The Rich get Richer

[Filo]

We`re all in this together eh?

And this government? It has learned the lesson that Thatcher never grasped. If you want to turn this country into another Mexico, where the ruling elite wallows in unimaginable, state-facilitated wealth while the rest can go to hell, you don't declare war on society, you don't lambast single mothers or refuse to apologise for Bloody Sunday. You assuage, reassure, conciliate, emote. Then you shaft us

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/07/tax-city-heist-of-century?INTCMP=SRCH

[BillyStubbsTears]

Aye.

That quasi-fascist get Niall Ferguson (the one who argues that General Pinochet was justified in having this henchmen electrocute the knackers of lefties in Chile because it cleared the way for him to implement a Thatcherite economic revolution) had it bang on regarding Cameron. Two years ago, when Cameron was being attacked by the Right of his party for being too liberal, Ferguson wrote this perceptive comment, \"I am a convinced Cameroon, not least because I see him as a conservative mailed fist in a velvet glove.\"

Dead right there. Call Me Dave comes across all touchy-feely, but under that veneer, he and Gideon are driving through the biggest right-wing revolution in a century, right under our noses.

University education effectively privatised. Councils in poorer areas hammered by cuts whilst those in wealthy southern counties get off pretty much scot-free. VAT, the tax that hits the poorest hardest, increased to the highest level ever. Public sector jobs (which are vital in areas like ours which never fully recovered from the collapse of industry under Maggie) slashed by hundreds of thousands.

And THAT's all in the first 9 months. There has never in a century been such a rapid implementation of such deeply right-wing ideology into practice. God f**king help us if it carries on at this pace for 5 years.

And, surprise, surprise. Look at the section of society that fully backs this approach.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12401049

So, the City whizz-kids who f**ked up the economy in the first place are now bankrolling a Govt that is chucking the tab at the poorest in society. Makes you feel proud to be British eh?

[bobjimwilly]

It makes me so angry. What do we do BST, WHAT DO WE DO???  :angry:

[RTID75]

I was angry when they snided their way in, very angry when they put VAT up, and get more and more angry with each new shafting they dream up. Everyone with an ounce of sense could see it was going to happen before they were even elected, but it unfortunately shows how many millions and millions of people are thick as pig shit to have voted for them. I wonder how many of them actually voted for their own redundancy without realising it?

[Snods Shinpad 2]

bobjimwilly wrote:

WHAT DO WE DO???  :angry:

 

[Filo]

RTID75 wrote:

I wonder how many of them actually voted for their own redundancy without realising it?

Aye, there`ll be a few regrets now! But not only are local council workers facing redundancy and unemployment, they are also seeing T&C`s amended without compensation, agreed redundancy packages being torn up and re written, industrial action can`t be far off! and every day while people lose their jobs all they hear about is the f**king big fat greedy f**king bankers still raking in obscene amounts in bonuses, I hate to think what they would have been paid if they had done there job responsibly and properly! Pension schemes are being hit, there`s not many Final salary schemes left now, but the MP`s will still get their gold plated pensions. Middle England needs to wake up fast and realise that they are being shafted at every opportunity! :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:

[BillyStubbsTears]

There might be hope that the Tories could be reined in if only the Lib Dems would grow a pair.

In the first 6 months after the Election, the Lib Dem support in the polls collapsed, while the Tories stayed about the same, amybe even a bit higher than their support at the Election. Up until about the start of December, it was generally agreed that the Tories had the Lib Dems over a barrel - the Lib Dems couldn't afford to play hardball in private policy meetings with the Tories. What you need in a coalition is some parity of power, so that the smaller party can make the bigger one hold up on some of the wilder policies. But with the Lib Dems so hammered after the Election, they couldn't afford to do that. The Tories would say, \"Go f**k yourselves. What are you going to do? Resign from the coalition and force an Election? You'd get annihilated.\"

Now things are changing. Over the last three months, the Tories support has also started to slip away. Back in Novemeber, they were regularly polling 40-42% and were neck and neck with Labour. Now, they are regularly polling 35-ish% and are miles behind Labour. If there was an Election tomorrow, Labour would win by nearly 100 seats according to the polls and the Tories would be hammered almost as much as the Lib Dems.

