Can't you tell the tories are in power

[DrFilth]

.
.
some things never change, will they ever have any feelings and care about the working class


http://news.sky.com/s...e_1926_General_Strike

[Gromit]

Productivity in car manufacturing plants in the UK is the best in Europe, yet the same workforce were the least productive when the factories were British owned and run. The reason is that foreign management know that to get anything done you need to cooperate and give the workforce a stake in the process. The old British management had a very us and them attitude, dictatorial, no negotiation and didn't work. I fear we have a British Leyland Government.

[VHG]

Could it be that the unions deliberately go on strike during a tory government to try to get a Labour government back in power. After all the Labour party came out of the union movement and the unions do (or did) back the Labour party heavily with funding.

Could it also be that the Tory government are AGAIN trying to sort out the countries finances,which are always in a mess after a Labour government.

This country is BILLIONS in debt, we cant afford to keep getting further in debt.

As a country we HAVE to get people working longer (we are living longer and having less children) and we cant AFFORD to give people "golden" pensions when most private companies have stopped final salary pensions.

All "western" countires are in the same situation: rising debt, aging population, rising social costs, businesses moving to cheaper countires etc.

Look at Greece, 300 BILLION in debt, needing billions in loans to stop them going bankrupt, and still people on the streets protesting.

This belt tightening is not going to go away, we are stuck with it all over Europe for the next 20 or 30 years. In fact it will probably never be the same as it was, the "good" times are over.

We had better get used to it.

[Sqad]

Late 70's..... the "Winter of Discontent".....which Political Party was in Government?.................the LABOUR GOVERMNENT

[jno]

was it union members who left the country in a mess? At the time everyone thought it was bankers - who tend not to vote Labour, and have been duly rewarded - but perhaps it was really bus drivers who were making all that money, not bankers at all.

[DrFilth]

VHG >>This country is BILLIONS in debt, we cant afford to keep getting further in debt. <<

we have no problem giving more money to help other countries
we have no problem dropping bombs on libya
we have no problem dropping bombs on afghanistan


should we not get our own house in order before we take on the world

[DrFilth]

jno >> bus drivers who were making all that money<<

jno the wage you see for driving a bus on the ad's is what you get for working 7 days a week

[DrFilth]

jno the reason i know about the wages for bus drivers is itchy who use to come on this site was a bus driver and i have seen is wage slips :)

[LazyGun]

No one can seriously question the need for some major reforms of public expenditure. You can however question the pace and the scope of those changes.

What irritates me almost out of all measure is that many of those who are making the decisions on the fate of thousands of ordinary people arethe MPs, many of whom are at best hypocrites, quite happily helping themselves to the public purse often fraudulently, safe in the knowledge that their own pension pots are safe and secure and represent an outrageous level of self enrichment at the public expense.

Nothing in their pension plan represents the oft repeated mantra that "we are all in this together". If they aim to reform public pension plans, then at the very least their own plans should come under scrutiny.

http://www.guardian.c...odium-plated-pensions

[Gromit]

DrFilth,

I fear you are missing jno's point comparing bus drivers and corpirate bankers.

VHG
// Look at Greece... and still people on the streets protesting. //
The Greek people are protesting because they are having to pay for other people's mistakes. I am not predicting the same here, but when people's long saved pensions are being robbed to pay off a deficit largely the result of saving failed banks, and those very same banks are again paying themselves disgustingly excessive bonuses, then people will get really angry.

[anotheoldgit]

First and foremost let it be said it is not a Tory Government, it is a coalition government, in which unfortunately the Tories have become bed fellows with the 'waste of space' Lib/Dems. Dare I say this? It would have been better if they had joined together with Labour.

VHG's 9-10 post was excellent.

DrFilth's 9-16 post made some interesting points, except the one about bombing Afghanistan, because I am not sure that we do, it would have been better to say that we should not be there in the first place.

LazyGun's 9-51 post was a good description of all politicians, at the moment, they are all in it for their own benefit, it would be lovely to have people put forward for election, that only want to work for the good of their constituents, but that is utopia, and we are never going to get that.

Sqad 9-14 A good valid point.

[Old_Geezer]

I think jno was being sarcastic.

Who can be surprised at the reaction of messing about with people's pensions ? A way should have been found to avoid messing them about in the private sector yet no one seemed to care if companies reneged on their end of the deal (not something us individual citizens can) the workers can go as they aren't considered important. They can be pushed around. So now the government tries it on in the public sector and finds that they are better organised.

About time all this nonsense about pensions was stopped and things put back on an equitable deal for all, as were the initial agreements.

[joggerjayne]

Can't you tell the Unions are in power !!!

But I'm puzzled by this phrase they keep using ...

"Pensions"

So they keep getting money after they stop work ???

How does that happen?

Nobody is going to pay me a single penny if I stop work.

In fact, if I save up for a private pension, it will be taxed ... and some of my hard earned pension will be given to ... public sector workers pensioners !!!

And they are ... unhappy ??!!

[joggerjayne]

Or do they want even more of my money !!

[MoonshinePete]

The Tornados fly in pairs, operating their reconnaissance and targeting pods which are capable of collecting video footage of any weapon deployment. Flt Lt Mackenzie recorded the drop of a Paveway IV 500lb bomb from a colleague's jet. “After a show of force, Coalition troops were still under fire and it very quickly became a circumstance where something had to be done in a self defence situation. We always minimise collateral damage when a bomb is requested – in this case the friendly forces were less than 300 metres away so we put a delay on the weapon. The insurgents were hiding in a building and Paveway IV took out the structure without doing any further damage to the rest of the compound and friendly forces were not affected by the weapon.”

In addition to Paveway IV, the Tornado is the only aircraft in Afghanistan to carry the Brimstone missile. It has a particular capability where it can hone into radar energy or to a laser spot and deliver a low collateral damage warhead. If there is a need to target a particular insurgent individual, any civilians in close proximity are unaffected by its deployment – this offers a unique capability in theatre.

Taken from RAF internet page

// Flt Lt Mackenzie recorded the drop of a Paveway IV 500lb bomb from a colleague's jet //

[jackthehat]

Are you considering advising someone to drop one of these weapons on TUC head-quarters?

[Gromit]

// the "Winter of Discontent"... which Political Party was in Government? ..the LABOUR GOVERMNENT //

Correct. My recollection though was that it was a Government with a very small majority that was being propped up by the Liberals. Sound familiar?

[MoonshinePete]

Jayne have a read

http://www.telegraph....nt-income-Part-1.html

[joggerjayne]

Thanks, Pete.

They missed off ...

11. Hope that the Unions stop striking to grasp away even more of my pension.

[bazwillrun]

Problem is lumping all Public Sector under the same heading, certain section are invaluable and deserve everything and more ie, nures , military etc, but then theres others like a lot of the useless penpushers that are ony in the civil service because they couldnt cut it in the private sector and whose jobs in an awful lot of case were invented, and who joined because of the gold plated pension and easy no pressure cant be sacked no matter how useless lifestyle it afforded them.

[joggerjayne]

So we all work, all our lives.

While we are working, WE (private sector) pay into OUR OWN pension funds, and we are taxed to pay into THEIR (public sector) pension funds.

After we retire, OUR pensions are still taxed, to carry on paying THEIR pensions.

Have we adopted these people, or something ????