ecuk268

Am I correct in assuming that the figures exclude the Oxlade-Chamberlain money?

Transferring petrol between 2 containers in your kitchen while the cooker was on was not the most sensible thing to do.

Courtesy of NewBiscuit: "Tanker drivers have called off their proposed strike amid fears any disruption they might cause would pale into insignificance alongside the chaos cabinet ministers have created with a few poorly chosen words. ‘We were all set to strike over pay, no, hold on, safety concerns wasn’t it? Yeah, safety concerns,’ said one tanker driver. ‘Anyway, then the PM advises people to go out and buy petrol they don’t need while Francis Maude recommends turning your garage into a massive fire hazard, and suddenly the country grinds to a halt while everybody has forgotten about us. So we might as well not bother now.’ Labour leader Ed Miliband was unwilling to comment on the cancellation of the strike while he was queuing to fill up his scooter, but did complain about the 20% increase on the price of his lukewarm ESSO sausage roll."

You mean the 62% of people in that constituency. Hardly a handful.

Good to see that Howling Laud Hope got 111 votes. More seriously, Galloway's no fool. He did this before in 2005 in London, overturning a 10000 majority. The turnout was over 50%, very high for a by-election. Judging by the TV coverage he seems to have captured the Asian vote, bit ironic as the Labour guy is a Pakistani Muslim.

But people aren't going to actually use any more fuel than usual. So the revenue to the government won't change, it'll just have an uneven distribution over a few weeks.

Not really. We use Hoyers who also do a lot of the fuel companies haulage. The petrol companies switch hauliers at the drop of a hat as one undercuts the other, so the drivers have little security and, if their company loses the contract, they have to move to whoever wins it. This can mean lower wages and worse conditions. I was talking with one guy who is in 6 different pension schemes as he has had to change employers so often. He was also on a rolling 2-hour shift change. So would start work at, say, 6.00 one week and 8.00 the next week then 10.00 etc through 24 hours. Not too good for the health or family life. Not something I would do.

Agreed, there is a bit of learning curve but, if you just want internet, e-mail, office apps and photo stuff, it's good. Also got a good torrent app (not that I condone illegal downloads). It's so much slicker than Windows on the same-spec machine, it's worth a bit of effort.

Mr Maude is becoming a bit accident prone. On Sunday he said that it was "absurd nonsense" that Cameron should reveal who his dinner guests were. On Monday DC did just that.

Also useful to attract attention away from Granny Tax and dodgy fundraising.

Novatech, unfortunately in Skateland (Cosham), are helpful and knowledgeable. If they were slightly technically minded , they could get a fairly low-spec box, stick Ubuntu Linux on it and you have a fast machine with loads of free software available and you wont be making Bill Gates even richer.

I hear that an extra 50k ensured that you didn't have to share the 2-person platter with Eric Pickles.

NHS in chair shortage shock!!

I think that's what's known as an oxymoron.

We're probably in for a summer of sycophancy, especially by certain TV reporters and newspapers.

A quick tip. Use Selhurst station as, on the return journey, it's one before Thornton Heath so you should get on easier. It's usually jammed when it gets to Thornton Heath.

Or you could say that it's people who have been prudent and put a bit by all their lives instead of relying on the state when they retire.

Confirmation: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/9602994.Ice_rink_plan_to_be_scrapped_for_flats_due_to_lack_of_funding/

Bit on the radio this morning saying that it's more likely to be apartments (what a surprise).

Other 'boro 3 Reading 1

This one would be a bit of a walk (about 20 miles).

Agreed, he was very good that night. A natural story teller who could make a living as an after-dinner speaker.

The Radio Solent Peter White is indeed from Winchester and is a lifelong Saints fan. He's been blind from birth and tells an amusing story about when he attended a boarding school for the blind in Worcester back in the mid 60's. As older listees will remember, in 66 we were about to be promoted to the old Div 1. We had an evening game away at Orient and a point would get us up. Peter sneaked out of his boarding school, got the train to London, went to the game, got the train back and managed to get back into school before anyone noticed his absence. Not bad for someone who's totally blind.

Heard today that The Dorchester is closing next month.

Still got my seat and the turf grew well in the lawn. Also got a telly from the Executive Club and a filing cabinet from one of the offices.