Miners.................. don't get me started!!!

I would rather have a miner as a friend than Mrs T.

Paedo!

I'd rather be a Paedo than a Maggie fan

dont start PoolPower off about maggie twat cher he might be tucked up in bed now, BTW that would be one reason i'd of enjoyed the big meeting today to see ricky tomlinson

Is it not fair to say that this country is fairly prudent now because of many decisions the Thatcher government made?

... not for the working man it aint...... we may have had rampant inflation prior to that, but y'know what...... we could afford to buy houses .....

er, no.

Only if you are blind and don't know who Andy Gray is...............

He looks as much like Macy Gray as he does Andy Gray!

But surely Thatcher can't be blamed for house prices today, the house prices have risen massively over recent years and the reasons why have not been addressed. Many people have benefitted from being able to buy their council house and many future generations will now have an inheritance because of this.......

But the cash from council house sales didnt go back to the local councils to build more houses, therefore no more council houses

But who really benefits from the higher 'value' of the market now? Young couples have next to no chance of becoming home owners. My house might be worth double the price I paid for it, but as I have no intention of moving it means absolutely nothing, and If I did move I wouldn't make a profit, because i would have to pay a similar higher price for my new home.

There are still plenty of council houses available though, there's loads of metal covered houses in burbank and the central for example so there is housing there.....

the reasons have not been addressed
what kind of tory double speak is that?
the councils were glad to get any price for sub standard housing
and what about those that could not buy
and finish up paying exorbitant rent for the same houses

she wanted to sell everything off and nearly bloody succeeded
i have been a victim of this woman s folly and on both occasions

dont get me started on the bloody poll tax
is she still alive?

It's tough for young people, I am a young single lad who is gonna have to take the plunge in the next year or so once university is completely done and dusted. So I know the problems. It's probably gonna be a flat first for me.

Your children will have a good inheritance or should you want to sell up and go and live in the sun you will do ok.

The labour governernment have also had a long time to do something about the housing crisis yet have done next to nothing.....

It can't cost that much to live in a council house, some people on the estates of teeside don't graft and seem to have more money than me......

Well I for one wishes she was back coz she would have fooked these 'terrorists' right out instead of letting them in

And on the poll tax, when did it stop then? I could smoke, eat chips and me kids could eat sweets then, now I cant without paying tax on every fooking thing

so what has happened to the poll tax?

Oh fook me it changed its name to council tax which has increased in this town percentage wise more than some places in the south east

We need a bit of backbone in this country not spineless dicks

THIS IS ENGLAND
or it was

I want ADG as PM
Or Mr I coz he is more eloquent (and slimmer)

Oh hang on Tony Blair said Educashun educashun educashun and missed out the bit about it will fooking cost you tho

Nanny state? its fookin worse

Try buying a house? try paying for a decent education, especially now we are down to five schools instead of six

don't get stressed out tho or you will have to to hospital, not in this town obviously, as it is shutting

politics

save your energy, oh that reminds me, global warming...

Well I for one wishes she was back coz she would have fooked these 'terrorists' right out instead of letting them in

she didn't do a great job of fooking off the irish did she?
anyway thatchers reign was like a car boot sale,selling england by the pound,railways,gas,BT,council houses sold. in fairness she left the economy on a better footing
but she sold the family silver to do it.
that picture of the miners gala is a good one ricky tomlinson ex member of the national front ,bob crow head of the rmt dead against privatising railways but whose union recommends buying into the firms sharesave scheme,and tony benn proud holder of the last bit of integrity possessed by a politician in this country,which is why no one listens to him any more

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1737606,00.html



Difference being she was honest enough to tell the public.

This feller'll leave absolutely nowt in the bank.

gordon brown as chancellor wouldn't have been out of place in thatchers cabinet.he'd have stopped the school milk as well

Never mind the milk what about the bananas eh?

Wedgie Benn is a very clever man indeed - and he has a very persuasive manner about him when he speaks. He would pick a seemingly ridiculous stance on a subject (well, at least take a stance opposed to 90% of the population) but could put his argument across in such a manner as to make him seem correct in every way!!!!!
Although I couldn't possibly agree with most things he believes in, at least he genuinely believes in his politics and has never changed his spots politically. Unlike a fair few "career" politicians we could name.
The only thing you could ever level at him is his well-to-do upbringing, and that the only thing he actually discarded from this was his aristocratic title.

And why was selling off council houses a bad thing...?

It gave many people the chance to own their own home for the first time ever. Most houses were sold at a knock down price due to rent previously paid.

