The PM Glass Box.
The Glass Box is where the PM team meets in at 18.00 every weeknight to discuss the content of the programme. We stay six feet away from each other.
We try to be honest with each other, but not hurtful, as we talk about what worked and what didn't...what met our expectations and what fell short.
This virtual glass box is where you're encouraged to take part in the same spirit. Tonight's PM editor Eloise Twisk will read your comments and may well add her own.
Listen to PM
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~56~RS~)
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The "Box" is clearly there for a filling...
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It seems easier for an overweight dog to be taken into care than an abused toddler.
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According to the government leaflet that arrived today, those masks aren't any use.
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ia 3, That must be why my dentist recently gave me one when I told her that W*lk*ns*n was sold out of masks for use with power saws.
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Did I really hear Douglas (?)Carswell saying "north of half a dozen" signatures? Re the Speaker's suitability for his job.
This is a new and unlovely bit of managementspeak to me.
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Committee On Members Allowances. COMA.
Obviously, I am very impressed with myself.
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You've just said you're going to debate a solution to non-London MP's housing in London without saying what it is.
If it's the idea of a Hall of Residence can I point out that if they all live in the same place, all eat in the same diner, won't this become the new centre of debate, the one place all MP's will be and can discuss future votes?
Surely that will be the end of one element of democracy as we know it - any monitoring of what MP's are up to by journalists. You'll still be able to comment, imagine, speculate, make up as usual but you'll only know what MP's actually tell you. Is this what you really want.
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darkdesign - have a gold star.
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Frances O - yes, you did. Just wait till I get my hands on his low-hanging fruit ...
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EDMs ... we can measure the success of the pending one against the speaker by seeing how many supporters it gets and which sports it beats - all from current session. Can he beat Lacrosse ?
e.g. (sport - total signatures)
Baseball - 10
Swimming - 16
Tennis - 17
Boxing - 29
Canoeing - 31
Formula 1 - 34
Cycling - 57
Lacrosse - 79 !!
Football - lots and lots
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMByTopic.aspx?TOPIC_ID=Sports&SESSION=899
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Pull or cut, Sid? Jam, chutney or just poached in syrup or wine?
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While the halls of residence idea might work as a solution to MPs expenses, I think that the following is more practical.
Here's all that you need to do:
1. Decide which MPs need a second home in London. This should be pretty easy based on distance.
2. Decide where it is appropriate for MPs to live in London. Again, this should be pretty easy - somewhere reasonable with good transport links to Westminster.
3. Use the Local Housing Allowance formula to calculate the rental allowance that is appropriate for a furnished one-bedroom flat in the selected area. If it's good enough for us, I'm sure that it'll be good enough for an MP. I'd also be prepared to pay them an allowance for council tax (in the selected area), BBC tax, phone line rental (not calls) and internet access. While I have some concerns that this will open the door for a whole lot of other things, hopefully that can be controlled.
MPs can then choose a rental property just like any other tenant. The rent up to the LHA limit will be paid by whoever it is that pays MPs salaries. Any excess is paid by the MP.
If an MP wants to buy a London property that they will "rent" to themselves, that's fine, but they're responsible for furnishing it and maintaining it. They're also responsible for the tax on the rental income and any capital gain.
All other expenses are paid if they relate to the MPs parliamentary work and the MP can produce a receipt.
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Why not move the centre of Govt outside of London ?
It makes more sense to have Parliament more central to the whole of the UK.
It is after all only a accident of history that London became the final "resting place" of Parliament.
I propose Daventry,patly because I live nowhere near there.
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Frances O you did. And so did I. North of Half a Dozen. How about that for straight talking? Is it too late to nominate MoP Carswell for the poetry Professor at Oxford?
I was musing already on the words "Early day motion" and after hearing Douglas Carswell - it confirmed my view that those three words could be used poetically - albeit crudely - based on what he was telling our Edward. But I will behave.
I actually love some of those in the line of my ire and that old saying it usually takes me a while to dislike someone - but with him I saved time and went straight to it. lol
Speaker Martin does not deserve this sort of disrepect in my opinion and has been criticised by me - hpefully constructively in the past. MP Carswell seems to have opted for the "nuclear option" perhaps less than a year from the next General Election? Too much, Sir. Too much.
One for Nils, Eddie - and tell him. He is too too old for it - unless a rocking chair is being utilised. And David Cameron mentioned a "Tin ear"? Processing.....processing...... lol
Subject: rocking away as always
Anagram: Sangria wackos waylay
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You will not get away with it.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
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Re Nostalgia. We put together a Swine Flu Health Promotion stand at work - didn't get much interest. The moment we put some Pears soap, Lifebuoy Soap and WWII Coughs and Sneezes postcards/posters up it really took off and management were raving about it. The rest hadn't changed.
