Paphos People

Labour has narrowed the gap between themselves and the Tories; latest opinion polls show the gap is down to 9%.
Reason of course is the Tory attack on Pensioners, and the double standard of WFA where it is to be means tested in England, but stays as is in Scotland for "political reasons".
Looks like being a close run thing, but Corbyn could be the new PM.
I can't imagine Corbyn and his mates (Diane Abbot and the like) doing much of a job negotiating Brexit, the mind boggles.
Geoff.

Maybe the tories are trying to lose the election so they won't have to negotiate as they know it won't go well.

You mean (??) create a mess by letting him win, then get the credit later for sorting it out like they did in 2010.
I hope you are wrong!
Geoff.

I have no doubt the Conservatives will win and May will be returned with a bigger majority.

The opposition of course can promise all sorts of unaffordable nonsense and indulge in all sorts of tactical voting in the hope of getting a few more votes and keeping that majority down, whilst May is handicapped by actually having to tell people some home truths (the truth often hurts and lots of people simply cannot handle it)

Corbyn, Has shot himself in the foot for not denouncing the IRA, five times he refused to condemn them and the public will not forgive him for that. The IRA issue still burns deep in peoples minds even members from his own party where aghast at this gaff. He is a pacifist (nothing wrong with that) but being a pacifist as a PM well that is another story, he probably is a very nice man but not PM material.

He's no more Prime Minister material than Frank Spencer.

At least Frank Spencer would have given us a laugh

I would prefer Frank Spencer!
But I am voting Conservative.
Geoff.

Corbyn makes me laugh

Interesting news today on the BBC....
Labour will scrap tuition fees from this Autumn for all new students and for those already in university they won't pay any fees for their future years study.

Conservative decision about the Death Tax have been warned it could be overturned by local councils as there are many such pay later schemes in operation already. So nothing to be gained from putting it in place.

All interesting stuff......

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Busy exploring England's green & pleasant lands since May 2016 after 12yrs in Cyprus.
There appears to be a misapprehension I run a photography business... it's my passion as a hobby.
I sell and buy postage stamps!

Mrs May has announced that there will be a cap on the Social Welfare proposal...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ttery.html

Wow! Bit of a 'U-turn' there.
The Didcot report suggested a £73K cap.
Geoff.

Every party has its own agenda and a manifesto which either pleases or displeases someone.
If you voted for Brexit then it just has to be Mrs May to carry it to its conclusion.
If you are a student then Mr.Corbyns promise of free tuition has to be tempting.
If you are an OAP then you need to thoroughly look at both parties intentions on handling your dotage should you end up needing expensive care.
I do not see why the young should have to pay for it through higher taxes so the only sensible alternative in my opinion is to go with the Tory plan of those who have assets above £100k pay for it out of their and their spouses estate after death. This is way better than the present system and ensures that those with children do actually have something left to leave them.
Winter fuel payment never should have gone to those who don't need it but should have been more realistic in how much keeping warm and well costs and paid accordingly.Hopefully there will be a sensible cap on income when assessing who "needs" it the most. Mine would be set at anyone with an income under £25k a year and no more than £10k in savings.
Security needs a firm hand at the wheel so again the Torys have it for me, Pacifists and idealists do not have a grip on reality in this world of ours as much as I would love to see an end to wars and weapons.
Immigration has to be the Torys, it was Blairs unrestricted movement and the bleeding hearts allowing everyone into the country that resulted in poor services, lack of housing,schools and the NHS close to collapse. I do not believe that Brexit would have won had it not been for this one huge problem.
I have friends who are immigrants and I was an immigrant when I moved to Cyprus and in each country they can be and are an asset but it is not so with every immigrant. Those who commit criminal acts, bleed the welfare system dry, those who would change the way of life in the country they move to and those who have no intention of abiding by that countries rules or integrate with its people. those none of us want or need.
Soap box moment over.

Excellent post Beverley.
Regards the care home/social care cap this makes good sense and should have been in the manifesto in the first place!
As it was a millionaire (e.g. owning a house in central London) with years of dementia in a care home could lose the lot except for £100K.
Now he/she stands to have to pay only up to the cap level, whatever that is.
We need to know what it is BEFORE the Election, not have to wait longer for Mrs May's Green Paper.
And how come WFA recipients in England are to be means tested for it, but not in Scotland?
WFA is not a devolved issue.
Those pensioners living in the EU like me don't get WFA at all - how fair is THAT?
Geoff.

