Worrying drop in fuel prices.

[Xtractorfan]

Those poor Chinese 6.9 % growth, what a basket case, we on the other hand romped away with 2.6% after years of ...............................

It is a big problem for financial markets when figures do not show an increase year after year. There is no such thing as having a bad year and them letting it slip or go by unnoticed.

 

[PovertySpec]

And unnecessarily.

Completely necessary ... for market churn.

All that commission on the way up and on the way down is the lifeblood of the city bonus

 

[C350Carl]

From what i've read and heard from friends in the oil industry (which is only 2 so not exactly authoritative!)

- Saudi are keeping up production to keep hold of market share & Iran out of the Market
- Also to try and make it economically untenable for Shale Gas from the US
- Storage for the surplus is becoming a concern
- Instability in poorer economic countries/regions is becoming a concern (Saudi's are hoping for this to drive up price)

On the flip side it means i can go and buy a V12 S65 and not worry about fuel. I just need to worry about finding near £200k to buy in the first place

Don't worry though. The MP's will give themselves another 10%+ pay rise soon.

"We're all in this together" after all........

 

[turbopete]

"We're all in this together" after all........

its true. we are. we are all in the sh*t together. but the MPs and their cronies have access to a bubble bath to prevent them having to remain covered in it!

 

[keefysher]

My conspiracy theory:

OPEC/Saudi flooding market with cheap oil to:
1 Take out US shale gas from market
2 Bugger up Russia
3 Send message to the West not to mess in the internal Muslim battle.

Most of the West is effectively bankrupt, ME oil producers have money to burn. Look at investment and asset purchases (what are sports stadia etc called?) Buy to Leave property developments throughout London.

China (CNOC) offshore oil is coming on stream. India is bringing oil onshore from Bay of Bengal. All adds to over supply.

From what i've read and heard from friends in the oil industry (which is only 2 so not exactly authoritative!)

- Saudi are keeping up production to keep hold of market share & Iran out of the Market
- Also to try and make it economically untenable for Shale Gas from the US
- Storage for the surplus is becoming a concern
- Instability in poorer economic countries/regions is becoming a concern (Saudi's are hoping for this to drive up price)

On the flip side it means i can go and buy a V12 S65 and not worry about fuel. I just need to worry about finding near £200k to buy in the first place

Don't worry though. The MP's will give themselves another 10%+ pay rise soon.

"We're all in this together" after all........

Do keep up Carl. My post of 2 pages ago at the top

 

[C350Carl]

Lol sorry. I skimmed through the replies.

 

[SL63 Mark]

its true. we are. we are all in the sh*t together. but the MPs and their cronies have access to a bubble bath to prevent them having to remain covered in it!

Pete at least MPs are elected, I know there have been a few bad eggs, but it is not fair to tar them all with the same brush.

The Lords on the other hand should be reformed, I think we should re-name the second chamber, and make it 100% an elected body.

 

[JBell]

The MP's will give themselves another 10%+ pay rise soon.

MP's have nothing whatsoever to do with their pay

 

[C350Carl]

JB. It was only last year that they lost the control to decide their own pay and pensions.

They all had their pay increased to £74k and it was backdated to May 2015.

IPSA now control it. It remains to be seen how 'independent' they really are as they have to review the pay in the first year of this parliament.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Pete at least MPs are elected, I know there have been a few bad eggs, but it is not fair to tar them all with the same brush.

The Lords on the other hand should be reformed, I think we should re-name the second chamber, and make it 100% an elected body.

MPs are elected it is true, but they have to be nominated by their party to be put forward as a candidate for election in the first place. It's not quite that far off a self-licking ice cream cone.

I think it's fair to tar every single damn one of them with the same brush. They're all in it for personal power, prestige and money; either that or they're living on ****** Zanussi like Corbyn, and genuinely think that Marxism-Leninism is A Good Thing and the world could be a better place without armed forces.

One of the reasons that Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister haven't really aged is that nothing at all has changed........

 

[JBell]

JB. It was only last year that they lost the control to decide their own pay and pensions.

IPSA took over on the 24th May 2011

http://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/pay-mps/

 

[SL63 Mark]

MPs are elected it is true, but they have to be nominated by their party to be put forward as a candidate for election in the first place. It's not quite that far off a self-licking ice cream cone.

I think it's fair to tar every single damn one of them with the same brush. They're all in it for personal power, prestige and money; either that or they're living on ****** Zanussi like Corbyn, and genuinely think that Marxism-Leninism is A Good Thing and the world could be a better place without armed forces.

One of the reasons that Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister haven't really aged is that nothing at all has changed........

Well some of them went into it to do good, and make the world a better place, and someone has to run the country, which is a thankless task, believe me.

 

[keefysher]

Well some of them went into it to do good, and make the world a better place, and someone has to run the country, which is a thankless task, believe me.

