I guess you could call that the... Patriot option...Chinner said:if the police striked they would just fire all the police and hire private security firms or a private military company.
/mgs4.
Sir Fragula said:Was speaking to a mate in the Police the other day. The mood there is pretty negative - no confidence in the government at all. We're lucky the police can't strike apparently.
Speedymanic said:So why are we even thinking/talking about giving the IMF more money? :x
Speedymanic said:So why are we even thinking/talking about giving the IMF more money? :x
Galvanise_ said:I reckon France/Germany are twisting our arms somehow. Boy George has said that the money won't be used to bail out EU countries, but it'll go via the IMF to bail out EU countries. Ridiculous.
Meadows said:BREAKING NEWS:
Labour have actually come up with an economic plan instead of just sniping everything the coalition does.
http://www.labour.org.uk/plan
Looks good enough, but my position stands. I refuse to vote for a party that has Ed Balls as it's economic driving force. Outright.
I'd imagine there's a team of economists and advisers employed by the government who have determined that the economic benefit of doing so outweighs the economic cost. No state is an island, not even an island-state...Speedymanic said:So why are we even thinking/talking about giving the IMF more money? :x
zomgbbqftw said:Dave is too weak, he wants to be popular and make friends with the Europeans. Too much consensus not enough conviction. He needs to be strong, hold his ground and tell the EU to fuck off and fix their own problems.
PJV3 said:The idea is the plan boosts growth which help reduce borrowing, we know labour have a defecit reduction policy, they just dont spell out exactly what will be cut. And frankly the coalition isn't going anywhere for 4 years so what's the point of bogging yourself down in detail, no opposition does that.
radioheadrule83 said:What if the time ever came where we needed the EU's help? Or Germany's in particular or something? We don't exist and do business in a vacuum, as much as some of us would like to
PJV3 said:The idea is the plan boosts growth which help reduce borrowing, we know labour have a defecit reduction policy, they just dont spell out exactly what will be cut. And frankly the coalition isn't going anywhere for 4 years so what's the point of bogging yourself down in detail, no opposition does that.
radioheadrule83 said:What if the time ever came where we needed the EU's help? Or Germany's in particular or something? We don't exist and do business in a vacuum, as much as some of us would like to
Sir Fragula said:EDIT: Above - show your working.![]()
PJV3 said:The idea is the plan boosts growth which help reduce borrowing, we know labour have a defecit reduction policy, they just dont spell out exactly what will be cut. And frankly the coalition isn't going anywhere for 4 years so what's the point of bogging yourself down in detail, no opposition does that.
zomgbbqftw said:£12.5bn on reducing VAT to 17.5%.
£2.5bn on reducing VAT on home improvements to 5%, granted that is a back of the fag packet calculation, but since they haven't provided detail of the policy I assume they mean the widest possible net including construction and goods. If it's just goods then I would say £1bn.
£3bn on an NI holiday for employers.
Plus an unspecified amount on bringing forwards infrastructure projects.
JonnyBrad said:They don't say what cuts they can make so that they can oppose every single one. Standard opposition policy.
radioheadrule83 said:One of the perks of opposition is that in this stage of a term you can reveal and omit as much about your proposals as you like. The Conservatives enjoyed similar perks in opposition. They got onside with a wasteful war and approved of quite a few Labour initiatives or had rather similar ideas, then once the crisis hit they could say with 20:20 hindsight that they didn't fix the roof while the sun was shining and bitch about every single thing from thereon in.
Their proposal is immune to fuzzy math because its fuzzy math itself... an NI holiday for small businesses who take on new workers, and small businesses are defined how? How many new workers do you take on to qualify? Or is it pro rata relief?
They know for a fact the government isn't going to collapse tomorrow and give them a way into power, so they can talk this kind of shit up all they want and realistically, it doesn't really mean much. Not that one or two things might not be a good idea. I'm generally in favour of relief for poorer families and small businesses, especially businesses of the local variety, the ones that aren't necessarily big enough to be able to cope in times like these. I'm in favour of things that can, within reason, get people in a position where they're able to spend again too.
If it's okay, can I send you a PM sometime about routes into things like teaching? I think I've mentioned my interest before, and Job Centre's recommending that I volunteer in schools to get the training to be an assistant.Galvanise_ said:By the time I've finished my Masters Degree in Primary education (something the government wants all primary teachers to have ideally), this will be my situation if the current scheme gets through:
Galvanise_ said:Approx - £30,000 in debt. (All student loans)
Paying off my student loans.
Paying more into my pension than I currently would do.
Unable to get on the property ladder, or properly start a family.
Retiring later than I initially thought (fair enough)
Working long hours, approx (8-6pm) .
