What will we do when the Government run out of things to 'cut'?

[Hotmale 1954]

As for the 'lesser, fewer' thing, I'm sorry.

I hope to make fewer mistakes in the future.

More or less.

[Hotmale 1954]

It was the previous government who decided to cut the amount of fire control centres from 46 to 9, a project which failed and wasted £500 million.

 

And how many TRILLIONS are our (all in it together) European 'partners' and us going to pump in to Greece, Portugal, Ireland, and Spain to 'prove' that the Euro, and financial integration is a good idea, when it's as plain as the nose on your face that the Euro is an incredibly stupid idea?

 

The big European Governments will do anything, and spend any amount (of OUR money) to MAKE the euro work, rather than hold their hands up and say 'We made a mistake'.

Most European Governments want the Euro and the single currency because it suits their individual, and their top 1% short term needs.

The man and woman on the street in most European countries, don't want, and never did want a single currency. Will the peoples will be carried out?

Err ...................... No. Why? It doesn't suit the cabinets, the top 1% in each country, and it won't suit the Banks.

It would suit the people, but they don't count.

 

The suits say that we MUST be in Europe to trade with 'our European Partners'.

I don't remember us having trading problems with anybody in the 60's and 70's?

But the Government will keep scaremongering, telling the Sun readers what we must do to be 'still be a big player in the game'.

 

The people fall for it year in, and year out, whilst the country continues to fall in to the abyss.

 

Good game, good game.

 

PS Fire Control Centres??? What the Hell is a 'Fire Control Centre'?

 

They used to be Fire Stations when they were good.

[Hotmale 1954]

Quoted earlier:- George Osborne, the Chancellor, recently told how he was informed that under the Treasury’s PFI service contract signed by Labour, the cost of supplying a Christmas tree to the Treasury stood at £900, despite being sold by the retailer B&Q for only £40.

 

A few months earlier, he had been told that the PFI contractor would charge £148.58 to provide a fish and chip lunch for six in his private office.

 

In the end, Mr Osborne, Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, and their team ate the same lunch in the Treasury canteen for £32.88.

 

Hospitals have complained that PFI service contracts mean that they have to pay up to £333 to have a light bulb changed.

 

A hospital in Hereford was charged £963 to have a new television aerial, and a school £1,000 for a computer desk which normally retails at £200.

 

Yeah, the Hospitals are being ripped off for services.

I'll bet you any amount of money that the companies charging these extortionate fees are run by quite (or very) rich Conservative voters.

It's the same with Pharmaceutical Companies, and the suppliers of monitoring machines for various medical procedures.

 

There's something seriously wrong (and has been for many years) when an institution like the Childrens' Hospital has to go cap in hand around the streets to raise money for a critical machine it desperately needs.

 

If the Government can't afford to equip our hospitals with the finest available machines, could it be because the machines are outrageously overpriced?

Some people believe something wonderful has been achieved when it's announced that some hospital somewhere have achieved their target of xxx million pounds to buy some sort of gear. The Government could have paid for, and installed the said machine 4 years earlier, and saved dozens more lives.

But they say 'we can't afford it'.

 

If it was their children who needed the stuff, I'll wager we could suddenly afford 10.

 

And how can a machine possibly cost £1m+ anyhow?

[Hotmale 1954]

£46 for 14 minutes in a Dentist's chair.

 

And things are ok?

 

They are for the Dentist.

[JFKvsNixon]

What will our beloved Government do when it eventually makes the last 'cut' it can possibly make?

 

For example:- How long will it be before we have only the one hospital in Sheffield? And then, how small can future Governments 'cut' this down?

Will they come up with the great idea that we can all travel to Manchester for 'the best treatment'? It's only an hour away?

 

How long before we only have one Fire Station in Sheffield?

 

How long before the roads return to being just dirt tracks?

 

How long before we have just one Police Station? (Probably in Barnsley)

 

I remember when Britain and Sheffield could comfortably afford much better services than we have now, and we looked to improve our services even more back then, always looking to improve standards.

Now, the overriding thing obsessing the Government, Industry, and various Authorities is saving money, making cuts, 'improving services ) etc, etc.

Now, when any 'authority' improves something, you just know the service, or amenities are going to be reduced, or removed altogether.

I remember back in 1973 when I first voted, the different political parties canvassing saying that they were going to 'Clamp down on Benefit Cheats'.

They were going to 'Put more bobbies on the beat' They were going to 'Improve education in our Schools'. They were going to 'Mend the potholes'.

They were 'Going to mend our crumbling Society'.

They were 'going to create more Prisons to keep scum off our streets'.

 

And what have they done between them over the last 40 years?

Certainly none of the above. In fact EVERYTHING is worse now than what is was in the 70's, apart from a certain few bank balances which have soared into billions of pounds.

Cameron's Election speech a couple of years ago was EXACTLY the same as the ones I heard in 1973.

