Daft, I Call It.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

My great grandma was a Romany, but I doubt if I can get exclusive planning permission on that basis.

Trevor S I like your tuppence worth. This country is seriously divided. There are those who refuse to contribute but know the secrets of how to squeeze as much dosh out of the system as possible and those idiots like me who have worked mega hours all their lives and when times are hard and they ask for a bit of help, there seems to be an army of officials who sole job is to make sure they can get SFA.

When my wife started getting her pension recently, she was told she could only have £32.00 a week. This was because she chose to stay at home and look after the kids and do part time work when I was around to be with them. These part time jobs did not have stamps paid on them so my wife was seriously short of contributions. (Don't forget that I worked all hours I could when the kids were young to compensate for her not working). What she was not told was that she could claim on a thing called Home Responsibilities. This system credited a stamp for every week you looked after your kids or sick parents. If someone had not told her she would still be on that low pension now. It took loads of phone calls and form filling before it was sorted. I bet she wouldn't have had that trouble if she was a European Citizen from mainland Europe.

[Trevor S 2,003]

Bilbraborn, from what I can remember from the 50s and what my Gran and folks used to say, the Romany Gypsies back then were a proud lot who travelled around in painted caravans pulled by horses; looked after their horses like the family, sold pegs, fortunes and sharpened knives.

I seem to remember that they were kept at arm's length, probably due to fear of the unknown and we were not allowed to even talk to them as kids. But I can never remember them as thieves and con artists that stood up against the law. The only thing that you would do is buy something when offered because they would put a curse on you otherwise.

I seem to think that this current lot of travellers would be causing the old time gypsies to be turning in their graves.

[DAVIDW 1,683]

Ref #126 ....Something else that is not that widely known is that grand-parents , looking after grand-children can use this to claim contributions for their old age pension . Unfortunately only applies to those that have yet to reach pension age .

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/looking-after-the-grandchildren-make-sure-it-counts-towards-your-state-pension

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

Trevor S, My wife has Irish tinker in her blood. My poor kids have got it from both sides. But I believe that there are good and bad in all walks of life. I think a lot of todays so called travelers are people who have opted for an easy life. They are not true Gypsies. My wife used to work at a school for disabled kids, feeding them at lunch time. She used to feed the gypsy son of the owner of the site at Moorbridge in Bulwell. She says he was an absolute delight. I still see him knocking about in his wheelchair.

What about the fairground people. It is certainly no easy life for travelling showmen.

When I was a child I had a long playing record of folk songs and one of the tracks was a song written by Ewan McColl about the travelling people. It summed up the changes they were facing and was a very interesting song to listen to.

To sum up, I think there are people out there from all walks of life who take advantage of those who play by the rules. Trouble is, successive governments have made it much easier for them. I can remember kids in Radford lived in houses with outside loos, bath hanging on a nail outside, Only one change of hand me down clothes, just todays dinner in the cupboard and having to walk everywhere. No central heating, only a coal fire in the back room. But they were loved, they were free and they were happy. No one called it child poverty then and they truly had nowt, but they grew up to be real people.

[mick2me 3,033]

I have mentioned elsewhere that The word Gypsy is misused as referring to these 'Itinerant Travellers'

I did come into contact with both types during my previous career.

[Beefsteak 305]

Just to help set the record a bit straighter.

Proper Romany Gypsies are supposedly the descendants of the lost tribe of Israel (A corruption of Roaming Egyptian) and are the cleanest people you could ever hope to meet!

For example they will never wash the top half and bottom half of their bodies in the same bowl of water, you'd never catch one of their men in a boiler suit always a two piece, the women will never wear a dress, always dressing in two bits , skirt and blouse for example.

Oh and they despise the 'Pykies' for giving them a bad rap!

The 'Gypsies' you see nowadays are mostly descended from generations of 'tinkers' from all over Europe, they could claim to be the original league of nations. After countless years of inter breeding their accent is totally different to any other, people think that they're all Irish, when infact most of them have never set foot in "The Emerald Isle".

