But it won't work, and they frigging know it. Lidl prove it on a daily basis

Here's a link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-21029600

That's about as realistic as Gerry Adams claiming he was never in the IRA ffs. Elsewhere, there's nowhere near enough staff being hired to cover the scheme, they're significantly downplaying how much this will make even in it's first year, nothing specific has been said about how the money will be used... I'll not bore you with the rest.

Again, I have no problems with recycling where it's sensible, but this is just a stealth tax where the real winners will be the supermarkets he's so concerned about. Oh, and our DoE has one of the highest levels of underspend. And it fcuking shows, believe me.

I have a number of the bags for life, four from the Co-op which can be rolled up tightly and stuffed into pockets. I always have one or two when I do my local shopping. If you had a car, keep them in the car. While I agree that the bags are very useful, I use them for rubbish, but I can cope without picking up a bag every time I shop. What you might not be considering is that the local government have to pay a steep landfill tax because the country is running out of landfill sites. So if they could recycle a lot more they could save lots of council tax for the locals. Even getting my online deliveries once every couple of months or so and I still get enough carrier bags with my bag-less delivery to provide me with ample rubbish bags.

If you object to the tax so much, get a bag for life and effectively stick two fingers up at them.

I'm not sure what came of it, but Belfast [LIFTED] Council was already falling foul over EU waste laws. That's not the public's fault when the council wasn't providing information, never mind the bins for recycling. Your average East Belfast resident has one bin and a kerb box, I kid you not.

Also, I've never been able to get a satisfactory answer as to who gets the recyclable/recycled material over here at least. Doesn't help when you see stories like this

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... broad.html

On the bags issue, I barely use them and could afford them no problem! My point is that it's a stealth tax, and an idiotic one at a time when Ulster's economy is utterly fcuked and has been made even worse in recent months. Next year will almost certainly see the trimming of the civil service over here, in part of the UK where it's the backbone job-wise. Construction's next to nonexistent, you can imagine what just happened to farming, and we're already paying way more than the UK average for just about anything you care to name...

Rather than it being a stealth tax, it is more of a sin tax. Though I can see a large part of the problem is lack of recycling. If they have a kerb box presumably for recycling then they should give it preference, such as every week and leave the general bin to every week, or reduce the general waste bins in size. That is not your fault. What normally happens with recycling is that it goes t a treatment plant and it is sorted into cans plastics and paper. All of which can be recycled easily. Some places have automated sorting plants to sort through general waste for metal glass etc. by shredding everything and then using magnets to separate ferrous metals, blowing to separate plastics and gravity tanks for paper linen etc. The result is a significantly reduced waste that can either be put into landfill or incinerated.

As for the state of the local economy I do know about the additional postage charges from everyone practically to where you are. It is not right but they get away with it. Though with the way that housing associations funded themselves it is hardly surprising that they are in trouble and cannot build any homes now.

I spent last weekend with 4 mates playing Twilight Imperium. We started on Saturday and were still going about 7am on Monday.

Decent attention span required by anyone hoping to win, that's for sure!

That's probably the most organised thing in your house JJ.

That sort of geeky dedication is exactly what this country needs JJ

Some people are so immature that they just can't handle other people's opinions when they don't conform to their own.
I just had someone that I know in the real world unfriend me on Fb.
This is what happens when I even remotely talk about politics.
It's why I very rarely even remotely talk about politics.

Mark

Politics over here? I tend to avoid talking IRL about those particular politics at least.

Are you sure it was about politics? I was unfriended because the person owed me money and did not want me to contact them about it. If they are real friends would they really unfriend you over such a matter. I have a friend who has vastly different political beliefs to mine, but I did not unfriend him (never friended him in the first place ). Though we still talk IRL.

I try not to speak of politics with anyone, especially over here where I feel I don't know enough about the system.

Work organised political talks during the French elections, which I boycotted too.

You and about 90% of the natives!

My biggest niggle about the system here is the fact that someone can just decide to go run for MP in an area they know nothing about, have no links and don't live there. How can they defend the interest of that area?

Because sometime during their tenure as a Councillor they seem to stop defending anyone's interest but their own. By the time they become an MP, it's second nature.

Oh I'm quite sure.
Ernie (and others) this is the exact reason I don't 'do' politics … people just don't seem capable of accepting that your opinion is different to theirs.
Sad but true.

Mark