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.

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM


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A short while ago, many were decrying the sub prime lending.

Now it seems that a government is advocating an increase in unsupported personal debt once more.

For a short time the money lenders will gain again and then further catastrophes.

The policy stinks.

I think Fred said he had a hard time getting into Oxford ........ the traffic was so bad, so he doesn't shop there anymore.

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I could never understand why the 'apprentice' system was allowed to almost fade away completely.
Apprentice schemes were good for the employer, good for the employee and as the cost to the government was negligible (with some self funding) good for the government and tax payer.
Many friends from my youth took apprenticeships, and I found that they were equipped for life in the employment world far better that many so called degree qualified students of today.

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G
My memory of the demise of apprenticeships was the demand of unions for higher salaries for them and the excuse was they were being used as cheap labour against qualified workers.

I would say it was a lot more than an 'avoidance' of one's responsibilities, mnamreh. Personally, I'd describe it as a dereliction of duty on the part of the last government.

I don't have an issue with avoidance, be it tax or anything else, so long as it's above the law. If Green, Ashcroft and Cruddas are able to live their lives in foreign climes and avoid paying UK income tax, then good luck to them as far as I'm concerned.

People who whine about it are generally sad, bitter and twisted.

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Politically correctness isn't one of my strong points and you can rely upon me to be forthright, mnamreh.

PS. Any chance you could change your monicker? It's a real pain typing Herman backwards.

Stable,

I agree that was a lot to do with it. Although why the government could not have had apprenticeship minimum wages is beyond me.
And whilst I am on the minimum wage rule, it does not tend to apply to immigrants, legal or otherwise, and that has a lot to do with the excuse often given out by employers that, No one else will do the work.
What rubbish. If the minimum wage rule was enforced for all with very strong penalties for those who disobey the employment laws, there would be far more none immigrants employed. This would both cut immigration and at the same time go some way to cutting the dole queues.

Hilary,

Like you I have no trouble with tax avoidance. If there is a way of legally avoiding paying tax, it would be foolish to ignore it.
It would be fairly easy for the government to tighten up tax avoidance rules, the problem is, as the MPs expenses row proved, they are all snuffling from the same trough, so it would be like turkeys voting for Xmas.

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Can I call you Herman then? I can type that easily without having to think.

:o)

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Of course I'll continue to talk to you. Why wouldn't I?

I left the "m" off because I've got this vision of it standing for Munster. Can you just confirm there's nothing sticking out of your neck for my own peace of mind?

Hils, try thinking Munamrie - that's how I do it:-)

mnamreh: the type of behaviour which most publicly admit to finding abhorrent, but with which they concur and extol in private.

I think you've explained it perfectly! because I have my own business I pay myself a tiny salary, make the rest dividends which are split between my wife and myself, because she is a shareholder. It's not really tax avoidance - more sensible use of the tax system. There are other things I am able to do but only because I have money in the business and a good accountant - who wouldn't go near anything that was remotely dubious.

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Blimey. A medic as well as a philosopher.

:o)

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After a bit of 'Googling', I found the following site, which gives a good outline on what it costs American kids to go to college.

What It Costs to Go to College

They say:

Nearly half (47 percent) of all full-time undergraduate college students attend a four-year college that has published charges of less than $9,000 per year for tuition and fees.

At the other end of the spectrum are private four-year colleges that cost $35,000 or more yearly in tuition and fees. These higher-priced colleges sometimes have bigger endowments and more grant aid available which may mean that you can get more financial help to attend that institution.

At two-year colleges, the average cost for tuition and fees is $2,713. Learn about the two-year college experience.

A handful of colleges either charge no tuition at all or offer all students full scholarships covering tuition costs.

....and there's more.

Put very simply, these are my views:

In the States, lots of kids 'work their way through it' to help pay their fees. I feel this is a very good idea. I saw to it too, that my kids got part-time jobs when they went to University. My daughter got jobs waitressing and my son had various part-time jobs as well as doing a bit of 'buying and selling'. Their mid-course employment experience was also done out of the UK and in the States, where once again, they got themselves part-time jobs.

With the first child's kick off into university life, my wife and I started our student rented house business. Part of the reason for this was our whole family's disappointment with the available accommodation. The general standard of that available seemed to be utterly terrible. Thus we bought our own , re-decorated and re-furnished it, the kids helped with this and they also helped get other tenants and manage the properties. We also 'technically' charged our kids rent, too. Later, they both assisted us with the purchase and refurbishment of other properties and all of this was an additional experience for them in a host of areas, far too numerous to mention here.

In this country we have had and do get, tons of 'lefty'' students who are lazy tossers and feel, that just because they have a string of good GCSEs and A levels, the world owes them a living.

A good education does help one 'get on' in life and thus get a better and more enjoyable life too. But it should not be for free. Someone has to pay for it.

Should it be me? Should it be us? Should it be the students?

Hmmm? I'm sorry to have to say, because it would appear to be 'unpopular with students', that I feel it should be the latter - just like it is in the States. But there are always different kinds of help around the corner and they don't have to bear the full brunt of this cost by themselves. This last message has been really hard to get across to them.

I think this coalition government are basically doing a good job. I think can see their pont of view on the point of student fees and educational finance, where there are other budgetary considerations from other directions too.

I feel it's a pity to hear that the Lib Dems might have now 'lost the Student Vote for good' because of their apparent 'about turn'. However, they do have themselves to blame and they shouldn't have promised on something, knowing it would be most unlikely that they could ever deliver on it.

I think part of the problem nowadays, is the restrictions
and unavailability of part time work.
To get through Grammar school and pay for my bike
and school uniform, I worked at picking beans(1d per bucket),
hoeing lettuce, making carnation buttonholes, harvesting mushrooms,
harvesting lettuce (at 4am) postman over Xmas,Saturday milkround and
washing dishes for BOAC and teahouses. Also pushing fish barrows up
Billingsgate Hill.
When I wanted to go to University, I was offered 10 a year towards
books.(about two weeks pay for a policeman)
I did not go to University.