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.

why should i not tease!? ..... i pretty much know how these things work, and also how benefits get mangled very easily ..... i'm afraid there's always going to be people on the fringe who, self-esteem apart, are no better off working for a certain fairly modest amount

If the lad is offered a job I would let him go immediatly. I wouldnt stand in his way.

Plus I will be pointing out to my chums Ive got a good one here and asking if they have positions in their business

PLUS

I am paying 3 times minimum wage or summat like that.

Certainly not slave labour like baldy ID smith wants to set up.

Big national demo this weekend by the way against Workfare, ie, jobs paying nothing.

If it's not paying a wage then it isn't a job.. avoid.

current minimum wage if you're over 21 is currently £6.19 ph, which i admit won't get you far in london or even much of southern england, but has significantly more buying power in other parts of the country.

is it enough?
it's a personal view, but don't forget that the employer has to be able to afford it too.

to my mind, it is getting young people of all/any ability into a job that is so difficult.
apprenticeships are great, but again, small companies/employers need to be able to afford same and also have meaningful work to offer

building tradesmen across the whole spectrum, have the ability to earn serious money (check out the guy who set up pimlico plumbers as a fine example), but having gone through the necessary course, it can be next to impossible for the post-student/trainee to get the necessary field work and experience to permit him to offer a good service, or perhaps even to have the full registration for that trade

Cyners said "apprenticeships are great" ends.

What is an apprenrticeship these days, the 12 months touted by camoron?

I dont think so.

I know in the engineering world an apprenticeship is still 3 to 4 years duration.

After 12 months kids flung back on the dole and then placed on another apprenticeship, its happening in the real world and covering up the already record high unemployment figures for british youth.

PS not talking about over 21s either, under 21s.

Eating very nice crusty roll at Victoria stn. Just dropped one son at Gatwick Express for trip to Barbados on a cricket tour for his university. It is 30C there at the moment.

it'll be a damn sight hotter in dubai/saudi! .... just hope it's not too humid ..... saudi has also been having massive sandstorms that have caused offshore rigs to be shutdown

PMQs Milliband 9 Camoron 1

Camoron once again lost his cool under the pressure placed upon him by Milliband.The crimson tide once again returned.

He really does need some type of training /counseling in public speaking.

He trys to use his back benchers to beat Milliband but anyone with their head screwed on can see its a defensive mechanism.

Bit like Cyners calling for hays help when TANKER was rambling on.

I deducted a point from Miliband as I reckon hes not attacking the Lib Dems enough in order to break up the coalition and leave the Tories more abandoned and at the mercy of UKIP.

Ive sent Rachel Reeves a peronal tweet and asked her to get this point over to Milliband. A bit of playing dirty is required.

now that really is a barefaced lie!
i have never ever ever asked for hay's help in anything, nor from anyone else on this site

Cameron 50 Milipeed -10

Unemployment down. Record numbers in employment. Mili drowning as usual

more sensibly and genuinely encouraging -
i was very pleased to hear this morning that a rig builder in aberdeen (i suspect) already had 85 apprentices on his books and expected to increase that to 100 before year-end

further, my one-man-band plumber now has an apprentice and expects to take on a new on in the new year

No good bragging about better employment figures when those in work are facing a huge fall in living stndards and fears they may lose their part part-time jobs. Yes Ive posted that right part part-time jobs.

Newsnight last night with the three experts on came to the conclusion their was slight green shoots of recovery but of the wrong kind ie, a consumer/mortgage based bubble forming. (Giddeon as usual at fault)

With Carney due to start in the near future and inflation bound to rise along with interest rates I wouldnt have thought this was a good time for tories to be patting themselves on the back.

From the Gruaniad - Ukip support falls back but main parties remain weak on economy

Ukip has fallen back from the giddying heights it reached after May's council elections, although the party remains a force to be reckoned with – as does the anti-political mood it represents.

That is the message of a new Guardian/ICM poll, which shows that Ukip has slipped back by a substantial six points from last month's record-breaking level of support – leaving it on 12%.

The poll shows that Labour is ahead on 36% (up two on the month) and the Conservatives on 29% (up one).

sticky - you may care to comment on my post 26000

That Lib Dem figure Skinny looks too high.

Not in line with other polls.

Others looks high aswel.

so sticky, as you declined to comment on my post, i assume it would undermine your angle to admit that taking on and increasing apprentices - almost unknown only a little while back - is a genuine indication of an upturn in employment

Cyners define an apprenticeship in the 2 examples you have given.

By the way not your thoughts the companys, what and how many years do they cover, who funds them?.

Please lets have some detail before we start celebrating.

And if you can actualy find the conditions of the contract aswel please.Cheers.

i didn't ask for any celebration and nor was i asking for any applause ..... i merely commented on stuff that i actually know first hand

the rig builder was on BBC1 Breakfast this morning and the other chap is my local plumber who is currently doing some work for me.

the first example is easily checked out and for sure they aren't joke apprenticeships.
the second example is also genuine ..... you may wish to refer back to an an earlier post wherein i was commenting that "artisans" cannot get fully qualified without the necessary amount of genuine field work, which quality is also checked by the licencing guys

so stop being a stupid old fart who has had some wind knocked out of his sails

Cleggy and the dim/libs might have a few problems with certain sections of the voting public: