Member Info for torquay

about the SANITY bit - one of the few grown ups in the place is Vince Cable - BUT HOW MUCH AIR TIME HAS HE BEEN ALLOWED ???
Something is driving this - I'm beginning to smell Donald Trump - the noise coming out of Westminster is more like a stables than a government.
Lit another candle today - it's all I have left to fight this madness with.

Good luck all - I'm going back to building my work bench.

of course should have read 68,000 Euro's for Boris's recent speech - why would anybody bother to work when you get money thrown at you like Boris - he is reputed to earn 600K per annum.

Have just read the latest utterance and cannot disagree with the comment or sentiment - it does make you wonder why some parents pay so much for a private education, when it is responsible for making idiots so confident that they end up in the House of Commons and most recently in the Cabinet.
I realise that not all Public Schools are the same and not all the dummies are in Westminster - some wally paid Boris 68E's for a speech in Dublin - you really cannot make this stuff up - yet we are expected to pay for it.
By golly the steam is rising here and change is coming - now that the Colleen and I have a vote here - I just want someone to raise the flag and shout "YES WE CAN" because change is long overdue here. It could just start with the EU vote in May - "IF IT HAPPENS".

Good luck all.

The world as we know it will cease to exist after Brexit - the Orange fraternity are breathless for it, even though they don't know what it means. The DUP have washed their hands like Pilate preferring to spend their time in London and on trips.When this is over, none of them will ever need to buy a plane ticket again - they must have loads of Air Miles clocked up.
Quite how darling Arlene justifies her visits is anybody's guess when she isn't an MP - she is an M E P which will end with Brexit. Wonder if anyone will put her forward for "enoblement" after all Margaret wore Ermin as Baroness T.
Enough of this tripe I can here there are already too many talking donkeys.
Good luck all...

What time did you leave - the colleen and I completed our 15th Parkrun this morning at 9.30 - bet you feel worse than me. Ha Ha

Where is the intelligence ??

Another minister that I have never heard of resigns from his post - ex UKIP according to ITV at ten - the longer they wait the greater the damage to the economy. How long does it take for these eejits to understand that not only are they backing the wrong horse - they have entered it in the wrong race.
They may think that this the way to negotiate "a successful outcome" - whatever that might be - because the UK car market is now dominated pretty well by good european cars - it certainly is here.
It should by now, have been well understood that the European Union is now so large that it will manage very well without Britain if it has to. When the financial crisis hit, the City thought that they only had to wait for the ECB to turn on the tap of QE and money would be made transacting all the Euro business. How long did it take for QE to be introduced ?
The whole thing has been handled so badly that even if the UK stays in it will take a long time to recover from this Punch and Judy show.
Even Reese-Mogg has moved his fund out of the UK - I am told that it is all now in Dublin - honestly how could you make up this stuff.
May the rise continue ...
Good luck all.

Our Longtimeinvestor surfaces again to say that he is certain the NO DEAL outcome is still the likely outcome in spite of the fact that there has been no meaningful vote whilst the UK economy shrinks before our eyes.
Now Match of the day is about to start - good luck.

Disturbing the peace of mind of all the rational people - frankly I don't think anybody deserves to be represented by a person who has more in common with a Robot than ever they had with humanity.
Whilst I was making my shelves for the Garden House today, I decided to also devote time to the question " HOW DO THESE PEOPLE GET ELECTED?" - to local government positions, but also to Parliament where some of them become ministers with responsibility for the "wise" investment of taxpayers money in government sponsored policy initiatives."
The result of my deliberations based on considerable experience of local government and excellent representation for seventeen years by Adrian Saunders NOW ex Westminster. He was replaced by a 38 year old individual "Kevin Foster" who was encouraged to stand in Torquay having spent some years in Coventry stuffing envelopes and canvassing for "the party". Thanks - I think to postal voting - he won and set up shop in Torquay, taking possession of three retail units which were quickly converted into his Constituency Surgery/ Office and all emblazoned with his name and an oversized photograph of himself.
Shortly after the paint had dried in his new office, he brought his "girlfriend" of seventy one summers down from Coventry, so that he could propose to her - now that he was on that "Gravy Train." She said yes of course in spite of her age and they were married at a prominent local church - he now sits on the front bench for Question Time, admittedly he sits at the end of the bench but it is the front one. Two people were assigned to run his "drop in" office because the same fella had no intention of spending much time in it himself.
It seems to me that almost anybody can be your MP if you vote conservative, nobody had ever heard of this guy locally because he had no connection to the town. How he came to be chosen is a mystery, when he won it was a complete surprise to everyone, because there had only been a few reports of him actually canvassing for votes.
The town is now stuck with him to no great advantage until hopefully he is turfed out again still, it did prepare me for here, they don't even attend the assembly but are quick enough to claim their expenses.
Hopefully with the establishment of independent members in greater numbers, the days of the two party's hegemony
on power are coming to an end - this would or will make Parliament much more productive if our Independent people have anything to do with it.

