Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
12 October 2010
06:2174603acording to a news report at 0600 this morning theres a possabilaty of strike action in france over pension rights.op stack could be put into operation as soon as,traverlers are advised to contact there travel operaters,fligts and ferrys could be affected.
12 October 2010
06:5074605Oh dear its a shame Britian isnt more like the french , the goverment would soon think twice about cutting jobs etc.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
12 October 2010
07:4274612mel,you are right there,if we did the same it could give the french somthing to think about.
12 October 2010
07:5974617Brian im ALWAYS right.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
12 October 2010
08:0474618We were like the French in the 1970's with strikes at the drop of a hat. It destroyed the economy and whole industries, thousands of jobs gone as a result - utter madness. The French economically are a sick man of Europe now, not us and they need a Mrs T to save them from the suicidal unions. Blimey, Europe is sick overall, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal as well, a real mess.
Melissa - you speak as if there is an alternative to getting to grips with the deficit disaster, there is not,.
12 October 2010
08:1474619Barry the conlibs are cutting jobs expecting people to just walk into another one when there arent any. So can you tell me how they believe they will be successful in this ?
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
12 October 2010
08:4174621Melissa - They must cut public spending to reduce and then eliminate the deficit.
Like individuals governments cannot keep spending more than they have as income and that is what the deficit is, excessive spending. The government is borrowing huge sums from investors who invest to get a return relative to risk. If the investors lose confidence in the British economy to service that debt then interest rates will increase. What the government spends on interest (already more than is spent on the NHS) will increase. The amount of debt on which we are paying this interest is still increasing on a huge scale. It is unsustainable and must be dealt with.
Relate it to your own finances. Imagine you spend £5 for every £4 you have in income with the difference being made up by your credit card. How long can that go on? What is the solution? Cut spending and earn more is the answer.
The deficit is around £156bn - that is what is being spent by the government in excess of income. They are dealing with this by a combination of spending cuts (c. £80bn) and tax rises (c. £20bn) with the remainder, it is hoped, being dealt with by increased economic activity as we emerge from recession. It is the latter, private sector economic activity, that we must depend on for new jobs.
We have no choice in the matter, Melissa. Even Alistair Darling claimed £40bn of cuts would be needed 'worse than Thatchers' and he is one of the guillty men who's economic mismanagment created this situation. His half-measures would not have been enough to prevent a downgrading of Britains credit rating and higher interest rates.
These higher interest rates, by the way, would not only be paid for by the government, they would also be paid by businesses and us as individuals. That really would damage growth prospects and would cause massively more unemployment.
Better to tackle the problem now, suffer the pain and get it over with. If we delay the pain to later, it would be a lot worse.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
12 October 2010
09:1374623the industrial action is until 6 am tomorrow delays between dover and calais but dunkirk is unaffected.
12 October 2010
12:5574643Perhaps my experience is not typical but one of the good things about France (and indeed the USA) is the attitude that people give who are in the 'service sector'.
In France a waiter is not just a job done by some spotty youth in between jobs but a 'profession' where one is not subservient to the client.
I suspect that in the UK if one is served by someone in their mid-fifties, who is well spoken and knowledgeable about food/wine, after he has left the table one will be discussing with one's partner what had gone wrong with the waiter's life to reduce him to this.
I believe that in Europe there is a respect for 'workers' in whatever industry which does not exist in the UK where due historically to the lack of a proper revolution (we even whimped out post Cromwell) and an in-bedded 'class system.
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
12 October 2010
14:1374649#5. "We were like the french in the 1970s with strikes at the drop of a hat". Indeed we were Barry, I remember it well.
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
Guest 686- Registered: 5 May 2009
- Posts: 556
12 October 2010
16:5174663It's a right pain in the backside getting across the channel today, though I made it eventually! Doesn't seem to have effected us on this side though for a change, or at least not yet!
Phil West
If at first you don't succeed, use a BIGGER hammer!!
12 October 2010
16:5574664Barry W,
Just for once can you treat the rest of us as if we have our own brains. You keep on and on about Maggie Thatcher and her policies. She is yesterday's woman she is not relevant to todays problems.
The only relevance today is that we know we shall have to kick out of office her prodigy from the Bullington club.
By following the tory party line we now find ourselves in the position that thousands of decent people are about to loose there jobs and security. At the same time the tory banker Lord Ashcroft and his chums continue to stash there ill gotten millions away, far out of reach of the tax man,and yet I am a pensioner and I am still taxed. I realise now although it is to late to do me any good that my mistake in life was to behave honestly. Perhaps |I should have asked William Hague to vouch for me as he did for Ashcroft. turns out they both were liars!!
----------------------------------------------------
When the door bell rings, why does the dog think it is for him???
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
12 October 2010
19:2574699Jimmy
I knew we could agree at some pont.
Most people realise there has to be cuts of some kind, its about not over the period of time to bring them in but also the fairness in the way they are introduced.
We have all seen the famly tax credit fiasco, and then we have the large amounts of pay off's for bankers even if they are losing millions or billons.
Then all these chief executives earnng(no i should say being paid) vast amounts of dosh, many more than the prime minister.
Somethng's wrong.
Also footballers being paid £100,000 a week(yes a week) football can't survive at this rate!!!!
As Cameron says its all about fairness.
It's easy in words,,, a lot harder in action
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
12 October 2010
19:4974713keith
you make a good point about our bankers that light their panama cigars with 50 quid notes.
the head chap at the c.b.i. yesterday pointed out that bankers bonuses are provocative in the present economic climate and should be curtailed.
he was not from barry's "looney left", wore an excellent suit possibly created by posh barry's saville row tailor and a decent barnet on his bonce.
12 October 2010
20:3974720Feels she must apologise for turning this thread into a politic one. Sorry but i still think my opinions ref the cuts etc are right.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
12 October 2010
21:2174729Jimmy - why on earth do you not adress exactly what was said instead of the anti-Tory fantasy that your are so immersed in.
My only mention of Mrs T was what Alistair Darling was said when, in a rare spate of honesty, he referred to the cuts that have to happen and made the Mrs T reference. It was a Darling quote.
If you think we cannot put this mess right without spending cuts then you are peeing in the wind. Face the facts of the terrible legacy that Labour have left behind.
12 October 2010
21:4874734Keith Sansum,
You would be surprised how many of your posts I agree with, but that does not make me a bad person!!
12 October 2010
21:5374735Barry W,
If I were to agree with your posts then indeed I would be a bad person!!
Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
12 October 2010
22:0374737There is a general consensus across all political parties that cuts need to be made to address the countries deficit; the difference is in the execution and level of cuts nothing else. There is no sensible alternative.
Taxing the rich might give a short term boost but ultimately they will manage their affairs to mitigate against any tax increases and the tax take will fall.
Taxing banks and bankers will fail for the same reason and will ultimately make the UK Financial Services sector uncompetitive and lead to more job losses not just there but across the economy.
Sadly the public sector is hideously bloated, particularly government departments and agencies and this along with things like benefit spend is where the state needs to look to save money. Of course there is a downside in so fa as cutting jobs increases benefit spend and reduces tax take but this is less than the salary and pension contributions and office costs spent to keep these people employed. The private sector is the only place where we can create significant job opportunities and this is where government needs to look to target what spending it has available through such things as employment and training incentives, soft loans etc.
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
12 October 2010
22:0774740difficult to disagree with what you say ross, though i must add that political dogma will stop anything happening that will alleviate our present problems.