Politicking by "pub landlord"?

[LBRJ]

I am still having a bit of a LOL at the description of the founder and Chairman  of a FTSE 250 Company as a pub landlord.....

On that basis I assume Theresa May is Head Girl and Jeremy Corbyn is the Student Union rep??

[2mmMark]

I don't think the Metropolitan Elite have ever really recovered from not being able to travel first class to Amersham.

[Fenman]

... Except the Columnists who seem to be straight out of the local Polytechnic students union in the Guardian.

Max Hastings? Simon Jenkins? Seems a bit harsh.

 

Paul

[jjb1970]

I'm not especially a fan of biased press sources but there is a difference between lying and tendentious reporting of a story. I think that where a paper or the TV media are actually untruthful they should be held to account but if it is a question of bias then that is a basic issue of freedom of the press and whatever I think of the media (and for what it's worth I think it's all biased or has agendas) I find the idea of a state regulated press worse.

Edited January 16, 2019 by jjb1970

[Dava]

I am still having a bit of a LOL at the description of the founder and Chairman  of a FTSE 250 Company as a pub landlord.....

On that basis I assume Theresa May is Head Girl and Jeremy Corbyn is the Student Union rep??

Recent events appear to confirm that these roles may be the limit of their competence.....

[Nearholmer]

LBRJ

 

If you’ve ever watched Al Murray, presumably you’ll know why I chose that shorthand.

 

K

[Dunsignalling]

Yup. Capital expenditure has halved in the past two years (and most of that went on major works to existing sites), but the number of outlets using the Wetherspoon brand has risen by a dozen, I think, whereas Wetherspoon themselves closed more they than they opened. I am not saying the guy is a hypocritical, opportunistic, rich twit, and possibly quite bonkers, but others may choose to do so....

 

I am just not quite sure why anyone would accept the views of a multi-millionaire, living in Devon, who clearly feels he has been ostracised by the Oxbridge set (he went to Nottingham Uni), as reason enough to assume that the Metropolitan elite (I guess he means the multi-millionaires of Brixton, Deptford, Enfield, Southall, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh) had no idea how things in the "real world" worked. But to be fair, he has not moved his money to Dublin, or applied for French residency, or ensured his children have German nationality, like some other Metropolitan elite members, who just happen to share his views, have done...

 

I rush to say there are examples of the same rich proponents on the other side of the fence, before being accused of bias. It is just another example of the very rich seeming to think they are entitled to help us how to think. I thought we elected people to do that?

 

Before you know it, they will be making justice only available to people who can afford it......

Unfortunately, as things seem to be developing at present, a large cohort of those elected people who, having previously decided (by passing the act authorising the referendum) that a certain matter was too important to be kept to themselves, appear determined to override the choice made by those to whom they surrendered the decision.  

 

A (then) PM who staked the nation's future against a fantasy that doing so could heal his hopelessly ruptured party, and an opposition that fell for the ruse and failed to notice the golden opportunity they were being handed, to sit back and gleefully watch said party tear itself to pieces once and for all.

 

Not too many sharp knives in either drawer, IMHO. 

 

John

Edited January 16, 2019 by Dunsignalling

[Jol Wilkinson]

"and it was full of young mums with their bambini and toddlers."

Ian,

 

not restricted to Whetherspoons. Locally Costa Coffee and other coffee houses/posh cafes  are popular parking places for large child buggies, while young mums spread themselves and offspring over as large an area as possible.

 

Jol

[Bernard Lamb]

Ian,

 

not restricted to Whetherspoons. Locally Costa Coffee and other coffee houses/posh cafes  are popular parking places for large child buggies, while young mums spread themselves and offspring over as large an area as possible.

 

Jol

 

If you think those places are bad then try the V&A Museum.

Bernard

[boxbrownie]

I refuse to go into Wetherspoons establishments, they have banned dogs, even from beer gardens,

 

Must remember that thanks, an excellent move........

[boxbrownie]

The Hygiene Ratings are supposed to be about how the food is stored, prepared, the hygiene in the preparation areas and the record keeping, not about allowing a few well behaved dogs into the bar area during food service.

We have a wonderful hotel/restaurant locally which has rave reviews, we took friends there for lunch last year and found they allow dogs into the restaurant area, not only that but a couple sat near our table had two small dogs which they were feeding on their table off the plates they had their meals on....the waiter didn’t bat an eyelid and when we queried this he stated they were a “dog friendly” establishment.

 

Needless to say we have not been back there and the review we gave them reflected this.

[Mike Storey]

One thing the H&S brigade look down on is animals in eating establishments (even if they don't go near the kitchens) due to the potential for food contamination and as such most places are forced to exclude them. Having previously had colleagues have cat hairs in their salad boxes prepared by outside caters while on a training course I can see the point.

 

Indeed I believe that several of these 'Cat Cafes' (where you can literally go and stroke the resident cats while having tea + cakes) have received very poor food hygiene ratings as a result - although technically there is no actual law banning animals from cafes so they cannot actually be shut down.

