Porked & busted: Thai woman nabbed for telling ‘pork’ pies 208 times

[RuamRudy]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I left the UK before Cameron took over, so have no experience of a Tory government, but I expect they are just as, IMO, incompetent, venal, corrupt and crooked as New labour, IMO, was.

The Brexit fiasco under that, IMO, incompetent May has done nothing to change my mind on that. I don't think Labour under Corbyn would be any better.

There is a documentary available on Netflix called "Inside Job" - a really accessible film that is well worth watching to help understand just how toxic capitalism has become. As you say, there is no longer a mainstream alternative to the rampant corruption that flows through politics. If you really want to depress yourself, have a look at HSBC and the scandals that they get away with.

[billd766]

3 hours ago, Basil B said:

I think the real problem is the PFI gravy train...

 

Introduced by the Major government of 1992 and widely condemned by the labour opposition, The use of PFI was very limited until 1997 but became widespread under the new Labour government.

 

With hospitals, schools and other government builds built on the "Nether Never" (PFI) it has come back to bit the government on the backside, and the writing has been on the wall for years, with local authorities and NHS trusts saying they can not afford these buildings and talking about handing them back...

 

 So why didn't Labour cancel them when they were in power?

[RuamRudy]

12 minutes ago, billd766 said:

 

 So why didn't Labour cancel them when they were in power?

Forgive my descent into vulgarity, but Labour & Conservative: two cheeks of the same arse

[billd766]

2 hours ago, RuamRudy said:

Forgive my descent into vulgarity, but Labour & Conservative: two cheeks of the same arse

 

Of course I forgive the vulgarity because at that time the difference between Labour & Conservative was very blurred.

 

Now under Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn there is a sort of difference as Jeremy Corbyn prefers the old style Labour but is quite happy to support Theresa May when it suits him.

 

I also preferred the old style as you could tell the difference and the MPs were much smarter and more honest then.

[smedly]

5 hours ago, billd766 said:

 

 So why didn't Labour cancel them when they were in power?

because Labour were so bad at managing the economy it was the only way they could get anything done without bankrupting the UK which they very nearly did anyway, Labour ended up using PFI for everything they did, Blair and Brown should be in prison.

 

How does it get fixed ? well it is now probably beyond fixing (in the short term anyway)

[aright]

11 minutes ago, smedly said:

How does it get fixed ? well it is now probably beyond fixing (in the short term anyway)

No ! At the last General Election the Shadow Chancellor said all PFI debts would be taken in house. Never mind lock up your daughters; lock up your wallets. 

[RuamRudy]

11 hours ago, smedly said:

because Labour were so bad at managing the economy it was the only way they could get anything done without bankrupting the UK which they very nearly did anyway, Labour ended up using PFI for everything they did, Blair and Brown should be in prison.

 

How does it get fixed ? well it is now probably beyond fixing (in the short term anyway)

Form my, admittedly limited, perspective, I don't see a solution. I only see things getting worse. Trump is right on one thing at least - our media is corrupt. The dominant media outlets in the UK are owned by a tiny little clique of men who have our government in their pockets, yet the vast majority of the UK shows not a wit of concern at this, as they swallow their daily dose of lies and manipulation. Even the BBC has become nothing more than a propaganda outlet for the status quo, going to almost farcical lengths to back up the government and mask the reality of what is truly happening to our democracy.

 

More people are turning away from MSM and getting their information from the internet - so our governments are now seeking ways to control that too. I mentioned HSBC yesterday - the extent of the corruption in that organisation is truly staggering. The revolving doors between the government and HSBC is almost farcical:

 

Ex-head of Met police works for HSBC

Ex-head of City Police Fraud Dept., who refused to conduct a fraud investigation against HSBC... now works for HSBC

Ex-head of MI5 works for HSBC

Ex chair of HSBC works for the government

Ex head of BBC and HSBC works for the government

Ex chair of HSBC Private Bank works for the government

Ex ambassador to KSA works for HSBC

 

The list goes on and on, and the UK is rotten to the very core. In anyone is interested in learning, take a look at the website of whistleblower Nicholas Wilson.

 

[Khun Han]

Breathtaking:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42853895

 

"However pensions expert, Tom McPhail of Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers said the trustees should not be judged too harshly for agreeing the deferral.

"They had to make a judgement call whether to continue to work with the employer or effectively pull the plug and accept the consequences could be they would precipitate the collapse of the business," he said.

"They made the decision they'd try to help and give [the management] more latitude""

 

How about they agreed to the pension fund deferral on condition that Carillion agreed to a deferral of bonus and severance payments to senior bosses (70 million in the last year)? Their decision certainly gave Carilliion's management more latitude alright: latitude to milk it's t1t for personal gain one last time.

[RuamRudy]

1 hour ago, Khun Han said:

Breathtaking:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42853895

 

"However pensions expert, Tom McPhail of Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers said the trustees should not be judged too harshly for agreeing the deferral.

"They had to make a judgement call whether to continue to work with the employer or effectively pull the plug and accept the consequences could be they would precipitate the collapse of the business," he said.

"They made the decision they'd try to help and give [the management] more latitude""

 

How about they agreed to the pension fund deferral on condition that Carillion agreed to a deferral of bonus and severance payments to senior bosses (70 million in the last year)? Their decision certainly gave Carilliion's management more latitude alright: latitude to milk it's t1t for personal gain one last time.

There is something seriously wrong with our country if what they did was legal.

[thaibeachlovers]

43 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

There is something seriously wrong with our country if what they did was legal.

There IS something wrong with your country, but that's what you get from the politicians that have been elected since WW2. Either conservatives giving the empire away or socialists giving taxpayers money away. Even gave the Arabian gulf oilfields away- how stupid is that? Had they kept them, Britain would be the most prosperous country in the world.

Used to be the most powerful country in the world ( Pax Britannica ) and now it's just a small country next to Europe with a load of money men stealing it blind while there's anything left to steal.

 

It was obvious to me while I worked in London for the NHS that British managers are either incredibly incompetent, extraordinarily corrupt, or both.

 

Edited January 29, 2018 by thaibeachlovers

[Khun Han]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43107500

 

Time for the Serious Fraud Office to step in.

[Khun Han]

At last, a little bit of action on this huge fraud:

 

https://news.sky.com/story/carillion-executives-investigated-by-accounting-watchdog-11296597

[evadgib]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/carillion-official-receivers-update--5