lulu

But don't forget, many disabilities are 'hidden'.... A return to the 80s-style disability car would create a 'healing' akin to the second-coming of Christ. It would be a miracle on a grand scale as people miraculously no longer require their disability vehicle* *people who have genuine mobility issues, wheelchairs, require walking aids etc should of course be helped (whether a free car is the answer I am unsure but the system needs reformed) Everyone else can use the legs they were given and stop taking the piss. It is a rarity to see someone with a genuine mobility issue parked in a disabled space.

A friend of mine is now selling their BTL flat in central(ish) edinburgh. They bought it (I think) 4 years ago and seem a bit miffed that it has now gone on the market just a few thousand more than they paid for it originally, not sure the area it is in is quite as 'up and coming' as they were expecting.

My thoughts are non-indigenous owners, appalling decor to fit with a dated view of how wealthy people in England live(d).

Wow, that is really something. I would love to know who the owners were, the furnishings are insane.

This is an interesting aspect to those that I know who have btl properties. They mostly think of me as some kind of right-wing nut job (I admitted once I voted Tory once) yet none of them can accept any negative aspects to themselves being btl 'LLs. One of them got their fingers badly burnt on an 'investment' they made on a flat in Newcastle a few years ago, my less than sympathetic ear was not appreciated. ....but those Tories, they are the greedy ones (apparently)

I am continually amazed that the fat **** is still alive. Seriously that gut and the stress he must go through to ensure he continues to be a money grabbing barsteward surely must put his system under some pressure?

Very true, there will always be a tinge of sadness when this all unravels. How socially destructive was the btl phenomenon? Both in terms of community cohesion and the financial destruction of (hard working - of course) British families who were either forced to compete with BTL investors to buy a home, or forced to rent off one of them on a short-term lease and high rent. I can only hope that one day even the guardian readers are able to identify where much of the blame lies. Blair/Brown should be strung up, instead I have friends who blame Thatcher, they soon lose that argument when I remind them of a Labour party who were in power for 13 years who did nothing to reverse/repair the right to buy of the Thatcher era. They could have built millions of council homes and prevented the BTL boom with legislation, but they did quite the reverse.

That is my experience, very few of my female friends have children and we are all heading into late 30s now. In a couple of cases career does come into it but in most it seems to be a financial constraint as renting/buying a family home is simply out of reach. More than one child's is an issue too as at that point childcare becomes prohibitive leading on one giving up work which leases to financial problems. If only the banks had been forced to lend based on a single rather than a joint income, the future for the uk would look a lot brighter as children would be more affordable to the people who really should be being encouraged to have them (rather than the pondlife level knocking out multiple children to a succession of feckless fathers).

But all they will need to do is raise the rents...

I am continually surprised that the fat git is still alive, that gut is going to catch him up soon, surely?

Most of the arguments from the last scottish ref will remain the same as they were before. Without decent oil prices Scotland would have a deficit. Independent Scotland would need a currency - certainly now the Euro. Most of Scotland's trade would still need to be be with England - currency and trade barriers could affect this. Scotland would need to contribute more to the EU than it would get out as compared to the newer (and still to join) countries it would be viewed as richer - so one can argue, what would be the point? Schengen(?sp) is a potential issue. Add to that the strong historical ties between Scotland and the rest of the UK, how many Scots live in England/Wales/Northern Ireland and vice versa. The historical and family ties to the EU are minimal comparison. A vote in support for the EU is not the same as a vote to leave the UK, if anything I believe Scotland has even more reason to stay.

As I understand it, it is because the EU - like Scotland - is a socialist utopia. All our human rights/equality/tolerance/workers rights come come only from Brussels (and holyrood) The EU ref result is confirmation that the English are nothing more than intolerant/right wing/bigots....

Don't you mean the 'non-metropolitan provincial' areas - with patronising chat like that no wonder most of England gave them the two fingers. How dare they not vote the correct way?!

We are told that there are many millions of persecuted souls fleeing Islamic nutjobs from sub-Saharan Africa to Syria, rather than let them into already population dense Europe why not send them to russia? all those brain surgeons and doctors would surely be an asset to to vast empty spaces of Russia.

You may be surprised, there appears to be no shortage of second degree students signing up for veterinary degrees at £30k/year. I don't know the starting salary for a vet but it is somewhat short of what a medicine graduate can expect.