Good luck all - have run out of steam.

46 - must be a new position - and I thought that I had tried them all !!

Just what the doctor ordered - the numpty's are not all in Parliament then - cheers.

Have just Newsnight off, because of the sterility of the debate - this is, OR could be, the start of something exciting the cracks have become visible and the seepage has commenced. The sand in the timer has almost run its course, this will bring more people with a conscience to the Exit, so far as the two large party's are concerned. How many there will be is not a concern - there will be more, which among other things will negate the leverage of the DUP finally.

Up here Fine Fail are merging with the SDLP - not a marriage made in heaven but we'll see what happens. Meanwhile at Queens, Fine Gael are registering their presence in time for the May elections, I have not heard yet if they will be putting up any candidates or co-oporating with another party. My own feeling is that they should fly their own flag because I cannot see among the "local" parties a prospective partner that would work well with them.

This being said - who thought Sin Fein and the DUP could work together - if Brexit does become a reality and it could, all bets are off so far as the voting population up here are concerned. From the limited soundings that I have been able to take, some of the people from the "other side" are very unhappy that The Assembly closed down over two years ago and shows no sign so far of putting the lights back on.

People here are not as inclined to discuss politics - UNLESS THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE TALKING TO - for fairly obvious reasons. There is however no hiding their frustration over the current buffoonery which may very well persuade them to throw in their lot with one of the new entrants which I don't think will be Fine Fail.

A no deal Brexit goes ahead - anything can happen and probably will.

Maybe we should all light a candle....

Good luck all.. Do not feel like visiting the Lloyds Forum even though I could do with a laugh..

Todays developments are not entirely unexpected as the deadline approaches - the labour defectors are the first - how long until we see some Conservatives jump ship ?
Boris and his cohorts should be feeling like rats in a sack, instead I am quite sure that they are still lost in the delusion that they will have saved Britain, once the UK casts itself adrift.
If the outcome of all of this achieves Proportional Representation, whether or not the UK leaves, it will have been worth it, because it will blunt the power of over mighty lobby groups and could very well improve voter turnout at election time.
The present turmoil amongst the car makers is not really a surprise, given the current levels of competition and profitability amongst the various manufacturers. The market is over supplied and Brexit has given them the chance to rationalise their production and concentrate their resources where they bare the most fruit.
This is the downside of outsourcing employment, inward investment is fine whilst the sun is shining - when it starts to rain everybody gets wet.
Unless the UK government comes to its senses and "REMAINS" the country will take years to recover from this foolishness - I feel very sorry for the poor individuals who work at Honda and the other outposts of foreign capital....

Good luck all.

Martin is with me in lamenting the pitiful state of politics - when an old fashioned BLUNDERBUSS filled with rubbish is deployed to massage public opinion. Quite frankly it is like listening to turkeys, the discussions engaged in by these "professionals" in order to influence our opinion have become a babel - not in the least informative or constructive.

They are all well able to talk - but how much of what they say informs the debate - the only politicians who make any sense are Martine McGuinness and Michael Martin, who have obviously thought hard about Brexit and its consequences for Ireland.

I am afraid that this is not going to end well for the Tories, hopefully the party will split and the "Luddites" will be joined by the Bill Cash and Boris Johnson fan club when they form their own party having merged with what is left of UKIP.
The sensible members of the Conservative Party can then perhaps be re-cast as being just right of centre, which would enable them to form a government with like minded individuals in other parties.

The idea that Jeremy Corbyn could be the next Prime Minister does not bear thinking about or that Boris has a political future that I would feel like voting for.

