Ha! Had a fuel line rub through on an old car once. Bloody lucky it didn't go up!

You have two options when apportioning benefits.

You can means test, or you can just give them out universally.

Now, you could means test the benefit, but I suspect the Tories won't a) because this always reduces benefit uptake, generally in those who need the benefit the most – see Tax Credits for an example, b) because it costs money, and c) it raises the opportunity for the opposition to pick holes in percieved unfairnesses.

Assuming we're talking about a policy such as allowing the universal combination of tax free thresholds – having had a look, nobody seems to know what the Tory policy on this is:

If you're earning 10k a year, the boost to your earnings in percentage terms by an extra 20 quid a week or so is enormous. The boost of an extra 20 quid to someone with a household income of 50k before tax is chicken feed.

In the low income household it may make the difference between the kids having winter coats, school trips and a few books, or not. In the average income household, it will disappear into the melee of discretionary spending, barely noticed.

Can you explain to me why you think a tax break such as an increase in the tax free threshold would benefit high earners more than low earners?

Something isn't right with the car. I suspect the carb is either set up too rich at part throttle (very likely), or the ignition system is in poor nick, causing incomplete combustion.

My girlfriends (fuel injected, cabin filtered, fairly airtight) Golf stank of fuel at the traffic lights when we first got it. A new set of spark plugs and BANG! the stink was gone.

I think you will find that the issue is not with the legality but the insurance. Insurance companies do not like people using lower than standard speed rated tyres.

I'm not a tyre engineer, but higher rated tyres tend to just be better tyres than lower rated tyres. So you can assume that all things being equal, grip will be lower.

anagallis, you do realise that poor people often don't take jobs because the taxation and benefits system is such that there is a cost or extremely marginal benefit to taking a job?

You do realise that the benefits situation is such that a couple with a child derive the highest level combined of benefit payment by having seperate addresses? You do realise that our wonderful government pays for people to check up on these things and runs dedicated grass up your neighbours lines?

You do realise that even if someone takes a job for the marginal benefit it will provide, the process of arranging for benefit payments to resume if you're not kept on is lengthy and can cause extreme short term hardship?

The problem is a simple one – there are incentives for low income / unemployed couples to split up, either genuinely, or on paper, in the form of benefits for single parents. However, no sane person is going to say that single parents should have their benefits cut, or that the criminalisation of otherwise law abiding people is a good thing. This is compounded by the benefits situation, which provides strong dis-incentives to take work. This situation creates long term problems which have been documented by research.

The only logical option in this situation is to provide incentives for people to stay together & work, and that is what the policy does.

For what it's worth, I've been through the process of signing onto the dole, and I know people who live on benefits & have kids.

Last time I had a look the tax free allowance was around 6k. The minimum wage is 5.80. So if you're working a 35 hour week, you're getting just over 10k per year. You go from paying tax on 4k to paying tax on none of it, assuming you can use all of your spouse's tax free allowance. If you're doing a part time job, you're probably not going to be helped at all by an increase in your tax free allowance. (As far as I'm aware, the policy is to allow married couples to shift their tax allowances around.)

As for gonefishin, that's not how things work. You pay 20% tax up until the 40% band kicks in, and then pay 40% on everything you earn above the 40% band. That's the only way you could have such steep steps in the banding, otherwise people would have wages jumping from 20k to around 30k in order to provide a meaningful payrise. Increasing the tax free band by 1k gives everyone the same amount of benefit.

Then deal with that problem, who will benefit most from this policy? Not those on low incomes thats for sure

It is people on low incomes who will benefit most, that is pretty obvious. The idea is likely to provide people with an extra 20 quid or so a week. That sort of sum is nothing to people on the average wage, but for people making very little, it is a big deal.

Do children of parents who arent married and live together do worse (in education lets say) than married ones?

