Vince has sold out his beliefs for a brief sniff of power, just like the rest of them.

Been making that point for a while. The trappings of power have turned them mad. Limousines, private offices, civil servants at their beck and call, protection officers (for some) are not going to be given up lightly. Standing up for principles goes out the window when you see your future going with them if the coalition breaks down. They'll cling on as long as they can and make out they're a "control" on the Tories, when in reality they'll go with whatever will keep the limo ready for them.

Clegg has basically killed the Lib Dems, and we're watching the death throes.

The main point as far as the caravan industry goes is that its not so much the increase in vat from 17.5 to 20 percent, its the application of a 20% levy on their retail price which wasn't there previously, mobile homes being zero rated until one of the posh boys spotted it and decided that the sort of people who take caravan holidays weren't his type and really ought to start paying VAT from now on, its win/win, the posh boys don't get hit but the plebs do, again.

Indeed and it goes deeper than it pretty much just screwing the caravan industry and therefore the construction industry in Hull(Which makes around 95% of the bloody things) It is the expected downturn in caravan camps(From what I have read a 30-50% hit).
So like I said how can you in the one breath threaten to slaughter a HUGE % of the holiday market and the attractions that go with it and then in the next breath state that getting the economy going is a priority.

And the worst of it is that the figures about how much it will kill the holiday market are from the governments own consultants.

Anyway, back to the risk register.

There really is no need to publish it, all anyone has to do is look to the US and you'll see just what we can all look forward to.

in far higher numbers than usual and the default rate on new vans purchased last autumn has also never been higher, this means a higher than usual flood earlier of 2nd user vans hitting the market and taking sales away from the new ones, coupled with more and more families knowing they can only ever afford this kind of holiday for the next few years, with more and more limited supply means prices rise and less people can afford to take breaks.

HMG is saying that it is untenable that the risk register be made public because they need to ensire that civil servants can speak freely about risks etc.
That is normally the case.

But in this case ...

a) The policy was announced BEFORE the register was drawn up (normally it's the other way round, when ideas are being bounced around) ... in this case the risk register is a Response to a policy rather than a list of risks in the light of which a policy could be framed.

b) The list could easily be anonymised so the public don't see who said what, but we could still see what the highlighted risks were (i.e. what risks HMG has decided were secondary to pursuit of their idealogy).

c) Precedent is not always a great reason.

Went to see Dr Phil Hammond last night – very, very funny. But on the new Act, suffice it to say he ain't impressed.

Iliked tb's twitter comment: "first time I've ever paid up-front to see a doctor - bloody tories"

Indeed.

This Tory led govenment is running rough shod over everything and getting away with it simply because as a nation we let it happen and just take it on the chin. I fear for the medical care in this country, more so for the elderly population with the proposed care at home policy which I believe is a disaster waiting to happen due to insufficient already overtretched nurses, whlist at the same time freeing up much needed private health care beds. Hull has recently had good news regarding the Siemens project (and boy do we need it) estimated to create approx 800 jobs but with the VAT on static caravans increasing to 20% this could be cancelled out by job losses in the industry not to mention the suppliers. Maybe I'm a pessimist but I fear the next 3 years because I believe we will be watching the rich rise further up the ranks while the rest of us sink lower.