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jonathanmorse makes a good point @ 7.
And while eighty-eight does, too, it's worth repeating the fact that (like it or not) women PMs would possibly have to doss down with the kids in a one-bedroom flat or leave them in the constituency; the child-rearing work tends to be seen as women's.
Perhaps a boost to role-model active dads, looking at the other side of that?
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Whipped off with a sickle as I speed past on my motorbike, Frances O. And then ... plum chutney, I think.
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Why is The Taxpayers Alliance used so much to get comments on taxation and spending? They are a very small pressure group, with a very specific and blinkered programme (reduce all taxes, pretend that so-called "big" government, if reduced, will not result in further inequality). OK, so they also believe in reducing waste within the public sector (who doesn't?)
Surely there are other groups more qualified to comment on ideas about reducing waste, who do not have such clear and obvious ideological bias. (CIPFA, for example, retired auditors etc). The Taxpayers' Alliance name suggests wrongly that they are representative, and the BBC should not give them such prominence.
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I wonder which constituencies David Cameron would like to see amalgamated if there are to be fewer MPs?
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Perhaps we could have a kind of lottery, with some constituencies going unrepresented for a while ... if they haven't met their re-cycling targets, say, or if they're all obese ... hmmm, not very liberal really.
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Sid, I wonder whether Ann Widdecombe's much-aired hope that we don't go back to the days of rich Tories on one side of the House and Trade Union sponsees on the other might not be seen as a plug for the Lib Dems????!!
;o)
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Since about 1804 Londoners have been boasting that London is the financial capital of the world. Then along came Wall Street. Those people are now talking of a worldwide downturn as if the causes of it were nothing to do with them.
They are printing money and they readily admit they haven't a clue as to the effects this proceedure will produce.
Mr. Obama predicts the economy will grow in excess of 4 percent per year. Over the last decade the economy has
grown at nearer 2%; and that includes the housing
bubble years. Last quarter, the economy contracted at a rate of
more than 6 percent.
For years people have been saying that when America catches a cold, Britain gets pneumonia. America appears to be clinically dead in financial terms. Mr. Obama's cuts wouldn't cover the cost of pencils in the Pentagon. If congress will agree to them that is.
They just don't know what they are doing and they seem to think that if they spin it, everybody will suddenly gain confidence in them.
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David (4),
Yes, but did you enjoy it? Did your dentist?
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I fell to sleep half way through the program. Last thing I remember was,"half a dozen north of Watford Gapz"....zzz
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D_M 4
David,
"That must be why my dentist recently gave me one..."
Tell me, is your Dentist still taking-on patients..?
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I won't make friends with this subject nor with my vague ideas, but it's about PM's interview with the man falsely accused of rape.
I am afraid I think it's time to introduce into the legal process Rape in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Degrees or similar.
1st Degree: a maniac who drags a random woman into the bushes, if she survives his attentions. And similar. Full anonymity for the woman unless she makes a public-spirited gesture (as happened on occasion before).
3rd Degree: a couple of students or workmates who get drunk together, have sex and the next morning the woman says "rape" and the man says "consent". IF THERE ARE NO MEDICALLY IDENTIFIABLE SIGNS of violence or evidence of force of any kind, I believe BOTH the name of the accused and the name of the accuser should be released or concealed equally. We are told that naming the man may bring forward witnesses of his past misdemeanors. Well, naming the woman may bring forward witnesses of her past false accusations against other men. Sauce for the goose etc...
All the murky and nasty cases involving family, friends, colleagues, or chance pub acquaintances, where there is evidence of violence or intimidation should be a separate Category (2nd Degree?) and I am uncertain whether both names should be released or concealed.
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When referring to MPs: North of 6 is 7 and south of 6 is 5 and east or west of 6 is 6. NE of 6 is 6.5 and so is NW however SE of 6 is 5.5 and so is SW. I hope this clears up any confusion.
Secondly if the MPs all have access to a new Hall of Residence, could I suggest that it is called The Viper's Rest (Geddit?)
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Does anyone else think David Cameron sounds really rattled about the expenses thing? Either it's premature legislation or rushing to enforce new rules or cutting the number of MPs. Once more his hon. friend Doris K is the voice of reason with her hairy observations about practicalities. Can we really imagine image-conscious Dave being taken seriously on matters of more global significance than winning the soundbite? Thought we grew out of this sort of thing when Alistair Campbell quit. Or do we only hate slick and media-friendly when it comes at you from the left?
