The Politics Thread 4

[Lagamorph]

What amazed me was that the limit was £100 every 20 seconds. How can anyone possibly think that was ok?

[Tineash]

Fixed odds betting terminals aren't just bad for the gambling addict. They're great for criminals to easily and quickly launder large amounts of money. Very efficient method. Glad they've been reduced.

Not very libertarian of you, shouldn't the market decide?

[Grumpy David]

Fixed odds betting terminals aren't just bad for the gambling addict. They're great for criminals to easily and quickly launder large amounts of money. Very efficient method. Glad they've been reduced.

Not very libertarian of you, shouldn't the market decide?

I don't want a free market for healthcare, guns, gambling etc.

Only Siths deal in Absolutes.

[Grumpy David]

Is Jeremy Corbyn gammon?

[Tineash]

reported for racial slur

[Moggy]

Corbyn has some gammon like qualities, but overall he doesn’t get the gammon label.

He’s white, old, red faced and pro Brexit. But he also cares about the poor, isn’t racist and he wants to empower the youth not middle aged and middle class men.

[Lagamorph]

But he also cares about the poor, isn’t racist and he wants to empower the youth not middle aged and middle class men.

As long as they aren't Jewish anyway

[Hexx]

I’ve been sunburnt into looking like a gammon

[Moggy]

But he also cares about the poor, isn’t racist and he wants to empower the youth not middle aged and middle class men.

As long as they aren't Jewish anyway

Labour might have a problem with anti-semites but I don’t think Corbyn is one.

[That's not a growth]

Fixed odds betting terminals aren't just bad for the gambling addict. They're great for criminals to easily and quickly launder large amounts of money. Very efficient method. Glad they've been reduced.

How would you launder money here? They'd need a guarantee on a return for it to be worth while wouldn't they? The odds couldn't have been that good that it was worth pouring money in the things at a steady rate for a certain percentage of a return, could it?

[Hypes]

Gammon is right wing

[Grumpy David]

Fixed odds betting terminals aren't just bad for the gambling addict. They're great for criminals to easily and quickly launder large amounts of money. Very efficient method. Glad they've been reduced.

How would you launder money here? They'd need a guarantee on a return for it to be worth while wouldn't they? The odds couldn't have been that good that it was worth pouring money in the things at a steady rate for a certain percentage of a return, could it?

Gambling winnings are tax free.

Gambling cleans dirty money, but cleaning money almost always means losing some of it. By making safe bets (betting on red and black etc), you lose a tiny amount of money, approx 5%. Far less than income tax and NI if you were trying to pretend it was self employed earnings.

Dealers feed their drug money through the machines, losing a little and then cashing out with the vast majority of their stake, James says. They can then collect a printed ticket showing they have gambled that day – meaning that if stopped by police, they can answer questions about why an apparently unemployed young man carries hundreds of pounds in rolled-up cash.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/08/gambling-machines-drug-money-laundering-bookies

It's a few years old but I still remember this article. Explains a lot of the strategy.

[Meep]

Gammon is not common in lefties. Our diet of tofu and lentils doesn't elevate blood pressure.

[Lagamorph]

The money laundering around here is mostly done through take aways. There's nowhere near enough business for so many and it's a pretty much open secret that they're mostly just fronts.

[KK]

- The Observer

Tories take four-point lead over Labour in latest survey

The Tories have opened up a four-point lead over Labour – the biggest since last year’s general election – as Remain voters appear to be losing faith in the ability of Jeremy Corbyn’s party to handle Brexit.

The latest monthly Opinium/Observer poll puts the Conservatives on 43% (up three points) while Labour is down one on 39%. The Liberal Democrats are on 6% (down one), two ahead of Ukip (also down one).

Despite the improvement in the Conservatives’ overall support, the leadership ratings of the two party leaders remain little changed.

The rating for Theresa May remains the same as a month ago (-8%, the result of subtracting the number of people who think she is doing badly from those who think she is performing well). Corbyn has improved slightly from -19% last month to -18% this month.

The Lib Dem leader, Sir Vince Cable, has enjoyed a marked surge since the local elections earlier this month, improving his rating from -18% in April to -8% now.

When voters are asked who would make the best prime minister, May’s lead has risen from 12 to 13 points over the past month, with 36% saying they would prefer her in Number 10, against 23% for Corbyn.

On Brexit, both leaders are struggling to impress, but May again comes out ahead. Some 32% approve of the way the prime minister is handling Brexit against 44% who disapprove. Just 19% approve of Corbyn’s performance on Brexit compared with 48% who disapprove.

Strikingly, May appears to be impressing far more leave voters than Corbyn is enthusing remainers – 40% of leavers back May over Brexit, while only 26% of remainers think Corbyn is doing well on the issue.

The polling suggests opinion is shifting in favour of the UK staying in the single market, a position strongly opposed by most Tories.

Corbyn has also refused to back staying in the single market, saying its membership could threaten many of the economic policies Labour wishes to implement if and when it comes to power. In January 2017, only 32% of voters said staying in the single market should be prioritised over ending freedom of movement. Now 40% take that view.

Support for a second referendum has remained unchanged since a year ago with 37% backing the idea and 49% opposing it.

[Lagamorph]

The fact that any remainers think Corbyn is doing a good job is baffling given his pro-hard brexit stance.

[Vermilion]

Gammon is not common in lefties. Our diet of daily bs doesn't elevate blood pressure.

Aye, that is true.

[Meep]

The money laundering around here is mostly done through take aways. There's nowhere near enough business for so many and it's a pretty much open secret that they're mostly just fronts.

From what I have read - although admittedly I am not a business expert - fast food is one of the few growing high street businesses. A proliferation of them around most urban areas is normal from what I have observed in recent years. Unless they are all part of a nationwide laundering effort...

Coincidentally, obesity amongst younger people has also become markedly worse recently for what I am sure are completely unrelated causes.

[KK]

When it did become the norm to let school kids out at lunch time anyway, and why do parents give their children so much money they can buy a Domino's.

Surely the school canteen should also be cheaper than what any of the high street outlets can provide.

This argument fruit and veg is too expensive is absolute bollocks however, but then so is Jamie Oliver's latest jaunt to Scotland attempting to ban BOGOF pizza deals. Poor people are not getting fat on £20 pizzas you cretin. All he's trying to do is make it even worse value than it is already.

[That]

Gammon is not common in lefties. Our diet of daily bs doesn't elevate blood pressure.

Aye, that is true.

You took an amusing self-deprecating joke and really sucked all that humour out. Well played I guess.