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.

Hilary- not all our offspring have been as fortunate as yours. Best of luck to them though.

Good fortune might help, but we're all masters of our own destiny, Claret Dragon.

Hilary said........"So, all the crap about youth unemployment is a load of baloney imo".............ends

Now stop being silly Hilary you may able to get a job in London as an under 21, but elsewhere its virtualy impossible.

And if your a northener and you get a job in London, how on earth do you pay for your accomadation. No chance.

The fact is thousands of kids outside the London area are are stuck on 'Workfare' do a 6 month course (slave labour) and then are slung back to the Job Centre who in turn put them on another 6 month course and so on. This all brings down the claimant count and makes the unemployment figures look much better.

The definition of Workfare by Wikipedia..........

Workfare in the United Kingdom refers to government workfare policies whereby individuals must undertake work in return for their benefit payments or risk losing them. Workfare policies are politically controversial. Supporters claim that such policies help people move off welfare and into employment (See welfare-to-work) whereas critics argue that they are analogous to slavery or indentured servitude and counterproductive in decreasing unemployment.

Wiki then looks further into Workfare ......

In 2008 research undertaken by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) found that there was little evidence that workfare programmes increased the likelihood of finding paid employment and could instead reduce the prospect of finding paid employment by "limiting the time available for job search and by failing to provide the skills and experience valued by employers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workfare_in_the_United_Kingdom

I certainly concur that jobs for youngsters, especially those who have messed about at school and are thus virtually illiterate = unemployable, are very hard to come by

it's not even easy for many graduates with decent degrees from "proper" universities

however, I do wonder how many of these youngsters have ever thought of looking further afield, especially in Dubai or similar, or even volunteering to work in say Africa for one of the genuine and productive charities - I'm sure they get some pay even if not huge

Well Im sure some would Cynic if they had the funding, but we have to start to develop a bigger manufacturing base in this country.

Its ok saying Ohh weve got a big service sector, but service sector jobs are mainly again found in london in the CITY and are by and large very sensitive to government policy which further leads to insecurity and holding the country to ransom, eg, Bankers.

How many Bankers were put in prison for the 2008 crimminal crash...........I think its 0 here in this country and a handful in the USA.

How do you then explain that!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cyners, Fishfinger,

It's funny how the Poles are quite happy to travel the breadth of a continent and successfully find work. The have the nous to realise that society owes them nothing, and they're quite willing to get up off their backsides and do something to get ahead in life. To the extent of learning a foreign language along the way, in many cases.

Maybe it's wrong to stereotype, but can you truthfully say the same of the UK's kids?

Fishfinger,

We've got a big service sector because manufacturing is dead in the UK. You've got the likes of Arthur Scargill to thank for that - by not embracing change, and trying to cling on to history.

As I said last night, Germany and Japan leaped ahead of the UK after WWII. The Germans were building fancy vroom vrooms with flashing gizmos while Leyland vehicles still had square wheels and pedals. When the techno revolution eventually came to the UK, it was to the benefit of the towns along the M4 corridor. The northern towns missed the boat.

From my local rag:

Nearly three homes are at risk of being repossessed in Northampton every day, according to Government figures, making it one of the worst-hit areas in the East Midlands.

The research, based on data recorded by the Ministry of Justice, found that in the past year, more than 15,800 homes in the East Midlands were at risk of repossession, the equivalent of 43 every day.

Nottingham was found to be the worst in the region with 2,331 possession claims issued in county courts between July 2013 and June 2014.

In Northampton there were 952 issued.

It makes it the seventh highest area in the region, meaning one in every 70 rented or mortgaged homes were handed the warning in the past year, the first stage in a process which can end with the loss of a home.

The homelessness charity Shelter is warning that sky-high housing costs are pushing more families in the East Midlands to the brink.

Chief executive of Shelter, Campbell Robb, said: “A total of 43 households at risk of losing their home every day is 43 too many.

“Each one of these will have had their lives turned upside down by this experience, as they faced seeing their home, the foundation of their life, ripped away from underneath them.”

Mr Robb said Shelter was seeing a rise in people using its services, adding that many can become homeless after just “one change in circumstance”.

“We urgently need people’s support so we can help more people in the East Midlands avoid the nightmare of losing their home,” he added.

