Member Info for 67Sam

"All illegal imm's should be dna swabed, and those who are deemed to be true asylum seekers"

Exactly what is the DNA marker for someones birthplace Chid? You can determine someone's ancestral ethnic origins, but you appear to be suggesting a simple swab would reveal if a person had been born in Croydon. I think you may be somewhat deluded. If you swabbed me it isn't going to tell you I'm British is it?

"a gross misrepresentation of Jess Phillips’ statement "

She's in the papers reported as saying "a very similar situation to what happened in Cologne could be described on Broad Street in Birmingham every week where women are baited and heckled.”

So I cant see why you think MV is wrong on that one.

"You will be reported"

I cant read that without imagining you sound like a Dalek.

BB

I dont pretend to know the solution, but with modern technology available I find it hard to believe that people crossing the channel cant be intercepted, removed from their craft and then taken back to France. Its a long coastline but teh technology exists to monitor it and have a patrol fo vessels that can quickly intercept while still in French waters. Its obviosu there will be more attempts during calmer weather. Because of our current failures to resource this properly it seems there will be a never ending queue of people migrating through Europe and trying to get in to UK by small boat from France. It would seem fairer to me to organise a withdrawal from the ECHR and the 1951 Refugee Convention than it is to allow the current status quo to continue. People risk their lives crossing, pay a fortune to organised crime for the privilege and then face enormous hostility on arrival. UK nationals despair amid a rising population, rising cost of living and virtually no chance of home ownership if you dont inherit wealth. It doesn't work for anyone at all, except Labour, who grow their share of future voters.

BB

I expect your right about ID for anyone who arrives irregularly. With the UK sponsored schemes for Afghan and Ukraine (known as ARAP and Homes for Ukraine), arrivals were organised, supervised and then given Home Office ID.

For Afghans who arrive by small boat (or as lorry stowaways) there is no such guarantee and they are treated just the same as other irregular or spontaneous arrivals. The exceptions of course are unaccompanied children, who are always given protection although that too is surrounded by controversy as it is so hard to prove their real ages.

Its a particularly odd comment from Musk, as was his decision to endorse Yaxley-Lennon. Most people in UK (including me) regardless of what tghey think of Reform, would admire Farage for standing firm against the richest man in the world by saying "No, thats not what we need". Musk is brilliant at some things but that doesn't prevent him from being a total w*nker in other contexts. Whatever you think of Farage, he is unique in British politics for being universally popular with his own party members.

"7 houses in Northumberland". Thats one of the cheaper property markets in the UK! £1.2M would buy 3 (maybe 4 at most) family houses in the Southwest. Remember though these Northumberland homes are for Ukrainian and Afghan families who resettled here under Government sponsored schemes. It is probably a cheaper solution than renting from the open market. You may not like that either, but at least it was a government decision to offer them sanctuary.

These properties are not for the chancer small boat crossing types. Those people just get access to lowest end of the private rental market and only if they are granted leave to remain. They get no help at all if they are told their claim is unsuccessful.

BB

I dont have access to the Torygraph. Employers contributions to LGPS have to come from income, just like the staff salaries do. This is the same in any private company benefit scheme. Some councils are in pretty dire financial circumstances. Section 114 notices have been issued by eleven local authorities since 2019

(https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/why-are-local-authorities-going-bankrupt/)

But this is not due to the contributions they make to LGPS. Woking went bust for example because they borrowed hundreds of millions of pounds for regeneration projects.

LGPS funds also carry additional burdens of responsibilities to invest ethically. Some members of the public believe LGPS' responsibility for ESG should be prioritised above their fiduciary duty. I disagree with this, as the primary purpose of a pension scheme is to pay pensions to its members.

TFE

My view is that you are massively oversimplifying the challenges of Local Government if you choose to see council tax rises simply as a consequence of over generous pension schemes. This point of view fails to recognise or understand the reductions in central government funding over the last fifteen years that have resulted in higher local tax burdens and fewer (as well as arguably poorer quality) local services.

BB

"The scheme appears to be in a strong financial position with most funds in surplus at 31 March 2022. However, material funding risks remain and 26 out of the 87 funds were in deficit. Total assets have grown from £290 billion in 2019 to £366 billion in 2022 (taking the value used in the local fund valuations.)"

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/review-of-lgps-fund-valuations#:~:text=The%20scheme%20appears%20to%20be,in%20the%20local%20fund%20valuations.)

TheFarEnd

Local government pensions are fully funded asset backed schemes. We pay nothing into them from Council Tax. I would imagine consolidating them into one huge super - pension has risks ie. one botched investment strategy contaminates the whole fund. The initiative is driven entirely by Liebour, it hasn't been put to a members vote. I remember Kent County Council asking Woodford for their £260 Million back, in 2019. This led to quite a few "troubles" for all his investors, and all of his employees. At the last estimate Kent Local Government Pension Scheme made an £85 Million loss on their investment. There are big administrative costs in pooling pensions and establishing new governance structures. I cant see that it does much at all other than increase risk for the funds, whatever the benefits Reeves alleges. Once again we see Liebour wanting to gamble with other peoples money.

Stage

Yes your right about definitions. My comment was simply around the "now and then" difference of the business. LBG doesn't have a £4B debt to repay as it did then - i.e. "in better shape now".

"Am i missing something here ?"

£4 Billion worth of PPI charges, statutory profit £1.3 Billion in 2015.

Damn, there are others like you blowers. Just imagine, you and Donald and Mo in a clinch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2tkm4iZOJ8

Respect Blower, you are brighter than NASA.

Blower, $3.5 trillion is the estimated annual cost of reaching net zero. Therefore you can save the world that much. You just need to get out more and spread your gospel, I imagine it will soon catch on. You and Donald have made a breakthrough where the rest of the world has failed.

Together you can save the world $3.5 trillion a year. You are incredible Blower. Has Donald actually met you yet?

So much easier to sleep at night knowing Bloomers_Blower and Donald are here.

Fab, thanks blowers. Hearing such a decisive verdict from someone who is so eminently and widely respected for being evidence based and objective is enormously reassuring and I hope it settles all this climate change tomfoolery once and for all. Theres really no limit to the greatness of this man, he was first to break the story that they eat dogs in Ohio. This is the man who advocated the unique covid response of injecting bleach. It's so great to have Trump around and blowers, you make it almost as great again by being with us on this board. Thank you so much. God bless you and America.

"We really are ending the year on a high for intelligent conversation. This board never fails."

I've come to realise that being part of this board is actually the best thing about owning lloyds shares.

We really are ending the year on a high for intelligent conversation. This board never fails.