From what I've just looked up from the CSJ's website, there are benefits in Education, mental & physical health and overall life outcomes (ie, having a job and not going to prison / being a drug or drink addled wreck). I've not gone back and done a full analysis of the studies referenced, but I'm sure somebody will.

I'm sure there will be some correlation between marriage rates and class / income , and I don't know how well these were isolated in the research.

From what I've read, children of married parents tend to do better than those of divorced parents. So yes, I think it's a good idea.

Something needs to be done in the tax / benefit system to redress the balance of things. At the moment, you can far better off as a single mother than as a married / co-habiting couple, particularly if you're on a low income / benefits. There are two problems with this: 1, you put additional financial pressure on two parent families, making them more likely to break up, and 2, you create a temptation for two parent families to claim single parent status in order to have enough cash to survive, and therefore criminalise people for trying to get by.

Neither of these outcomes seems very sane to me.

When it comes to the deficit, it seems to me that this is a sensible long term policy. By producing more successful people as offspring of marriage, we increase future tax revenues and reduce future crime rates, and increase future productivity. Not every policy has an immediate payoff.

As for people who are infertile / gay and want kids, in an ideal world I'd like to see kids brought up by their parents. However, there are a hell of a lot of kids in care, which in itself is a horrible process, and a hell of a lot more kids who aren't in care because social services don't pull their finger out. I think adoption / long term foster care could improve their lives dramatically.

My old neighbours when I was a student would regularly have parties that ran from 8pm to 8am. A pressure washer at 6pm is hardly worth getting upset about.

OTOH any car on open pipes isn't really on if you live next to anyone.

As for Halal meat & racism, there's one important thing to remember.

Islam is not a race.

The lack of stunning of the animal before killing is unpleasant, and I'd rather avoid it if possible.

Always Always Always go limited in my opinion. Either Ltd or LLP. Partnerships often go wrong so it's important to have as much legal structure as possible.

I believe the correct term for that is "Doing a Woody Allen".

Driving on the snow isn't that dangerous. At the end of the day, you're in a tin box and any crash should be well under 30mph if conditions are bad and you're sane.

Most of the people I've known not go into work on snow days have either not bothered trying at all, or have done daft things like taking the hilly back lane they take when it's not snowy…

Everyone always bangs on about water pump impellors coming loose. First port of call is thermostat and housings (cheapest and easiest, if the water pump doesn't have to come off). Then the water pump, which should cost about £30.

Sesame oil like everyone else has said. It's also the flavour that's missing from home made egg fried rice.

Rubbish effort. There's a trampy looking bloke in Norwich who has about 9 sets of bar ends on his bike. It's like a bike crashed into a stag!

There aren't many (any) cars around with hi-low boxes now.

Auto and Subaru are likely to be the off road kings for cars as they both have proper full time AWD systems.

Your VW Syncros / 4mos generally have viscous centre diffs. Same goes for the XC70, Jag X type most likely.

That said, how bad are the tracks? FWD will do nearly anything so long as you're on some sort of a track

Warning triangle FTW. I reckon they should be mandatory.

Best bit by far is the scene where's everyone's laughing away, and it cuts to another scene. Just before the cut, for a couple of frames, Benoit's expression changes to pure rage. Hilarious.

Man Bites Dog. It's a comedy about a bunch of film students making a documentary about a serial killer.

Lots of places, but none where you'll get the cash you will on ebay.

It's a hassle but it can be bearable if you set out to do a day of it – take all your photos (tidy up, get an extra light or two out), edit all your photos, write all your descriptions, instead of bitting and bobbing at it.

oh crikes.

You write something along these lines:

Mondeo TDCI Estate

XX thousand miles, always serviced on time, MOT and Tax remaining for XX months. Has always been reliable and comfortable transport, with loads of rooms for bikes in the back.

New DMF and Clutch – this is the one big bill you can expect on modern diesels, and the job has been done.

And so on and so forth. Sells a lot better than a list, although you should list all the extras it has. I would guess that as standard that car probably has climate control, electric driver's seat height adjust, electric mirrors, tilt and reach adjustable steering wheel etc. A lot of people won't assume it's got that stuff, and it can be make or break in selling a car.

