Barclays Capital’s Skyscraper Index
This has been published every year since 1999 and according to this article by the BBC, it forecasts economic downturns.
Lose Weight Or You Don’t Get the Operation
There has been a piece on the BBC about how doctors in Hertfordshire are saying overweight patients should lose weight before operations. Here’a more from an article in the St. Albans Review.
Overweight patients have been told to shift excess pounds before they are allowed operations such as hip and knee replacement, tonsil removal or gall bladder surgery.
It is hoped the new policy will result in patients being in a better state to recover following non-urgent procedures.
One doctor has recently told me, that obesity will bankrupt the NHS.
So I am all in favour of the policy of the doctors in Hertfordshire being replicated elsewhere.
HMRC Scams
I am very lucky in that I can afford an accountant to do my tax returns, so I know that if I get an e-mail from HMRC, it’s a scam.
I’ve had three in the last few days.
This page on the HMRC web site gives details on how to recognise them.
i forward all mine to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk. This is indicated on this page.
One of the interesting things about these e-mails, is that they were all to an old e-mail address that I don’t use now. I do monitor it, in case one of my old friends hasn’t got my new one.
For financial transactions, I always use a particular e-mail that is not used elsewhere. That means that if I get an e-mail to that address, I check it thoroughly and if say it’s selling me a holiday, I then know that my bank or other financial institution might have been compromised.
Cantona For President
According to this article, one of Britain’s favourite Frenchman, wants to stand against Sarkozy to be French President.
Islington Seeks To Ban Chuggers
According to this article in the Islington Gazette, the council is thinking of banning chuggers.
About time too!
The Scottish Independence Referendum
The phone-in on BBC Radio 5 this morning, was about the possible Scottish Independence Referendum, which is being debated by David Cameron’s cabinet today.
I should say, that I don’t care much, whether Scotland is independent from the UK or not. after all, there would be one big advantage to England if Scotland were to be independent.
It would mean that the result of UK General Elections would not be skewed because of the overwhelmingly left-facing vote north of the border. It would also mean that policies for England would not be decided in a Parliament, where many of the members had no electoral connection to England, but still voted on English law. Tam Dalyell posed this as the West Lothian question and summed it up as follows.
For how long will English constituencies and English Honourable members tolerate … at least 119 Honourable Members from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland exercising an important, and probably often decisive, effect on English politics while they themselves have no say in the same matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
I agree with this and it is a running sore to many English voters. Interestingly, to sort the West Lothian Question doesn’t need Scottish independence, but just a simple change to UK law, which would say that on matters of English law, only English MPs could vote. But would the Labour Party give up this right?
There might well be other advantages to England and I won’t debate them here, but I think it is in the interest of the whole of the UK, that the problem is settled one way or another before the end of the current UK Parliament.
Some of the biggest problems do not concern either the UK or the Scottish governments.
Suppose you are the CEO of an airline with a service to the London area, that is thinking of serving a second airport in the north of the UK. Obviously, your choice is between Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. But which? Uncertainty about the status of Scotland in the UK doesn’t help your decision. From my experience of the trains between Manchester and Scotland, it would appear that Manchester is getting the business, as opposed to Glasgow or Edinburgh. Note these points too.
- In 2010, Manchester was used by slightly more passengers than Glasgow and Edinburgh combined.
- The Scottish airports are not connected directly to the rail network. Manchester is and is due to get extra connections in the next few years.
- All airports have direct air links to either Gatwick, Heathrow or Stansted.
If Scotland’s status in the UK were to be sorted long-term, it would be a much easier decision.
There are a lot of other business decisions that are suffering from the same uncertaincy.
I actually think that the biggest problem with any Scottish referendum, is that no matter how it is written, it would not give a clear-cut result, that would satisfy everybody.
There could be three possible boxes on the ballot paper for a referendum.
- Complete independence for Scotland.
- More devolution for Scotland.
- Carry on as we are now.
