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It's your ideas and suggestions that are our starting point each week. Don't just shout at the radio. Help make it. Stories bubbling under so far
Military fuel tanks
We've made enquires about whether fuel tanks in military vehicles are as good as they could be, after receiving an email from someone who manufactures fuel safety products.
Scientist brain-drain?
Nick Ramsey's concerned that the UK is losing many of its top scientists because of changes the Government has made to the way companies are taxed and regulated.
Are pensioner's credit crunch concerns reflected in the news
80-year-old Aileen Cotton is worried that no-one's listening to her predicament amidst the downturn news coverage.
If any of these subjects chime with your areas of experience or expertise, drop us a line. Or if you hear anything else in the news which you know something about, well, share what you know.
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"Loosing"? Tch tch... naughty. Not to mention the possessive apostrophe on the impersonal pronoun.
This is what happens if you blog at ten past six in the morning.
Pedantry aside, I have a feeling - though no figures to back me up - that there's still a flight of top scientists from academia to industry largely due to real-terms cuts in government funding to Universities. In which case, UK Universities are doubly losing out which is a longer term problem than the commercial scientists themselves leaving.
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This is a post from yesterday's PM Blog:
"Progress, progress, progress.
Meet "Mr Green Genes"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/23/scicat123.xml
This should equalise the night-time playing field a little."
The science here could hold potential in so many areas other, than those stated.
Those with a Big Brother mentality will love it. For instance, I wonder who's now looking at this research for use outside of medical fields?
The Military, Police?
If certain segments of people glowed, let's say Orange" and others...
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Forget Scientist they have made their bed prostituting fear over the last 10 years. It is the only way for them to get funding. They seem to have no conscience
Look instead at the engineers. Real ones, not washing machine fitters. The IR35 tax system and the degree to which it was enforced destroyed my industry.
The problem is a single company cannot support a full design team on full time. It is just not cost effective. So when they need a product designed they would contract the extra skilled staff. The projects used to take up to a year and had to be on the company site. (Team dynamics and communications)
So they were forced into the IR35 or feared a later attack by HMRC. As engineers we do not like uncertainty.
But the problem was these people had no job security. In down turns they did not work. 6 months with no real work was possible. In 2 years the mobile group of very experienced designers disintegrated. The work then went abroad. Paying employers NI was a huge pay cut.
The politicians of this country do not know how this country works or should work.
As an engineer, I know the government must change the system while the economy is off course.
1. Temporary suspension for employer NI. This will target directly the high employment industries that the country needs to continue.
2. Suspend the HIPs pack for 2 years. The lower houses are not coming on the market. With a financial liability, no one tries the market until they are forced and then the "for cash" agencies are picking them off at too lower values. HIPs are a barrier.
3. Remove in law the IR35 conditions on Engineering and Science contracts of up to 2 years duration.
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Lack of home-grown food security is the real threat to Britain, not a global recession
Food shortages and a possible famine in the UK are far more liable than ever before. Lord Cameron of Dillington, a farmer and first head of the Countryside Agency coined the phrase 'nine meals from anarchy'. Cameron saw the potential of a real food crisis hitting not just the poor of the Developing World, but we here in the UK during this present Century. His thinking was that it would only take three full days without food on supermarket shelves, before law and order started to break down and where British streets would descend into chaos. If you think that this is far fetched, that's exactly what happened in the U.S. after Hurricane Katrina in the US where people started to loot their neighbours and communities in order to feed themselves and their families. A mere three days after the disaster struck.
But this is getting much closer to home now than people realise, for food supply is directly linked to oil supplies through transport and production (fertilizers et al). Indeed, according to Professor of Food Policy Tim Lang at City University, London, 'We are sleep-walking into a crisis.'
He is correct, for the official facts are that Britain now has only a national home-grown food security of 58% (official statistics for 2007 from the ONS) We are therefore totally dependent upon the remaining 42% from imports from other foreign countries. Therefore in a crisis, we could not feed 42 out of 100 people. But, we have also to understand that the threats to a global food supply are getting far worse by the year for Britain, as more and more food is being consumed by the increasingly affluent Far-East who are importing far more of western food supplies now than they did just a mere 10-years ago. For as the credit crunch and recession hits together with our high debt factors in the UK and a falling pound, those in the East will command far more buying power than ourselves to secure food supplies for their people. Another dictum of the ‘free market’ and capitalist forces economic mechanism that is flawed towards consumers but not global suppliers.
