826 replies to this topic

[Pat]

Protests in Ireland, violence in Greece, strikes in Spain and cuts expected here.

Is it going to be a summer of political action and unrest or do we only have to worry about our holiday destinations? What do you think?

Spanish workers' strike
Violence in Greece
Angry protests on Ireland's streets

[harper]

Protests in Ireland, violence in Greece, strikes in Spain and cuts expected here.

Is it going to be a summer of political action and unrest or do we only have to worry about our holiday destinations? What do you think?

Spanish workers' strike
Violence in Greece
Angry protests on Ireland's streets

I think people are gearing themselves up for the budget announcement on June 22nd, Pat but if it is as bad as they are intimating there could well be trouble on the way.

I think there tactics are interesting - cutting governement department spending and engaging the public in deciding priorities for cuts. I'm not sure what to make of that. Is it the new politics, or are we just being softened up for the really, really, bad news?

[HollowHorn]

It matters not a jot, we bought ourselves into this mess, now we have to pay our way out. Easy peasy.

[HollowHorn]

Don't be silly, of course we bought into good times and of course we have the money to 'pay' our way out. Has it not always been so?

[ozneil]

Looks like a case of "Live then Pay now". UK can get out of the hole it dug for itself but it will take some effort & a lot of cost cutting. I am so glad you didnt join the Euro

[samscafeamericain]

From the Guardian, 24th November 2009 - the cost of borrowing was well heralded. Wonder why Cameron is being disingenuous?

'He (Mervyn King) said figures from the International Monetary Fund and those underpinning the Bank's inflation report suggest that from pre-recession levels between 5% and 10% of Britain's entire economic output – about £100bn – will be be lost for the "indefinite future".'

We are definitely being softened up for something. Cameron is losing no opportunity to point to the debt mountain and say we have to cut our costs to bring debt under control.

The only thing he has control of is public spending, so that is what he will cut. And the biggest items of public expenditure are defence, health and education and it also looks like he'll have a pop at Pensions and benefits as well.

What he is not so keen to do is to tax the wealthy. The miniscule impact of an increase in Capital Gains Tax has had the Mail and Express unleash a full broadside. Just think what would happen if he proposes a rich bankers' tax.

Cameron has borrowed Thatcher's notion that running a country is just like running a shop. "We've too much debt so we have to cut our spending". Sadly as we found to our cost under the blessed Margaret, a country isn't like that. Cut back our spending on public services and we end up spending more on welfare and policing and we lower the tax take. Cut back too much and businesses go to the wall with a further depressing effect on the economy.

Brown was wrong to declare that boom and bust was finished. All he did was adjust the timing and scale of the cycle. But Cameron is equally wrong to think that fiscal policies can get us out of the bust cycle - only time, sell off of the banking assets and careful increase in tax rates can achieve that.

[samscafeamericain]

It matters not a jot, we bought ourselves into this mess, now we have to pay our way out. Easy peasy.

Thats funny because I don't remember going hog wild and borrowing millions and neither did the majority of the country. The crisis started with a major financial meltdown because the great and the good were gambling that property prices would never go down and of course the made up sham of an insurance system they created around about that belief.

World wide deficits are there because banks and financial institutions had to be bailed out to the tune of trillions not because Mrs. Smith borrowed 500 quid on a credit card to pay for a holiday. IMHO it is a lie to tell us we are all in this together when in actual fact we are all paying for disgraceful behaviour of a globalised financial sector which gambled and lost and then had its losses swallowed by the taxpayer.

Also, if you have the time this is worth a swatch.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...ew_clothes.html

[Iona Weedug]

I'm contented that I don't let what little extra brain cells I have left over delve too deeply into politics however it doesn't stop me speculating.
Cameron is asking the public where they should make the cuts? yeah right = easy excuses when it all goes pear shape.

Of course there's going to be protests - remember the huge bonuses to *ankers and golden goodbyes etc etc
I'm interested to see how they can cut benefits now cut public sector jobs etc etc YET HAVE no flamin jobs to put people into????