The Scottish Nationalists would be very happy with one and possibly two. But as time progressed, I suspect that if they didn’t get complete independence, they’d come back again and again until they got the result they wanted. The uncertainty would be bad for Scotland and not very good for the UK. So in my view David Cameron is right to insist on an early binding referendum to put the issue to bed, once and for all. It would appear that the Scottish Nationalists want the referendum in 2014, as it’s the seven hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn. I actually think that would be a recipe for a lot of trouble, that no-one wants.
The English would also like to bury the argument and most would be happy if Scotland became independent, as it would mean no Scottish interference in matters purely of interest to the English. Remember too, that the last two Scottish Prime Ministers of the UK, are not held in much affection in England. I think too, that the English would also be happy to go along with a very definite vote for the status quo, providing that the West Lothian Question was settled and there was no chance of another referendum for at least fifteen years or so.
I feel a bit sorry for the Welsh here, as they were a bit short-changed on devolution by Tony Blair. I do have this feeling though, that Wales will do well economically in the next few years, especially if they get the infrastructure a lot better.
Northern Ireland is a totally different matter and I’ve always believed that it should be united with the south. But that will probably not happen in my lifetime.
To return to the Scottish Referendum, would any political party get a result they want?
Scotland is a much more divided country than England, although both have a lot of regional pride. Edinburgh and Glasgow rarely agree and I’ve read reports in the past, about the islands not wanting independence at all, except from the rest of Scotland.
So it will be very difficult for any party to marshall the voters.
In fact, I think that in a three choice referendum, the Scots are more likely to vote strongly for maintaining the status quo.
Blair’s Tax Bill
It would appear that he’s paying his share according to this article in the Daily Mail.
But then he’s only living by the Socialist mantra.
Do as I say, not as I do!
I also wonder what Brown’s tax bill is like?
After all Britain’s most accident prone double-act since Laurel and Hardy got us into this economic mess and made sure that they created enough friends to see themselves right.
Perhaps we need a law that all members and former members of Parliament must publish accounts that the man on the Dalston Omnibus could understand.
Rick Santorum on Poland
I have just found this post on the New York Times, which describes the mess Rick Santorum has got himself into over Poland.
I thought one of the golden rules of American elections, was don’t annoy the Irish, Italian, Polish and Jewish voters.
Rick Santorum Says NHS Cost Britain Its Empire
I can’t find the original quote, but I can find this post on the New Statesman blog, which is based on facts rather than rhetoric.
But then the man does say some rather illogical or outrageous things.
There is a list of 31 here.
If you don’t have time to read all the quotes in detail, here’s the summing up.
From these quotes, we can tell that Rick Santorum is a Christian Right Wing zealot who is obsessed with violating our personal lives and privacy. He would restrict women, outlaw homosexuality, ban birth control, tell unmarried couples what they can and cannot do, would throw senior citizens into poverty, thinks Americans should suffer, and he would enter America into even more wars. He is a Bible obsessed buffoon who has no grasp on American history, believes the Bush policies are worth continuing, and to top it all off, he’s a hypocrite. Rick Santorum is a frothy mixture of hate, bigotry, stupidity, insanity, and danger that America doesn’t ever need.
When is the United States going to get a President, who will set a good example to the rest of the world?
Cameron Apologises For Tourette’s Jibe
I can’t imagine some of our recent Prime Ministers making a statement like this to the Sunday Telegraph.
“He just annoys me,” Mr Cameron said of Mr Balls — whose gestures and comments aimed at the Prime Minister have become a well-known feature at question time sessions.
“But I’m very bad, in the House of Commons, at not getting distracted, and the endless, ceaseless banter, it’s like having someone with Tourette’s permanently sitting opposite you.”
After all, he could have said something like a record stuck in a groove, which no-one would have bothered about. The trouble is that how many these days know what a record is! I think a survey wouldn’t find too many people, who knew what exactly Tourette’s syndrome is either.
The Anonymous Widower 