So now the Tories can't afford to do anything to risk the stability of the coalition. So the Lib Dems can play harder and demand that the extreme right-wing economic policies get pulled. If the Tories then tried staring them out, the Lib Dems could break cover. They could say they had tried their damnedest to make the coalition work, but the Tories had proved impossible to work with and would not compromise. They could say that they fundamentally disagreed with the measures put in place by Osbourne and that they were resigning from the coalition. They realised that they would take a hit in the subsequent Election, but they felt that it was in the Nation's interests to do this.

They'd actually regain a lot of respect, credibility and voter support if they did that.

Of course, in reality, it would never come to this. The Tories would be forced into compromising on economic policy in a private agreement with the Lib Dems. The Tories could not afford an Election because they would be out on their ear, so they'd HAVE to compromise.


THAT is how coalitions work. A coalition is supposed to be about creative tension in power resulting in acceptable compromise, not a smaller party saying, \"Yes Sir, no Sir, we'll vote for whatever you say Sir\" to the bigger one.

So why don't The Lib Dems do this? Unless Clegg and Alexander actually agree with the Tory policies...

[River Don]

[donnyproletarian]

bobjimwilly wrote:

It makes me so angry. What do we do BST, WHAT DO WE DO???  :angry:

1 Everybody get down to the bank and draw out your cash then put it in a credit union.

2 Embark on a massive campaign of civil disobediance of strategic general 24 hour strikes

3 Take back our Labour party from the right wing hangers on who have highjacked it and used it for personal gain.Re establish part 4 clause 4 of our constiturion but this time mean it.

4 Shut down Elland Road and Bum hole lane

5 Compulsory education for dingles and the segregation of the sexes  

[Filo]

donnyproletarian wrote:

bobjimwilly wrote:

It makes me so angry. What do we do BST, WHAT DO WE DO???  :angry:

1 Everybody get down to the bank and draw out your cash then put it in a credit union.

If everyone did that on the same day, the banks would shit themselves, they would have to conform or go under, if they didn`t conform then the money stays out!

[River Don]

[Filo]

BillyStubbsTears wrote:

There might be hope that the Tories could be reined in if only the Lib Dems would grow a pair.

In the first 6 months after the Election, the Lib Dem support in the polls collapsed, while the Tories stayed about the same, amybe even a bit higher than their support at the Election. Up until about the start of December, it was generally agreed that the Tories had the Lib Dems over a barrel - the Lib Dems couldn't afford to play hardball in private policy meetings with the Tories. What you need in a coalition is some parity of power, so that the smaller party can make the bigger one hold up on some of the wilder policies. But with the Lib Dems so hammered after the Election, they couldn't afford to do that. The Tories would say, \"Go fcuk yourselves. What are you going to do? Resign from the coalition and force an Election? You'd get annihilated.\"

Now things are changing. Over the last three months, the Tories support has also started to slip away. Back in Novemeber, they were regularly polling 40-42% and were neck and neck with Labour. Now, they are regularly polling 35-ish% and are miles behind Labour. If there was an Election tomorrow, Labour would win by nearly 100 seats according to the polls and the Tories would be hammered almost as much as the Lib Dems.

So now the Tories can't afford to do anything to risk the stability of the coalition. So the Lib Dems can play harder and demand that the extreme right-wing economic policies get pulled. If the Tories then tried staring them out, the Lib Dems could break cover. They could say they had tried their damnedest to make the coalition work, but the Tories had proved impossible to work with and would not compromise. They could say that they fundamentally disagreed with the measures put in place by Osbourne and that they were resigning from the coalition. They realised that they would take a hit in the subsequent Election, but they felt that it was in the Nation's interests to do this.

They'd actually regain a lot of respect, credibility and voter support if they did that.

Of course, in reality, it would never come to this. The Tories would be forced into compromising on economic policy in a private agreement with the Lib Dems. The Tories could not afford an Election because they would be out on their ear, so they'd HAVE to compromise.


THAT is how coalitions work. A coalition is supposed to be about creative tension in power resulting in acceptable compromise, not a smaller party saying, \"Yes Sir, no Sir, we'll vote for whatever you say Sir\" to the bigger one.

So why don't The Lib Dems do this? Unless Clegg and Alexander actually agree with the Tory policies...