Geoff, you just do not magic up a Green paper in a couple of weeks....be realistic! The promise has been made and now we have to have a little trust...and I know who I would rather trust...and it is perfectly fair you do not get the WFA, that issue was settled quite a while ago, although I do agree that the Rules for those receiving it in th UK should apply across the board.

So strong and stable means a u turn on a manifesto less than a week old. Just like the u turn on self employed insurance contributions in the budget.The biggest u turn: there will be no early election.Can you believe anything this woman says? Let's close the stable door before the horse bolts and get the tories out.

A U Turn ? Have you actually read the Conservative Manifesto paper, or do you just rely on the likes of Corbyn or Mrs Sturgeon to base your views? I suspect the latter...it is clear in the paper that a Green Paper will be produced to thrash out the detail of the pledge....and yes I believe most, if not all Mrs May has to say, she is a strong principled Woman who can actually lead the country to success unlike Corbyn who will destroy the country, it's traditions and values and in the process leave it open to aggression and bankrupt it....now as a Scotsman blinkered by your desire to break up the Union and return to the dark ages....that probably suits you.

Beverley & Hudswell ....... GOOD POSTS !

I agree and I too am very annoyed that Scotland may continue getting the WFA regardless of income while we don't. They already enjoy free university and free prescriptions and free elderly care all subsidised by Westminster which is in my opinion grossly unfair.
Let the Scots have their referendum and if they vote out then we in England will have much more to spend on our services.
A quick slightly off topic comment. When P Hammond suggested the NI for self employed be bought in line with those on PAYE I was very happy and thought it a good idea. My point being is that there are thousands of self employed creaming off a lot of their earnings undeclared that they pay no tax on. This way the treasury is getting something off them. Anybody that says they have never paid anyone " cash in hand no receipt" is probably telling porkies?

The Scottish Government is funded by taking whatever the UK spends on devolved matters (Healthcare/Law/Education/etc), reducing it down to roughly the population share of Scotland and then writing a big cheque for that amount and giving it to Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government then decides how it wants to spend that money on devolved matters.

It's chosen to spend on free prescriptions. The rest of the UK doesn't. Likewise with free university education. It's a matter of priorities.

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Dave
Moira And Dave

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

You mean like the once in a generation referendum? Oh sorry I thought you meant that two faced hypocrite running Scotland. Easy mistake to make when it comes to talking about a lying conniving two faced politician.

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And the Oscar goes to........

That woman is a danger not only to The UK, but also to "her" country of Scotland.
Alan, can I please suggest you become a politician. I will be the first to vote for you!!!

Where does Westminster get their revenues from? Possibly oil , possibly whisky. Why does the Barnett Formula give Scotland less to Scotland than they get in revenue. Scotland manages to balance it's budget every year while the tories treble the U.K debt in 7 years.

Not saying that the Scottish government is wrong Dave just that it isn't fair . Maybe if Scotland had dumped on it the amount of free loaders, Asylum seekers, refugees etc etc etc that England has it probably would not be able to afford to do what they do now.

Tell that to the Scottish Nurse who took Sturgeon to task over the lack of Funding to Scotland's NHS on live TV, who was then castigated by an SNP MP for being a Tory Councillers wife, she wasn't, the MP retracted her abuse...The SNP are no better than the BNP. A hateful party that will run Scotland into the dirt if they can...luckily the majority of the Scottish people voted to remain in the Union, because they know under SNP rule the would be a failed state....get over yourself....the oil is a busted flush...and I actually prefer Irish whisky...it doesn't stick in the throat so much....if they are not careful, the Raciest minority in Scotland will bring it down.

It would be interesting to see what these Scottish universities are teaching Scots kids for "free." ? I suspect the falling standards at Scottish primary and secondary level might mean they are going there to learn to read and write ?

You might want to read this article. Sadly, it wasn't written by Sturgeon or her cronies so you probably won't believe it but that's up to you.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/201 ... nce-would/

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And the Oscar goes to........

Seems Corbyn has shown his true colours in the aftermath of the atrocities of Manchester blaming it on the UKs involvement in the Middle East conflicts

The article talks of Scotland's"share" of North Sea oil revenues but with independence their share would increase as the majority of the oil is in Scottish waters.