Northampton is up north where things are different (anywhere north of the North Circular is up north).

It was poor management here in this country Hilary that led to the downfall of B Leyland and co, they wouldnt RE-TOOL and all along the unions were pointing out the Germans and the Japs were getting the upper hand.

They wanted to sit round the table and discuss bringing in new tech but the greedy management didnt want none of it.

And as for the big service sector(situated in London) Maggie prompted that with the BIG BANG policy.

And why doesnt the government spend far more on the North where the unemployment is???, that way your 2 kids could come up here and learn the lingo.

Strange that exec because a lot of these in London who cant afford their homes now because of the benefit cap and the bedroom tax are re-housed in the Notts and Northampton area.

Social cleansing they call it, Boris said it wouldnt happen on his watch "over his dead body" he said...................................could you trust him as Tory Leader!!!!!!!

http://mikesivier.wordpress.com/2014/04/11/social-cleansing-of-london-is-well-under-way-bbc-documentary/

I suppose the Tories will then kick those out that they have re-housed from London to Notts/ Northampton onto the street.

Then they will be satisfied.

Fishfinger,

My kids are versatile, but I dunno that they've got it in them to learn another foreign language. Normally when they get bored, they come and visit me for the weekend and take me out to play on the Pas de Chavanette, and then get me to pay their flights. Going oop norf's not really part of their agenda.

Update - Labour lead at 2
by YouGov in Politics
Thu August 14, 2014 6 a.m. BST

Latest YouGov / The Sun results 13th August - Con 34%, Lab 36%, LD 10%, UKIP 12%;

UKIP still stuck at no MPs level.

The monthly Ipsos MORI political monitor has topline voting intention figures of CON 33%(+1), LAB 33%(-2), LDEM 7%(+1), UKIP 13%(-1), GRN 7%. Labour and the Conservatives are equal on 33, the first MORI poll since last November not to show a Labour lead.

MORI.......humbug outfit.

Essex GP surgery tells patients not to post critical comments on Facebook and Twitter




A GP surgery in Essex has told its patients not to use social media to complain about service on Facebook and Twitter, warning of a “zero tolerance policy”.

A poster at the St Lawrence Medical Practice in Braintree, which has since been changed, was put up after staff read personal comments online.

It read: “If you have any comments or complaints about the surgery please write to the practice manager.

“Do not use social media sites, Facebook/Twitter.

“Any comments we see on social media sites may be seen as a breach of our zero tolerance policy.


“We are happy to deal with your comments/complaints in the usual way.”

The “zero tolerance policy” referred to appears to be NHS guidance on dealing with rude, abusive or aggressive behaviour towards staff.






More bare faced cheek here: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/essex-gp-surgery-tells-patients-not-to-post-critical-comments-on-facebook-and-twitter-9663444.html

http://news.sky.com/story/1318354/economy-eurozone-gdp-growth-breaks-down

France has a Socialist government. Thank goodness we don't as we have the fastest rate of growth of ALL developed countries.

France called on the European Central Bank (ECB) to do more to tackle the risk of deflation and bring the euro to a more competitive level as it posted zero GDP growth for the second consecutive quarter.

The figures also prompted the finance minister Michel Sapin to slash his government's forecast for growth in 2014 to "around 0.5%" compared with a previous projection of 1%.

He told the daily Le Monde newspaper: "Growth has broken down, in Europe and in France.

"With zero growth in the second quarter, thereby extending the stagnation we saw in the first, our country is slowing down and will not achieve the 1% growth observers were predicting three months ago".

Analysts have warned for months that France, the second biggest economy in the eurozone, looks increasingly the weak link in a halting recovery as the government battles to push through much-needed reforms.

Unemployment hit a new record in June to a shade under 3.4 million while the forecast for France's public deficit is now predicted to be above 4% of GDP this year - missing key targets demanded of it by the EU.

Haystack - 14 Aug 2014 12:21 - 44994 of 44994

"France has a Socialist government. Thank goodness we don't as we have the fastest rate of growth of ALL developed countries."...............ends

I dare say France would get just as much growth as us using SLAVES.

Kay Burley ‏@KayBurley

cliffrichard home being searched under Operation Yewtree - set up to investigate disgraced DJ Jimmy Savile