Thnikkaman said:If it's okay, can I send you a PM sometime about routes into things like teaching? I think I've mentioned my interest before, and Job Centre's recommending that I volunteer in schools to get the training to be an assistant.
dalin80 said:welcome to the same world all us private sector workers have been in for a decade.
Thanks a million.Galvanise_ said:Sure. A lot of my family are in teaching and I have quite a bit of information about routes into it, as I considered most/all of them before I embarked on this perilous journey.![]()
Argh. Aarrgghh.Galvanise_ said:Budget Cuts in schools means that TA's, LSA's and HILTA's will be cut. That means that with ONE IN FIVE children having special educational needs, the teachers will be under even more pressure to achieve even the same standards as we have now. With less assistance, we'll fail more students. It'll be all our fault of course.
Thnikkaman said:Argh. Aarrgghh.![]()
Galvanise_ said:...
What is the fucking point?
zomgbbqftw said:The other great part is that we could essentially print the money, use it to buy the EUR equivalent and then hand it over. We would weaken our currency and strengthen theirs, great success...
phisheep said:See what you're saying, but you might want to expand on/explain that particular line for the benefit of others reading ... as in explaining why that is a good thing (and it would probably come better from you rather than from me!).
I agree wholeheartedly that this is our best point for lasting reform though. And what an opportunity! I'm guessing Merkel would be onside at least and that might be nearly enough to carry it. Do we actually need France to agree? I lost track of the numbers last time the EU expanded - must rummage a bit.
phisheep said:So, broadly, shift the EU from Franco-German to Anglo-German? Possibly short-term but enough to tilt the balance as to who befriends whom and for what reason.
OK. See where this is going, sort of.
To be perfectly honest, I have never heard of any actual cases of snobbery like this. Even on work experience at Preston Primary School (which is tiny) and being a pupil elsewhere I never really witnessed anything like that. It actually happens?phisheep said:Part of the point is, I think (and I don't mean to be rude here, after all Mrs Sheep is a teacher), that the teaching profession is over-protected. There are vast numbers out there who would be teaching if they could, but the qualifications expected (what - a Masters in primary education??) are outrageously expensive and time-consuming and mostly irrelevant ...
... And the treatment of those who take the teaching assistant route in some schools is appalling - they're doing pretty well all the work of teachers but sneered at, not allowed access to the staff room and so on. Snobbery of the worst sort.
And teachers get all that and then go on strike?
Sorry. That's a bit of a tangential slant to your post rather than a deliberate riposte, but hey - I'd love to be out there teaching (and I've done some, private sector and privately) but I can't take any more time or money out to take yet another degree on top of the ones I've already got.
Thnikkaman said:To be perfectly honest, I have never heard of any actual cases of snobbery like this. Even on work experience at Preston Primary School (which is tiny) and being a pupil elsewhere I never really witnessed anything like that. It actually happens?
Anyway, the whole routes into teaching seem so complicated. I understand I need a bachelor degree and a PGCE but the degree subject has to be what I'll teach, right? God help me. Also there are the three levels of TA training to consider...
Galvanise_ said:When the TA's, LSA's and HILTA's are cut, those children are going to suffer.
I thought I had said something really stupid for a while, there. Maybe I should reconsider posting here among people who actually know what they're talking about.phisheep said:EDIT: Oh bother. Just realised that you are not the person I originally responded to! Oh well, the points still stand, it just feels strange that I wasn't talking to who I thought I was talking to.
Thnikkaman said:I thought I had said something really stupid for a while, there. Maybe I should reconsider posting here among people who actually know what they're talking about.![]()
avaya said:The idea of splintering the EU and promoting the perverse Anglo-Saxon viewpoint on economics and regulation is wholly abhorrent.
zomgbbqftw said:Why? Is it good that the EU spends nearly 50% of its annual budget on agricultural subsidies that locks out poor farmers from the third world? Is it good that the fisheries policy has caused UK waters to dwindle so far that seaside towns are no longer producing any fish?
Reshaping the EU so that it is more open and ready to trade freely is the best thing we can do. If that means handing over £250-300bn to save their currency, so be it. It's not only in our interest it is in the interest of the EU. A modern organisation that spends as much as it does on agricultural subsidies is going to get left behind, the EU needs to spend more on development and research. If Britain can drag the EU into the modern ages I think we should. It would benefit everyone in the organisation as the EU became a commercial and research centre of excellence.
Let's just remember that Anglo-Saxon economics (i.e. that by Britain, Germany and Austria) is the most advanced in the world. Britain is one of a handful of countries that is reducing its deficit outright while still maintaining economic growth. There are many in the world who think this feat is not possible.
I don't get why you don't like the idea of having Britain take a leading role on the future of Europe instead of France. I would prefer Anglo-German to Franco-German hegemony for the next 50 years.
Speedymanic said:0.5% growth isn't much to shout about.