Unfortunately also we are all aware now that governments are reactive and not proactive. In this respect governments only act in times of crisis and on impulse. But with food, one has to prepare long before, for once the food has gone elsewhere, there is none to be had. Indeed, we can weather everything else but not a food shortage. Considering this truism, governments have to start NOW and invest heavily in ‘home-grown’ food production before it is far too late to do anything about it.
For in reality we are not that very far away from the 'nine meals from anarchy' scenario and where government has to act to prevent a human disaster that would make the credit crunch feel like a holiday. For without food, we starve and where food and water supplies are our most vital commodities, not financial wealth. We have sufficient of the latter but where we are nearly half bankrupt in the former. Therefore let’s do something about it whilst we can for denial is the worst form of ignorance ! Presently we have our eye 'off the ball'.
Dr David Hill
World Innovation Foundation Charity (WIFC)
Bern, Switzerland
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All the credit-crunch coverage (apart from a brief mention in Private Eye) has missed any discussion about the possible effects on all those PFI and PPP deals. Were they magically exempt from the chicanery of every other part of the banking and finance system?
PFI has been Enronomics from the word go. Its disgraceful that the taxpayer has been tied into overpriced deals for second-rate hospitals, transport infrastructure and schools for the next thirty years without media interest but surely the effect of the loss of liquidity in the system must be worth some scrutiny?
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Dr Hill is spot on with this warning. In fact there may be worse to come: Wheat crops are threatened due to the emergence of fungicide-resistant strains of rust, a very serious disease that destroys wheat crops. Ug99 emerged in Uganda and has now spread eastwards into important wheat-growing areas for the Middle East. The risk is that it may quickly spread into some of the most important wheat growing areas before any control is found.
Investment in agricultural research and development has not been a priority of governments for too long. We rely on a very small gene pool for much of our food, meaning that a single disease can destroy a significant proportion of our food supply. With increased demand from emergent economies there is already pressure on this supply, any disease threatening crops could seriously worsen matters.
Economic events already prove that stability is an illusion. If people start to believe that food will run short then we may see an even worse crisis.
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Charitable funding for local sport, particularly in rural communities, is becoming impossible to get - and the unspoken truth is that the London Olympics are to blame.
Case in point: SportEngland won't fund anything unless it will 'reach enough people' to provide a big enough 'return on investment'.
In effect, this means that unless you are lucky enough to live in a densely populated urban area with good transport, you will not benefit from new or greatly improved sports facilities near your home, which would be the first step towards finding out you have an aptitude and hopefully being 'spotted' for coaching as a future medal-winner for Team GB.
I can put you in touch with a very articulate and experienced local fundraiser who would be delighted to be interviewed and provide real-life examples. Not to mention evidence that being rural is working against her own applications on behalf of a charitable sports organisation in a village.
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Thanks for thoughts and ideas.
The Stainless Steel Cat - hands up to all bad grammar and result of a late evening rather than an early morning - I scheduled the post, beware of posting through bleary eyes...
justfloating - is there an organisation or engineers that you recommend we talk to?
ZankFrappa - will do some investigating on how PFI/PPP's faring. Is this an area you have any background in?
Fifi - will need to see if that stands up.
All input on any of these ideas welcome.
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(8) Jennifer Tracey
Sadly our group infrastructure has all gone. The people involved are all in fixed employment or have gone abroad. That was my initial solution.
The agent that had us on the books disappeared due to lack of interest. The whole system disappeared. Even the companies that I worked for no longer have the development groups in this country. I still do the same work, (Silicon Valley stuff) but only for US companies and for just the tasks that can be done off site adequately.
As for IR35 continued effect on the dynamics of the high value engineering in the UK just look at some of the sites like www.ir35calc.co.uk. Contact them. Look up the case of "Jon Bessell". Which is sadly in the IT sector, but the false idea of "substitution" is key. The wonderful point is that HMRC can use hindsight with impunity to convict a person where the person had to use the uncertainty of the future when excepting a short term contract. A law abiding person will NOT put their future in the hand of a system like that.
