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Jon Tarrey

Retired

10951 Profile Views

About Me

Bit of a grumpy old man these days, with a special interest in property.

my expertise in the industry

Spent my formative years in the industry and dabbled with property investment when I was younger (unsuccessfully, I should add). Disillusioned with much of what estate agency stands for these days - so trying (in my own small way) to change that. Again, unsuccessfully.

Jon 's Recent Activity

*That would explain a lot.

From: Jon Tarrey 03 August 2016 08:22 AM

Maybe someone from the HFI is on Cameron's "cronies" honours list. That would explain not. If not, it's just beyond ludicrous.

From: Jon Tarrey 03 August 2016 07:55 AM

Haha! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! This has cheered me right up. The HFI is just directly trolling us here, aren't they? Surely they can't actually be genuine? Who exactly is pulling their strings to say such guff? Maybe someone could point the HFI in the direction of yesterday's report by the Resolution Foundation or the recent one by the cross-party House of Lords committee which heavily criticised government's housing policy. Both have been absolutely damning. Cameron, in so many ways, has left a disastrous legacy. Housing is one of his biggest. Is it now more difficult to buy a home? Yes. Is it now more expensive to rent? Yes. Is their enough social/council housing? No. Has buy-to-let gone out of all control? Yes. What about Buy to Leave? Yes. Have any of the government's gimmicky schemes actually helped a large chunk of first-time buyers or increased home ownership? No. Will Cameron be remembered for a positive housing legacy? Absolutely not.

From: Jon Tarrey 03 August 2016 07:54 AM

Well, Gordon, as Brexit the Movie was made by a bloke who denies climate change, forgive me if I don't put myself through an hour of that dross. Surely, as well, it should be "Brexit the Film?" I thought we were all about taking back control, being proud of our Britishness. Project Fear has indeed been used by both sides, I haven't claimed otherwise. I think Cameron and Osborne have led an awful campaign for the Remain side. But the Remain side also has many more rational, progressive voices, which the Leave side seriously lacks. Put your faith in Farage, Gove, IDS and Johnson at your peril. Plus, and without wanting to defend Cameron - who I can't stand - he didn't actually say Brexit would lead to World War 3. That was a misquote by Boris Johnson, the king of making stuff up. This idea that the EU needs us more than we need them is patent, arrogant nonsense. It's this Little Englander sense of superiority that puts people off the Brexit campaign. We have a surplus when it comes to services, we export more to the EU than they do to us and we benefit greatly from being part of the single market. To say otherwise is just myopic. You say we would be better off without EU regulations, but if we want to trade with Europe we will have to accept these regulations. If we want to be in the single market, we will have to accept free movement of people. Even if we come out of the single market, we'd still have to abide by EU regulations when working with the EU. So what's the point? And pesky regulations aren't always a bad thing - in many cases, they are absolutely vital to protect our workers rights, environment, food production standards and health and safety. They might be boring and unfashionable, but they are absolutely vital to a civilised democracy. Our fishing industry is only still in existence because of EU quotas. In the 70s we were overfishing to the point of extinction. Stocks were down to record lows. There is such a thing as sustainability, you know. Pure greed gets you nowhere. If you keep fishing and fishing until there's nothing left, what then? And was it the EU who forced British fishermen to sell their licences to the Dutch, Spanish and elsewhere? No, no it wasn't. The EU can't be blamed for the decline in the fishing industry - left alone, left unregulated, they would have caused the death of the industry anyway. OK, Gordon, name me some laws that the EU force upon us. Tell me how we're being swallowed up by an EU super state. Talk of an EU army has no actual evidence to back this up, but that doesn't stop it being parroted on a regular basis. What's wrong with being funded by the EU? Our farmers, our science and tech industries, our small towns depend on it. Put forward your alternative, rather than simply slating the EU. You want to come out to improve democracy. With FPTP, an unelected second chamber and an unelected head of state, that ain't gonna happen. You want 100% sovereignty? Ain't gonna happen. That's not the way the modern world works. You want control of our borders? We already have that. All the Brexit side have to put forward is: if we come out, we'll be free, free to control our destiny, our laws, our borders, out trade deals. Free to become Great Britain again. This isn't the Empire any more. Times have changed. The main issues we face don't respect borders. If we Brexit, do you really think it will make much difference to immigration? Do you think the refugee crisis will disappear? Do you think the issues in Europe elsewhere will have no bearing on us any more? Splendid isolation might sound good, but that's not how things work. And, besides, isolation with the Tory right and UKIP sounds absolutely dreadful. The Leave campaign hasn't put forward a coherent case for why we'll be better off out. It's all emotion-led, gut-instinct rhetoric; vague, not really sure, it'll probably be alright, it will be worth it in five to ten years, we don't really have a clue what we're doing, we'll return you to a land of milk and honey that never existed, don't you worry.

From: Jon Tarrey 03 June 2016 10:35 AM

Except, of course, you won't. What do you think the UK government can't currently do? What are the EU preventing them from doing? Do you really believe the guff from Boris and other outers that 60% of our laws are dictated to us by the EU? From what I've read, we make something like 90% of our own laws in Westminster and the UK is one of the least regulated economies in Western Europe. The regulation we do have, mostly protected by the EU, concerns things such as workers rights, human rights, health and safety and the environment. Important things, wouldn't you say? As a country, we also pool our sovereignty to the UN, NATO, the G7, G8 and other global organisations. Our science, tech and medical industries all rely heavily on collaboration with the EU and the rest of the world. The idea that, if we leave, we get back 100% sovereignty, is such nonsense. It's why the Out side barely mention it any more. They've lost the argument on the economy, they've lost the argument on everything else, so now they turn to immigration - their trump card. If you want to live in a country with 100% sovereignty, go live in splendid isolation in North Korea. That's not the way the modern world works. Whether we like it or not, we live in a global, interconnected word. Many of the challenges we face don't respect borders. We export more to the EU than anywhere else. We have a deficit on goods, but a surplus on services. It's all about give and take. All this "take back control" guff is emotion-led hysteria and nonsense. The Leave side haven't put forward one good reason for us to leave the EU. Anyone who says anything against them is shouted down with Project Fear or accused of being part of a Goldman Sachs-funded elite. It's absurd.

From: Jon Tarrey 02 June 2016 10:29 AM

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