Selling a car is not an effort free affair, but the effort you put in generally pays off at a damn good hourly rate…

The big problem with hydrogen is not simply that the infrastructure isn't there. It's that hydrogen is a tiny tiny atom. It diffuses though steel storage tanks. And you have to liquefy it and keep it cool to have a workable rang. And then some of that boils off which you have to deal with. And so on.

£60 a week rent, no Council Tax.
£10 a week bills.
£25 a week on food.

5 or 6k after fees are paid is at the generous end of things – enough money for nights out etc. Remember they're only at uni for something like 36 weeks of the year.

And yes, the average SU committee member is a hooray with lots of dosh from bank of mum and dad.

Oh, and having been to uni and dropped out once, I can say that nothing motivates like a year doing dead end jobs beforehand.

And another thing. I knew of quite a few people who would accrue debt they couldn't pay off. Then they'd go to mum and dad upset because they couldn't pay it off. So the parents pay it. I'd hold some cash back for that sort of scenario.

You can always give them more if they're hungry, but you can't claw it back once they've spent it on champers and coke. And some students do.

Having had a few cars, I'd happily take a German car that's a few years older over most others. Japanese stuff is similarly reliable, but dull as ditchwater and parts prices are horrendous.

Car servicing is just expensive. I couldn't find anyone who was willing to service our (old & simple) car for a sane price, and having done it myself, I know it's easy.

Servicing modern cars, despite what various old gimmers would have you believe, is not particularly difficult. You might have to take off an undertray, but getting at the sump plug, oil filter and air filter is all pretty easy. They're designed to be easy so dealers can make a massive profit on servicing!

The difficult things tend to headlamp bulbs and glow plugs, which can be buried. And EGR valves. They're never nice to get at.

A quick thought for those worrying about stuff in the car during a crash.

I've rolled a car. Anything in the car will go wherever it wants to inside a hatchback. Parcelshelves are generally made of cardboard, and stuff can smash down the folding rear seats.

If you often carry big and heavy stuff, get a cargo net and a guard.

I had a 406 D9, which shares a lot of its technology with the 407.

My advice normally would be to keep the car you have and get a roofbox. Better the devil you know, less hassle, lighter car with better MPG for the rest of the time and so on.

But in this case, you have a 407. Sell it. Sell it now. Sell it before it breaks and Peugeot take 12 weeks to deliver the parts. Sell it before it causes you to fall behind on your mortgage repayments and your wife to leave you. Sell it!

Get something German instead.

Of course, the other thing you can do is type up some for sale notices, stick them in the windows and park it somewhere a lot of people will see it (and can stop to look at it).

Firstly, do the same stuff you would do if you were selling any car. Clean it, hoover it, make it smell nice, empty all your rammel out of it and put some tyre black on.

Then stick it in Autotrader. Nobody buys the paper version, and ads go online straight away. Make sure you do not miss any calls, and can answer buyers questions without hesitation. Here's a rough list:

When was the cam-belt last done?
When does it need doing again?
Who owned it before?
Has it had a battery?
Has it been serviced? By who?
Has it broken down?
Has it been crashed?
Has it had a new flywheel (likely to be asked if it's a diesel with a few miles)?
Is it rusty, if so where, how much, and for how long? Due to a stone chip or coming from the inside? It's useful to be able to talk in terms of 5p, 2p etc. sizes if there is rust.

Last car I bought was a Golf for my girlfriend. The bloke had advertised it about half an hour before I rang him, and I bought it because he was the first person who could give me straight answers to my questions.

If it's priced well and in good nick, you will sell it quickly. There are always people looking for new second hand motors because their old one has died. There is also a fair shortage of reasonable second hand motors at the moment due to general lack of funds and scrappage hoovering up a lot of older stock.

