answer from david miliband

[sless]

well i got this letter off david miliband today
have a butchers

[northeast1]

I will be the first to say it then.

EDIT!!!! Watch ya language please Richie.


Looks like the cash will be doing nothing for helpping the fish stocks grown then.

Game over lads in a few years time..course fishing here i come lol

[KeithB]

Any idea what the writing at the bottom says Sless?

[pottsy]

Any idea what the writing at the bottom says Sless?

I look forward to continued constructive engagement

[mark]

In a nutshell - you pay your money, the commercials carry on as they are, there's nothing to help fish stocks, but we are going to put bag limits on fish - "design and introduction of management measures to reflect anglers interests in certain species"

not that much for us then really

I'd still pay for one if it gets rid of some of the numpties

does this include boat fishing??

if its just shore angling, and seeing as I haven't cast a line from english shores for nearly 2 years (plenty from scottish ones though) I might not bother

[Hedley]

I have watched the threads on proposed sea fishing licences for some time and wheresas it would undoubtedly be a good thing for Govt to spend on preserving fish stocks and other environnental issues - IN MY VIEW A LICENCE IS NOT THE ANSWER!!!!!

Having worked for 31 years at quite a senior level in the Civil Service, which included dealing with Ministerial Correspondance, Parliamentary Questions and advising Ministers on policy and policy implications, I can tell you that only part (small?) of any money raised by way of a licence would be spent the way both NESA members and any responsible sea angler would wish. Any Chancellor, no matter what his political persuasion, sees only TAX REVENUE and he has total control over where monies are directed. Simple examples - not all tax received from Nat Ins/ Road Fund Licensing is spent on health/roads etc - only a percentage of it - the remainder drops into The Treasury coffers to be allocated elsewhere as The Chancellor decides. If monies so collected were to be so directed we would be the healthiest nation on earth with the best transport infrastructure too!!!!

Raising the profile of fish stocks and associated issues is to be encouraged but the only positive and productive way forward is to persuade either one of the major parties or the party in power to adopt these strategies as formal policy to be weaved into their respective manifestos thus demonstrating a clear commitment to the electorate, not to look at the issue as a means of levying another tax!

Others my disagree with my views, but they are based on informed opinion and experience of how Govt works.

[sless]

I look forward to continued constructive engagement

yes my wife told me what that said at the bottom
she reads prescriptions for a living
she said its worse than a doctors
hahaha

did you see that he answered your question pottsy

[pottsy]

I look forward to continued constructive engagement

yes my wife told me what that said at the bottom
she reads prescriptions for a living
she said its worse than a doctors
hahaha

did you see that he answered your question pottsy

Yes I notice he answered it.

............flexible, user friendly arrangements charges that will vary by age and personal circumstances......

So has he plans for kiosks at every fishing mark where someone will take all your details ask for parents pay slips and means test every kid that wants to try fishing. ALso will it issue you with a refund when you have carried a load of gear to wherever you fancy fishing set everything up for the kids including baiting up to find that they are now wandering off down the beach asking "caught owt" to everybody else around

ali

[tonyfromalnwick]

I think Miliband can stick his tax where the sun don't shine, and if I ever have the misfortune to bump into this odious man, I'll stick it there for him.

[daren]

well said tony i think the bloke is the most bleeping bleep and if i ever have the misfortune to meet him i think ill be shoving my 14 foot beach caster sideways up his ar$e cos it will be the best place for it as i wont be needing it when this licence sh*t comes into effect, w**ker.

[sless]

i might have known i would have got this response

makes me wonder why i bothered

just get ya wallets out

[The Great Wallsendo]

It's a stealth tax pure and simple - yet another way to tax the working man.

There had been talk of "softening" towards the licence (on other threads - myself and others included)

But just reading his letter brings you back to earth with a bump. These people don't listen and are only in politics for their own gain.

They can indeed shove this idea up the ballot box - I'm voting them out next time round.....if I haven't been deported for speaking out that is!!!

[sless]

what country do you come from like

[The Great Wallsendo]

what country do you come from like

It did sound dramatic didn't it - I know we're not living in China or Zimababwe...but this government doesn't listen to the people on any issues and blunders blindly (and arrogantly) on - creating policy after policy which are effectively taxing this country to death...

CCTV on every street corner, Tolls for this and that, ID cards, tracking sensors in your car so they can charge you per mile when you drive about - if that doesn't sound like a controlling nanny state i don't know what does.

Rant over - I'm off to kick limpets off the rocks.......

[BriH]

Yep ,he answered mine also ,but looks like the trawlers wont be stopped for a few years (but fully paid ,like the farmers) ,never mind ,it was worth asking - i still reckon the bloke is on our side - licence or no licence - we will have to wait and see