I have to admit that it was necessary for some legislation because of the amount of full time employees using the system especially in the IT and sales positions. i.e any employee that does not have to compete for their next contract. This was also destoying the valid contractor economy.
But they destroyed the movement of skilled labour that enhanced the communication and training across the companies and that allowed small companies to create big designs beyond their normal staffing levels.
One solution could have been the registering of projects as IR35 exempt. So contractors would be protected from the accusation of fraud by HMRC. But HMRC in its infinite fear mongering tactic will not make decisions on tax in advance. The HMRC sees only tax criminals, it can not see its effect on the law abiding.
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Hey Eddie
I am deliberately writing this without looking at any other comments so I am not biased by them.
I do think the BBC and in particular the PM programme and iPM should respect the fact that a lot of people do not have computers or the Internet. I think it is pernicious that the BBC always refers people to the Internet "for further infomrmation". We all pay our licence fee after all.
One subject I would like discussed and this is probably better done on In Touch or something is mobile phones. I know several visually impaired people, and others with manual disabilities, who have a lot of trouble using a phone. Because the phone designers make themwant tobe "cool" they are harder and harder for people with minor disabilities to use. Perer Blake would probbably be the best to issue this I guess but it needs to be made aware. Personall I have alwasys had the good fortune to be able-bodied, etc, but I know many people who are not and they find them very difficult. There is no point giving out phone numbers for helplines etc if people cannot use them.
Simon Trew. (Not the one from Sandhurst, in case you check the net)
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Sadly I have no more experience in PPP/PFI than any other layman, though I have been following its use for some time, utterly appalled.
It does, however, remain an area of government finance that has managed to avoid real scrutiny by any widely distributed independant medium.
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The Regulator Rip-Off
The no change / overpayment thread caused me to recall of bug bear of mine where publicly regulated services are concerned.
Where a government appointed regulator fines a company many millions of pounds for not performing as it should, where does this money go?
No news report I've ever heard of ever mentions this, but I suspect it goes straight into the pockets of the Treasury. If so, this is an outrageous triple whammy on the customers, in that firstly they pay for the service and suffer the poor provision (be it late trains or whatever), secondly part of what they have paid is taken by the Government in such fines as are levied and thirdly the service provider or utility concerned then makes up the lost amount from future charges on customers.
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I would like to add my name to the huge list of complaints about Jonathon Ross. It is a disgrace that our license fees are paying for this man's astronomical salary. He should go.
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I trust that the BBC will have a proper enquiry into the Ross/Brand fiasco, including the idiot who authorised the transmission.
Lets hope they are all taken off the BBC !
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In my opinion Ross and Brand, particularly Ross, are second-rate performers. Unfortunately there is a dearth of genuinely entertaining personalities in the media at present. Ross never has been and is not now worth his ridiculous salary. One fault with the BBC is that there are several people who seem to bedded in who are obviously convinced of their own ability although they are actually very boring.
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Hello PM
The BBC must strongly and quickly punish Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross for their reprehensible actions, at the very least, to give a very clear message to the younger listeners that the Beeb is trying to attract that such behaviour will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
Verbal apologies seem a bit insufficient. As though acknowledging that yes, those rascals shouldn't have done what they did, but you know, boys will be boys. And they did promise to never do it again (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).
I'm in favour of bringing back the stocks as a form of punishment. Certainly for bankers. But public flogging might be a bit cruel. Perhaps suspensions without pay is more appropriate, if not outright sackings.
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Dear BBC,
I believe that Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross should be sacked as presenters for unacceptable behaviour. Jonathan Ross is paid a huge salary out of BBC revenues to which I contribute.
This makes his and Brand's behaviour even more outragious.
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I have listened carefully to the comments regarding the telephone messages left on Andrew Sachs's answerphone.
This was no joke or prank. The two presenters are undoubtedly entertaining but their behaviour was unforgivable as was that of the BBC staff who sanctioned the programme.
No one has yet commented that such behaviour probably breaches the law on malicious phone calls.
