http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24184473

Can't help thinking that's all back of a fag packet stuff, but then that's pretty standard...

I think that is the top 5% of earners.

That or a napkin from a posh restaurant (prior to a trashing by toffs).

I just wish Miliband didn’t look so frightfully wet. Whenever I see him, I just think of a frightened rabbit in the headlights of a truck bearing down on it.

Labour 'apprentice for each foreign worker' scheme

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24190746

Yip, making it up as they go along with an eye on UKIP... Though tbf I've never seen so many issues combined in one potential policy

To be fair the coalition has been making up policy as they go along. I suspect that they are all making everything up as they have no clue what to do.


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At least this attempt to pander to the slightly racist aspect of British politics has a fairly positive slant.

The devil in the details will surely ruin it though. Barclays Capital import foreign maths geniuses by the truck load because the UK doesn't produce enough of them. And it takes about 20 interviews for the most highly motivated (and post grad qualified) to get an entry level job at McKinsey. You can't substitute like for like in these roles with any apprenticeship scheme.

Aside from that, if we really want to pull off that fabled rebalancing of the UK economy, a case can be made that we really ought to stick to using imported labour for that stuff anyway, the higher the percentage of foreigners the better. That would allow for more of our homegrown brightest and best to do R&D in the Silicon Fens; or start clever engineering businesses somewhere in the North, by reducing demand for them in the vampiric City.

If must practice import substitution in the services industries that account for the largest portion of our most highly skilled immigrants though, reverse engineering through apprenticeships won't achieve much. Only a huge increase in our education budget and a commitment to provide inspiring teachers in every field at every school will provide the extra pool of talent that would require. This is something we should do anyway, even if it is expensive.

I couldn't even finish his interview with Marr this morning, it's the Blair thing of saying 'Look,...' only it's being said by someone even less convincing! And on that show Marr behaves more like a puppeteer than an interviewer...

Labour would increase bank levy to fund free childcare

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24199711

Still missing the point of the inequality of incomes.

Still missing the point a large number of voters don't have kids.

They are also being hit hard by the cost of living increases.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24213366

Oh dear, you guys all think Nick Clegg made the worst election pledge lie. This one is surely going to be a train wreck.


Unfounded pessimism. Britain can easily win the RTTB.

A massive train wreck. Typical Labour, promise something good (an even do it) now and let other clear up the mess in years to come.
We've already got issues with lack of investment in powerstations. All because politicians want to apprear green and not approve new gas ones.

Energy chiefs reject Labour plan to freeze prices

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24232292

Which you can understand but just slap them with a windfall tax instead.