I tried to email IDS but he is a very slippery customer and, try as I might, I could not get a direct email address. I managed direct contact with both Bob Walter and David Cameron. So what is IDS afraid of? I stand to be corrected if anyone can give me a direct email address for him. Good luck Jane in your mission.
I have decided that this is a matter of integrity, mine!
Although my MP did eventually sign the prayer for Roger Gale's' EDM it does mean that he understands the points at issue.
I shall write to him and explain that in all honesty I cannot vote for him and it is not his fault, as he has done a lot of good things for the Stroud Valleys, but that of IDS and David Cameron.
once again read what i said..I did not fall for any spin..I said, no point blaming IDS when the DWP "claims"....i was just reporting was was said to justify the decision..I never said i agreed with it..
Nick, that is so funny. I must remember it. I'm all for a bt of banter and some of it is quite funny. However, a lot of it is not these days. Have a good day sir.
John Locke, I’m sorry to see you fall for the DWP’s ‘Spin’. Before 1992 with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, France’s DOMs were totally part of France, and were treated as such by what was then the EEC. From Maastricht, through the Treaty of Amsterdam, and completed by the Treaty of Lisbon (TFEU) in 2009, those DOMs have become Outermost Regions, fully integrated, with their own special status, into the EU and the EEA. The French Government had pushed that agenda forward over several decades to ensure security (and EU funding) for their former colonies. So, the DWP are totally wrong in fact, to keep arguing that it’s all the fault of the French Government that they had to include the temperatures of the DOMs with that of France, and totally wrong in Law, EU Law. The French Government reformed the Constitution of the Fifth Republic in 2008 to devolve powers from Paris to their former DOMs. The best example is the position of Mayotte - not included in the DWP temperature calculations - but France made Mayotte a DOM in 2011, and then France petitioned the other 27 Member States of the Union to accept Mayotte as the ninth Outermost Region (ORs). The French Government knows that their former DOMs are now ORs, even if the UK Government’s DWP cannot understand (or refuses) the changes which have taken place over the past twenty odd years! As a further fact, just before Mayotte became an OR, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office published a memorandum for Parliamentary consideration, which was examined by the House of Commons Scrutiny Committee, concerning the creation of the ninth OR. Although the Outermost Regions (ORs) of the EU are situated geographically, thousands of kilometres away from Brussels and the European continent, administratively they are now as much part of the EU as is Berlin or Paris. We (that is those of us who have campaigned for expat ‘rights’) have been arguing all of the above for the past eighteen months. Finally, in a letter, dated 05/03/2015, Iain Duncan Smith has admitted ORs even exist, when he wrote: “Mayotte was not included because it did not become an outermost region of the EU until 1 January 2014”! And, as a footnote, why is the DWP treating Gibraltar as a separate country, which it is not, because as Gibraltar is an overseas territory of the UK, and part of the Euro-constituency of the SW of England - the very region of the UK the DWP has used as its yardstick - there is more logic to adding the average winter temperature of Gibraltar to the SW of England!
Maureen. Me too. So very well said, but exactly as I feel. I tend not to join in when people are being gratuitously obnoxious. Pleased to have members such as yourself who simply want to discuss, unfortunately there are some who have a point to prove and feel that, on this very small platform, they can say what they would never imagine saying to ones face.
Thank you for your post, it’s really appreciated as Catharine has already expressed.
I was at a client’s office recently and on the stairs down to the meeting room there is a poster. It says:
“Try being nice. It’s too easy to be a dick.”
I sort of like that.
… Well that turned into a rude and naughty old rant, didn’t it?
Meanwhile, back on the thread… ish…
I’m not a dyed-in-the-wool leftie; I even voted Tory once, many, many years ago. All I want is a government with some heart; a human one that actually cares for people. This bunch of devious asset-stripping, back-hander grabbing, dishonest spin merchants is possibly the the worst one in my memory. I disliked Thatcher for her lack of compassion and her validation of the politics of “greed is good” but I don’t think she was so deceitful as Cameron. As for him introducing “votes for life” for us ex-pats, I don’t trust him for a second.
So, before you vote in this general erection, just remember their efforts to fill their own pockets at our expense and those of their rich, corporate chums - and remember all the broken promises.
Thank you Catharine. I usually 'stop following' a thread when the nastiness starts.
My sentiments exactly Jane. Perhaps nearer the time one of the parties will rise to the occasion. I won't hold my breath though.
Absolutely agree Maureen.
It would help if there was someone who one felt was worthy of it.
Hi Jane. I didn't say I wasn't going to vote, just that I haven't decided who to vote for yet. I always vote as I believe one has a duty to.
I cannot understand why anyone needs to be nasty. Can one not have an opinion without being shouted down? Yes, one might disagree with another's comments but, to then be rude, is totally unnecessary.
Maureen if we do not vote they will say we are not interested and bang goes any reform of the 15year limit.
Oh David! Who indeed would you vote for? I think I shall end up being in the same boat as you, at this rate. They all seem to be a bit boring, for want of a better word. I can't seem to find total empathy with any of them.
you just cant help yourself can you?
I'm sure that 'john locke' has been far worse insulted in his life....and will continue to be so. I apologize to any forum members that find 'f**k off' offensive - I don't, however, I can understand that perhaps it is for some people, so sorry to them.
As to my attacking 'john locke's' views - well I didn't did I? I don't find them 'hard to bear' - I find them irrelevant. The words of a liar have little value.....
No John, all views are welcome but, personally, it was your “I know best” attitude that grated with me. Nobody likes being lectured to by someone with no credentials. “Trust me I’m a professor” doesn’t wash.
Oooooh I've had some rowdies in my time, John, but I'm usually included! Ha. No, really I just think the language is unnecessary and personal attacks out of order. NOW I'm going to make my cuppa tea - I'll do it eventually.
John, don't bow out of the forum. This thread simply needs to get back on topic and the personal remarks stop. There are lines of appropriate behaviour and one has been crossed in my opinion. But then I do need a cup of tea ... I'll get back to you ...
Oops - just noticed. My “Sorry John” was actually to John Scully who suggested I should not get involved but I ran out of “replies” so it just popped up at the end. Still don’t want you to leave.