I always thought Tommy Butler was an Irishman?

Just wondering mad john ? Easington colliery must have seen its share of dark faces ?

arkley crescent the posh end eh

In relation to the original article, I have to ask the question.....'so what'...?

just to stir the shite up, I wonder if they'll do a programme on the darkest towns in England!!!
I bet they wouldn't dare!!!!!

I wouldn't be at all surprised if action is taken by some government department to even up the ethnic diversity factor.....

surely they wouldn't force minorities to go and live there??? Now that's a case of cruelty!!!

ps they'd be begging to go back to Eritrea,Iraq etc!!!

Curried goat and chick peas rice has long been a traditional Easington dish

pigeon pie and marrow butties

Especially when the pits were open

Actually, we're still sitting on over 200 years of coal reserves ... unbelievable.

A certain South Yorkshire gentleman usually quotes our reserves of coal to be nearer a thousand years.

Does nobody agree with the sentimentof the article though? That the white working class feel undervalued & ignored? - 'cos I do

all my family on my dad's side are from easington a place called the waterworks in the village..and that i live less than a mile away from there.

Who are the working class though? In the 70's the definition was a lot clearer. The working class are now split into different groups such as two workers (doing alright) single man on low income (struggling and gets no help with anything whatsoever ) and the underclass (who are doing ok on benefits considering they do nowt all day and social fund crisis loans).

In days of uncertainty people of low intellect and few skills always turn on immigrants because they are competing for the same few jobs. This is wrong but understandable.

The rich and the well paid should be taxed more, simple as that. The revenue should then be ploughed back into wages for the low paid and making work attractive for those on benefits who are better off at the moment not working.

Great thread

So why use our own stuff up when we can get it from elsewhere at the moment?

Surely it is good planning to keep stuff "in reserve" for if it's needed later?

Plus the fact that it's currently cheaper to buy stuff from abroad than it is to dig our own up (miners wanting too much money and nicking all the gear from their own yard ) so it makes sense to leave it for now.

Where do you draw the line at well paid though? The current threshold for 40% tax is st £36'000 pa. That is ridiculously low as 36k ain't that well paid anymore. It's definitely not 'rich'. I am pissed off every month when Gordon Brown snatches about £1600 off me direct from my wages, this for no other reason that I've got a decent job.

Obviously the question what is well paid is a matter of opinion, my opinion is a living decent wage for a single man like myself is 18-20k, anyone wanting more than that is a greedy fook.

Of course the expectations of people in the uk are so high now( dont know why we think we are so better than everyone else?)

MR I - You moan about your pay yet you say you have a decent job, contradiction there.

In my experience the higher up the pay scale you are the less you do. Granted some of these people are skilled but the majority are driving around or sitting in pubs doing fark all , yet they detest the low paid getting any sort of rise.

At least the yakkers fought for theirs and others rights, if it was left to people from this town we would be up the swanny. Its industry and Hospital closed without a whimper.

No, there's no contradiction, I'm happy with my salary, I'm not happy that a fair bit of it, too much of it, goes to the government.



Absolutely true! Most Chief Executive have a very good PA and excellent presentation skills. The other day my working day consisted of turning in at 8:30, answering a batch of emails, then an operations meeting. At about 11:30 I went to lunch with one of our customers and finished that about 2:30. Back to the office, did a bit of work and cleared of about half four.

You on about the miners strike?

And you have the gall to complain about greed!

Don't talk so much fkin shite.

Are you suggesting that I get "taxed" twice?

Once for going to Uni (Student Loans etc) and again when my education helps me get a job that pays a decent amount more than some fkin brain dead budgie who can't read, write, spell or count?

You're talking crap.

Why should I be penalised just because the country is full of thick people?

If you had your way how would you motivate kids to pay attention at school? Tell them that if they work hard and get a good job then they'll have to subsidise all of the lazy bastads in their class? Or just tell them not to bother trying to do well for themself cos they'll be just as well off under your system if they want to be a lazy twt?

Are you sharing that glue bag with anybody?

Anyone who wants more then 20k PA is a greedy fook

Give your head a very big shake

It's a paradox isn't it. If I earned £20k I wouldn't have enough money to make the most of all the spare time I'd have on my hands. But if I worked longer, I'd have more money and less spare time to spend it in, so would need less money.

I do sometimes think that us greasy pole climbers have it wrong. I know a guy who works for the council. he takes home £350 a week and lives within that accordingly. He starts a 9, finishes at 4:30 and has sod all pressure in his life.

Whos right and whos wrong?

So that's where the 350 quid went I just paid!

If I had to be a corporate slave to earn what I'm earning now I wouldn't do it. But working for myself has been a revelation.

Need more money? Do more work.
Need time for yourself? Do less work.

Easy peasy.

Mr Ripper, You havent a clue , there are lots of people on 14-20k salaries who went to Uni.

You think cos you went the world owes you a grand salary?

I didn't go to university but I think I'm entitled to my salary because I produce shit loads of profit for my employer. I don't work physically hard but I do make a lot of decisions on multi million pound deals. If they go wrong its my neck.

Besides, I've done all the graft to get to my position. I've worked in the lower levels and proved myself. So yes, I do deserve what I get.

Are you all there?

I'm saying that I shouldn't be taxed to fk for working hard and earning more than you think I should need.

I don't think that the world owes me anything. Similarly it doesn't owe anybody else anything either, so why should I be taxed loads to subsidise other people?