warrenm2

ROFL at your lack of economic understanding!

Why has the economy been stable? Due to Gvmt policy or because every western nation has had a good run? If you look at say productivity or competiveness measures you get a better idea of how the Gvmt has managed the economy. So lets see..... oh look, the UK has gone from 8th to 19th!

Next please explain why price of oil has risen. Is it due to supply and demand perhaps? Industrialisation of India and China? Falling output of North Sea, political unstability in oil regions? Any of this ringing a bell? Yes it is a major factor in inflation figures. But so is council tax, and fuel duties. They ramp up green taxes and wonder why inflation rises!

But hey they've spent it all on hospitals and the NHS is the envy of the world! (I hear you say from behind the SWP flag). So lets look at how the money is spent and number of patients treated. Why look again, NHS productivity down, record wages to GPs (because the Gvmt couldnt negotiate its way out of a wet paper bag), NHS supercomputers costing £50bn that no-one wants, and record levels of hospital infections. Hmmm

But education, education, education - thats where its at! So record number of teenage offenders and 25% of school leavers funtionally illiterate after 11 years of compulsory education (better make that 13 then!). Not too good there either.

Defense - better not go there!

Transport - best roads in Europe? Nope Best train service - Nope

err Environment - yes plenty of progress here on green taxation! We're doing our bit! (see other threads on greeny stuff!)

well what about child poverty? great strides are being made here by giving feckless baby factories plenty of tax payers money so they can sit around all day producing more babies, which costs more money, which is paid for by fewer taxpayers... (and repeat to fade).

Crime - prisons full and yet this is after they release them after 50% of their sentence, CPS drops all the slightly dodgy cases, and sentencing guidelines say burglars should get community orders! You have to try hard to get into prison and they're still full!

But coming back to the economy. GB manages to announce he is going to sell gold months before he does and gets the worst price possible, creates hugely complex tax credits, that are so arcane that the error in payments is ESTIMATED at 2.5 bn (rounded to the nearest 0.5bn because they dont actually know), f****d peoples pensions to the tune of 5bn plus per year (current bill 50bn), and spent money and called it a success without actually realising it was almost totally wasted (esp in the NHS - see Kings fund report)

And I didnt even mention immigration (oops!)

THAT my good friend, is what I call incompetent!

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

The NHS is a money pit. Give them £1bn more and it still won't be enough.
You only have to step into your local A%E and spot that almost 50% are time-wasters and drunks. Crazy, but true. Why they don't start charging them is beyond me. The poor old s&d who got hit by a drunk driver has to wait his turn due to somebody getting a broken nose in a drunken brawl.

Oh, and please give a full run down on how you would run the country.

It is just so easy to pick holes without knowing the whole truth.

I have a good standard of living. I'm 25, soon to be wed, have our own home that isn't stretching our budget, have our own cars and get to have 1-2 nice holidays abroad every year. We both work full time (37.5 hrs a week each) and get to enjoy the weekend together. To me, that is a good, comfortable life.

For us, times are good.
Yes, I do be-grudge paying as much tax as we do, come on, this country has got things pretty good.
All the 'i'm a rich celebrity' shows on tv seem to make people believe that that is how the everyday person lives and it just isn't.
You only have to look at the credit crisis to see how people have felt the need to live beyond their means. That is NOT the governments fault.

lozgti

Alan Carr quote..... " Went into A&E,thought someone had bombed Aldi"

Sorry,carry on.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

You should move here then if you think you pay to much tax, you lot don't know how good you actually have it in the UK !!!!

whinge, whinge, whinge that is all you lot ever do!!!

try living in a country where your salary is taxed at 42% then you have to pay by law medical insurance, and you have to by law have public liability insurance, retirement insurance, redundancy insurance, nursing home insurance. Pay reunification tax.

Where the cost of petrol is about is about 1 pound 6 pence a litre

should I go on ????

