There is supposed to be a model of "save in the good times, spend in the bad". Now I know we didn't save in the good times, but I'm alarmed about tories plans to not spend in this VERY bad time. Public spending on large projects will at least keep certain sectors moving. I think that's sl...

Alexia wrote:

Mr Q wrote:Labor party.

Spelling!! Bloody colonials!!

Don't blame me - I know it should be Labour (I spell English proper good). Yet the party over here is the Australian Labor Party.

BUT, and this is more of a question than something phrased as a question, how much of the decline of traditional industry and rise of the service economy was actually natural progression and evolution of the world economy and independent of who was in charge? I guess what I wonder is how much thatc...

I've always thought that free prescriptions are likely to have a much smaller effect on taxes than suggested. Passing the enormous tower block in Newcastle where they deal with the ridiculously complex system of exemptions and charges for the system shows how complex and needlessly so it currently ...

Mr Q: you are right about what you are saying that Prevention is better than cure, but this will not help people in the short term, also I dare say No one will be spending that sort of cash, even with its the good times! ( even if it does improve peoples life), In scotland there £2 BILLION back log...

The tories get the most votes in wales and then there say this! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8104142.stm I don't see anything objectionable in what the Conservatives are proposing there at all. Giving everyone free prescriptions is an absolutely terrible policy - all it does is mandate higher t...

Uh-ven. I've never heard anyone say Oh-ven - but then we do have our own bizarre (and often grating, at least to my ears) pronunciations over here too.

I think that people are sussing out David Cameron's constant and almost pathetic pleading for a General Election. Firstly, any incumbent government is perfectly entitled to see out its 5-year term, no matter how unpopular it may appear in 2-bit newspaper polls or an uninspiring European election wi...

Aborted coups like that which was attempted by Blears last week remind me of one of the parting lines in the last episode of The Thick Of It: "Next time that you want to stab Caesar, make sure you're not holding a fucking plastic spoon."

Yeah, what I think barcode said. I'm approaching it very simplistically but surely they bought shares incredibly cheap and will almost certainly wind up selling them high? Or are you maybe saying that the interest on the international loan will wipe out any gains? Maybe. It's unclear to me what pri...

Sput wrote:Do you mean in terms of the shares bought up or the "Bad bank" system?

I don't think the model itself necessarily matters - only a portion of the debt the government has accumulated has come from the banking sector.