Tony Blair..good bloke

[CusCus]

Originally Posted by West Ender

I am interested, however, to know what you do for a living and whether Mr. Blair been good or bad for your employment and prospects.

I work for an insewerance company on such things as insuring civil servants for if they get taken to court!

Bad for prospects on the basis of (a) rampant bureaucracy creation which making it much harder to be competitive as we have to devote so much more time and resources to compliance and regulation and less to doing business
(b) tax regimes (eg introduction of dividend taxation regimen - see "pensions crises") making it even more difficult to provide a return to the owners of the company and meaning many of our competitors have legged it overseas taking the jobs and tax revenues with them.
(c) interest rates 40% higher than competing economies. Yes they are set by the BofE but this is on the basis of economic policy.
(d) About 60% or so of what I do is export, however interest rates / economic policy is completely stiffing us as this feeds through into distorted currency values meaning we become much less competitive and lose out. Interest rates / economic policy being great if your name is G. Brown and you want to borrow billions on the capital markets (ie Gordon is offering 5.25%, the Eurogroats are offering 3.75, so no surprise all the banks are massively into sterling) to spend on public services (Hah!) but pretty bad for businesses trying to grow and export, like mine!


However the short term flipside is growth of such things as
(i) PFI / PPP contracts (see G.Brown fiddling the books to hide debt")
and
(ii) massive increase in venture capital investment in UKPLC (see "introduction of dividend taxation regimen by G.Brown" )has resulted in more business for us,
and
(iii) Massive capital expenditure projects eg hospital in bburn
so in some ways good for prospects.

Difficult to call, overall some good, some bad, on a micro economic level nay too shabby, on a macro level disasterous.

tatty bye

[garinda]

Originally Posted by CusCus

I work for an insewerance company on such things as insuring civil servants for if they get taken to court!

Bad for prospects on the basis of (a) rampant bureaucracy creation which making it much harder to be competitive as we have to devote so much more time and resources to compliance and regulation and less to doing business
(b) tax regimes (eg introduction of dividend taxation regimen - see "pensions crises") making it even more difficult to provide a return to the owners of the company and meaning many of our competitors have legged it overseas taking the jobs and tax revenues with them.
(c) interest rates 40% higher than competing economies. Yes they are set by the BofE but this is on the basis of economic policy.
(d) About 60% or so of what I do is export, however interest rates / economic policy is completely stiffing us as this feeds through into distorted currency values meaning we become much less competitive and lose out. Interest rates / economic policy being great if your name is G. Brown and you want to borrow billions on the capital markets (ie Gordon is offering 5.25%, the Eurogroats are offering 3.75, so no surprise all the banks are massively into sterling) to spend on public services (Hah!) but pretty bad for businesses trying to grow and export, like mine!


However the short term flipside is growth of such things as
(i) PFI / PPP contracts (see G.Brown fiddling the books to hide debt")
and
(ii) massive increase in venture capital investment in UKPLC (see "introduction of dividend taxation regimen by G.Brown" )has resulted in more business for us,
and
(iii) Massive capital expenditure projects eg hospital in bburn
so in some ways good for prospects.

Difficult to call, overall some good, some bad, on a micro economic level nay too shabby, on a macro level disasterous.

tatty bye

This is the second post were you've spelled insurance as inseweranse. I can't decide if it is a genuine mistake, or a clever way of saying that insurance is connected with sewers.

[West Ender]

I'm just intrigued about which Civil Servants have been taken to court and for what!

To sum up my feelings towards A C L Blair: A nice man; sincere (I think); could have been a great P M if he had been less open to persuasion; misguided.

[Mancie]

Ok.. only joking.. Tony Blair may not be a nice bloke.. but is the next prime minister going to be any better? .. It will be Brown for the next 2 years but what next?.. David Cameron seems like a decent bloke to me but can he hold back the REAL TORIES?... and we all know what they are like.

[West Ender]

How can the premiership be passed on to someone as if it was an hereditary position? Surely a party leader has to be elected? Everyone seems to be going along, meekly, with the propostion that Brown will succeed Blair. It goes against all the principles of democracy.

[grannyclaret]

Gordon Brown was a good chanceller ,but i realy dont fancy him as our next prime minister .. but i cant think of anyone else either..

[Ianto.W.]

Im a little confused about this thread I always thought the majority ruled in a democracy, and the chairman made sure the wishes of the majority were administered. We do not live in a dictatorship do we?

[Mancie]

Originally Posted by West Ender

How can the premiership be passed on to someone as if it was an hereditary position? Surely a party leader has to be elected? Everyone seems to be going along, meekly, with the propostion that Brown will succeed Blair. It goes against all the principles of democracy.

Maggie was the prime minister when she got thrown out by her party.. John Major was installad

[CusCus]

Originally Posted by West Ender

I'm just intrigued about which Civil Servants have been taken to court and for what!

.

5.8 million people work for the state so just about anything.




And BTW I've worked in the state sector also, twice (teacher, postie....) so please stop the character slights and assumptions such as "I'm more insular than you" (neeeeeer!) as I can also call upon experience for both sectors. there's no need for it, it's childish and irrelevant.

I don't claim to know a lot about your profession. I claim to be relatively well informed on the subject of differences between state and non-state employment as it's directly relevant to my day to day activities.

Statistics are provided by the government (ONS / NAO ) and then spun by the press / government accordingly.


Blair? ******. However, less of a ****** than the rest of 'em is my conclusion. More or less similar to your last comment in fact..........

[West Ender]

I'm not directing any "character slights" at you, Cuscus, I think you're a little over-sensitive. Now stop being so rude and aggressive, it's unnecessary.

[Mancie]

awh.. changed my mind again.. Tony is a good bloke after all..top geezer!

[panther]

i like tony too, not like rest of the useless twerps who have been PM!

[CusCus]

Originally Posted by West Ender

I'm not directing any "character slights" at you, Cuscus, I think you're a little over-sensitive. Now stop being so rude and aggressive, it's unnecessary.

don't make daft assumptions then or I'll punch yer lights out tosspot

[West Ender]

Cuscus, dear, it's you making the daft assumptions, particularly in your original post in this thread. You misquoted me by saying I implied you were more insular than I - you should re-read what I said - how could I possibly know if you were or not when I don't know you?

I've never been called a tosspot before. Could you give me a precise definition please? As to punching my lights out, I doubt you'd have to try very hard as I'm only 5'1, weigh less than 9 stone and it's well over 50 years since I last had a scrap with a member of the opposite sex. Would you allow me to stand on a box?

[garinda]

Originally Posted by CusCus

don't make daft assumptions then or I'll punch yer lights out tosspot

Putting a silly smiley on the end of what is basically a threat, doesn't make it any better.

West Ender is twice the person you'll ever be.....and even though she doesen't work in it, I bet she can spell 'insurance'.