The BBC has some responsibility in not curbing Mr. Ross's bad language on his Friday night television show as soon as he uttered the first four letter word. Such language is uncalled for and certainly not necessary for pushing the boundaries for an entertaining show.
The two presenters are grossly overpaid for what they do and I, like many listeners, do not want my license fee to go toward such extravagance.
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I can't believe it that one of your interviewees feels that Brand and Ross have shown contrition. If that's contrition then I'm the Pope
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I'm just wondering if all this about Carbon emissions in the atmosphere is rubbish....maybe we have Global Warming just because there are so many more of us in the world, each one adding his own bit of heat, then there are more heaters, more cars and so on. We know it's warmer in the cities than in the countryside....same phenomenon. Problem is, if this is true, makes it even more difficult to solve the problem.
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NOT A COMPLAINT ABOUT RUSSELL BRAND OR JONATHAN ROSS!
I listened to that Russell Brand show with Jonathan Ross and I laughted a lot. Andrew Sachs is even handed about what happened. BBC - don't let yourself be used to take focus off the Mandelson's soiree on that yatch!!!
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Ross and Brand MUST be sacked for their atrocious behaviour. What sort of example do they set for the young??
I have never seen my husband move as fast as he does at 10 a.m. on Saturday mornings to change stations when Ross's programme starts on Radio 2.
If these are two of the BBCs top presenters then Heaven help the future generations. How would they feel about their daughters if they were subjected to such filth!
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um, hello ipm, rather embarrassed but i posted a comment (currently awaiting moderation) about the brand and ross muck. my first time posting, you see...i'm writing to you now to ask if you would please delete it and this one, too.
i promise to pay close attention to where i'm posting blog comments in future.
many thanks
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Can anyone tell me if the remarks made by Messrs Brand and Ross are politically correct?
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Water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink...
The Ancient Mariner knew a thing or two...
Food shortages, Oil shortages. Both important topics but water..?
Anyway, this piece of research may very well prove important to "us" all:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081020093500.htm
And, from an interesting source...
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c'mon everyone lighten up for goodness sake! I've just listened to the Brand / Ross thingy on YouTube and i admit it shouldn't have been broadcast (although comedians are all about pushing boundaries) but for the prime minister and leader of the opposition to make comments plus all those ridiculous "i've never been so appalled..." bah! it's crazy. We've all got more important things to worry about, surely?
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I think Jonathon Ross and his friend are disusting in their conduct, and over-paid. Ross should be sacked immediately. Olease reply.
John Gower-Jones
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Why are the manufacturers and retailers of fireworks not compelled to include a simple reminder of the law that states that fireworks should not be let off after 10pm?
I've just endured a three hour "display" from a house a few doors along who are celebrating Diwali. It started at 9 and finished at midnight. Fireworks in Birmingham have become a social nuisance. They are on sale all year round and are used at every kind of celebration, mostly by the Asian community.
Why are "professional" display fireworks which are incredibly loud available to the public ?
In a broader question, if we are so worried about terrorism in Britain why do we allow the sale of thousands of tons of explosives (in the form of fireworks) to the public at all? They are not available in Northern Ireland (or Australia).
With nothing more than a stolen credit card and a stanley knife I could buy a few boxes of fireworks and have enough gunpowder to do some serious damage. How is this a good idea ?
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The BBC really are in danger if disenfranchising the majority of their viewers and listeners over the recent Russell Brand broadcast. If the BBC do not terminate the contracts
of Messrs Brand and Ross they are condoning their behaviour. It's certainly not accepatable to sweep this under the carpet with an 'internal review' and hollow apology. There are of course a small number of people in Britain who share this sick humour, but their license contributions would not keep Mr Ross in fresh handkerchiefs. Most people tolerate the apparently spineless Russell Brand, who is more pathetic than funny. Like most people in Britain I have an open mind and a good sense of humour, and the BBC have often produced the best in cutting edge comedy. However I note with dismay that the BBC seems to be drifting toward a position where it is no longer the most respected broadcaster in the world. What a terrible shame.
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The business of Brand and Ross is a storm in a teacup. Orginally there were only two complaints by people who actually listened to the broadcast. Then the Mail on Sunday decided to run it as a "story" and the Mail followed. Naturally Mail readers, always susceptible to being outraged, acted true to form.