It doesn`t look as if the LibDems are going to grow a pair anytime soon!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/liberaldemocrats/8314670/Senior-Lib-Dem-sacked-for-criticising-controversial-deal-for-bankers.html

[BobG]

I read that Guairdan article too. Truly appalling. What's worse is they'll get away with it. Can you honestly see anyone standing up against it? Most folk in work can't for sure. I had fair warning of that just today. We've been going through the re-org/applky for your own job malarky this past couple of weeks. I was one of the lucky ones. But when the new boss had a 'chat' today and I wasn't fulsome in my enthusias and excitement at the prospect before me, he candidly told me he could arrange for the job to be withdrawn. And that would leave me on the shit heap. Who is going to go on strike when they can be 'managed out' in the blink of an eye? Who is going to upset the apple cart, or even talk about the apple cart, under these circumstances? I am reminded, very forcibly, of 1930's Germany. Anyone who thinks that couldn't happen here is living in cloud cuckoo land. When the family home, the children's welfare and your own job are all at risk, folk shut up and do what they're told. As we are all doing now. OK, it's not gone as far as it did in Germany, but the underlying principle is exactly the same.

So, when I retire, I am going to become an evengelist of revolution. An evangelist with a DB9! (Or an old Lambo Ian

Cheers

BobG

[BillyStubbsTears]

Filo wrote:

BillyStubbsTears wrote:

There might be hope that the Tories could be reined in if only the Lib Dems would grow a pair.

In the first 6 months after the Election, the Lib Dem support in the polls collapsed, while the Tories stayed about the same, amybe even a bit higher than their support at the Election. Up until about the start of December, it was generally agreed that the Tories had the Lib Dems over a barrel - the Lib Dems couldn't afford to play hardball in private policy meetings with the Tories. What you need in a coalition is some parity of power, so that the smaller party can make the bigger one hold up on some of the wilder policies. But with the Lib Dems so hammered after the Election, they couldn't afford to do that. The Tories would say, \"Go fcuk yourselves. What are you going to do? Resign from the coalition and force an Election? You'd get annihilated.\"

Now things are changing. Over the last three months, the Tories support has also started to slip away. Back in Novemeber, they were regularly polling 40-42% and were neck and neck with Labour. Now, they are regularly polling 35-ish% and are miles behind Labour. If there was an Election tomorrow, Labour would win by nearly 100 seats according to the polls and the Tories would be hammered almost as much as the Lib Dems.

So now the Tories can't afford to do anything to risk the stability of the coalition. So the Lib Dems can play harder and demand that the extreme right-wing economic policies get pulled. If the Tories then tried staring them out, the Lib Dems could break cover. They could say they had tried their damnedest to make the coalition work, but the Tories had proved impossible to work with and would not compromise. They could say that they fundamentally disagreed with the measures put in place by Osbourne and that they were resigning from the coalition. They realised that they would take a hit in the subsequent Election, but they felt that it was in the Nation's interests to do this.

They'd actually regain a lot of respect, credibility and voter support if they did that.

Of course, in reality, it would never come to this. The Tories would be forced into compromising on economic policy in a private agreement with the Lib Dems. The Tories could not afford an Election because they would be out on their ear, so they'd HAVE to compromise.


THAT is how coalitions work. A coalition is supposed to be about creative tension in power resulting in acceptable compromise, not a smaller party saying, \"Yes Sir, no Sir, we'll vote for whatever you say Sir\" to the bigger one.

So why don't The Lib Dems do this? Unless Clegg and Alexander actually agree with the Tory policies...

It doesn`t look as if the LibDems are going to grow a pair anytime soon!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/liberaldemocrats/8314670/Senior-Lib-Dem-sacked-for-criticising-controversial-deal-for-bankers.html

The whole thing absolutely fcuking stinks.

Yesterday, Osbourne comes out with a new tax on the banks that amounts to little more than 10% of what they are going to give out in bonuses to the champagne-swilling Hooray Henries who work for them. So they'll have to make do with 9 bottles of Bolly tgo celebrate their bonuses instead of 10.

Bang on cue, the bank bosses line up to say \"We didn't know anything about this tax rise coming along. We're livid about this! The Govt is being really unfair on us.\"

Like fcuk!

Because today, Osbourne unveils this load of b*llocks that the Govt and Banks have been working on for months. Project Merlin was supposed to bring the banks to heel and make them work for us. Instead, it basically says, \"Do what you were doing before chaps. Jolly good show. But tell us how much you're paying your bosses, just to keep the plebs happy.\"

A 24 carat con. Osbourne and the bank bosses are totally in cahoots. The Tories are bankrolled by the City fat cats, and they can't hammer them or they will cut their own financial throats. So they roll out this  minor tax rise on Tuesday, together with carefully orchestrated howls of pain from the bankers (who must have struggled to keep their faces straight). All intended to cover up the fact that the big decision on Wednesday does sweet FA to slap the bankers down and make them start working for us.

