The 2015 Popularity Contest (aka UK General Election )

[Clint Planet]

So is it fair or not? I've got absolutely no idea.

Perhaps if a right-wing think tank did some research on it....

 

[Clint Planet]

.....but I didn't ask you if you knew it was fair. I'm asking for your opinion, not some facts.

Do you think it's fair?

 

[peteblue]

Wouldn't it be nice if a 'think tank' was neither left nor right, just a 'think tank'..........

 

[roydo]

Wouldn't it be nice if a 'think tank' was neither left nor right, just a 'think tank'..........

Who would fund them?

 

[bring the ghost on]

So is it fair or not? I've got absolutely no idea.

It's not, but I'll let you have your naivety which happens to work in favour of your political persuasion ;-)

 

[Clint Planet]

Re your last point, I've no doubt about that at all. Variance is a fact of life unfortunately, and is such even in state systems such as the NHS which aim to offer a similar level of care wherever you are. As human beings aren't machines I don't think you'll ever eradicate variance completely, so the question then becomes what can you do about it? When you discover a disaster, what happens then? That's the only way the 'system' as a whole continues to improve.

That's quite a statement (and very much a matter of opinion, not fact).

 

[peteblue]

Who would fund them?

...and there we have the nub of the problem......he who pays the piper calls the tune....

 

[Naiskill]

When you take your support for a political party too far...

 

[daylightrobber]

...and there we have the nub of the problem......he who pays the piper calls the tune....

That'll be the likes of..

Michael Davis (£509,000) — “Mick the miner” trousered £75m when his Xstrata mining company was sold this year. While the company’s registered office is in London, it is headquartered in the Swiss tax haven of Zug. The business which bought out Xstrata, Glencore, is not only based in Zug but also faces allegations of using suspect insurance practices to avoid tax.

David Rowland (£438,000) — A former Conservative Party treasurer, David moved from the tax haven of Guernsey to the UK specifically so he could donate to the Tories.

James Lupton (£255,000) — Thecurrent Tory co-treasurer works for Greenhill, through which he is a partner in Greenhill & Co. International LLP alongside the company’s vehicle based in the Cayman Islands. Lupton also holds a stake in Vestra Wealth, which offers its clients advice on “tax-planning vehicles”.

Andrew Law (£247,000) — The chairman and CEO of one of the world’slargest hedge funds, Caxton Associates. One of its main investment vehicles is Caxton International, headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Stanley Fink (£228,000) — The “godfather of the UK hedge fund industry”, whose Man Group has two principal subsidiaries in Switzerland. The majority of its subsidiaries operate from tax havens.

JCB Research (£187,500) — JCB is owned by digger magnate Anthony Bamford (who had a peerage blocked in 2010 after the taxman raised apparent concerns). This most British of manufacturers is actually controlled by aholding company based in the Hague —Transmissions & Engineering Services Netherlands Bv.

Flowidea Ltd (£144,950) — Controlled by Henry Angest, a critic of the UK’s“punitive tax system”, which may have something to do with the fact that its parent companies seem to be based inJersey and the Bahamas.

Lycamobile UK (£119,000) — Funded by T-Mobile subsidiaries in the Netherlands.

IPGL (£105,000) — Private equity company which structures investments in British firms via intermediaries (such as Incap Finance and Incap Gaming) in theNetherlands.

Adrian Beecroft (£101,000) — Private equity boss boss known for his involvement with Dawn Capital and Apax Partners, the latter of which advised theGuardian to use an offshore vehicle based in the Caymans for the purchase of magazine titles.

Chris Rokos (£99,000) — Co-founder of Europe’s second largest hedge fund,Brevan Howard, whose subsidiaries include Brevan Howard Offshore, based in the Caymans.

Mark Samworth (£90,000) — This support from the boss of food firm Ginster’s follows on from previous hand-outs, notably the £100,000 donated after Osborne hit his rivals with a “pasty tax” on their hot pasties. Despite Ginsters burgeoning their Cornish credentials, the parent company of the operation is based not in Cornwall but the, errr, low-tax jurisdiction of Jersey.

GR Software and Research (£87,000) — With directors including the husband ofTory MP Andrea Leadsom, this company is owned by the mysterious PANS (UK) Holdings Ltd, which is not a company registered in the UK

All Tory party donors.

 

[peteblue]

Len McClusky....owner of the labour Party.........

 

[roydo]

Len McClusky....owner of the labour Party.........

lollol

 

[daylightrobber]

Len McClusky....owner of the labour Party.........

Oh aye, that's right. Len McCluskey has shaped government policy over the last 5 years. Silly me.

 

[peteblue]

Actually it's quite impressive how Len McCluskey can boss Labour around, considering he got voted in with just 144,570 votes out of union with a 3,000,000 membership........isn't it scary that a couple of hundred thousand votes across the UK can give us McCluskey and Alex Salmond and that they will be the ones running the country...........

 

[Whistlin' Dixie]

When you take your support for a political party too far...

So that's what became of eraserhead?!

 

[peteblue]

Oh aye, that's right. Len McCluskey has shaped government policy over the last 5 years. Silly me.

No he hasn't mate, because the Conservatives have been in power. He did however decide who would lead the Labour Party.........