Sheaf Saint

Now confirmed. News Corp's bid for BSkyB referred to regulator... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14112465 It begs the question: why has it taken all of this scandal to force the government to do something that they should have done as a matter of course anyway? This whole thing stinks to high heaven.

So you admit that the right are just as guilty as the left when it comes to restricitng liberty?

It's OK. He hasn't answered my question either. It's a bit like waiting for a sensible answer from dune.

Common decency, manners, kindness and responsibility cost nothing.

Left of centre is still centre. None of this proves your point about ALL left-wing governments being dictatorial and controlling. Let me ask you this... What has improved since the colaition came to power? what policy changes have they made which have given us more liberty and freedom?

I imagine that the retailer would probably be agreeable to replace the suite for one of equal value that will fit through the doors, but I think they can forget about getting a full refund really.

But hang on.... according to dune the majority of people in the UK are Conservative in their views so the dictatorial policies introduced by a non-left wing Labour government are the fault of a Conservative electorate who voted in a non-left wing party? I'm confused.

Yes I know all about the mass collection of personal data etc.. under the previous government. But I still don't see how that proves your point about the left, seeing as the previous government could in no way be described as left wing.

One of the most over-rated bands ever IMO.

How have my civil liberties changed since 1997? well I guess the biggest change is the terrorism act where I could be arrested and detained for up to 42 days without charge. But that was brought in by the Blair government... how does that prove your point about the left? Blair was about as left as my right hand.

Well yes, in a far-left communist dictatorship like North Korea, for example, you would be correct. But to assign those attributes to anybody who is considered to be on the left of the political spectrum is just plain wrong I'm afraid.

Well I bet Jenson is gonna be p155ed at his mechanics. What a cock up. Not that he would have won, or even made it onto the podium, but that's unforgivable.

Yeah, so you'd think they would show a little bit more f***ing respect to those who laid down their lives for their country. Just because they have championed the cause of the military in the past doesn't in any way justify the depths they plumbed to in this instance.

Say everything is "groovy." Everyone will be really impressed at how down with the kids you are, honestly.

Wow. you really have surpassed yourself this time dune. This statement is only true in your blinkered little world. Anyway, have a read back through all of the comments made so far relating to the Sun and NotW. The vast majority of people admit they only buy them due to their excellent sports coverage, and I can't deny that either. On the handful of occasions I have ever bought either papaer it was solely for this reason also. You don't genuinely believe that they are the UK's biggest selling newspapers because people agree with their political opinions do you? Take away the sports coverage and they wouldn't sell half as much copy as they do. In fact, they would lose pretty much all credibility as a serious read, much like the Mirror or the Daily Star

27. When buying a new home, you call in a mechanic instead of a surveyor to inspect it for you.

I'm only basing this on what Vince Cable said in a news interview about it the other day. Of course, it could be a load of horlicks and they are just using the age-old 'blame the previous government' trick to cover up their own shortcomings. It really is impossible to tell, but it is true that Labour were still in power when the contract was put out to tender, so there could be some truth in it.

Just saw a bit of House of Pain's set on BBC3. It just didn't seem right IMO - hip hop should never be performed live on stage by fat, middle-aged white blokes with grey beards. They still did Jump Around pretty well though.

But as I mentioned earlier, this is not the fault of the current government. The previous Labour administration initiated the procurement procedure for these trains and laid out the criteria for selecting the winning bid. I'm no fan of the ConDems, but if they had ridden roughshod over that and just picked the Bombardier tender because they are UK based, then it would only have resulted in long and costly legal proceedings brought by the other bidders.

It's not our last train building capability. Bombardier has a contract to provide some 1300 new trains and carriages for the London Underground.

Not quite sure what the right wingers on this board will have to feel proud about. The previous Labour government laid out the criteria for tender for this project before the Tories took over, and the government had no choice but to award the contract to Siemens based on that criteria.

You had to go and say that didn't you!

I wonder if our women's team is any better at penalty shoot-outs than the men....

I'm happy to say I'm a field voice telecomms engineer. Happy because I have rcently, finally managed to get back into this industry after I was made redundant from my last job in it in 2008.