In touch with the public?

[DonPeffers]

http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2016-04-20/acid-attack-article/   tells the appalling story of an innocent man's face burned off in an acid attack at his own front door by a stranger who had driven 300 miles to attack someone who had sexually assaulted a family member, but went to the wrong house.

On appeal the Judge reduced the life sentence to 16 years (serve 8 years then automatic parole) stating that the offender was NOT a risk to society.

So someone who demands revenge, puts himself above the Law, drives 300 miles to achieve his goal, is so inept he goes to the wrong house and when the male householder answers he throws acid in the face of an innocent person is not a risk to society!?  I wonder what you have to do to be considered such a risk?  Judiciary in touch?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-42037321  tells the story of Labour MSP Kezia Dugdale joining the TV show 'I'm a Celebrity-- get me out of here' which begs the question how important or necessary are our politicians if they can swan off and abandon the day job and their constituents when they feel like it?  IIRC previously Conservative MP Nadine Dorries went off to the same show while Parliament sitting.  MPs only sit for about 150 days per year so clearly very little time for other activities.  Politicians in touch?

[DonPeffers]

With 1.4 million people in UK unemployed, many under-employed on zero hours contracts and jobs set to be lost owing to robots/automation etc just how in touch with REALITY is our Chancellor, Philip Hammond when on todays Andrew Marr show BBC1 he declares       " there are no unemployed people"?

see http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/philip-hammond-tells-andrew-marr-there-are-no-unemployed-people_uk_5a11563ce4b0e97dffedd893

So will he have any job creation plans in the Budget on 22 Nov 2017?

I'm sure there must be many more examples of out of touch hierarchy.

Edited November 26, 2017 by DonPeffers
'multi-millionaire' in relation to Hammond removed as a distraction

[Blatman]

What has being a multi-millionaire got to do with whether he is suitably qualified or approrpiately experienced to perform well at his job?

I would argue that being a multi-millionaire makes him better placed than you and I at managing large sums of money and not wasting it. You don't get to be a multi-millionaire by giving large chunks of it away. 

It doesn't matter how rich or poor someone is, they can still be out of touch.

Ever watched benefit street? Think those guys look at us with our "expensive" toys and "middle class" lifestyles and think we're in touch with the "real world?"

[Rusty Nuts]

I see a lot of members of parliament in the news lately for touching members of the public (kneegate)...........damned if you do , damned if you don't.

[Lyonspride]

12 hours ago, Rusty Nuts said:

I see a lot of members of parliament in the news lately for touching members of the public (kneegate)...........damned if you do , damned if you don't.

 

I suspect all that stuff (and the tax dodging etc) is a big red herring, a smoke screen, distraction stories, possibly to avoid mentioning all the bombings in Sweden, 16 bombings in 28 days last I heard and nobody in the UK seems to know about it. Donald Trump may have been right about something for once, but they don't want you to known.

[DonPeffers]

My post does not mention qualifications or experience

If Hammond is unaware that 1.4 million are unemployed then he's not fit to be an MP let alone Chancellor. We'll see what Wednesdays Budget brings.

How many years have the Benefit Street guys worked and saved?

[DonPeffers]

4 hours ago, Lyonspride said:

 

I suspect all that stuff (and the tax dodging etc) is a big red herring, a smoke screen, distraction stories, possibly to avoid mentioning all the bombings in Sweden, 16 bombings in 28 days last I heard and nobody in the UK seems to know about it. Donald Trump may have been right about something for once, but they don't want you to known.

I have been concerned lately that very few newsworthy items have been reported and wonder what is going on?  TV news has been swamped with (as you say) 'he touched my knee 2 decades ago' MP stories and now Zimbabwe where it looks increasingly like the Vice President is about to take over to avoid Grace Mugabe's accession.

[Blatman]

1 hour ago, DonPeffers said:

My post does not mention qualifications or experience

Asking if he is out of touch or not questions his experience and/or expertise, or at least, it does to my mind. I do object to the fact that the Chancellor isn't likely to be an accountant and that the Health Minister is unlikely to have ever worked as a doctor/nurse/porter in the NHS or that the Agriculture Minister has likely never tilled soil in his life, so suitability for the job is always one of those questions that rankles with me. A suitably qualified or experienced person may not necessarily make that sort of comment although they could still make a mistake. 

You also mention he is a multi-millionaire. On top of his experience, or lack of it at being the country's head bean counter, I am also wondering why those two things (personal worth and whether he is dumb or made a mistake or lacks education or experience in his chosen profession) are related as they are in your post?

[DonPeffers]

I wonder when (if ever) he has met an unemployed person? Maybe that's why he thinks none exist.

Difficult to work out how someone switching to the new Universal Credit can go 6 weeks without a payment; but I dare say those with well stocked larders and wine cellars cannot see the problem.

 

Edited November 22, 2017 by DonPeffers
'You mentioned benefits and' removed from 2nd para

[Blatman]

5 hours ago, DonPeffers said:

You mentioned benefits

I did, but not in the context you think. Read it again.

[DonPeffers]

I understood first time (and the subject matter of my second post does relate to those on benefits) but in case it causes annoyance I have edited post.

[Blatman]

On 11/21/2017 at 12:30, DonPeffers said:

You mentioned benefits

I did, but not in the context you think. Read it again.

[Blatman]

I was hoping you would discuss the content of my example rather than alter the post.

My question was, do you think those on benefits and struggling look at us and our expensive toys with our entirely first world problems and think we're out of touch with reality?

Reality of course is different for all of us. I suspect we are as out of touch with the reality of someone on benefits as we are with the reality of multi-millionaires. My point is, riches or lack of them does not automatically mean we are out of touch, whichever end of the spectrum is being observed.

[DonPeffers]

You could well be correct in that those with very few luxuries (and a toy car surely is one) look at those with such possessions and feel we live in a different world. The reality is that decades of work provide the income, saving for a pension provides some future financial security and choosing which products to buy is a relevant factor. Which is best; a westie or heroin? I haven't tried the latter getting sufficient kick from the former.

I have been unemployed, on benefits, for 5 months in the past and it's pretty depressing. Not wishing to rerun the Four Yorkshiremen sketch but I come from a low income working family, lived in Council flats which were badly insulated and only the lounge was heated, bedrooms were like something out of the Ice Hotel with ice on the inside on the single glazed windows, you viewed your own breath for entertainment and was an adult before I experienced central heating. 

As for the Chancellor (who made a hash of his March 2017 Budget over increasing N.I. contributions for self-employed) it's probably lucky for him that he messed up on the Marr show as he would have received a far tougher grilling if he had been on the Nick Ferrari LBC radio show (just ask Natalie Bennett, Green Party).

To lighten the mood below is the sketch.

 

[Blatman]

Luxury

And surely his screw up wasn't BECAUSE he is a multi-millionaire, but in spite of it. Arguably he's out of touch and maybe not very good at his job. Maybe his expensive private education was wasted? I'm not sure the amount of money in his bank account, hard earned or inherited, has any bearing on his ability to learn or understand or interpret life experiences.

"multi-millionaire minister out of touch" is a cheap, no risk tabloid shot which will sell many copies of The Sun and probably more copies of The Mirror. For me though, I rather hope that we can find better starting points than that for a discussion about the performance of those in power because if we can't, we're in real trouble...