Rugger

I've followed the game keenly since 1959 when I first it took up at secondary school and this year I've entered The Baiting House  pub competition to predict the results of all the SIX Nations games.

I'll let you into my secret predictor system which for 2017  had 14 out of 15 correct.

* Step one -  Italy lose
* Step two -  Home team wins
                                             that's it      -           SIMPLES!

My only error was Wales failing to win at home to England
                                         they gave it away with 3 minutes to go

The closest to upsetting my rule were :

•  Wales nearly winning in Paris (2 point margin)  - tho' they never threatened a try
•  France nearly winning in London (3 point margin)

My last Spring Budget

If I were Mr Hammond my budget statement next week would be ...


Mr Speaker, it is my honour problem today to set out what can be done to manage the British economy for the best for most of our people over the next few years.

With many of our international trading partners facing economic problems and the unsettling political events of the past year we cannot see sufficient growth in exports (or other forms of economic activity) to mend the present impasse. We have relied for too long on future hoped for growth and it is now time to address the problems of today with solutions we can control.

We understand there is no money left. We have an enormous debt, and the deficit still persists. Interest rates remain low and any return to normal rates will likely destroy many households and businesses. With rates so low we can of course continue to borrow at low cost - but this will hand the problem to our children and to our children's children.

The solution is to reduce government expenditure - benefits, services (incl NHS) military, etc etc and still maintain in the wider economy sufficient demand to keep normal life functioning. The option of increasing tax income is not on.

My proposals are as follows:

Simplify income tax -

The tax free allowance of £10,000 has been a big step taking many people out of paying tax completely. However, it does mean that the tax burden is now shared by fewer and fewer people. To adopt the concept of the BIG SOCIETY we believe that all people in work or in receipt of income should share part of the tax burden and this will now be achieved by abolishing the tax free band and introducing a low rate of 5% for all earnings over £100 per week up to £15000pa

National Insurance will be abolished immediately and adjusted for as follows:

The standard rate of income tax will be increased to 25% and this will be applied to earnings between £15001 and £60000 per annum

The higher rate allowance will be increased to £60,000 and this will also be indexed in line with CPI for future years

Savings from abolition of National Insurance across all payroll systems is estimated at £500 million per year which can be re-invested by businesses into measures to improve productivity as they see fit

VAT will be reduced by 1% and a special reduced rate of 10% will be introduced for accommodation providers. This will bring the UK into line with our continental neighbours and help hotels and camp sites etc compete with foreign holidays and with small businesses unregistered for VAT. This measure will be self-financing as the extra jobs created will off-set any lost revenue from the reduced VAT rate.

Capital allowances. First year 100% capital allowances will be retained for the next five year for all capital investments in plant and machinery up to £500,000. The longer time span will allow proper business planning to adjust to this regime.

Road tax is to be abolished from April 2017 and any balances will be refunded in full. An additional 2.5% will be added to fuel duty to maintain government income from road going vehicles. Swansea will have a special grant of £100m for retraining redundant DVLA staff.

Capital Gains Tax will be charged on houses sold over £1m where the gain exceeds CPI 3% pa over the period of ownership. Stamp duty will be reduced to 2% on all property sales over £100,000. These measures will unlock unnecessary blockages in the property market caused by excessive stamp duty rates and address the problem of external investors skewing the market in higher value properties

Our duty is to reduce government spending and to this end we will link the basic state pension benefit to the change in CPI until the annual deficit has been eliminated. A thriving country with a budget surplus can afford to be more generous with its pensioner population

Each department of state will be required to close down 5% of its present QUANGOs in each of the next four years.

1p on beer, 1p on fags, 2 p on petrol

For the future my team at the Treasury has a working party investigating the design of a tax on ill considered content published on the World Wide Web

I commend it to the house

"

New caravans

They're all in.

A week before Easter and tthey are nearly all with us...

New holiday caravans for 2016 at Wigley Orchard or St Michaels caravan parks

 1 x ABI Elan (arrived 15/3/16)
 1 x Swift Biarritz
 2 x Willerby Brockenhursts (one arrived 14/4/16) + (one due in Sunday 20th)
 1 x Willerby Winchester (+ one already sold to Mr & Mrs Kelly)

We're also adding to our letting fleet new 2015 units
 1 x Willerby Lyndhurst
 1 x Willerby Rio Gold

All have central heating and double glazing as well as a timber deck area and parking alongside/nearby.

TV tax

We received 22 letters from TV Licensing in the post this morning.

All addressed to the Legal Occupier - (even when the pitch number does not exist or, the pitch exists - but has no caravan sited, or the caravan is a stock unit awaiting a buyer, or the caravan is already licensed)

This makes over 250 letters this year. They usually come in batches on Saturdays.

Our newspaper last week quoted £10 million spent in the year on this activity

Is it a scheme to keep the Royal Mail in profit since privatization?

Our helpers

This year we have had the following people working on our parks .....

Christina,
Liz,
Alison,
Suzanne,
Jasmine,
Ellie,
Chloe,
Jane,
Michaela,
Hannah and
Debs

All are part time and some VERY occasional but the unifying thread is that they are all females, girls, ladies , women.

Today Zak has joined the team!!

Money

I think that by the time kids reach the age of two they know about money, and they are more likely to appreciate a fiver than a toy or a sweet. They know they can spend it just as they wish

A couple of weeks ago I was in the queue in the petrol station to pay £100+ for a tank of diesel in the Land Rover and in front of me (causing the holdup) was a young person aged about seven.

He had collected various goodies from the sweets shelves and was in the course of paying.

He placed a hand full of coppers on the counter and the assistant was counting them into piles of 10p.

Eventually she told him the hard truth. His money amounted to a little short of that required.

I fumbled around in my pocket with a couple of pounds in my fist thinking "if he needs two or three pence to complete the deal I could just give it to him"

The final reckoning stopped me in my tracks -  the goods cost 84p and he only had 67p to his name. 20% + to find he was well short! "Lessons have to be learned" I thought, so I kept quiet and my hand in my pocket.

"You will have to put some of your stuff back on the shelves" he was told. He did this and the revised cost was 52p. With the purchase completed satisfactorily he placed his change into the charity box on the counter.

It amused me - but he may not go on to feature in the Sunday Times Richlist

I'm a little teapot

I'm a little teapot short and stout. Here's my handle, here's
my spout. When I get all steamed up hear me shout. Tip me over and pour me out

You will see that this is a very good looking teapot.

Sandra had it as a gift last Christmas but within the month I had broken the lid. Don't ask.
Despite my best efforts with super glue the lid could not be put back together - unlike my fingers!

We soon established that this particular make of teapot was no longer available. The original came with a solid blue lid - honest.

I scoured the county, all the charity shops in Bromyard, and Tenbury.  I bought two (for the lids). One was too big and one was too red. I continue to keep my eyes peeled...

Last week I struck lucky. I was out to lunch in Clun and parked right outside the hardware store and spotted on display under a thick coat of dust -THE TEAPOT. I went into the shop and bought it.

"No need to wrap it. I only want the lid" I told the shopkeeper. So I put it in the back of the car - not on the seat but on the floor and drove home.

On arriving home I opened the back door, the lid fell to the ground and the knob broke off.

I guess I'm lucky in love because this time the super glue seems to have done the trick