Selling off BT, gas etc gives the consumer more choice and means that it is in companies interests to look after customers. No doubt someone will say tht their bills are more expensive than what they have ever been but hasn't everything gone up...?

Whereas the Tories did leave a fair wedge in the bank, I must have imagined they p1ssed away billions in one day back in 1992, but again it's OK for the Tories to do that, because they managed the economy with an excellence never seen before, only two recessions in ten years, that’s good, innit, but when the Labour party manage any success (and that is up to the individual voter to decide), it was all due to the foundations laid by the previous incumbents!

Haven't you forgotten 'The Beast' - Dennis Skinner. I disagree with most of his politics but respect the man hugely because of his principals.

You take me too literally Mr Avenger. When the National Assets are gone, they're gone. If you mean the IMF fiasco, the root causes of that WERE inherited and it was that or devaluation, a tactic last employed by a certain Mr Wilson.

You may call 12.5 billion in useless IT for the Health Service a success (that's 568 quid from every tax payer pissed through the wires), you may think the PFI Schemes are brilliant, only 22.5 billion paid to PFI 'consultants' and barely a brick laid but the pension funds are falling away as we speak, the public borrowings are out of control and the tax burden is the biggest in the western world. Can you see McBroon sorting that lot out??

excellent point Mr I he sticks to his guns and says it how he sees it, a mans man IMO unlike majority of the bullshit politicians

I received this in my e-mail today and it just about sums up prudent govenance not only in this country but elsewhere in the EEC, EU, Common Market or whatever it calls itself this week. I think its brilliant.

Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2007 9:49 AM
Subject: good idea



Copy of a real letter sent to the addressee shown.


Rt Hon David Miliband MP
Secretary of State.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA),
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London SW1P 3JR

16 May 2007

Dear Secretary of State,

My friend, who is in farming at the moment, recently received a cheque for £3,000 from the Rural Payments Agency for not rearing pigs. I would now like to join the "not rearing pigs" business.

In your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to rear pigs on, and which is the best breed of pigs not to rear? I want to be sure I approach this endeavour in keeping with all government policies, as dictated by the EU under the Common Agricultural Policy. I would prefer not to rear bacon pigs, but if this is not the type you want not rearing, I will just as gladly not rear porkers. Are there any advantages in not rearing rare breeds such as Saddlebacks or Gloucester Old Spots, or are there too many people already not rearing these?

As I see it, the hardest part of this programme will be keeping an accurate record of how many pigs I haven't reared. Are there any Government or Local Authority courses on this?

My friend is very satisfied with this business. He has been rearing pigs for forty years or so, and the best he ever made on them was £1,422 in 1968. That is - until this year, when he received a cheque for not rearing any.

If I get £3,000 for not rearing 50 pigs, will I get £6,000 for not rearing 100?

I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself down to about 4,000 pigs not raised. which will mean about £240,000 for the first year? As I become more expert in not rearing pigs, I plan to be more ambitious, perhaps increasing to, say, 40,000 pigs not reared in my second year, for which I should expect about £2.4 million from your department. Incidentally, I wonder if I would be eligible to receive tradable carbon credits for all these pigs not producing harmful and polluting methane gases.

Another point: These pigs that I plan not to rear will not eat 2,000 tonnes of cereals. I understand that you also pay farmers for not growing crops. Will I qualify for payments for not growing cereals to not feed the pigs I don't rear? I am also considering the "not milking cows" business, so please send any information you have on that too. Please could you also include the current Defra advice on set aside fields? Can this be done on an e-commerce basis with virtual fields (of which I seem to have several thousand hectares)?

In view of the above you will realise that I will be totally unemployed, and will therefore qualify for unemployment benefits.

I shall of course be voting for your party at the next general election.

Yours faithfully,

__._,_.___

eerr yes I did forget the beast and I agree he has principles that he believes in.
I might start the shortest thread ever,name all the politicians who stand by their principles

a generation of people will now not be able to afford to get a mortgage but will have to afford the extortionate rents charged by privateers who often own more than one home.they can't get a council house cos there aren't any.
the gas board are more worried about the shareholders than the guy who can't afford his bill,and the railway companies are planning to increase fares by 30% in the next 2 years.the government has no way to stop them even if they wanted to.And your vote will not make no difference because no political party wants to change any of it.
so all those who bought there council houses will have to remortgage to a level they can't afford in order to allow their kids to afford a place to live.thus the nation drowns in debt ,capitalism is a wonderful thing.

Quality Mr Block

Agreed Very funny Mr Block

The problems with housing should of been adressed ages ago. Wimpey and co are allowed to build estate after estate yet many areas just become derelict and neglected. To suggest that there are no council/ha houses though is not true, well not for the north east anyway. There is a points system in place but once a property has been refused 3 times anyone can go and live in it. It may not be in the nicest area but they are available.