God help this country in the next 30 years.

 

If you believe it to be bad here, you should find out what life is life in Spain, Ireland, Greece. I'd also like to you substantiate your claim that everything was better in the 1970s.

[Hotmale 1954]

If you believe it to be bad here, you should find out what life is life in Spain, Ireland, Greece. I'd also like to you substantiate your claim that everything was better in the 1970s.

 

Gone downhill rapidly since they joined the Euro.

Their Governments don't run the country, the 'bigger' European partners do.

The 3 countries you mention were fine until 'European' intervention, and they introduced the Euro.

Like I said earlier, the man and woman in the street in all these countries would go back to their own currency and regulations tomorrow. It's only the Governments of those countries that need to be in it to cement their own position, and to kow tow to Germany, France, Brussels and the banks.

 

Services were without doubt, better in the 70's.

Better Hospitals, quicker Police response, more Police Stations, more Fire Stations, more Post Offices, better roads, better NHS, FREE Dental treatment, better pavements, better Parks, better GP services, no appointment necessary, almost free bus travel in Sheffield etc, etc, etc.

 

My rates used to be £64 a year in the early 80's.

Thatcher thought that this was unfair, as loads of adults were not paying their way to help to run Sheffield. She introduced the 'poll tax' to share the burden of running a big city by making more people pay. Did my rates come down as a result of her meddling?

Yeah, they sure did, they went down to £90 A MONTH !!!!!

 

In the 70's, you'd pray that you'd win the Football Pools (about £1m) and you could buy 5 houses worldwide, and run a Rolls Royce and look after all your family forever........................... £1m !!!!!!

 

As I type, some plonker in the Treasury is trying to tell me that this country HAS TO CUT SPENDING by £20billion by 2015 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Someone please explain to me why we have to make these cuts, and when we do, where will this fictitious £20billion go? And who's ordered the 2015 deadline?

 

And some people try to tell me that chasing money day in, day out, and talking of peoples personal wealth being £18billion, is going in the right direction?

 

Don't you see the madness of it all?

[Hotmale 1954]

Why do banks have to borrow from each other?

Do Barclays owe HSBC money, and do HSBC owe Barclays any money?

Can some one please tell me how this works?

 

Why don't HSBC say to Barclays, you owe us £15billion, we owe you £12billion.

You give us the £3billion by Thurday, and we'll call it straight?

To my mind, all the monies owed would be tied up and sorted in about a month.

 

Why is it 'good' for banks to borrow and lend, when all this finance doesn't really exist, only as figures on a screen to be bought and sold by 'investors'?

 

The whole lot means diddly squat to the man and woman on the street.

 

Why does the BBC and ITV panic when the FTSE or the Hang Seng drop 40 points overnight??

 

Is it because the top 1% of Europes top suits have maybe lost a couple of billion between them in just a few hours?

 

Why should I give a flying about what the NASDAC or Wall Street is doing?

[Hotmale 1954]

The forthcoming Olympics is going to cost this country millions of pounds.

It will make a loss.

 

Why then are we supposed to rejoice, wave our little flags, and go through all the palaver?

 

Why aren't this money saving, AUSTERITY LED Government up in arms about it, and preventing the loss of money before it happens?

 

Methinks members of the Cabinet, and hundreds of the suits will be making a very pretty penny out of it, that's why.

 

There's a few 'Childrens' Hospital Machines' being lost to the Olympics, but no one seems to give a sod. Hypocrites the lot of them.

 

Rich Hypocrites., the lot of them.

[Hotmale 1954]

I think this thread's crashed on my rantings. It's publishing my posts twice ......... (as if once int bad enough)

[Hotmale 1954]

Back on topic - what gets me is that we are under all these cutbacks yet the government doesn't seem to want to raise more capital through taxes. I know that we pay shed loads through fuel duty and VAT has increased from 15% to 20% but income tax has decreased from 33% in the early 80's to 20% now.

 

We the public seem to want everything for less. We are willing to use companies that offshore their call centres, back office systems and IT functionality. I can't see how this is good for the country when there are people looking for work. Surely bringing work back onshore would raise more money through tax and mean spending less on benefits.

 

What do I know though. The economists on tele always say that offshoring is good - I'm confused.

 

Good point.

Raise Income Tax !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ??

 

The experts will tell you that raising Income Tax will drive the 'high earners' out of Britain and they will take their businesses elsewhere.

BA should put on free flights for 'entrepeneurs' who would prefer to leave than maybe do things for their country, as opposed to only thinking about themselves.

Again, if the Government look after the high earners, the high earners will 'look after' the Government, the Banks, the Markets and The Press. The Banks, The Markets and the The Press will then look after the Government.

It's much better to put VAT on stuff mere mortals want and need, thereby leaving the high earners to pocket more of their millions to 'distribute' amongst their mates.

 

It's a nice little circle the money's moving round in, isn't it?