Personal story coming up
My OH has been out of work for just over a year from the building trade - he's not trained to do anything else. He enquired about learning to drive machinery or HGV licence and/or getting a full time security job. ALL required new certificates brought in in the last few years by the last "bureaucratic making" government fair enough you want to know that your workforce are well trained (when I say well-trained we're talking a condescending powerpoint presentation and a wee tick box test) and safe however to complete these courses would cost anything from £400 to a couple of thousand pounds. So if you've used up all your savings being unemployed ..????

People have a responsibilty not to get into debt but so had the f***** governments

[Pat]

I'm contented that I don't let what little extra brain cells I have left over delve too deeply into politics however it doesn't stop me speculating.
Cameron is asking the public where they should make the cuts? yeah right = easy excuses when it all goes pear shape.

Maybe he just doesn't feel ready for the job yet. Might be better asking where not to make the cuts.

Of course there's going to be protests - remember the huge bonuses to *ankers and golden goodbyes etc etc
I'm interested to see how they can cut benefits now cut public sector jobs etc etc YET HAVE no flamin jobs to put people into????

No jobs, no training strategies and no hope for many. Maybe he should take a tip or two from Tony Benn - (see other thread) but doubt we'll see much anger against injustice or fanning the flames of hope.

Personal story coming up
My OH has been out of work for just over a year from the building trade - he's not trained to do anything else. He enquired about learning to drive machinery or HGV licence and/or getting a full time security job. ALL required new certificates brought in in the last few years by the last "bureaucratic making" government fair enough you want to know that your workforce are well trained (when I say well-trained we're talking a condescending powerpoint presentation and a wee tick box test) and safe however to complete these courses would cost anything from £400 to a couple of thousand pounds. So if you've used up all your savings being unemployed ..????

People have a responsibilty not to get into debt but so had the f***** governments

Bloody sad! I'm sure there are many such examples illustrating the barriers people face, IonaW, I guess the rich/poor divide is ever widening.

[notanimby]

I'm contented that I don't let what little extra brain cells I have left over delve too deeply into politics however it doesn't stop me speculating.
Cameron is asking the public where they should make the cuts? yeah right = easy excuses when it all goes pear shape.

Of course there's going to be protests - remember the huge bonuses to *ankers and golden goodbyes etc etc
I'm interested to see how they can cut benefits now cut public sector jobs etc etc YET HAVE no flamin jobs to put people into????

Personal story coming up
My OH has been out of work for just over a year from the building trade - he's not trained to do anything else. He enquired about learning to drive machinery or HGV licence and/or getting a full time security job. ALL required new certificates brought in in the last few years by the last "bureaucratic making" government fair enough you want to know that your workforce are well trained (when I say well-trained we're talking a condescending powerpoint presentation and a wee tick box test) and safe however to complete these courses would cost anything from £400 to a couple of thousand pounds. So if you've used up all your savings being unemployed ..????

People have a responsibilty not to get into debt but so had the f***** governments

IWG,

When ah wiz unemployed fur an extensive period of time a few years ago, I managed to get the broo tae pay fer training fur me for "free"

Its apparently available efter bein unemployed fur 6 months, ur sooner dependin on where yoo live.

I received Microsft technical training which is industry recognises, 5 seperate subjects worth (if I had to pay fur it maself)in the region of £6000.

It was a pain tryin tae get the broo tae actually dae anything aboot it though, at that time it wiz called the "training fur work" program

[Iona Weedug]

Thanks Nota

Over here in Back o' Beyond UKay they have a scheme where they will pay part of the training costs providing you have a letter from someone willing to take you on
Taken that the biggest and only employer here for say digger drivers is in financial trouble well ........?
They seem to have a free reign for what they charge for some of these courses too and then there's the renewal charges on say the security course every 3 years or so

[notanimby]

Thanks Nota

Over here in Back o' Beyond UKay they have a scheme where they will pay part of the training costs providing you have a letter from someone willing to take you on
Taken that the biggest and only employer here for say digger drivers is in financial trouble well ........?
They seem to have a free reign for what they charge for some of these courses too and then there's the renewal charges on say the security course every 3 years or so

It is sometimes like that here IWG but ma course wiz free and yoo didnae ned teh offer of work letter

[ozneil]

IWG,

When ah wiz unemployed fur an extensive period of time a few years ago, I managed to get the broo tae pay fer training fur me for "free"

I received Microsft technical training which is industry recognises, 5 seperate subjects worth (if I had to pay fur it maself)in the region of £6000.

