Daily Archives: August 9, 2009
Image, so who would you vote for if each one of these men knocked on your door?
I question i found on the net with answers people mailed in, whats your view? i have lived under Thatcher it’s not a place i would suggest for the aged,the infirm,the working class or single parents.
What will Britain be like under a Conservative government?
I know it’s not a foregone conclusion but it seems inevitable now that David Cameron will be our next Prime Minister after the next election. Are you optimistic that if they are the next government they could bring about change?
I’m in my 30s and I remember the last Tory government very well.
They were absolutely awful and when they left Britain was basically a s_hit hole. But I would say that all in all they weren’t quite as awful as Labour under Gordon Brown.
God knows what Cameron will be like but if the previous pattern is anything to go by, he’ll be OK for about 2 years reversing all of Labour’s worst policies and then it will be back to the usual Tory policies of tax cuts for the rich, privatisations, starving public services of investment, attacking workers’ rights and alienating Britain in Europe.
I’m not optimistic at all about a future Conservative government, they will certainly bring about change but I think not change for the better in the long term. They are so cagey about what their policies actually are we can only guess and read between the lines. They talk mainly about ‘more choice’ which I interpret not as people’s choice but a carte blanche to private companies to take over more of our public services. I suspect more means testing for the very poorest to keep them at the bottom but surviving (not their voters after all) and more insurance based schemes for the slightly better off for NHS treatment, means testing for council housing and private companies allowed to become Registered Social Landlords and take over council and housing association housing where local councils allow it, more schools to be allowed to opt out of the state system and the child investment bond scheme to be extended to give more slightly better off parents the option of private education, more NHS treatment to be provided in other EU countries, I think the list goes on, only guesses but the reality could be worse.
Twice as bad for the least well off in Britain than it is now. One policy that has leaked out is raising VAT to 20%. They know that raising VAT always hits the poor hardest. Another policy is raising inheritance tax to £1000, 000; this will benefit about 30,000 of the richest people in the country. Camerons economic policy will also throw us back deep into recession, not speed up the recovery. If you think unemployment is bad now, you ain’t seen nothing yet, as for inflation, don’t be surprised if it hits double figures under the Tories. Finally, hope you don’t get ill enough to go into hospital as the Tories are looking to charge you for meals and for your stay.
Pretty much the same as it is now.
A mixed economy with some essential services under government control, public spending cuts to try to keep income tax low, VAT increased to provide a buffer.
But essentially, life for the ordinary Briton will continue pretty much as it is now.
They are not offering fundamental change, nor will they deliver it.
Hard to see how it could get much worse than with the present labour gang. Probably less women in the government. They may replace some of labours inept women with some inept men. Historically the armed forces have always fared better under the conservatives. There will be attempts by trade unionists to challenge the government but with economy like it is they will not amount to much and public support will be limited. I think they will have better fiscal policies which should pull us out of the recession more quickly and we’ll probably get a better run Home Office. I hope so anyway. We wait with bated breath…… or perhaps we wait yawning.
65 years old and a cynic for the last 60.
It’s difficult to say. What Britain needs is a government that will do the job rather than spending its time trying to be PC or pandering to liberal quangos. If cameron has the guts to stand up for ordinary Brits & put us first, for once, then perhaps better……if he’s hamstrung from the get go by pressure groups, Human Rights groups, & self serving lawyers looking for a pay out…then nothing will change.
We need someone to get this country out of the condition it is in now; Nanny State, illegal immigrants, protecting the guilty and not the innocent, presuming everyone is guilty thereby ruining it for everyone that isn’t. House prices, terrorism, Iraq, Afghanistan, looking after the elderly … oh, I could go on [and on and on]
They’re just as bad as labour – the last Tory government are responsible for closing many mental institutions with their ‘care in the community’ programme. Of course, at the same they destroyed community. Hence all the nutters in the streets. And they privatised everything, and brought in the poll tax, and…And…And…
10 to 12 years down the line we will want a labour government back in and 10-12 years after that a conservative government, they all start off with good intentions then lose their way.
Power Corrupts look at Tony Blair.
A Conservative govt will have a great many very difficult decisions to make that will not be popular with the electorate, that much is certain.
Great…. until everyone realises they’re just as bad as Labour. Then you’ll all be wishing you voted BNP when you had the chance.
Remember John Major and Margaret Thatcher? Much like that, only probably worse
One view on the general election in 2010 whats yours,where will we come out?