And meanwhile, the Libraries in Donny are closing and council jobs and services across the North are evaporating like Spring snow.

bas**rds, bas**rds, bas**rds.

EDIT: Oh aye. And when a Lib Dem Lord has the courage to come out and say that it f**king well stinks, he gets sacked.

[BobG]

Not forgetting good old George's tax sheltered inherited loot either by the way. Needs to be brought to the front of everyone's consciousness that does.

I'm not again making pots of money. That's what equality of opportunity implies. Some succeed and some don't. But passing on the shit , in tax sheltered trusts, to brain dead wastrels who f**k everyone else really does get my goat. Just what, exacatly, did this cretin do demonstrate his superior worth above you and me for example? Has he got an MBA with Distinction? I have. Has he got membership, by examination, of a Chartered Institute? I have. Has he spent 4 years of his life studying his arse off while holding down a full time (and more) job at the same time? I have. Does he bring up a child on his own while juggling the evils of working for a living and having to comply with stupid school attendance hours? I f**king well do. Has he had a pay rise this last 5 years? I f**king well haven't. Instead the bas**rd employers have screwed over my pension and by various devious means now take well over 60 quid a month more out of my pay on the basis that I'll get it back from the tax man one day (read 'never')?

If I ever get a terminal illness, I shall go down in history - as a footnote at the very least.

BobG

[BillyStubbsTears]

BobG wrote:

Not forgetting good old George's tax sheltered inherited loot either by the way. Needs to be brought to the front of everyone's consciousness that does.

I'm not again making pots of money. That's what equality of opportunity implies. Some succeed and some don't. But passing on the shit , in tax sheltered trusts, to brain dead wastrels who fcuk everyone else really does get my goat. Just what, exacatly, did this cretin do demonstrate his superior worth above you and me for example? Has he got an MBA with Distinction? I have. Has he got membership, by examination, of a Chartered Institute? I have. Has he spent 4 years of his life studying his arse off while holding down a full time (and more) job at the same time? I have. Does he bring up a child on his own while juggling the evils of working for a living and having to comply with stupid school attendance hours? I fcuking well do. Has he had a pay rise this last 5 years? I fcuking well haven't. Instead the bas**rd employers have screwed over my pension and by various devious means now take well over 60 quid a month more out of my pay on the basis that I'll get it back from the tax man one day (read 'never')?

If I ever get a terminal illness, I shall go down in history - as a footnote at the very least.

BobG

Bang on Bob. The Tories claim to be all about meritocracy.

My sweaty arse.

This t**t Osbourne was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He is heir to a Baronetcy that traces it's roots back to land-grabs off the peasants in Ireland, and was one of the absentee landlords who turned the Irish Potato Famine into a near genocide. (So his family has got previous in f**king all over the plebs to line their own pockets.) He attended public school and got a moderate degree in Modern History at Oxford. He then had no fcuking aim in life whatsoever, being incapable of doing what he really wanted, which was to get a job as a journalist.

Then, through connections, he got a job at Tory Central Office, where he found a skill for smart-arse wisecracks that he put into William Hague's speeches when he was Tory Leader. He became mates with Cameron and they ended up as godfathers to each other's kids.

He clearly and demonstrably knows the sqaure root of fcuk all about economics. He has no education or experience in the field. And when he's put on the spot, he's not even a compitent political smoothie either. His performance the other week when he could say nothing but \"Snow\" when asked to explain the collapse in GDP figures was so bad, so cringingly embarrassing that damn nearly felt sorry for him. But, through his best pal, has risen to the position where he makes the decisions that will fcuk up millions of lives across the North.

I despise the t**t with a vengeance. He is the living embodiment of the fact that Class still rules over ability in this country. The only positive side is that he will be ripped to shreds by Ed Balls every week for the next four years in the House of Commons, before retiring a broken, trembling wreck.

[bobjimwilly]

BillyStubbsTears wrote:

BobG wrote:

Not forgetting good old George's tax sheltered inherited loot either by the way. Needs to be brought to the front of everyone's consciousness that does.