If it's anything like Egypt or Turkey, I personally couldn't be doing with it.

Hate all the shop keepers trying to get you to buy their guff and having to haggle for *every* purchase made outside of the hotel.

I believe the procedure involves learning to like the screeching made by the poxy instruments of yesteryear.

I like Kraftwerk, which is composed along fairly classical lines, but I can't stand the noises emanating from Radio 3 or Classic FM.

In fact, that's definately it. There are various cover versions of Kraftwerk records on Youtube using string instruments, and they're universally awful.

The 5800 is pretty poxy – touch screen is pap for a start. Out of that lot, I'd lean towards a Sony Ericsson "normal" phone or the HTC HD2.

My girlfriend drives an old Golf, on half worn ordinary tyres, but they are all at least fairly new, so they're still pliable, and have normal tread patterns. Only thing you cannot do is a hill start on an icey slope. So you avoid doing it.

The most off roading I've ever done was in a 406 HDI, round fields and farm roads. Big wide low profile Goodyear F1s, worst possible tyre for off road. Never got stuck or bottomed it out because I looked where I was going and was careful not to stop where it would be difficult to set off again.

Last vehicle I got stuck was a John Deere 2130 when I was 12 or so.

You are trying to lump poser cars into the '4×4' bracket. A FWD car with winter tyres will always struggle on snow regardless.

Oh. I understand now. 4x4s are defined as vehicles with locking diffs, 12 foot of suspension articulation, winter tyres, and owned by someone possessed with a "4×4 mentality". Any other vehicle that happens to have drive and braking on all 4 wheels is now recategorised as a poser car. Should a 4×4 be sold to an ordinary person, it instantly enters the poser car category.

And front wheel drive cars are always fitted with road legal slicks.

Got it.

In all seriousness, you are going to have to go down some sort of shared house route. The council house route can be hellish – I know a girl who's a single mum, and she had be living in a hostel before she could get a council house. But, if you can get one, RTB is a great way to get a house on the cheap. I really does depend on your area, how many council houses they have and what their policies are.

I'd personally aim to keep the house, get a lodger in, and pay down the debt like crazy. Renegotiate the terms of the debt for a start – Credit cards are going to be costing you a fortune.

That route will obviously be painful in the short term, but should pay off long term.

Last time I saw a rusty one? The last time I stripped a MK2 Golf…

They go in areas you can't easily see – under the rubber surround of the petrol filler, and where the A pillars are hidden by the wings. A lot rust through to the point where holes are visible at either end of the scuttle panel. And there are a lot around with rusty door bottoms and tailgates.

They are streets ahead of anything else built at the time, and a lot of later stuff.

Most old folks seem to want a computer to last over 5 years. Which is fair enough as they do nothing intensive with them – most I know don't use multiple browser tabs or windows etc.

However, laptops seem to last 3 years if you're lucky. The power connectors eventually get borked or the batteries pack up. Everything is more compact, specialised and crammed into a tiny case, so repairs are often completely uneconomical.

I'd look at the small desktop systems that are around if I were you. And if you can avoid wireless, do. In my book it's just an expensive way of replacing a wire with something less reliable.

I assume you're looking at MK4 Golf GTIs? It would definately be my choice out of that line up. Go pretty well, but the key thing is that they hang onto their money like nothing else. Keep it nice and serviced and it'll never be worth less than a grand. I feel like Quentin Wilson now I've written that sentence.

On the other hand, the Focus just doesn't appeal to me – don't like the inside of them and don't like the way they rust. I always feel like I'm sat really high up in them, and hate it.

Alfa 147. No. I'd simply not have one as a daily driver. Alfa's own specs state it's acceptable for their engines to use silly amounts of oil, which means there are plenty that die or are damaged by low oil pressure. I really wouldn't want the bother of having to check my oil often.

I'd also look at 3 series BMWs (similar job to the Golf – they don't lose money if they're kept tidy). But, if you're a single bloke, get an MX5. They're ace.