Snazy

So at 25.... *does quick maths.... you were 14 under the last Tory leadership. What fond memories you must have of being a working class person under their rule..... Oops hold on a mo.

Having worked in this country for 9 odd years before Labour took over, understanding how things have impacted my life, I would personally say things have slowly got worse than under Tories.

I know where people are coming from but its amazing to see how people switch the rules...

Cant blame Labour for the economic downturn, but can thank them for the past 10+ years of a great economy. Its one or the other.

PSL, or should I say PmSL....
So please explain in under 1000 words how this "hiccup" is upon us WITHOUT it being Labours fault.

At the end of the day, put aside a few bits and bobs, the bitterness of cost of living, how much **** went up, cant afford to booze etc, and concentrate on the foundations of things...

NHS, yes its a money pit, of course it is because health care can ALWAYS be better. However I agree that timewasters should be charged for their use of it. However the bigger the budget for it, in theory the better the care. So if people acted responsibly and didnt waste the resources, care would be better and financial drain lower. Incidently, my local A&E is about to close. Nearest one will now be almost London Bridge.... should be handy in rush hour!

Crime.... climb climb climb the figures go. Out of control, and no focus on it whatsoever. We are happier spending money in other countries on their wars etc, than making things right at home.

Benefit fraud.... now THATS a financial drain that needs sorting. Long termers on the dole, make them do community work in order to claim their money. Clean the damn hospitals, streets, parks... Just do something for the money.

Immigration.... So that, make it emmigration, lets get the hell out of the place "formerly known as GREAT Britain"

Enviroment.... what a complete joke.. its not about taxing the highest poluting cars, its about taxing the people with the most to lose, and the easiest pockets to pick.

Anyway....... Vote Boris, Vote Tory, lets see a fresh take on it and see where we go from there.

Holy Ghost

**

oh behave lewis. trite in the extreme and brainless. how about making sure money is well spent instead of just ... spent? or culling the 600,000+ civil servant jobs created since 1997? or doing the same to ridiculous number of unelected quangos? or tightening up on the £50bn that HMRC fails to collect each year? accountability. value. competence. i'll have some of that.

show a bit of common will you? you are in a minority of one.

Leslie

It is quite true that the Conservatives got the economy back on an evil keel after the gross errors leading to Black Wednesday. The National Debt had been decreased significantly and NL profited hugely from the way it was left. Flash has wasted all that by his profligate spending on useless projects and measures and he has created an enormously top heavy administration which is costing us dear to no significant avail. He has borrowed from the IMF to an alarming degree and has used all that to make the economy look strong although it is all built on credit! He has frittered away half of our national gold reserves at the lowest possible price and he has not put anything in reserve to keep us solvent during the coming recession. I still remember Healey being told to get lost when he was trying to borrow more money from the IMF during the time when Callaghan was unable to accept there was a problem and interest rates were around 17%+. I can see all that happening again.

I sincerely hope you are not using "disingenuous" in the sense that I am dishonest, I do try to tell it as I see it even though I am as likely as anyone to make mistakes.

Pete Lewis,

If this is a slight hiccup, I hate to think what their next bit of gross incompetence will be like!

Les

Martin2005

Hey Les, no way dishonest, just not giving the whole story.

I agree with all the points you made BTW, we have wasted a golden opportunity.

I was merely pointing out that we were where we where 12 years ago not through great economic management, quite the opposite in fact.

I could forgive Brown (who I really dislike) everything, if he'd not blocked propoer public services reforms, time after time, whilst chancellor

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Thatcher inherited a bankrupt country run into the ground by labour, took some tough decisions and turned this country around, unfortunately after 12 years of labour here we are again.

Snazy

Labour 1997-2008, summarised in one single sentance!

Time for Change..................

spireite

his dad was probably a pit rat

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Wow, how mature. :rolleyea:

Owned his engineering firm for over 25 years and survived the recession. Not bad for a one man band.

