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Some tell us that EU grants give us employment. The EU has no money of course, it’s just a layer of bureaucracy that churns our own money around, and gives us back less than we gave it. This though, is a list of job and capacity loss that the UK has experienced as a direct result […]
Let me state my personal position clearly. I don’t like hunting. I don’t like the idea of killing for gratuitous pleasure. I remember following the Boxing Day hunt as a child. A salutary, horrible 1970s experience spent battling biting sleet, when all I wanted to do was get back to my Airfix models, liquorice […]
The mysterious matter of Ledger and Simmons continues. Those who have followed the business for the past three days or so via Twitter will be either familiar with it by now, or emotionally drained and bored senseless. I apologise if the latter! I just telephoned the landline number which was supposed to belong to Ledger […]
Those who know me will know that I’m neither clever or funny enough to come up with these, so I won’t even try. They were sent to me by someone who is equally as boring and dull, so I know he didn’t either. Neither of us knows then. When I first saw these, about fifteen-twenty […]
Back in the noughties, I had cause to start campaigning for the rights of children. Nothing too big, just one or two things that irked me, and mainly because I had spent a number of years in rehab before being discharged with (let’s face it) a nice tax free pension. This was just as Help […]
Thanks for volunteering to help me. The service has been a long, long time in the making and what you’ll be looking at is going to be the back office – the engine room. It’s the process by which a client will see the shop window and what he/she’ll see when they click through to […]
Mine is an issue of two problems with Vodafone, the second linked to the first. As a result of the second, I am unable to make outgoing calls on my phone despite Vodafone conceding the fault has been caused by it. Away from home, and despite Vodafone knowing that my partner was in a serous […]
Morning John! I thought I’d respond without the restrictions of 140 characters. And I’m doing it this way because it’s important to be able to see through just the numbers. This is about understanding the value of something too. There is an implication that anyone who has access to a pension pot of £1m is […]
It’s official. Chaps with chest bling are more attractive to women, according to this study by the University of Southampton. It actually spent useful time and effort confirming what we all knew anyway, by presenting women with a number of hypothetical male profiles of men, representing heroism in warfare, sport and business. So, ladies, hold yourselves […]
When? When you’re a member of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme that is, when you’re awarded the standard (these days) 1% but when you’ll undoubtedly get almost two or three times that added to your food or accommodation bill, and when.. oh yes, and when your pension scheme stops being ‘contracted out’. The chances are, by […]
Mark Hoban MP was hauled over the coals for his involvement in the expenses scandal and he has been castigated for ‘rebranding destitution’ as welfare reform. But his retirement proposals, published by Reform, make for interesting reading, is he onto something? The current pension ‘freedoms’ (if ever there was a misnomer) compel savers to make […]
At least I put my money where my mouth is. But did I do it as wisely as I might? I calculated. With average saving rates it could have grown to 83p, but what may have cost me 25p then (an Airfix model or a car magazine I guess) would now cost me in the […]
AFPS widows and widowers, and the HCMF. Mrs Anna Soubry, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans. Minister, The news that, from April 2015, military widows and widowers will retain a pension for life, even if they remarry or cohabit is to be welcomed. This new measure will help many, […]
“Ok, we go”. 3 different little words that meant so much 70 years ago. This weekend, we remember the passing of 70 years since D-Day. Look at the photo. “Margie, Kath, Elsie”, all people who held out so much hope for a future and names all lost now, faded, like their men, into the […]
If anyone had to endure the BBC’s coverage of domestic abuse yesterday, watching all the so called charity experts, seeing the subliminal on screen logos of elegant, female hands pleading for help, listening to the police recordings of 999 calls and enduring social workers share the might of their intellect and collective insight, you’d think […]
Mark Hoban’s statement that the biggest overhaul to financial services had nothing to do with him is frustrating and worrying. Politicians are motivated primarily by the desire to avoid blame for unpopularity rather than by claiming credit for popular decisions. Turner’s auto-enrolment, Dilnot on long-term care and the Independent Commission on Banking.. all good stuff, […]
Personal finances have always been an individual responsibility. However, serving personnel have experienced difficulty in the past accessing commercial products and services, due in part to their mobility and time spent outside the UK, including at BFPO addresses. I tap away, remembering the difficulties I experienced whilst serving at Akrotiri and Bruggen. One aspect of […]
Looks nice enough, a bit lardy on the thighs maybe.. but why? It isn’t even a hatchback – just because you can keep churning out new and different models, does that mean you should? Slavish, obsequious pandering to every imaginable niche and need is annoying, patronising and dilutes brand essence. If I want a car […]
Cue talk of skid marks – what they don’t tell you is that this was the third take. Obviously, the Dutch army isn’t short of recruits.
