General UK politics VIII - The Last Tory

[jimbob]

Flipping heck, they don't half play a long game don't they....

Encouraging the Nazis to invade and occupy Norway and force the Norwegian government into exile; getting the Nazis to lose the war so that the Norwegian government feel grateful enough to send us a tree every year and then manipulating the taste of the British public so that the tree no longer conforms to current standards.

Well over 80 years of effort to make a few gammons feel a wee bit dissatisfied. Against that kind of commitment, what chance do we have.

If only it was that straightforward

 

[Carrot Flower King]

Flipping heck, they don't half play a long game don't they....

Encouraging the Nazis to invade and occupy Norway and force the Norwegian government into exile; getting the Nazis to lose the war so that the Norwegian government feel grateful enough to send us a tree every year and then manipulating the taste of the British public so that the tree no longer conforms to current standards.

Well over 80 years of effort to make a few gammons feel a wee bit dissatisfied. Against that kind of commitment, what chance do we have.

It's so cunning that I suspect the hand of Baldrick in it.

Has the tree been searched for hidden turnips?

 

[welshdean]

Flipping heck, they don't half play a long game don't they....

Encouraging the Nazis to invade and occupy Norway and force the Norwegian government into exile; getting the Nazis to lose the war so that the Norwegian government feel grateful enough to send us a tree every year and then manipulating the taste of the British public so that the tree no longer conforms to current standards.

Well over 80 years of effort to make a few gammons feel a wee bit dissatisfied. Against that kind of commitment, what chance do we have.

Jesus, the conniving bastards, you couldn't make it up.

 

[Andy_Ross]

One of England's top-rated water companies is using an accounting trick to artificially inflate its balance sheet by more than a billion pounds, BBC Panorama has discovered.

Severn Trent Water claims that an investment is worth £1.68bn in its accounts, when in reality it has no value to the overall business.
The made-up money makes the company appear more financially robust and helps to support its bumper payouts to shareholders.
Severn Trent denies the accounts are misleading and says Panorama's allegations are "completely inaccurate".

Major water company uses accounting trick to inflate balance sheet by £1.68bn

A substantial Severn Trent Water investment is based on IOU notes - BBC Panorama finds.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[P.J. Denyer]

Flipping heck, they don't half play a long game don't they....

Encouraging the Nazis to invade and occupy Norway and force the Norwegian government into exile; getting the Nazis to lose the war so that the Norwegian government feel grateful enough to send us a tree every year and then manipulating the taste of the British public so that the tree no longer conforms to current standards.

Well over 80 years of effort to make a few gammons feel a wee bit dissatisfied. Against that kind of commitment, what chance do we have.

These are the people who think that Birmingham's hosting of an abso-◊◊◊◊◊◊◊-lutely huge Xmas market in Birmingham every year is a plot to cancel.Christmas.

 

[The Don]

One of England's top-rated water companies is using an accounting trick to artificially inflate its balance sheet by more than a billion pounds, BBC Panorama has discovered.

Severn Trent Water claims that an investment is worth £1.68bn in its accounts, when in reality it has no value to the overall business.
The made-up money makes the company appear more financially robust and helps to support its bumper payouts to shareholders.
Severn Trent denies the accounts are misleading and says Panorama's allegations are "completely inaccurate".

Major water company uses accounting trick to inflate balance sheet by £1.68bn

A substantial Severn Trent Water investment is based on IOU notes - BBC Panorama finds.

www.bbc.co.uk

I worked at a number of water industry clients in the late 90s and early 00s. Creative accounting to inflate the value of the asset base was SOP because the regulator allowed bills to be set based on an agreed return on capital employed. The more valuable the asset base appeared, the more money you could make.

It actually wasted money in the real world. Using your own staff to do work couldn't be capitalised (and couldn't be classed as an investment in the asset base). Employing consultants at a far higher cost could. They laid off swathes of their best engineers and then got many of them straight back in as contractors. It wasted tens of millions a year paying well over the odds for the same expertise.

 

[Norman Alexander]

One of England's top-rated water companies is using an accounting trick to artificially inflate its balance sheet by more than a billion pounds, BBC Panorama has discovered.

Severn Trent Water claims that an investment is worth £1.68bn in its accounts, when in reality it has no value to the overall business.
The made-up money makes the company appear more financially robust and helps to support its bumper payouts to shareholders.
Severn Trent denies the accounts are misleading and says Panorama's allegations are "completely inaccurate".

Major water company uses accounting trick to inflate balance sheet by £1.68bn

A substantial Severn Trent Water investment is based on IOU notes - BBC Panorama finds.

www.bbc.co.uk

Wow. Looks like a circular IOU, which I seem to recall was an illegal accounting practice. Certainly they are artificially inflating the value of the company massively to deceive the shareholders, and paying out unsustainable dividends. Time for the receivers to be sent in?