Any other great comments?

zs_phil

iTrader: (1)

i hear that ill be voting for lib dems
when can we vote labour out anyway

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Only problem is I don't think cameron has the ***** to take the decisions needed to sort this country out, that thatcher did

spireite

engineer and a band player

Martin2005

Thats a quite fabulous bit of history rewritten!

I thought you didn't like spin

Snazy

You know what though, I reckon he does, just being polite as he does it lol.
Cameron and Hague as well as being rather amuzing, seem hell bent on making a difference for the best in the UK. I know its only talk, and they are limited to the changes they can actually make, but right now, I would happily try the alternative to the monkeys in power.

Thatcher was always seen as strong but proper. Then when the sheeeeeeet hit the fan, she showed she had the biggest ***** in the house and marched on. Who knows, maybe Cameron can be the same. With Hague as deputy of course lol

frayz

iTrader: (7)

Bring back Thatcher... thats what i say

The Zohan

If he hasn't then we are in trouble...

Really the Lib Dims havn't got a hope i hell of getting in so i will vote tory in the hope that they can get it right and to get rid of Brown and his fools

SVXNUT

A report I read the other day on the NHS says that under the current whitehall encumbents, there are 3 paperpushers for every qualified medical professional in the Service. Oh and by the way waiting times are almost double what they were 10 years ago.
They way they fiddle these is to make you an appointment in 6 months, and then cancel it 24 hrs before and put it back another 6 months. My grandad has been waiting for a routine opp. for 2 1/2 years now, they have done this 4 times to date.

Snazy

I meant to say about this actually. I have been waiting about 22-24 weeks now for physio on my arm and back. Chased them up and been told the waiting list is 3 weeks for emergencies (which is what mine was meant to be) and 3 months for non-urgent.......

Also, my local A&E is under threat of closure, making the nearest A&E serving my area of South London is............. St Thomas's Hospital. Should be fun, an 8.30am blue light run from South London to St Thomas's!

I have to agree, the NHS has been reformed under Labour.............. trashed!

About 8 years back they closed the A&E in Bromley too and built pretty houses instead. Moving the A&E 12 mins down the road....

Thanks Labour, your the greatest.
Keep closing the services and keep importing the population!

Dracoro

I don't think she'll last very long

Leslie

I certainly think that Hague would really be the man to put the country back to where it should be but I think it is a bit unfair to run Cameron down just now.

The one thing we can say is that we know what to expect from NL and Flash since we have long and mournful experience of that, and I for one do not like the thought of much more of it.

Les

Snazy

Here here, given the time they have left til the next election im sure they have time for some stunning blunders.
Still not happy about inheriting power, but hey lol.

SVXNUT

An Israeli doctor said, 'Medicine in my country is so advanced, we can
take a kidney out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking
for work in six weeks.'

A German doctor said, 'That's nothing! In Germany, we can take a lung out
of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in four
weeks.'

A Russian doctor said, 'In my country medicine is so advanced, we can take
half a heart from one person, put it in another, and have them both
looking for work in two weeks.'

The English doctor, not to be outdone, said 'Hah!. We can take an arsehole
out of Scotland, put him in 10 Downing Street and have half the country
looking for work within twenty-four hours.

Please note I nicked this one from 51st state on another site!!!!.

Snazy

Leslie

Cameron does have some kind of excuse for not coming out with all his policies since he knows that they will be filched by Flash and his mates. I suppose we will have to wait for an election to find out what he really stands for.

Les

unclebuck

New Labour - New Britain.

You got what you voted for.

lordretsudo

Hague has impressed me a lot over the last couple of years. He's talked a lot of sense and gives the impression of being someone who's learnt from past mistakes and genuinely wants to try to sort out the mess Labour have got us into. I didn't think much of him when he was leader, but would definitely vote for him now, over Cameron. I just wish they'd dare to take a stronger line on Europe, as that's my real bugbear.