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Please no jokes about dentists. My other half is a dentist and cannot wait for retirement due to the totally bonkers system that they have to work under and when I say they I mean the die hard NHS treadmill workers not the cosmetic Harley Street would you like a massage with those implants types. There now you've got be going. Time for a drink..
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premature legislation? isn't that a medical condition?
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Crikey, Anne Widdicombe a covert liberal ... doesn't really bear thinking about ...
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Gawd bless Anne, she is an institution or should that be institutionalised. No, she shouldn't be locked away. She always has some something interesting to say. The hairy shirts thing made me smile whilst sat in my usual M1 traffic jam..
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Stung no doubt by it being pointed out that his immediate reaction to the bank crahes was the need for secret dealings by and powers for a triumviate including himself, Mervyn King, one would have thought, would go for complete transparency.
And indeed today we get a 'central tendency' [prediction from the Bank of England thast the economy here will shrink by 4.2 percent this year (ie, inter alia, not 3 per cnet or so as predicted by the Chnacellor in the budget)
Well, that's clear the.
But that is to reckon without the need for mystification in finance (indeed Nils's Capital Finance fella was glad the wasters were muddied......
..........by King saying growth was as likely as shrinkage next year!!!!
With a central tendency prwediction of -4.2 per cent how can that make any sense at all?
Well, knowing Mervyn as I did, I think it means that when a rock (the economy) tumbles headlong in a landslide (the other falling economies in the world slump) occassionally it hits a protruding boulder (unexpected events next year) and bouces up for a momment or two in its catastrophic 4.20 kilometre fall.
The 'growth' he talks about will happen for a day or so next year.
Comrades, 'good news' is that hard to find, things are that desparate
Notice too the claim that prediction is so 'hard' - something requiring arcane esoteric wisdom.
False, completely false. Look at Blanchflower's 'seat of the pants' 'talking to ordinary people' spot on predicitons last Autumn.
The economy will crash further. Because big money has been filling its war chest for the attacks on the currency.
Even if the May elections write it in stone that Cameron will be elected in the General Election, big money will make it worse and worse.
Because China, one of the real targets of the credit crush, is not hurting enough for these contractionists. (St Stephen guotes Spenser as a guide to their view. Try every Thatcher advisor from Hayek to Kirzner for more recent versions)
And smashing the currency here damages China just that little bit more
by making her exports to us just too expensive.
The inflation in the necessities of life such a currency speculation causes, will allow Cameron to declare the economy wrecked so that his barbaric cuts programme can be pursued with complete dedication.
The economy will shrink this year by 4.2 per cent.
That means ANOTHER 7 per cent unemployment**** by April next year. An EXTRA two million people.
And that doesn't allow for the constant massage we get from the politicians, the media and the economists. The real news is far worse.
In the MPs expenses thing, politicians were 'behind the curve' of public opinion. The media thinks htat the media can never be behind the curve, it IS the curve.. it thinks.
But it ain't in respect of the SLUMP (Get iPM to ask 'How bad is this one going to get?') Voters think half a decade of nightmares are in front of us.
Curiously I don't think a poll would picjk it up. The 'authority figure' element in poll questions is too strong.
'Yes sir, no sir, what answer do you want?' is what most polls encourage in us. Like the Governor of the Bank's press conference (? I thought he 'never' gave them). Everyone impressed not by the tradegy of unemployment, or the irrelevance of output holding up during a year long crash for a month or two, or the the feeling that these peopel just don't know which way is up, but by the high priesty style of the prouncements.
'We don't know.' 'Incredible. Did he say we don't know?' 'I think I've got it down word for word' 'Oh excellent! A definitive view.' 'From someone who knows.....that he doesn't'
Someone should have taken him to task. Flanders? I don't think so. Mair? Sadly not.
Comrades don't bother to fasten your safety belts. An air raid shelter is the wiser option. The sky is falling in and we are in deep deep....SLUP.
A chance, comrades to begin again.
****Technical progress improves output by about 2.5 per cent a year. If the economy is to shrink by 4.2 per cent it must lose even more labour than that.
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'Thats clear, then'
Didn't PoshMissusMac propose the MPs hostel idea to wide approbrium on this blog some considerable time ago?
Di you contact her Edgei?
Cameron recommending cutting hte Inormation Allowance sounds to me like his first attack on majority decision making.
If it is unfair to other candidates then the solution is to give them spending allowances.
Of course it should be cut for MPs salaries.
Lets not get diverted though.
The SLUMP is the real challenge
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SLUMP, that is!!!
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Dow down 170 now!!!
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Tory Molinos, (and are you being a smidgeon hintish or provocative with your name?)
David Cameron has had a week to put together his response to the Telegraph revelations (for want of a better word).