 

[Norman Alexander]

Heh! A friend just described this as follows: Two broke guys meet in the street. One says to the other, "I'll write you an IOU for a billion dollars. Then you write one for me so we are even. Then we will both have a billion dollars in assets, and we can go to the bank and get plenty of money to dine at The Ritz tonight!"

 

[Pixel42]

The latest cost of Brexit is about to hit – and voters are watching. Will Labour act? | Polly Toynbee

New EU trade regulations will cause further pain for the UK. Starmer’s talk of breaking down barriers must be more than warm words, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

www.theguardian.com

British food exports to the EU have fallen by £3bn a year according to the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy, and Brexit trading barriers cost each household £210 extra for food in the two years up to 2021. The Office for National Statistics says Brexit cost the UK £1m an hour in 2022. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates Brexit will cause UK trade to fall by 15%. Replicating EU regulators, as for medicines and chemicals, is expensive. Aggravations abound: unsafe tap water is the latest risk because the UK can no longer access EU labs for testing. All this percolates through to voters.

 

[The Don]

The latest cost of Brexit is about to hit – and voters are watching. Will Labour act? | Polly Toynbee

New EU trade regulations will cause further pain for the UK. Starmer’s talk of breaking down barriers must be more than warm words, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

www.theguardian.com

Those sunlit uplands will become apparent in 40 or so years if Rees-Mogg is right.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

Gammons all going mad about the Trafalgar Square tree and it's sad pathetic appearance.
Apparently it's an insult to Christmas by Khan and his Muslim cronies.

Andrew Neil leading the charge
"When it comes to Christmas Trees London really needs to up its game."

And Reform MP James McMurdoc getting involved
"I’m glad someone said it. I didn’t want to be negative but our wonky corn on the cob is a tad underwhelming"

I thought everyone knows it's a gift from Norway to Britain as a thank you for help in WW2 and it's decorated in traditional Norwegian style.

You're talking about Andrew Neill and the wife beater Reform MP here. Their combined knowledge could be written on the head of a sewing needle in 72 point bold and you'd still have plenty of space left over.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

One of England's top-rated water companies is using an accounting trick to artificially inflate its balance sheet by more than a billion pounds, BBC Panorama has discovered.

Severn Trent Water claims that an investment is worth £1.68bn in its accounts, when in reality it has no value to the overall business.
The made-up money makes the company appear more financially robust and helps to support its bumper payouts to shareholders.
Severn Trent denies the accounts are misleading and says Panorama's allegations are "completely inaccurate".

Major water company uses accounting trick to inflate balance sheet by £1.68bn

A substantial Severn Trent Water investment is based on IOU notes - BBC Panorama finds.

www.bbc.co.uk

That's capitalism for you.

 

[Cosmic Yak]

That's capitalism for you.

No, that's just dishonesty.

 

[3point14]

That's capitalism for you.

I struggle to see how it can be. Can I have two different sets of water pipes into and out of my house and throw a switch when one is cheaper or provides a better service than the other?

It's faux capitalism. There's zero consumer choice.

 

[Vixen]

London today: I hate that farmers consider themselves a special category with their 'No Farmers No Food' slogan.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1866775453245247850

How about, 'No Accountants No Tax Returns' or 'No Tax Advisers no Tax Avoidance Schemes'.

Doesn't quite work, does it?

'No Nurses No Helping Your Kids Get Born'; 'No Shop Assistants, No Shops'' 'No Train Drivers No Trains Running'' 'No Pilots' [- that's quite enough ~ Ed]

 

[Andy_Ross]

According to the Sun 'affordability checks' and other restrictions on betting are destroying the horse racing industry and Starmer had to scrap them all to save it.
Government 'nanny state' interference in the gambling industry are restrictions on freedom and it should be up to the individual to take responsibility for their behaviour.

 

[3point14]

According to the Sun 'affordability checks' and other restrictions on betting are destroying the horse racing industry and Starmer had to scrap them all to save it.
Government 'nanny state' interference in the gambling industry are restrictions on freedom and it should be up to the individual to take responsibility for their behaviour.

Does that go for drugs too?

 

[Norman Alexander]

According to the Sun 'affordability checks' and other restrictions on betting are destroying the horse racing industry and Starmer had to scrap them all to save it.
Government 'nanny state' interference in the gambling industry are restrictions on freedom and it should be up to the individual to take responsibility for their behaviour.

Does that go for burning the Sun offices to the ground and pissing on the ashes?

 

[Carrot Flower King]

Does that go for burning the Sun offices to the ground and pissing on the ashes?

I wouldn't waste my precious bodily fluids on the Sun, as General Jack D. Ripper nearly said.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

I struggle to see how it can be. Can I have two different sets of water pipes into and out of my house and throw a switch when one is cheaper or provides a better service than the other?

It's faux capitalism. There's zero consumer choice.

Consumer choice has no place in capitalism. The only rule of capitalism is that the owners of capital should have free rein over whatever is done with their capital.

Given the utter lack of meaningful regulation of the water companies they are a perfect example of what capitalism does.