If you ever want to meet the 'Real Romanies' head upto the Appleby Horse fair at the beginning of June each year, it's a real education !

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

I've heard of this horse fair. I wonder if it's a coincidence that I own a static caravan and my eldest son will never live in one place for long. And we all love horses. Is all this stuff in the blood?

I heard that the lovely Flamenco music that we all love to hear is the product of Spanish gypsies. And given that the families who worked on and lived on Britain's canal system were often called Water Gypsies, where did they all fit in?

[Trevor S 2,003]

Thanks Ian, I could not really believe that the gypsies of old had turned into these feral travellers of today.

[banjo48 928]

My great grandma was a Romany, but I doubt if I can get exclusive planning permission on that basis.

Trevor S I like your tuppence worth. This country is seriously divided. There are those who refuse to contribute but know the secrets of how to squeeze as much dosh out of the system as possible and those idiots like me who have worked mega hours all their lives and when times are hard and they ask for a bit of help, there seems to be an army of officials who sole job is to make sure they can get SFA.

When my wife started getting her pension recently, she was told she could only have £32.00 a week. This was because she chose to stay at home and look after the kids and do part time work when I was around to be with them. These part time jobs did not have stamps paid on them so my wife was seriously short of contributions. (Don't forget that I worked all hours I could when the kids were young to compensate for her not working). What she was not told was that she could claim on a thing called Home Responsibilities. This system credited a stamp for every week you looked after your kids or sick parents. If someone had not told her she would still be on that low pension now. It took loads of phone calls and form filling before it was sorted. I bet she wouldn't have had that trouble if she was a European Citizen from mainland Europe.

Very interesting reading, sorry to go off on a different tack, but two years ago, my wife applied for her aged pension and was knocked back as not having enough years in to allow her one, even though she had worked from a 15 year old full time till our first born at 19, then back to work again for several years till our next child.

She then worked part time almost constantly till we emigrated, also looking after our other 3 children which came later.

Yes we have 5 kids so she did a fair bit of "home responsibilities" while I too often worked excessive hours and sometimes 2 jobs to make ends meet.

Can you give me details maybe by pm of this.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

To make this quick, contact the British DWP and tell them you want the contact for home responsibilities. I can get more details but it will take time going through my wife's stuff but if you can do that now and I can have a look for the finer details.

[Commo 1,292]

Married women were given the option of paying full NHI contributions or opting for a "married womans stamp" which was about 4d back in the 60's which entitled you to NHS benefits but paid nothing into any pension entitlement.

Back then, many women opted for this 4d payment as it meant much needed extra weekly cash at a time when most needed. A lot of employers also recommended this as there was no thought that a time would arise when there would be such high unemployment, or that women would fill so much of the workforce as is the case today.

[Commo 1,292]

Just to amplify for younger folk, it was almost a given back then that if a woman was married, she would not need a pension in her own right, her husband would have made contributions to his pension and a married couple's pension would be available on top of his Company pension, or if her husband pre-deceased her, she could apply for a widow's pension or supplementary benefit, to whichever she may be entitled .

Unemployment, redundancies, no coal, steel or cars, industry being decimated and given to overseas Countries? Unthinkable, and it really wasn't thought !

No Company pensions? Private pensions being decimated to almost worthless levels ? That would never happen would it ?

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

We are living in times when anything can happen. My wife now has most but not all of her pension paid weekly and I have a small private pension from the Railway, but I can't ever see me not working. I can't even afford the dentist (even though they terrify the hell out of me)

[Michael Booth 7,364]

I see that Mr Cameron announces £52 million in aid for the victims of the Syrian victims of chemical attacks. Doesn't it make you proud to know that the UK is rich enough to solve the worlds problems. The worlds problems but not the UK's, whose people have to tighten their belts and struggle on as best they can.

