howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Great to see the Tories with their press barons accusing Jezza of doing anything to gain power over his Customs Union pledge, this from a party that spent a small fortune of our taxpayer's money to pay a group of bigots with terrorist links in the six counties to keep them in power.
Guest 1997 likes this
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,682
That will be self same bunch of religious fundamentalists that is holding Stormont to ransom and refusing to agree to a "soft border" option
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,519
I believe that the 'bigots' and 'religious fundamentalists' are merely holding views which would be considered mainstream only a few years ago.
Also the 'hard border' was there to stop people taking Semtex across, not to stop people smuggling powdered milk.
'If no one went no faster than what I do there'd be a sight less trouble in this world'
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,519
Meanwhile the French P M is talking about de-Nationalising the railways!
“The dilapidated network, delays, abysmal debt … The situation is alarming, not to say untenable. The French, whether they take the train or not, pay more and more for a public service that works less and less well…”
https://order-order.com/2018/02/27/french-railways-to-be-neo-liberalised/'If no one went no faster than what I do there'd be a sight less trouble in this world'
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
I read that as reforming the service by cutting costs and improving efficiency but keeping the railway in public ownership.
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,519
howard mcsweeney1 wrote:I read that as reforming the service by cutting costs and improving efficiency but keeping the railway in public ownership.
Looks like the unions read it otherwise!
http://www.dw.com/en/emmanuel-macron-takes-on-unions-as-labor-reforms-hit-sncf-railways/a-42748509
The government said it will consider turning the state operator into an autonomous company backed by public money, but it would never be privatized.
Which is the French equivalent of being in 'a' Customs Union rather than 'the' Customs Union!
'If no one went no faster than what I do there'd be a sight less trouble in this world'
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Courtesy of the Times.
President Macron set the stage for battle with France’s powerful railway unions yesterday with plans to scrap cherished employment rights that governments have long avoided reforming. The unions cried foul and vowed strikes to block Mr Macron’s overhaul of the SNCF state railways. His gamble is drawing comparison with Margaret Thatcher’s showdown with the miners in Britain in the mid 1980s. Unions, which had already announced a strike for March 22, were infuriated Mr Macron’s planned use of executive decrees to force through his reforms by the summer, avoiding long parliamentary procedure. Édouard Philippe, the prime minister, said the government “is not seeking a fight with anyone” but added that it was time to carry out the overhaul.
In 1995, strikes forced President Chirac to give up an attempt to end the so-called SNCF “special regime”— job guarantees for life and retirement in their 50s, still enjoyed by almost all 260,000 SNCF employees. Nicolas Sarkozy also abandoned a promise to end the regime in 2007 although he enacted a retirement reform that covered almost everyone else. Train drivers still retire at 52 and the others still below 60. As well as job guarantees, workers enjoy other perks such as free or cheap rail tickets for their families and access to cheap housing. “The situation is alarming, not to say untenable,” said Mr Philippe. “Whether or not they take the train, the French are paying more and more for a public service that works less and less well. We want to look at reality in the face. It’s time to dare to carry out the reform that all the French know is necessary.”
Emboldened by his successful overhaul of the labour laws last autumn, Mr Macron has calculated that public opinion has shifted against the rail workers. The profession traditionally enjoyed a patriotic respect comparable to that of farmers. Dissatisfaction is high with railway services despite their flagship high speed network and support for their privileges, created in the 1940s, has waned.
The government is nevertheless treading carefully. The end of the employment privileges will only apply to new recruits. The government abandoned a recommendation to close unprofitable rural train services, made in a report earlier this month by Jean-Cyril Spinetta, a former Air France boss.
It also promised that it would not privatise the heavily indebted rail system as the British had done, which French unions have feared. To ease the SNCF’s €46 billion of debt, it will be turned into a new state-controlled firm with a “mission of public service”.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,519
Clothing for those still slightly too young to vote for Jezza:-
http://www.lilcomrade.com/'If no one went no faster than what I do there'd be a sight less trouble in this world'
Guest 1881- Registered: 16 Oct 2016
- Posts: 1,071
Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean that politics won't take an interest in you. PERICLES.
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,519
I prefer the bespoke ones I've had made by Vistaprint ready for Summer
:-
'If no one went no faster than what I do there'd be a sight less trouble in this world'
Guest 1881- Registered: 16 Oct 2016
- Posts: 1,071
Methinks the Captain doth believe the bent "truths" of Guido Fawkes too much.
Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean that politics won't take an interest in you. PERICLES.
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,519
Jeremy Corbyn: 'We need to see more evidence of Russian interference in Western democracies'
14th November 2017
'If no one went no faster than what I do there'd be a sight less trouble in this world'
Weird Granny Slater- Location: Dover
- Registered: 7 Jun 2017
- Posts: 2,858
Georgi Markov. But he wasn't Russian. Or a spy. A bit like JC.
Guest 1997 likes this
'Pass the cow dung, my dropsy's killing me' - Heraclitus
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,519
Forgive me for going slightly off topic but here's an audio radio (a.m. 06/03 )interview to fill in some background to the 'suspected' poisoning which some might find interesting :-
http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2018/03/06/dr-andrew-foxall-speaks-to-bbc-radio-5live-about-the-suspected-poisoning-of-sergei-skripal/'If no one went no faster than what I do there'd be a sight less trouble in this world'
Guest 1881- Registered: 16 Oct 2016
- Posts: 1,071
#654 "If confirmed..."
Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean that politics won't take an interest in you. PERICLES.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Guest 745- Registered: 27 Mar 2012
- Posts: 3,370
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,519
1. Daily Mirror
2. AN opinion poll.
'If no one went no faster than what I do there'd be a sight less trouble in this world'