What's for the chop?

[AB Editor]

Good afternoon,

Here is a short-list of what has been (or will be) chopped: (figures and quotes from the BBC)

* Police spending down by 4% each year of the spending settlement

* The Department for International Development's budget will rise to £11.5bn over the next four years, reaching 0.7% of national income in 2013.

* Plans for a 1,500 place new prison have been dropped

* The MoD is facing cuts of 8%

* The BBC has been told it must freeze the licence fee for six years. 16% cut in the BBC's budget in real terms.

* Retirement age to rise from 65 to 66 by 2020

What kind of Britain does this shape us up for over the next 4 years?

Spare Ed

[dotty.]

not a clue what half of that means, is rail travel and petrol/cartax etc going up?

[anotheoldgit]

One can only speculate, I myself are bored with the whole lot, it is going to drag on and on over the next weeks, months, and years.

One thing that can be said though, I think it has frightened a few public service workers lately, judging by the drop off of some ABers.

Perhaps they are no longer using the council's computers to take part on AB, but are now keeping their heads down and getting their work done.

[dotty.]

ha ha posiibly AOG, how the hell they get away with that amazes me, no store I have ever worked in has tolerated staff accessing anything other than works intranet.

[jno]

I am impressed by aog's ability to detect what jobs ABers have. Presumably he can tell that anyone who disagrees with him is a public-sector lefty.

[Coobeastie]

That's very astute of you aog of course all public sector workers spend their day surfing the net.

[BertiWooster]

AOG - if you dont widthdraw that slur on public sector workers - i'll arrange it so you dont have your bins collected- indefinitely !!!

[Nosha123]

hopefully they will get rid of a few civil servants at the local councils.... most of them cant do their jobs anyway! Including the bloke in planning who owes me an £85 refund from over a year ago!!!!

[andy-hughes]

Not guilty AOG - I am not a PS worker - thank heavens, although I nearly was!

Last year I was offered a decent redundency package as I was without a permanent role, and was offered a secondment to Nottingham County Council as an Environmental Officer, with a view to a full-time post.

They turned me down because they were unsure I was 'committed' to the role - even though I told them in interview that I was willing to transfer my skills at te end of the secondment.

I secured a full-time role where i am, and now it looks like i may have been chopped at the Council anyway!

Better go to church on Sunday - there may be a God after all ......


..... nah!!!

[anotheoldgit]

Good one Bertie, but I have never seen our bin men (or women I hasten to add) sitting around playing with their their lap-tops.(not a pleasant sight all the same).

[steg]

they should cut politicians pay and expenses, that would sort the country's finances

[craft1948]

Compared to the 'earnings' of some local council executives MP's aren't overpaid.

[jaydah]

TV licence too expensive for boring programs.

[steg]

compared to what Joe McBloggs earns, MP's are well over paid

[jake-the-peg]

The analysis is that the cuts will cost 1 million jobs

Half in the public sector, half in the private sector

http://www.politics.c...losses--$21384751.htm

You see private sector companies get lots of government contracts and sell to public sector workers.

If you think your not at risk from the cuts, you haven't understood them

[craft1948]

True steg......but would I want Joe McBlogg as my MP....

[bazwillrun]

So, let me see if i get the rough jist of things... bail out the banks who got us in this mess with around £500billion and then try and balance the books by taking around £7bilion from those who had absolutely nothing to do with getting us in this mess

Yup, that makes sense

[jake-the-peg]

That's about it Baz

Other than the alternative which was let them fail, and watch them go over in turn like a stack of dominoes as confidence disintergrated.

Each one foreclosing on peoples mortgages and business loans causing mass reposessions and redundancies as they went.

Cameron used to make a big thing about red tape - abolishing the regulations binding hands in the city.

I haven't heard much of that policy lately

[Sooper]

Im a Public Sector Worker and have been for 23 years until next June when i lose my job due to the cutbacks etc. To say that im a tad worried about finding another job is a huge understatement, fingers crossed eh!

AOG - Just to set the record straight with regards to surfing the web, not all Government Departments workers can do this. Im a Systems Administrator and thousands of web sites are not accessible, we can see just who goes on what websites and when if need be and on the whole it is managed very well. Staff are allowed to use the Internet in their own time but still only sites that are allowed so this notion that Public Sector workers just sit surfing the net all day isnt true accross the board. Please dont tar us all with the same brush, its neither true or fair.
PS - Im at lunch and clocked out!

[youngmafbog]

Here we go again, its all the Banks fault.

RUBBISH. Noo labour spent and spent and spent until the cupboard was bare. They were living off the back of the Merry og round created by the Banks and were more than happy to let it go on.

The cuts now are because klabour overspent. They employed hundreds of thousands of extra people into public sector, probably with their votes inmind.

Lets not also forget, the wise amongst the labour lot were also for cuts, just the timescale was different.

Its all very well for Postman Pat and his mates to shake their head, but he should remember the cause. And it was NOT the coalition.