Mrs Thatchers brand of "capitalism" has run its course, the ideas that she let loose are now coming home to roost as the economy starts to misfire. The many friends that Britain has around the world, do not seem all that numerous to me and yet we are told that they will rescue the UK from this mess that has been created - "because of the UK's power prestige and influence.

Europe is a social economy which could do with being improved, so far as accountability is concerned. The rise of populism in parts of the continent needs to be addressed but on the whole I prefer a social economy to raw capitalism, because it seems to me to have failed, when you look at how well it works when applied to the NHS or to the type and value of the jobs that it creates - apart from those in the City or the higher levels of Public Service and Parliament.

Good luck all.
Amen.

If only we had a Garret now - when we left Ireland Garret was in charge and I watched his hair turn white as he grappled with the mountain of debt that he had been left with.There was no such thing as delaying the proceeds of the sale of our home from transferring out of the country - in order to start again.
He was indeed a great man - the only one who could put a bell on the tail of Margaret Thatcher - boy I miss him and the integrity that he brought to public life and government. The footings that he put down for the Irish economy were sound even if it did take about seven years for the country to really benefit Bertie had a great spell while it lasted.
So far as the politics are concerned here, I am impatient for the change that must take place - and I suspect that once Brexit is resolved "MAY WE LIVE THAT LONG" the previous administration will be replaced and the DUP will hopefully be replaced, as the electorate becomes more sophisticated and puts aside the tribalism of the past in favour of something more enterprising and progressive.
The present shower have more in common with locusts as they massage the public purse building skyscrapers in Belfast, rather like the new Childrens Hospital in Dublin. Somebody's making money and a lot of it.
This is turning into one of my rants !!!
Good luck all.

I used to have a Spanish Señora who promised "to love me long time" - I miss her and the laughs we had over the fence.

The discordant note was the suggestion that our travel concession passes would lapse shortly after BR**it before we have even had a chance to use them really. We had a few trips planned over the summer which will still happen but we will have to juice the buggy.

Met the opposition to the Orange Men the other evening, when three of them turned up on the doorstep to make sure that we were on the electoral register, handed us the forms to fill. They came back this evening so I told them we would be voting for Fine Gael as I handed them the completed forms.

Maybe we are on verge of something constructive happening here but I'm not going to hold my breath whilst we are waiting for it.

Good luck all.

Not very likely in my opinion even though the economy is slowing - much more likely that the UK cycle has run its course and the bank are putting the brakes on at the commencement of a period harvesting their loan book.
They have plenty of big fish on their hook in the form of large mortgages so they are probably feeling more confident about their future. Looking at the price of houses in Dublin the prospects of our little share dropping to one cent does not seem very likely.
Good luck all...

Thank you for your incite and very well constructed contribution - which I seem to recall having read before -"are you sure you are on the correct page and forum"

We're all pals on here !!!

It has indeed a rich cultural heritage - not all of it glorious, because of all the people who tramped around it with swords, crossbows and finally gunpowder laying waste to the countryside.
I have long wondered about the English fascination with Ireland and can only think that it was due to Spain and the French, who at various times in the past considered invading England - the Armada for instance was a failed attempt but the Normans were much more successful.
Perhaps it was thought that Ireland could be a useful staging post for invading armies so it had to be conquered - well that was then - today we are in a different reality. There is never going to be another Armada or a Norman invasion but we do have the DUP and a motley assortment of nefarious characters who still seem to want to cause trouble, whilst being completely oblivious to the fact that the present distraction is doomed to failure and that it will have a very serious effect on those claiming benefits as the price of their "Loyalty." The same is true for those going on expensive holidays and claiming very serious expenses into the bargain, whilst being absent from the Assembly here.
It is not just capital that is departing the UK, employment opportunities are also shrinking and still the politicians behave as though they are in control and will achieve a glittering outcome.

You really could not make it up....
Good luck all..

the damage that it will do - I would find it very hard to walk for laughing -the article in the Indo last Sunday really said it all when it comes to our modern day Gombeen leaders.

It is impossible to make this stuff up, without the aid of Magic Mushrooms or Wacky Backy.

Am not going to embark on a rant because I will be quite excited enough tomorrow.

Good luck all..