The good old Torygraph must have enjoyed the chance to smash a few punches into Labour before they got their teeth into the Conservatives.
Answer to your question (Or do we only hate slick and media-friendly when it comes at you from the left?): no.
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Blogarooney (28 and others): giggle
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And, Sid, covert or even convert liberal (NB lower case) - imbloominpossible, surely?
Right. Must stop frogging or it'll look like a megalomaniac semi-spam and the mods will be after me.
Just one more...
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Frances O, 17:
Before getting too worried about this I'd first like to see how many MPs wanted to move their families to London once the taxpayer stopped paying the mortgage interest.
You may also be able to significantly mitigate this problem by introducing electronic voting. How many MPs would really need to be in London most of the week if they could vote remotely?
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Re MPs accommodation in London: how about recycling the athletes' village after the 2012 Olympics as Halls of Residence for our representatives? Save us a fortune I reckon. Think of what would be in place already without us having to spend another penny (as it were): security, public transport, leisure facilities. It would be green, economical and more acceptable to the public. Sorted.
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43. florencefirst
This excellent (from my point of view)suggestion has already been mooted and discussed in very considerable detail on a different PM Glass Box. Lots of pro and con points were made, some of which you may find interesting.
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If we had "none of the above" on the ballot papers, and "none of the above" got most votes, and so none of the above got elected or went to Westminster, that might reduce the number of MPs...
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44 Cossackgirl
Oops, sorry. New to this. Thanks for the info.
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45) Interesting idea, but think of all the money that the Boundary Commission would have to spend redrawing constituency maps...
...and the outgoing MP would demand a hefty parachute payment...
Even if we don't have PR, it would be nice to have a RON candidate for elections. Initially start it off at generals, then maybe introduce at locals and euros.
RON = Re-open Nominations.
If RON wins, as the name suggests nominations are re-opened to allow alternative candidates to put their names forward. Ideally the existing candidates would be barred from re-submitting their nominations.
But then again, even with local elections, the national picture often overshadows local issues - people will vote against the party in power, even if they're doing an OK job locally, because they're fed up of the current national administration.
Unfortunately, judging by the ever-increasing leaks from all levels of government, a cynical view might be that several senior civil servants are fed up with the current administration and want a change, and if they think they can get away with leaking a sensitive document in the belief it will further undermine public confidence in the administration, they will...
But even as far as leaks go, that's the tip of the iceberg. Most of the time, it's not deliberate leaks but rather people who have forgotten the basics of information security...
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mittfh @ 47, no, I meant simply no MP for that constituency until next time.
And the Minister for whatever any constituent who lacked an MP needed sorting would be held personally responsible. So if someone wanted to complain about a local road and got no joy from the local council then the Minister of Transport had to make an appointment to see that person. Local housing, the Housing Minister. And so forth. It would be *very good* for the ministers to have to talk with the people who really do want things done in their ministeries or departments.
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If we had more smaller constituencies (and I mean at every level, in Scotland), we COULD use RON, and allow those in constituencies with no successful candidate to contact neighbouring or other representatives with "casework" type queries.
If we had more, smaller constituencies (and local authority areas), which corresponded to real communities (rather than being arbitrary agglomerations of dozens or hundreds of communities, sometimes with little in common, drawn together to make electoral arithmetic "work"), perhaps that would help with the "lack-of-engagement" problem.
The costs of effective democracy (in terms of having an appropriate number policitians, and paying them and their support staff appropriately for the job they are expected to do, and having systems to make sure they do) are *infinitesimal* in the scale of ANY nation's total expenditure (except for truly corrupt dictatorships, and/or very poor countries).
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This looks like the correct place for this (which I dropped on the nostalgia page):
An MP doesn't notice that he isn't paying £800 a month on a mortgage. No wonder some of his colleagues think they need a pay rise.
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(50) Vyle: we are playing chase and catch up! In response to yours, I posted on the Nostalgia thread that I'd already posted a request on the AM Glass Box thread that this be followed up as I suspect it is a clear case of fraud.
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fJd 24, It was only my 6 month check-up. I didn't enjoy the 41 pound charge. And that was as an NHS patient.
Charlie 26, Yes, the surgery is still taking patients, NHS and private. But you don't choose which dentist you get so the one who will 'give you one...' might be a man.
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PB (13) What's Daventry ever done to you? ;o)
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Izzy - ask not waht Daventry has done for you. Ask, rather, what you can do for Daventry.
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Righto, Annasee!
I'll have a think, see what I can come up with.............
opposing the relocation of parliament to Daventry?
walking around in circles with a placard saying 'Down with this sort of thing'?
hmmmm.....not sure I'm going to be doing very much for D, after all. Sorry.
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