If people can't afford their utility bills there are options such as pre payment and switching to a cheaper company. Companies should look after their shareholders, remember shareholders have kids to feed and mortgages to pay as well.

Rail fares are expensive but what can be done to bring fares down.?

I really wonder what life is all about sometimes. We argue about this and that, but there are people in other countries who have to decide whether they get to eat, or whether their kids get to eat. In the great scheme of things we have it cushy here, arguing about political viewpoints is a privilege we have.
I look forward to the day when the entire world population has access to all the information we take for granted, and the ability to make a contribution, and not worrying about starving or dying from preventable disease etc.
The present state of some countries puts our country's politics into some kind of perspective. I'm pissed, I admit, but I can't help wondering how wrong it is to wish for an even better way of life than we already have when there's folks who can't even get enough food and shelter to survive in other places.
Am I wrong to say this????

No Mr P you aren't.

When two oppressed downtrodden 12 year old kids do a days labour in a garment factory for Chinese minimum wage, they skip home singing because it keeps the family in rice for a month. The parents can't do it because they're in the fields growing the food for the buffalo that keeps them in milk and meat, and vegetables for the table.

NHS?? Fo ok off, a cash cow for 'consultants,' that costs each tax payer about 2000 a year. If you go in hospital here and you have no money to pay for the treatment, the family cleans or cooks or runs errands for the doctor to pay it off. If you can pay for the treatment it's very cheap and very efficient. A dental filling here is about 3 quid. They're so advanced they don't even use anaesthetic.

Third world?? Hah!!

So the perceived housing problem is the fault of a previous Government? Strange in the first instance but what is this problem anyway? It's not that people can't afford mortgages for houses anymore, it's more that they can't afford the mortgage coupled with their credit cards, store cards, personal loans and hp cos they are that greedy and impatient they want all the latest everything straight away. I don't do debt apart from my mortgage and manage very well without the latest £1500 plasma telly and a new DFS three piece every couple of years. If credit was abolished and people only spent what they earn then the majority of these problems would disappear overnight.

As for the poll tax. Absolute disgrace. It should never have been abolished. Why this pss and sht should I have to pay more local tax than somebody earning exactly the same money as me who decided they want to spend their cash on flash cars, fancy holidays and dinky new consumer goods? It's bolox. Everybody has access to the same services from the council so everybody should pay the same amount.

This country is going to the dogs, but it's going there because of all of the bleedin heart lefty brigade who want to pander to the lazy and uneducated.

Fantastic.

More food to go round......

just watching a piece now on the BBC on pollution in the Yangze delta
secret police sitting out side of protesters homes to stop them complaining to the world media
people are dying of cancer and the authorities sit and watch and do nothing

and we think we have problems because they want to empty the bins every two weeks instead of weekly
when you make a visit back to the pool Kev lets hope you have not got fluorescent aura
and one consolation there are plenty of free range dogs around if you fancy a snack

You are so totally not wrong. I raise my hat to you for this, one of the best "political" posts I've ever seen on the Bunker.

Get pissed more often Parmo!

Yeah yeah, big bad China eh??

China is doing more than any other country in the world to reduce pollution but the reportage is NEVER positive because they're lined up as the next 'bad boys' after the rag heads. Mainly because they don't kiss the Americans arse.

Example: The Three Gorges Project. The three gorges project will be the single largest hydro electric producer in the world by a mile and a half. Makes the Hoover Dam look like your bike dynamo. At a stroke it will shut a third of China's much vaunted coal fired power stations. It's almost ready. What do the BBC say?? 'China ruthlessly relocates one and a half million poor, oppressed, sweat factory, starving, sixty pence a day, peasants at gun point.' Read it, it's on the BBC website. It's also shit.

What actually happened is that they moved he people living on the three rivers flood plains to higher ground having built them new villages, note villages, as close as possible to their land, not one big town, to live in. When the resettlement people came round to ask if there where any problems they found the cows living in the front rooms and the people under canvas awnings in the back yards.

One word: Windscale.

They resettled them in Seaton Lane??

No, Old Town!!

By the way, I hope that bewer in your avatar washes her hands before she makes your sandwiches.

Mr Head may enjoy fish/crab paste sarnies

I'd eat a mars bar out of her snatch, never mind making her wash her hands.

Why, what would you eat out of her snatch???

Don't say a snickers.

You could never be sure if it was a mars bar that you'd inadvertently shoved up the wrong un.