Thats exactly what my son is doing courtesy of HM Government. His total cost is $50 pa. He is doing net working & hoping to get Microsoft Accreditation.

[harper]

IWG,

When ah wiz unemployed fur an extensive period of time a few years ago, I managed to get the broo tae pay fer training fur me for "free"

Its apparently available efter bein unemployed fur 6 months, ur sooner dependin on where yoo live.

I received Microsft technical training which is industry recognises, 5 seperate subjects worth (if I had to pay fur it maself)in the region of £6000.

It was a pain tryin tae get the broo tae actually dae anything aboot it though, at that time it wiz called the "training fur work" program

That's fantastic, Nota. It would have been terrible if they had just written you off as just another obese drain on the tax payer. And thank goodness they didn't tell you just to get on with it yourself because there were more deserving priorities. That would have been terrible, don't you think?

[samscafeamericain]

http://news.bbc.co.u...on/10278662.stm

ahhh part of the solution - price a degree out of the hands of the oiks. Its not fair that the offspring of the landed ladies and gentry should have to share the same airspace as the lumpen prols.

[notanimby]

That's fantastic, Nota. It would have been terrible if they had just written you off as just another obese drain on the tax payer. And thank goodness they didn't tell you just to get on with it yourself because there were more deserving priorities. That would have been terrible, don't you think?

Nae way as wiz gettin written aff either by them ur anywan else - positive atitude - ah akshully wanted a job, unlike a huge number of folk who are signin on. It's amazin how some staff in teh broo actually pick up on the diffrinshes in people signin on, between the lazy gits and the wans who are there "between jobs"


The broo told me hee haw inishully, despite weeks of askin' In life yoo huvtae go and find things oot fur yerself. Unforchoonately therz a huge number of folk on teh broo who aren't in the slightest bit interested in getting any trainin never mind gettin a job
The trainin course ah wiz on, and there wiz a few diffrint wans on the go wiz as a sed free, yoo kept gettin yer broo money plus travel expenses plus an extra few quid as well. Two free exams fur Microsoft quaulifikashuns were thrown in as well.
I was pleasently surprised by the course, it was excellent, having dome many Microsft courses this was the best I had come across. In fact ah ended uop runnin a couple of sessions at it on certain aspects of teh course ah had experince of previously.

But again you have got to want teh training(whatever it may be) Its amazin teh number of people who accept some form of trainin then don't complete it, are disruptive and are only there to give an impreshun of wantin a job

Again its personal responsibility, if yer up fur stuff then fair play to yoo, but if yoo jist fancy livin aff benefits fur the rest of yer life then its time furra shut eye wae a bang

[Iona Weedug]

http://news.bbc.co.u...on/10278662.stm

ahhh part of the solution - price a degree out of the hands of the oiks. Its not fair that the offspring of the landed ladies and gentry should have to share the same airspace as the lumpen prols.

That might have already started over here http://www.impartial...in-from-county/
- as the big picture and not just down to geography however I never understand this theory of "brain drain" the reason they leave is because there's no bloody work do they want them to go to Uni and then sit on the dole queue when they've finished. I'm confused you have to provide jobs (in all areas) to retain the young and qualified. We have loads of youngsters here who are finished Uni and they can't even get full time permanent jobs in the pubs/resturants. It's the same all over.

I can see the economy plodding along for a long time - what do the economists say?




Interesting to see how this cut will pan out in the future ? reckon the interest rate on student loans will go sky high.