But, you can.

I'm not sure which type of language Mintball is alluding to, so all I'll say is check what castration actually means.

Start a thread , we can let ' Muggers ' on it

To clarify: play nicely.

I'm sure that you can all work out how to do that.

So today the pound is down , but the ftse's are up , anybody want to explain to us mere mortals if that's good , bad or just normal ?

The pound is down for 2 reasons. Firstly the BofE said that because the economy was now looking grim post-Brexit, they'd probably lower interest rates in the short-term. The value of a currency is directly related to domestic interest rates, so the pound fell. Also, he apparently hinted at further QE. That's not as straightforward as printing money, but there's a basic element of truth to that. Again, increase the supply of money, and the currency generally falls. You can see how closely the drop off a cliff today coincided with Carney's speech.

As for the FTSE, as per yesterday's posts, it's short-term volatility driven by nothing more than duelling algos.

Having one's taddies removed, which parts are essential to the complete pr/ck as was designed by the sky pixie.
Unless I am mistaken.
It was meant in levity ... just to lighten the gloom on here a bit.
It failed.

So good , bad or normal ?

Of topic I know, but can I ask if the return of some old posters and the apparent 'going for a lie down' of a certain tyrant is an attempt to rescue the sin bin?

Because ... it's working.
lol

Coincidence I suppose.

I will fully admit to being part of a broader conspiracy but I know of nobody but Borisconi who has taken to their bed.

I wasn't convinced when I first read that. On further reading, I am. Kinda. Or at least, he'll be Murdoch's man. I can't completely see him being Dacre's man yet, despite Vine. I'm inclined to believe, based on nothing but my own deep seated prejudices, that he'll prefer the vicar's daughter.

If someone could gently press the key to the mace cupboard into Heseltine's hand, that would be great. Thanks.

I'm afraid nothing can lighten my mood right now, maybe the odd embolism directed at certain individuals.

I had to pick up on this; you're right in one way, in that the circumstances required for all of that to happen have indeed been created by Gove and his legacy at the DfE - but it's not inevitable in every case. Thankfully, not all MAT's have the aim of removing local accountability, or of hoovering up as many schools as possible and becoming a for profit entity - I can say that with certainty, as I chair one, and it has none of those aims; and we constructed our articles in such a way as to ensure that they can't be introduced later.

That aside, you're right - if we wanted to, we could remove parent governors, ignore the LEA, install a CEO on mega-bucks, and obtain private sector funding (and all that comes with it) without fear of breaking any of the new rules.

Gove is a snake - the fact that he's the favoured candidate of the media barons who control the national conversation, should be enough to convince anyone with an ounce of integrity to avoid him like the plague.

Bren, I know not all MATs have to be ARK, but they're essentially a structure which is entirely reliant on the integrity of the people within them. If the people change, the methods and remuneration can change immediately. No public service should be so removed from local accountability and legal checks and balances. My own school is forming a MAT, which I fought at great personal cost as a staff governor. When it was approved, I resigned. Not because I think my current governor colleagues are crooks or greedy, but because quite clearly the staff, parents and local council would have no way of ensuring that future appointed local oligarchs wouldn't be. It's a fundamentally undemocratic and dangerously unchecked structure, compared to the model of checks and balances it replaces.

And without question, many MATs are already going a long way away from the sort of selfless dedication your own organisation has currently chosen.

There is no doubt that all of that *can* happen; in many ways, we chose to create a locally focused MAT, with aims based on educational pathways for all students in the pyramid, to [iprevent[/i it from happening to our local schools, rather than to enable it. The recent announcement that all schools would be forced to become Academies, and that parent governors were no longer a requirement, hindered us, as it created a different attitude from schools who were considering joining - to feeling that they could be taken over.

We ended up going with an unconventional legal advisor, to ensure that we could write our articles and governance handbook in such a way that prevents future leaders from subverting what we're trying to do.

I respect your position though - it's a dangerous situation, and very much open to abuse.

I wish there were more like you. I'm in a traditional Tory area, and the most vociferous governors are classic Tory businessmen. While I was there, I persuaded the whole governing body to vote to retain staff and parent representatives on the MAT Board. After I resigned, the businessmen revoked that decision and ejected any staff or parent members, who they said could stay on the powerless LGBs. Every time anyone argued that we actually had discretion over how to do things, we were met with those governors saying "the DFE wants...", and that would be that. Then they started inviting people they knew on to the MAT Board who had no connection with the school(s). I fear for the future, so I decided to leave teaching altogether, as I don't want to work for some random businessmen who happened to be in the right place at the right time when Gove started handing out schools. I wanted to work for my own community. It makes me feel rather sad, to be honest.

Anyway, back to Brexit. John Curtice has a good article in the New Statesman today, pointing out the silliness of the universal media narrative about how it was working class Labour voters wot lost it, instead of the real reason : middle-class Tory pensioners. Likewise, David Hare wrote a beautiful, if vitriolic, piece in the Guardian which is worth reading.

Same as yesterday , ftse's up , pound down

Is an eight percent fall against the Euro in a week supposed to be encouraging?

If Carney carries on cutting, we'll have negative interest like Japan.

[url=http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/blogs/george-magnus-2/the-ftse-indices-will-respond-to-brexit-in-good-timeFTSE, pound, etc[/url

edit: Written by an expert, so tread carefully.

Countryfile today ...
May blossoms, Fox slopes off and Crabb steps aside.

It was my understanding that the public voted by secret ballot. So all these theories by the democratic result deniers are based on a couple of polls - these same out of touch polls that predicted a win for Remain. You might as well lick your finger and stick it in the air.

Even if you believed these polls if you look a bit deeper they also say that only 36% of the eligible 18-24 yr olds cast their vote. and leave had a majority in the 45-54 age group and the 55-64 age group in addition to the 65+ age group. Even the 35-44 age group only had a small majority to remain. Other official data reveals that 20% of the youngest age group had not bothered to register in the first place and this would have been greater had extra time not been awarded.

What is both amusing and sad to see that there are a large number on the remain side especially from the arrogant metro elite and media in London and the Scottish Nasties that just cannot accept democracy when they are on the wrong side of the result in what was the biggest turn out in our History. They are scrabbling around trying to find ways to change the result by calling for another referendum, a new election, talk of trying to vote in Parliament against the public's will etc etc. Not only are they sore losers but they are further unsettling the markets in acts of self harm.

So, a couple of months have passed.

Are we all still doomed to oblivion or is the outlook good for Brexit?

Brexit's been kicked into the long grass

Until 2019 at least

Until another referendum in 2019 that will bring a remain vote after a concerted push by the government.