Corbyn will do absolutely anything for votes, even something as despicable as this. Doesn't the idiot realise it was Blair, as a Labour leader that connived with the USA's Bush to wage war on a country because of their chemical weapons, of which none have ever been found!

For goodness sake! You have had a referendum. The result was a ruddy big "NO" to it. How long do you need to go on in Scotland wasting everybody's time and money. Doesn't the majority that didn't want independence count? I didn't want Brexit, but have accepted the majority did!!!!!!! AAAArgh!

Possibly it could even be called "retaliation"?

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Busy exploring England's green & pleasant lands since May 2016 after 12yrs in Cyprus.
There appears to be a misapprehension I run a photography business... it's my passion as a hobby.
I sell and buy postage stamps!

If he should win then living here in Cyprus will be safer than the UK, forbid there was an incident can you imagine him dealing with it, well let me see shall I talk to the terrorists, well I am not using armed police or troops, MI5 & 6 its your fault, maybe its someone else's problem, a real scary thought.

Except of course there were Islamist attacks on "The West" well before there was any intervention in the Middle East.
And ISIS themselves state that their attacks are nothing to with Western conflict in the Middle East; they are simply
because they hate Western civilisation.

.... and there have been terrorist attacks in EU countries that were NOT involved in middle east conflicts!

IMHO Corbyn is a traitor pure & simple.

If there were to be any serious conflict, he & most of his 'comrades' would be on the plane to mother Russia before you realised they were gone!

Anyone thinking he has the UK's best interests at heart is frankly deluded.

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I'll be back!

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All things are possible

And ........

...... anyone who thinks that May has the UK citizens best interests at heart is also SERIOUSLY DELUDED.

Her only interest is lining the pockets of her puppet masters. Those people used to be wealthy landowners and city bankers. Nowadays, they are more likely to hail from America, Shanghai, Dubai or, even, Moscow.

Stong and Stable, my arm-pit.

artlin, can you prove what you have just said? to me it is just someone with a grudge, as for Corbyn most of what was said here can be proven and is well documented.

Proven? Well documented? Is it well documented that Corbyn is actually a RUSSIAN and that he is a TRAITOR?

Can you please show is the links for those FACTS?

I forgot to include MR. MAY in my list of puppet masters. Executive director in a multi trillion pound investment oganisation who would be hit hard by increase in corporation tax.

artlin quote :- "Is it well documented that Corbyn is actually a RUSSIAN and that he is a TRAITOR?"

Don't know where you got this from .... but the second part is accurate !

i got it from TOPGUN. I would like to know where he got it from.

Is it possible to bring about some sensibility to this thread please, instead of all the accusations and innuendo?

What? Is this the same Scotland that has a debt of approx £15 billions and rising, with a deficit around double that of the UK?

How can Scotland have a debt when it is not allowed to borrow? This is another Westminster myth like the one that they subsidise Scotland.

Simply my conclusion artlin, given the miriad of reports in the media about his 'cuddling up' to the IRA terrorists & lack of empathy with UK defence strategy. Likewise Blair, for even more serious reasons such as the WMD myths & the infamous 'Letters' to senior IRA militants such as Adams.

Frankly I find it difficult to understand why anyone can arrive at any other conclusion, given the information presented & therefore must assume that they can only live in denial of the well documented facts.

By the way, with my comment "mother Russia" I was making a reference to his communist sympathies, rather than his country of birth. Sorry for the confusion it apparently caused you.

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I'll be back!

Ahhh, so, you made it up.

Did you also make up the "well documented facts" that you refer to?

Apology accepted.

I am also sure that, by the same account, when the Brexit deal goes boobs up, as it surely will, the May woman will go scuttling off to her millionaire foreign friends and probably retire to the Maldives, also in denial.

We can all have our opinions!!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... mlScotland almost £15 billion in debt and its deficit is almost twice as large as the UK as a whole, say new figures

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An item over a year old. It ignores the fact that if you cannot borrow you cannot have debt.

Are you saying Scotland has become debt free in one year? Irrespective of borrowing, Scotland was as of one year ago in debt. Here are figures from march 2017, as per Scottish Govt. estimates.The Scottish government's latest annual estimate puts the country's deficit at £15bn or 9.5pc of GDP. This would be comfortably the worst score for any EU member state.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/201 ... nce-would/

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And the Oscar goes to........