In days of old some may have gone in to do good. Probably up to 1960. Our previous MP was one of them.

The current one had to resign as a Cabinet member due to oversight on her expenses that enabled her parents to live in a house in Morden paid for on said expenses. Still draws pay as an MP. Plebs in the real world would have been sacked for gross misconduct with no payoff. Plebs that live in the constituency are expected to commute the 47 minutes to Londinium by train, cattle class, pay for it themselves. Why can the MP claim those travel costs as expenses?

MP's don't run the country.

 

[Craiglxviii]

In days of old some may have gone in to do good. Probably up to 1960. Our previous MP was one of them.

The current one had to resign as a Cabinet member due to oversight on her expenses that enabled her parents to live in a house in Morden paid for on said expenses. Still draws pay as an MP. Plebs in the real world would have been sacked for gross misconduct with no payoff. Plebs that live in the constituency are expected to commute the 47 minutes to Londinium by train, cattle class, pay for it themselves. Why can the MP claim those travel costs as expenses?

MP's don't run the country.

The standoff between Cabinet and the Civil Service runs the country. Or not, as the case may be. I say again, it's instructive to watch YM or YPM, that documentary (feels like it at times) is more true to life than many ever wanted to admit to. Nothing new happens.

A Ministerial or Member's scandal? All they have to do is to claim "no wrongdoing", as apparently that's a defence nowadays, and all is fine.

Massive project overspends? Usually under Ministerial control too. I've mentioned before that I did some consulting work on how various governmental projects were run, how their goals were set, how their budgets spent and the ineptitude was beyond my ability to describe- in some areas. In others they had teams of really competent people doing a good job; little consistency between where either could be found however.

 

[SL63 Mark]

In days of old some may have gone in to do good. Probably up to 1960. Our previous MP was one of them.

The current one had to resign as a Cabinet member due to oversight on her expenses that enabled her parents to live in a house in Morden paid for on said expenses. Still draws pay as an MP. Plebs in the real world would have been sacked for gross misconduct with no payoff. Plebs that live in the constituency are expected to commute the 47 minutes to Londinium by train, cattle class, pay for it themselves. Why can the MP claim those travel costs as expenses?

MP's don't run the country.

Granted a bog standard backbencher has little say in how the country is run, but when a minister says jump, the civil service tend to jump. Ministers are MPs, and yes, they do run the country.

 

[Craiglxviii]

No, Ministers tell their departments what they want them to do; the civil servants (serpents!) then carry out those instructions. Or they carry out their own interpretations of those instructions. As I said, the country is run via the standoff between the Cabinet and the Civil Service.

 

[SL63 Mark]

No, Ministers tell their departments what they want them to do; the civil servants (serpents!) then carry out those instructions. Or they carry out their own interpretations of those instructions. As I said, the country is run via the standoff between the Cabinet and the Civil Service.

There are a lot of direct ministerial instructions which have to be carried out. "Sir Humphrey" is a lazy stereotype. The reality is a hard working, overstretched service trying to stay afloat while cutting itself to the bone.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Sorry, I didn't mean the laziness aspect, I have a lot of respect for the Civil Service- just not their ability to effectively set/ run projects and spend budget responsibly. For what they actually do they're the most efficient in the world, I'd far rather our CS than the US system.

What I was getting at was, what the Minister says to do is not necessarily what the CS actually do, and what the CS do is not necessarily what the Minister wants to be done.

 

[SL63 Mark]

Sorry, I didn't mean the laziness aspect, I have a lot of respect for the Civil Service- just not their ability to effectively set/ run projects and spend budget responsibly. For what they actually do they're the most efficient in the world, I'd far rather our CS than the US system.

What I was getting at was, what the Minister says to do is not necessarily what the CS actually do, and what the CS do is not necessarily what the Minister wants to be done.

It's very complex, the CS are bound by rules and laws which restrict ministerial power, and which ministers often do not want to know about. E.g. a new minister asks why can't we just stop immigration, or have 7 days working in the NHS. The civil servants then have to explain why that might cause problems, and try to put it into action, when the last lot wanted something different. A thankless task.

 

[Frontstep]

From what i've read and heard from friends in the oil industry (which is only 2 so not exactly authoritative!)

- Saudi are keeping up production to keep hold of market share & Iran out of the Market
- Also to try and make it economically untenable for Shale Gas from the US
- Storage for the surplus is becoming a concern
- Instability in poorer economic countries/regions is becoming a concern (Saudi's are hoping for this to drive up price)

On the flip side it means i can go and buy a V12 S65 and not worry about fuel. I just need to worry about finding near £200k to buy in the first place

Don't worry though. The MP's will give themselves another 10%+ pay rise soon.

"We're all in this together" after all........

Often misquoted, we are all in it together, they aren't

Whoever "they are".

Still we get on with it anyway, you soon realise there is only yourself to improve anything significantly.