I'm not again making pots of money. That's what equality of opportunity implies. Some succeed and some don't. But passing on the shit , in tax sheltered trusts, to brain dead wastrels who fcuk everyone else really does get my goat. Just what, exacatly, did this cretin do demonstrate his superior worth above you and me for example? Has he got an MBA with Distinction? I have. Has he got membership, by examination, of a Chartered Institute? I have. Has he spent 4 years of his life studying his arse off while holding down a full time (and more) job at the same time? I have. Does he bring up a child on his own while juggling the evils of working for a living and having to comply with stupid school attendance hours? I fcuking well do. Has he had a pay rise this last 5 years? I fcuking well haven't. Instead the bas**rd employers have screwed over my pension and by various devious means now take well over 60 quid a month more out of my pay on the basis that I'll get it back from the tax man one day (read 'never')?

If I ever get a terminal illness, I shall go down in history - as a footnote at the very least.

BobG

Bang on Bob. The Tories claim to be all about meritocracy.

My sweaty arse.

This t**t Osbourne was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He is heir to a Baronetcy that traces it's roots back to land-grabs off the peasants in Ireland, and was one of the absentee landlords who turned the Irish Potato Famine into a near genocide. (So his family has got previous in fcuking all over the plebs to line their own pockets.) He attended public school and got a moderate degree in Modern History at Oxford. He then had no fcuking aim in life whatsoever, being incapable of doing what he really wanted, which was to get a job as a journalist.

Then, through connections, he got a job at Tory Central Office, where he found a skill for smart-arse wisecracks that he put into William Hague's speeches when he was Tory Leader. He became mates with Cameron and they ended up as godfathers to each other's kids.

He clearly and demonstrably knows the sqaure root of fcuk all about economics. He has no education or experience in the field. And when he's put on the spot, he's not even a compitent political smoothie either. His performance the other week when he could say nothing but \"Snow\" when asked to explain the collapse in GDP figures was so bad, so cringingly embarrassing that damn nearly felt sorry for him. But, through his best pal, has risen to the position where he makes the decisions that will fcuk up millions of lives across the North.

I despise the t**t with a vengeance. He is the living embodiment of the fact that Class still rules over ability in this country. The only positive side is that he will be ripped to shreds by Ed Balls every week for the next four years in the House of Commons, before retiring a broken, trembling wreck.

Yet again, couldn't have put it better BST.

Just to add, he is a t**t too.

[Boomstick]

You commies cant see past your nose end. Just wait in 3/4 years when banks and busineses are flooding into this country creating jobs and economic growth, to make up for public sector cuts. (alot of those jobs are pointless and just an extension of the dole queue)
It might not seem good at the min, because the mess created by labour is taking a hell of a lot to sort out. But further down the line it will be.
Bring it on.

[Sheepskin Stu]

Boomstick wrote:

You commies cant see past your nose end. Just wait in 3/4 years when banks and busineses are flooding into this country creating jobs and economic growth, to make up for public sector cuts. (alot of those jobs are pointless and just an extension of the dole queue)
It might not seem good at the min, because the mess created by labour is taking a hell of a lot to sort out. But further down the line it will be.
Bring it on.

Oh dear.

[Filo]

Boomstick wrote:

You commies cant see past your nose end. Just wait in 3/4 years when banks and busineses are flooding into this country creating jobs and economic growth, to make up for public sector cuts. (alot of those jobs are pointless and just an extension of the dole queue)
It might not seem good at the min, because the mess created by labour is taking a hell of a lot to sort out. But further down the line it will be.
Bring it on.

Only in Gideon world will that happen!

[Filo]

It seems if you`re a LibDem, you`re not allowed to tell the people that voted for you what you really think, because Tory Nick will accuse you of blabbing off!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/feb/10/nick-clegg-lib-dems-megaphone-debate-cuts

[Glyn_Wigley]

BillyStubbsTears wrote:

So why don't The Lib Dems do this? Unless Clegg and Alexander actually agree with the Tory policies...

Because we haven't had the referendum that was the price they exacted for going into the coalition yet.

Once that's over (whichever way the result goes), the LibDems will have had their pound of flesh and will be much freer to tell Oily Dave to get stuffed than they are now.

[The Red Baron]

Glyn_Wigley wrote:

BillyStubbsTears wrote:

So why don't The Lib Dems do this? Unless Clegg and Alexander actually agree with the Tory policies...

Because we haven't had the referendum that was the price they exacted for going into the coalition yet.

Once that's over (whichever way the result goes), the LibDems will have had their pound of flesh and will be much freer to tell Oily Dave to get stuffed than they are now.

I agree with your point over the AV referendum. Not that it is certain to happen, at least not in May of this year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12414705

Looks like Cleggy and co might have to bite their tongues a bit longer.