I was saddened to hear Mark Thompson's response tonight. This man was brought in as a substitute for Greg Dyke following the Hutton whitewash over comments subsequently found to be true. He didn't stand up to Hutton's rubbish then and he didn't put the Mail's hysteria into proportion this time.
Thompson has ultimate responsibility for BBC management decisions and should have taken some blame himself if there was offence caused. To behave as he did plays into the hands of those who have a anti-BBC agenda and fails to address shortcomings in the handling of this silly episode.
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This comment has been referred to the moderators. Explain.
As I have just said in an email to ipm (do they look at the emails after the programme ends), parking machines should give parking time commensurate with the money you put in. For example if the charges are £1.10 per hour and you only have a £2.00 coin you would get about 1hour 50mins parking time. This would not be the robbery of over charging because no change is given. The machines could easily be adjusted to give you exactly what you pay for.
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Interesting story on no change given when parking.
What about payment by estimating time one is going to park?
This must have given a huge bonus to Local Authorities over the years of double payment for a product, the product being the time in the parking space. If you buy two hours of time and return after an hour a twenty minutes, forty minutes of the product can be sold again. Can you tell of another business where you can sell the same product twice?
I have to congratulate Exeter City Council who have recently introduced new parking payment machines in two of their car parks. These work on the basis of payment for the time parked, taking cash, card (for longer periods) and giving change. You take a ticket on arrival and pay on departure for the time you have used.
This has been common at airports and in much of Europe for years, but seems slow to arrive in city centre car parking here. This allows for much greater flexibility for these difficult appointments, like sitting in the dentist chair, that are unpredictable in terms time. I suspect one of the biggest advantage takers of the 'estimating time' parking charges are hospitals.
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Dartford Tunnel
I have heard that, despite the original 'promise' that the toll to cross the QE bridge at Dartford would be removed once it was paid for (2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2905225.stm), it is now actually going to be increased! This has much wider implications than the mere fact of its rise. It simply shows that a pledge or a promise from a politician is worth little or nothing. Prepare to be duped, you will not be disappointed!
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Dear Matt
BBC would do us all a service if you could cover the incipient threat of voter intimidation at the polls to a greater extent. There is a sad and disappointing story about Guadalupe Bojorquez's mother in the used-to-be swing state of New Mexico being intimidated by a PI finded by the RNC.
Please expose this affront to democracy.
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More credit-crunch: Unable to listen to all coverage of the current financial crisis I am not sure whether much of the effect it will have on local government finance has been covered.
Income from planning applications and s106 gains will be significantly reduced due to the downturn in house selling and its effect upon new building plans. Land prices will also be affected so that the usual trick of selling off a bit of land to make up for financial shortfalls will no longer be very viable. Other factors also contribute to a predicted loss of income over the forthcoming year.
Here in West Sussex our County Council has undertaken to keep any increase in its precept below 4%. Recently papers have been published that suggest this may be a bit of a squeeze. I wonder how other authorities will fare?
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Tax cuts, bailouts to the billion. Banks still unwilling to join the spirit of pulling together needed to end the economic crisis. Why?
The inter-bank lone rate remains high and bankers want a margin. This reflects the lack of trust between bankers. Until trust is restored we are unlikely to see an improvement.
Much anger has been expressed about the role of bankers in the current crisis, though perhaps more in America than here, we seem to have a more resigned attitude as though we always knew they were dodgy. Despite this anger no banker has apologised or been held to account. Perhaps that is what is lacking in the efforts to restore confidence?
In the 1970s a Union Steward in a coal mine or the docks could hold the country to ransom. The resulting excesses culminated in the confrontation between the miners and Government engineered by Thatcher.
Similar excessive, unaccountable power seems to be in the hands of bankers and financiers. This must change.
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Why has the latest episode of Little Dorrit been moved? The Shannon Matthews story has been well covered in the news, ridiculous to devote a programme like Panorama to it.
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I find it incredible that our troops are nursed in beds next to Taleban personnel. It's unnecessary, a separate ward should be used. It must be very detrimental to the morale of injured young men to look round and see their enemy a few feet away, quite ridiculous.
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