I also saw that the Syrian rebels, who Cameron wants to help, are really worth helping. When they capture Assad's soldiers they torture, strip, bind and then shoot them in the head. This has been going on for a long time. If the UK does get involved then we will blow the place to bits, along with the USA, and then give them billions of pounds to rebuild it. You can do that when you are a rich country, like the UK. Cuts, what cuts?.

[mick2me 3,033]

Much as I despise the actions of Asad against his own people, you are right, 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.

More money to the bottomless pit of 'worthy causes'

[StephenFord 866]

And assuming sarin was used, it is not an open and shut case as to who used it. In countries where Islamist fundamentalists aspire to take over, the best defence is not western style democracy, which makes the mistake of assuming that everyone plays nicely and tells the truth, but a fairly strong dictatorship. Perhaps that's what Clegg-eron-iband and co intend to be when they have allowed Muslims to outnumber Brits in this country.

[mudgie49 401]

One of the fundamental issues in Syria,is that the so called 'civil war or revolution'is between the Sunni and Shiite

factions of the Islamic world.

If we help one against the other we will bring more retaliation. as in Iraq and Afghanistan,more bombings in Europe and the US,and protests from Muslim people worldwide.

The use of chemical weapons is deplorable,and so called 'surgical air strikes'can hardly stop what is happening on the ground. It will take a full blown invasion,and who will do that?

The American people are tired of war,young men are still coming home in body-bags, the wounded still fill the hospitals.

My idea would be to empower the United Nations, to do what it was created for,to stop international wars,Europe the UK and America have paid untold millions into this entity.

Or we could sit back and watch the Islamic factions in the Middle East destroy each other.

[MELTONSTILTON 452]

The EC are Trying to ban country of origin flags on food,.......Even the French are up in arms about it,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2422293/Now-EU-wants-ban-Union-flag-displayed-meat-reared-Britain.html

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

I'm waiting for the day they make us all drive on the right. Should be fun and games. And the price of car insurance will rocket.

At least when all the countries of the UK united they merged the flags. (Mind you, I wouldn't like to try to merge the flags of all the member states).

[Rob.L 1,090]

The EC are Trying to ban country of origin flags on food,.......Even the French are up in arms about it,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2422293/Now-EU-wants-ban-Union-flag-displayed-meat-reared-Britain.html

If it means that it puts a stop to scams like importing cheap and nasty chicken from Thailand or Brazil, or horsemeat from Romania, and doing just enough work here to make it legal to stick a Union Flag label on it, then I'd be quite happy for this to go ahead.

From that same article:

Country of origin labelling is supported by British farmers. At present, imported meat can be labelled as British if it undergoes processing in this country. In the past this has meant that pies, sausages and other products made here with meat imported from abroad could be labelled as made in Britain.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

Again my old Beef (pardon the pun) about this carbon footprint business. It seems OK to import loads of stuff, food or otherwise, from Europe. The carbon footprint matters not a jot here. But when it comes to things like decent light bulbs or 'renewable energy', oh dear, we must all conform. Total B------s.

[Rob.L 1,090]

Easy to blame Europe for these things, but more often than not, it's our own politicians and busybodies who insist we do them.

One of the problems with us Brits is that we slavishly comply with rules and laws that our Gallic neighbours, for example, would just shrug their shoulders at and get on with what they've always done.

[StephenFord 866]

...and even more our Teutonic neighbours!

[FLY2 10,108]

Greece recently, plugs in restaurant with no top, just insulting tape covering the wires . Staff smoking behind the counter.

Re #146, thank God we can just about get proper lightbulbs in Basford and Hucknall. I can't understand these ugly, oversize and expensive things. I spoke to an assistant in Tescos regarding the equivalent to a 100W bulb. Clueless ! I might as well be speaking Chinese.

[Compo 10,328]

There is no equivalent. The light output from low energy bulbs is of a different quality altogether and never comes anywhere near the same.