Salt n Vinegar

I don't know if I should break it to you but you appear to have stated there that the Westminster parliament is not as sovereign as it thinks it is. A manifesto driven general election result to instruct a government to rejoin the EU must not under any circumstances be followed up? Wow. Nice one. Jacob Reed-Mogg woul be appalled. His nanny would have to administer what Bercow would refer to as a "medicament".

Wow. Can't say I'm surprised though.

Oh, come on now. I mean who among us hasn't taken a £150,000 loan from a Russian. Let he who hasn't cast the first stone.

How would England get back in, if the majority of voters wanted that and there was a clear 'pro-rejoin' majority in the House of Commons after an election where that policy was in manifestos?

How do we get back in?

I haven't watched QT for quite a while but I might record it as we are off out tonight. Mick Lynch might be quite entertaining. On the few occasions that I can remember seeing the Tory, she has never struck me as a political heavyweight. Fiona Bruce might have to up her game tonight.

My recollection is that the default position is/was to pay the HB to the tenant - something about placing more responsibility on them to learn how to budget. I thought that it was only in cases where the tenant was judged to be incapable of managing their affairs that it would go direct to the landlord. A pal of mine who worked in the HB system said that landlords were kicking off because tenants were spending HB on booze, fags and bookies* and running up big arrears, and taking ages to evict. It certainly caused LLs more work as they has the problem of chasing tenants for cash. (*Other stereotypes are available.)

Open goal, folks. Fill yer boots...

Cheers. Who'd have thought it.

This is a question for the well informed about the House of Commons. I'm asking because I genuinely don't know, not because I do know and am trying to score a point. How often in the past say 25 years have MPs received a pay rise at or below the prevailing rate of inflation? Over the same period, what was the pay rise across the public sector?

Funny, isn't it? Dinosaurs in the House of Commons telling others to modernise their working practices. Has anyone ever watched how the voting procedures work there?

A nice wee torpedo below the water line would be to ask BoJo if everyone's increase in income is inflationary. I'm not aware that MPs increases are funded out of productivity deals. I'm also more than a little puzzled why inflation matching pay increases for employees without corresponding increases in productivity ARE inflationary while inflation matching (or exceeding) state pension annual awards without productivity increases are NOT. I can't recall hearing about productivity concessions made by old age pensioners. I must have missed it Funny old world, isn't it?

Other areas are also a bit questionable... My next door neighbour's first wife's older sister's younger lad's first job was as a rear gunner on a Niddrie milk float. All changed now, of course. Hardly anybody gets milk delivered these days.

True enough. I wasn't aware the the UK had managed to eliminate the differences between the richer and poorer areas. If this was a remarkably equal society, and independence would make it less equal, then maybe I could see a problem. As it is, with the never ending downward pressure on the living standards of workers (What... You want to keep pace with inflation? On your bike!) while at the same time apparently intending to remove restrictions on directors' pay... More equal society my arse!

For any younger ones out there who thinks folk are exaggerating, trust me rising interest rates WILL cause you problems. We had a mortgage as first time buyers in the 1980s. The mortgage rates were in the mid-teens at their height. Not funny, I assure you!

How about "Qatar World Cup sponsor"?

I understand that BoJo had to have a sinus operation this morning. Apparently his nose became too long to support its own weight and it placed too much strain on the surrounding area.

When you have removed the concept of ethics from your personal and professional lives, the idea of not needing an ethics advisor seems perfectly logical!

Let he who has not tried to push his bit on the side into a £100k job at public expense cast the first stone. (There's a pile of bricks over in the corner. Form an orderly queue.)

I find myself wondering if those discussing any particular income tax rates in Scotland are comparing like with like. Mrs Salt and Vinegar and your humble servant are retied (early!). We both receive free prescriptions, have had free bus travel since we were 60 and our younger lad had a tuition-free BSc at a Scottish University. My wife also receives an enhanced carers' allowance for our younger lad. I'm certainly not saying that these aspects are tie-breakers, but they do, to me suggest a different Scottish viewpoint on important issues and there's little point in analysing costs without also taking account of what you are "buying".

Shocked and astounded that Fraser keeps using "we" when saying "we" would lose... Presumably the "we" he refers to for the most part would be rUK. It seems tobe a case of 'f Scotland, look at what "we" would lose - land, energy, territorial waters, fish".

If any backer of the Tories starts up a company with the words "Soylent Green" in it.. ... nobody would be the least bit surprised.

Not many "good guys" in that game of "good guy/w@nk", IMO.

RUk shouldn't worry if Scotland decides to leave. After all, soon enough all these other similarly sized European countries will see the error of their ways and clamour to join up with Westminster.

On the question of rejoining the EU, don't forget one really significant issue that will weigh heavily on the minds of European leaders... The opportunity to deliver a massive GIRFUY to Westminster.