The general election forecast is for 225 seats for Labour and 343 seats for the Conservatives which implies a Tory government with a much smaller majority of 36 than the 192 being bandied about in the mainstream press this week, which would mean that the next Conservative government will not be able to implement many of the more radical reforms necessary to restructure the economy in terms of deep cuts in public spending and therefore suggests a weaker government that could by mid-term at the the mercy of rebel euro-skeptic MP’s much as John Majors government of 1992 to 1997 experienced. This is potentially bad news for the economy as it confirms my expectations of continued stagnation for most of the term of the next government i.e. low average growth coupled with above average inflation as a consequence of not being able to mend countries finances which is likely to continue to see large year on year budget deficits and therefore achieves the Labour parties strategy of delivering a scorched earth economy to a Conservatives one term crippled government, that sows the seeds for a landslide Labour victory come the 2014-2015 election.
This is a good news story
Experimental drug saves two men with inoperable prostate cancer
By Fiona Macrae
Last updated at 8:37 PM on 21st June 2009
Killer: Prostate cancer cells
Two men with inoperable prostate cancer have made dramatic recoveries after being given a single dose of an experimental drug.
Both men are now cancer-free and their doctors say their progress has exceeded all their expectations.
Dr Eugene Kwon, of the respected Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, said: ‘This is one of the Holy Grails of prostate cancer research. We have been looking for this for many years.’
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in British men, with nearly 35,000 cases a year, 10,000 deaths and few treatments for advanced disease.
The two patients were taking part in a trial involving a drug called ipilimumab, a specially-engineered antibody that boosts the immune system’s ability to fight cancer.
Both had late-stage cancer, that had spread beyond the prostate, with one blighted by a tumour the size of a golf ball. Patients in such a condition may only have months to live and are usually offered only palliative care.
The pair were given conventional drugs to mop up the male hormones that fuel the growth of prostate cancer, followed by a single dose of ipilimumab.
So many cancer cells were killed off that the men were able to undergo surgery, and both have gone back to their normal lives.
Dr Michael Bute, the surgeon who operated on the men, said: ‘The tumours had shrunk dramatically.
‘I have never seen anything like this before. I had a hard time finding the cancer.
‘At one point the pathologist (who was working during surgery) asked if we had samples from the same patient.’
Dr Kwon, a urologist, said: ‘The candidates for this study were people who didn’t have a lot of other options.
‘However, we were startled to see responses that far exceeded any of our expectations.
‘We had thought we might get some incremental delay in the progression of the cancer.
‘It had not dawned on us that we might go from an inoperable tumour to an operable one. That just doesn’t happen.’
The two men were among 108 taking part in the trial, which is ongoing.
A third ‘inoperable’ patient underwent surgery last week and 20 more are showing improvements and are being monitored by the surgeons.
A second trial, using higher doses, is planned, but the researchers cautioned that the results would have to be confirmed in further, large-scale studies.
British experts described the results as ‘extremely encouraging’ - but cautioned the work is still at an early stage.
John Neate, chief executive of The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: ‘The reported results of the experimental treatment of these two patients showed dramatic shrinkage of the tumour, allowing surgery to take place.
‘If these early and small-scale results are replicated in larger trials, this represents a potentially very exciting development.
‘We urgently need a wider range of treatment options for prostate cancer which has spread outside the prostate gland and this research is a welcome indication of potential progress in this area.
‘It must be remembered that this is a small trial, however, and the findings are preliminary results.
‘The Prostate Cancer Charity eagerly awaits further research and looks forward with anticipation to exploring the results.’
Professor Malcolm Mason, Cancer Research UK’s prostate cancer expert, said: ‘These case reports are extremely interesting and encouraging.
‘But caution is needed, as earlier trials with this drug in other types of cancer were less successful than reported here.
‘The other cautionary note its that both men received hormone therapy, which in some instances causes dramatic reductions in tumour size by itself.’
This story worries me why do we have a situation where so many of our pensioners are struggling to live.It’s a disgrace to our system.
Taking up benefits ‘could reduce pensioner poverty’
Published by webmaster for 24dash.com in Bill Payments
Monday 16th July 2007 – 8:43am
Half a million pensioners could be pulled out of poverty if the Government ensured there was a full take-up of means-tested benefits, a report said today.
If elderly people claimed the full Council Tax Benefit, Housing Benefit and Pension Credit to which they were entitled, around 500,000 of them would be lifted out of poverty, according to research carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies for Help the Aged.
But it warned that pensioner poverty was likely to remain the same over the coming decade unless there was a major overhaul of the system.
Help the Aged is calling on the Government to tackle pensioner poverty by introducing a system of automatic payment of means-tested benefits to ensure full take-up.
