Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Oz unions to fight automation plans
brings back happy memories of the militant dockers unions in uk all those years ago whose over-riding objection was the removal of chances to steal more than (inevitable) job losses

is this the true face of the labour party?
is the labour party being dragged back into being the puppet of the more militant unions?
i only ask the question

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Ed Miliband has become embroiled in a bitter row with Labour's biggest donor after a union chief threatened to withdraw its support.
The Labour leader accused Unite general secretary Len McCluskey of a "reprehensible" bid to divide the party after he made an outspoken attack on key frontbenchers.
Mr McCluskey declared that Mr Miliband would be "cast into the dustbin of history" if he was "seduced" by Blairite members of his team.
He called for Labour to adopt a stronger anti-austerity approach and appeared to indicate he wanted three shadow ministers sidelined.
Mr McCluskey warned that unions would have to "sit down and consider their situation" if the party fails to emerge as "the authentic voice of ordinary working people".
Mr Miliband, who was elected as leader thanks to union votes and receives millions in funding from Unite, later sanctioned a public slapdown of the union boss.

The story above tells you everything about Labour, the way the unions chose Ed Miliband and their expected control of the Labour party. Can you imagine how they would behave if Labour were elected and they felt they could dictate policy.

Hays - i'm afraid that at the moment, unfairly or otherwise, you are painted from head to toe in royal blue (perhaps you have lilac-tinted hair too!) .... it would do no harm for you to removed your rose-tinted glasses occasionally and actually admit that the present crew have made some pretty ghastly mistakes ..... no, i am NOT saying that the austerity programme is/was wrong, and indeed, only (even further) time will show whether or not it was the right course ..... certainly spending/borrowing the country's way out of recession would have had truly terrifying results, even if very short term it would have sung the sirens' song

It is good to see the chief has added another "old boy" to advise him on his thiefdom.

I am sure this will go down well with the party faithful, probably the wrong word for a party of camp followers and "posh" boys of the Nasty Party.

Mind they have really turned the party economics around with a little bale out from far off isles.

Pity they haven't lived up to their own promises for the country, or perhaps they intend to plunder it later.==

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Mind with the problems coming home to roost for the gang members he needs another posh boy to help out!

Boris Johnson's brother Jo given Downing Street policy role The prime minister has appointed Jo Johnson - the younger brother of Mayor of London Boris Johnson - as the head of his policy unit.
Jo Johnson, like his brother and David Cameron, was educated at Eton and Oxford
Jo Johnson was elected as MP for Orpington, in London, in May 2010.
Mr Cameron, who is also setting up a new advisory board on policy, has been accused of failing to listen to his MPs and Tory activists in the past.
Boris Johnson said it was "great there is finally a Johnson in Number 10" and said his brother would be "superb".


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Just heard, the looney right want more heavier cuts and larger tax cuts to get the
economy moving.

Hays, what haveyou swallowed to write the the tripe you do?

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Back to the garden with the gnomes, even though they are dumb, they don't seem as dumb as some.

whatever it is fred, you share a similar rotting portion

what thoughts do you have on your "pal" mccluskey and his threats?
i doubt even you would dare claim he was misrepresented!

cynic
I have posted to you on the BLINX thread.

Cynic,

Never met McClusky.

Apparently, I know less than you do about him, but feel that the likes of Redwood, Thatcher, BNP, some UKIP members, Smith, Gove, Fox are of the same ilk. (The latter in my mind should have been expelled from parliament for abuse of office.)

It seems to me, that like Hays, they are blinded by prejudices and justifying their positions based on their own limited personal experiences and questionable knowledge, but not being prepared to or trying to understand the underlying experiences, or motivation for opposing argument.

Also, both groups of that “ilk” generally start negotiating by the negation of the views of others, rather than exploring them.

Superficially, McCluskey would seem to be from the revolutionary “type” of trade unionism, which was of limited value in the 30s and late 40s and 50s and has been left behind by many of the present trade union leaders of today. (But the trade unions are reorganising and perhaps, treading water for the time being.)

Not having read his speech, if it was referring to the economy, I may agree with some of it and as stated three years ago, certain cut backs were necessary, but money should have been ploughed into the “infrastructure” and “capital expenditure”, at the same time, in order to give confidence to the overall economy as well as “oiling” the internal circulation of money and giving confidence to private investment.

Also, I think the UK is too dependent on a Service Economy, the latter necessary for “internal UK functioning” and at the moment producing some income from overseas, but as overseas economies “develop” maybe there will be less and less dependence on the city financial services and that income will melt away, leaving “Tourism” and its off-shoots, as the main source of overseas income. (Think about it, I am lazy and putting it clumsily.)

We may be heading for a long period of stagnation, which is a bigger problem than the “hiccups”, we are having at the moment.

Looks like Thatcher funeral will be £3.6m and not £10m. The inflammatory figure just came from the Daily Mirror.

Thatcher funeral works out at approximately 6p for each taxpayer.

Labour seemed disappointed that the UK did not go into recession today. They seemed to have geared up for lots of criticism and when there was slight growth all Ed Balls could say was that the performance of the economy was lack lustre. Bearing in mind the state of Europe that it is pretty close to praise for Osborne.

"Thatcher funeral works out at approximately 6p for each taxpayer.".. Or £3.6m for the Thatcher family!

The Thatcher family are paying for the usual costs of a funeral. The balance is being paid for by the state as per the arrangements decided by the Blair/Brown government. The current coalition partners were not involved in the decisions.

AMEN!!!!!!

It was a political stunt paid for out of public taxes and more than she was worth.

Also, the figure you give does not include the cost of police and some security.

Also, I would expect the figures to be questioned, especially as they came from party headquarters at No. 10.

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The economy is flatlining and georgie boy and the cameroon said it would be recovering and prayed that slashing and cutting would provide a giveaway budget just before the 2015 election.

What is the UK credit rating at the moment, the hillock which the pillock said he was defending?

Wait for inflation to take off, especially, with the brilliant idea of stimulating another boom bust of the housing market, rather than putting the money into the economy by pushing money into local government and social housing and subsequently into general economy.

Europe, yes. Look at the effects of so called tory "praiseworthy" austerity, which "biscuit bin" economics has produced and the steps which will have to be taken now and over the next 2 years in order to remedy the increasing problems.

The cost and the price paid are now going to be higher than if the coalition's approach had been more moderate and directed to moderated stimulation at earlier stages.

As, has been said, Thatcher's children. The only thing this lot remain children, clinging to the experiment of outdated economics and ideology.

Yesterday's adolescents, who found the way into the "sweet shop".

I am quite happy for the UK to export the Thatcher family, but hope they pay all due taxes on any estate willed to them.

.

The figure does include police/security. The cost of the funeral and ceremonial was £500k. The figure came from number 10, but the final figure will come from the public accounts dept and is expected to be very close to the estimate.