers or main contractors who procure it)
The CE China export thing - Yeah I have seen that as well - but as I say it does not worry us because an engineer needs to specify with execution class in mind (by the way we have had our engineering CE certified as well - thats a challenge!) and a company who sells it has to prove its CE to that standard (declaration of performance, audit trail etc) - haveing a CE mark on something is nothing and any main contractor would know they need to see the factory certs etc as well.
Would probably derail this thread (and bore most people to death on here) but drop me a PM if you want to discuss CE - I'd be interested in your take on stuff and how your are finding industry knowledge / take up?
Perfect storm at the moment for the UK metals industries in general.
Price of the Euro versus the pound killing us in Europe. Energy cost including the renewable/carbon taxes that the EU is blocking the government from even trying to help with. World prices being undermined by China dumping their surplus production at whatever price they need to.
I can see the whole lot going inside the next 18 months.
It's the end for UK steel manufacture, it's not like Tata in Wales or SSI in Redcar have any patriotic duty to keep those plants running other than to maintain local production and a foothold in the higher end steel fabrication business in the UK. If the government had stepped in and looked at the Chinese inclusion of nominal quantities of Boron and Copper in Chinese steel (since alloy carries far less duty than plain steel) then the closures need not have happened which given the effects even 5ppm of Boron can have on weld strength in the finished product could be a safety risk.
The tories have never given a toss about manufacture though and even now, after the service industries have shown us just how badly they can feck over the global economy, they would still rather the working classes just accepted there's no future for them and kept quiet while George and his buddies make a few percent signing lucrative trade deals with overseas companies that ignore those pesky issues like health and safety, child labour and the environment.
And as if on cue, todays Construction News arrives in my mail inbox:
The tories have never given a toss about manufacture though and even now, after the service industries have shown us just how badly they can feck over the global economy, they would still rather the working classes just accepted there's no future for them and kept quiet while George and his buddies make a few percent signing lucrative trade deals with overseas companies that ignore those pesky issues like health and safety, child labour and the environment.
And as if on cue, todays Construction News arrives in my mail inbox:
Not terrible news, but not good news either.
I'd have thought the obvious concern was that this is potentially representative of voters that have gone for Labour lately but have sympathy with some Tory ideas. Few on the left would probably mourn their departure for the Tories either in 2020, but I'd bet they'd be a tad upset of the 50-odd lost seats.
LIQUORICE WHIP!
Interesting when broken down by country:
I was going to do a joke about Wales at least being positive news, but then I realised it's actually negative there too.