£950M for education in Pakistan!

[Filo]

Yet our young people have to pay for their education1

we`re all in this together eh?

we`re skint so the Tories keep telling us!

The Tories deny  much needed funding, was it only £80M to forgemasters?

Tuition fees have gone through the roof in this country!

And what do the snobs and silver spoon t**ts that run this country do?

Give £950M to Pakistan for education!

Forgemasters only wanted £80M FFS! But we could n`t afford it! I hope you tory voters are satisfied now this country has it`s priorities abroad!


http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/apr/05/david-cameron-pakistan

[RobTheRover]

Cameron has sanctioned this to prove he's no racist after virtually declaring Pakistan a terrorists breeding ground last year.  Its blood money, pure and simple.

[Filo]

Cameron has sanctioned this to prove he's no racist after virtually declaring Pakistan a terrorists breeding ground last year.  Its blood money, pure and simple.

It`s our money, that should be spent in our country to help provide jobs and education for our young people!

[RobTheRover]

I dont disagree.  I find it quite distasteful that we have severe austerity measures in place in the public services arena (and I was at a meeting with Steve Houghton, Leader of Barnsley Council, on Monday and he revealed that Labour ministers have told him that even if there is another General Election next year that these measures will not be reversed), and that student tuition fee caps have been lifted, and yet we dont use this money to alleviate the hardships in our own country first.  Under normal circumstances I dont have a problem with us assisting other countries to raise educational attainment or support their development, but these are abnormal times.  Local councils are being asked to cut on average £25M each from their budgets - Cameron should first consider the effects of these unnecessarily deep cuts, not just on public services, but also the secondary impact on retail sector and service sector jobs when the money merry-go-round grinds to a halt.

Giving £950M away to appease a foreign government he slighted is misappropriation of funds in my book.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Got to say I disagree with you on this one folks (and it's not often I support Cameron...)

Look at the alternative. There is no more dangerous place in the world than Pakistan. They have a serious nuclear arsenal and democracy, such as it is, is clinging on by its fingernails there. Imagine the situation if the Government structures collapsed and you ended up with an Afghanistan or Iraq scenario. It doesn't bear thinking about.

So, while the radical mullahs fill kids' heads with twisted ideas in the madrassas, it's vital that a strong alternative is put forward. If that means that we have to dig deep to fund an education system  that puts an alternative viewpoint then so be it. Would you rather pay more for your kids' education or leave them to a future 20 years down the line where the Taleban or Al Qaeda have got their hands on 2 dozen nukes?

[RobTheRover]

Thats an extreme outcome, Billy.  The Pakistani government played down Camerons comments last year, but internally they were seething, as demonstrated by the cancellation of the security visits to the UK.

We all know that what Cameron said last year is true, including the Pakistani government, so why arent they redirecting their own funding into this educational nirvana?   I'll give you 2 reasons - 1) they need to keep their military strong for their posturing war with India, and 2) they think it wont work anyway.

[BobG]

Doesn't matter wehat the Pakistani's do with their money Rob. If we want to have an alternaative viewpoinmt to the Mullahs put across, then if they won't fund it, we should. The consequences of not doing so don't even begin to bear thinking about.

BobG

[RobTheRover]

Surely, taking out the Mullahs would be a lot cheaper!

;-)

[BillyStubbsTears]

Of course it's a worst case scenario Rob, but it's a realistic one and it scares the living shite out of me.

I agree that the Pakistan Govt were seething last year, and they had every right to be. Cameron's comments were f**king stupid and naive. As the Pakistan foreign minister said, he had a cheek to lecture them on dealing with Islamist terrorism. We have had a few dozen people killed in terrorist attacks in the last 10 years. Pakistan had 2 thousand deaths in 2008 and 3 thousand in 2009. THEY are on the front line and it is vital that they are given support to hold the line.

But they also have to play a nuanced game. They can't hammer down on every terrorist suspect. That would lead to massive increases in support for the radicals, just as our stupid approach to Northern Ireland in 1971 gave the IRA a three-decade long boost. And THAT is why Cameron was f**king stupid in what he said last year - it totally ignored the subtlties of the issue.


Anyway, I'll give you a third reason why Pakistan won't pay for its own Westernised education. Because they know that the spectre of their nukes falling into the wrong hands scares the hell out of the West. So why should Pakistan pay for this sort of education to de-radicalise their people? If the terrorists get the Bomb, the target won't be Karachi. It'll be New York or London. So it's OUR problem. It's not fair, but that's how it is. There's no point saying \"YOU sort it out.\" They have us over a barrel and it's our job to dig deep and find the money to try to sort it out.

That's politics.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Surely, taking out the Mullahs would be a lot cheaper!

;-)

Aye. Like internment in 1971 or shoot-to-kill in the 1980s finished off the IRA. It doesn't work like that. It's like hitting a wasps' nest with a hammer. You kill a few and really, really piss off a few thousand.

What you have to do is sit the wasps down at desks and teach them to recite the Kings and Queens of England

[RobTheRover]

I was being facetious, mate.  But, you knew that.

[BillyStubbsTears]

I was being facetious, mate.  But, you knew that.

Sorry chief. I got all high-horse there. Been dealing with faceitious t**ts all day who don't realise they're being facetious.

[Snods Shinpad 2]

£950M to Pakistan? By the time it passes through the layers of corruption (Pakistani and UK), it'll probably total 50p. Sadly, that's probably the whole point of the exercise.

[RobTheRover]

So, lets recap.  I can be facetious, and Snod can be cynical.

Thank God for BST and Bob!

[CusworthRovers]

Some good points, but in that scenario, shouldn't we be giving hundreds of millions to all muslim dominated countries. Let's take it further and give hundreds of millions to certain countries that are in danger of becoming a left wing dictatorship ie why stop at Pakistan?

Whilst the idea is valid that it MAY stop kids being dragged into stupid radicalised thinking, there is an equal argument that it will have zero effect. Education is one thing, but trying to change a society or culture from 10,000miles away is never an easy task.

Personally, I believe there is something in it here for a few people, probs rich businessmen or tory MP's or both. It makes no sense to me, when our Nation is crying out for investment/funding and our own education system is a prime example of many

[Filo]

Education will not stop the terrorists, it`ll make the IED makers more intelligent and help them make more sophisticated devices. Pakistan do nothing to stop the terrorists committing their atrocities, if they did, they would police their borders with Afganistan more vigilantly

[Dagenham Rover]

Well they can afford to buy half a dozen submarines but they can't afford to build their own schools.

Being the cynical git I am I would say its Mr Camerons way of saying sorry to Pakistan for his earlier comments.

This sort of thing really does show how out of touch with people  they are!