 

Indoors maybe, but he has even banned them from the outside areas, which makes no sense at all. Will he be banning cats, birds, foxes and the odd rat too?

[Mike Storey]

Unfortunately, as things seem to be developing at present, a large cohort of those elected people who, having previously decided (by passing the act authorising the referendum) that a certain matter was too important to be kept to themselves, appear determined to override the choice made by those to whom they surrendered the decision.  

 

A (then) PM who staked the nation's future against a fantasy that doing so could heal his hopelessly ruptured party, and an opposition that fell for the ruse and failed to notice the golden opportunity they were being handed, to sit back and gleefully watch said party tear itself to pieces once and for all.

 

Not too many sharp knives in either drawer, IMHO. 

 

John

 

All true, but we elected them (or at least a large minority of us did). And we had the chance to change most of them in 2017, when it was pretty obvious it was all starting to go very wrong, but we did not - we created this situation by sitting on the fence ourselves and creating a minority government, wholly dependent on placating some extreme minorities not just within its own party but also in another, to grind on.

 

Not exactly a surprise that we are where we are. But quite why it then predisposes a number of millionaires and billionaires to think they have the right to impose their individual views on us, because they have the wealth, means and opportunity (as opposed to the collective views of political parties or movements, who are at least representing the views of sizeable memberships), has me wondering whether that is healthy for our democracy?

[phil-b259]

 

On that basis I assume Theresa May is Head Girl..

 

Headmistress you mean....  http://www.private-eye.co.uk/st-theresa

[Catkins]

All true, but we elected them (or at least a large minority of us did). And we had the chance to change most of them in 2017, when it was pretty obvious it was all starting to go very wrong, but we did not - we created this situation by sitting on the fence ourselves and creating a minority government, wholly dependent on placating some extreme minorities not just within its own party but also in another, to grind on.

 

Not exactly a surprise that we are where we are. But quite why it then predisposes a number of millionaires and billionaires to think they have the right to impose their individual views on us, because they have the wealth, means and opportunity (as opposed to the collective views of political parties or movements, who are at least representing the views of sizeable memberships), has me wondering whether that is healthy for our democracy?

 

The problem with the current generation of MPs is that most of them seem to forget that we the populace have elected them to represent us. Most MPs seem to be in parliament for themselves.

[Dunsignalling]

Headmistress you mean....  http://www.private-eye.co.uk/st-theresa

Thought that was going to lead me to the "other" Teresa May for a moment.

[TheSignalEngineer]

It wasn’t targeted by name, it was a “leaflet drop”.

 

 

Our non-RM leaflet drops are done by an EU Migrant, wonder who does yours from Mr 'Spoons?

[Mike Storey]

The problem with the current generation of MPs is that most of them seem to forget that we the populace have elected them to represent us. Most MPs seem to be in parliament for themselves.

 

When the population is so divided over an issue like this, just how do you represent "us"? Some have chosen to go with the way their constituency voted two years ago, whatever their party line, some have voted with their conscience, but most have gone with their party whips.

 

In general, your view that MP's are in it for themselves, is increasingly common. Largely based on not knowing what MP's actually do, which in most cases, is much more than they are given credit for. In many cases, they could be earning far more in other careers (some combine both) and working shorter hours, and in most cases, they have spent years in thankless local government public service, or as unpaid interns or advisors, learning their trade. With some dubious and more obvious exceptions, I doubt the accusation really holds water.

 

Anyway, I only joined in with this thread, because I was hoping it was about Al Murray......

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Recent events appear to confirm that these roles may be the limit of their competence.....

 Much like Mike Storey above. On the basis of encounters with a few MPs over my life I have nothing but admiration for very able people so prepared to put their head into the Lion's mouth. The fact is that no one is truly competent to govern in a mass franchise democracy, and most of them know this of themselves.

[phil-b259]

 

In general, your view that MP's are in it for themselves, is increasingly common. Largely based on not knowing what MP's actually do, which in most cases, is much more than they are given credit for. In many cases, they could be earning far more in other careers (some combine both) and working shorter hours, and in most cases, they have spent years in thankless local government public service, or as unpaid interns or advisors, learning their trade. With some dubious and more obvious exceptions, I doubt the accusation really holds water.

 

 

 

 

What reinforces this view is the revolving door between ex ministers and lobbyists / venture capitalists / hedge funds / etc and those backbenchers backed by wealth. While many MPs may work hard, its a fact that a certain Jacob Reece Mogg for example would face no personal difficulty were he to lose his seat tomorrow thanks to his involvement in various city firms heavily implicated in the 'Panama Papers' Scandal.

 

The other thing that has driven the disconnect with MPs - particularly those at ministerial level - is their previous jobs were all in law, finance or lobbying / working for the party machine (which they can only usually do thanks to inherited wealth or being unofficially sponsored by the wealthy elite. If MPs are fully supposed to represent us then we should be having more ex-farmers, ex train driver, ex factory workers, ex nurses - and not just experts in law and banking.