Are we on the verge of a recession?
A million jobs to be gone by Christmas. That was one of the chirpier headlines in the weekend papers, and oh boy, I don’t think I can take much more of this doomstering.
Spending an hour with the FT is like being trapped in a room with assorted members of a millennialist suicide cult. If their pundits are to be believed, the skies of the City will shortly be dark with falling bankers, and then for the rest of us it’s back to the 1930s, with barrels for trousers, soup kitchens and buddy can you spare a dime.
By this time next year, if the pessimists are right, Gordon Brown will have nationalised most of the British economy and a representative of the Treasury will be attending the editorial conference of The Daily Telegraph.
Well, I am not sure how accurate these forecasts are, but let us assume, for the sake of argument, that we are indeed on the verge of a slump, a depression, and that the challenges ahead can be truly compared to those of the 1930s. Let us ransack our memory of O-level history. How did they do last time? There were some big things they got wrong, and some big things they got right.
If I remember correctly, the Americans responded to the Wall Street Crash by trying to protect US industry, and the catastrophic 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariffs served only to spread the recession to Europe and deepen the worldwide gloom.
So lesson number one is don’t go isolationist, don’t go protectionist; and one of the only reasons to be worried about a victory for Barack Obama is that he does sometimes seem to favour new barriers to trade – just when those barriers are completely counter-indicated by history. We need free trade to help lift us out of a slump; we need the Doha round to be completed; and the British Government should be demanding action from Brussels and Washington.
Then there are the big things they got right, the things that most economic historians agree were useful in ending the Depression. We had the thrill of driving over one of those big things last year in our 30ft mobile home. It really is very big indeed. It is the Hoover dam, a colossal concrete cathedral to Keynesian economics, still braced against the Colorado river, still delivering electricity, and built from 1931 to 1935, at the height (or in the depths) of the Depression.
As I looked at the foaming torrent emerging from its turbines, I remembered another trip we had taken two years previously, in another people-mover, along the famously beautiful Skyline drive of the Shenandoah valley – another Depression-era project, built in 1932, that continues to provide benefits to travellers today.
It is no wonder, frankly, that the average tourist to America still spends a lot of time looking at 1930s infrastructure, because Roosevelt’s New Deal created 122,000 public buildings, 77,000 bridges, 664,000 miles of road and 285 airports, as well as jobs for 8.5 million people. Like the German autobahns – built at roughly the same time – these investments were indispensable to the country’s future growth and economic might.
Now I am not, repeat not, prophesying that we are on the verge of a depression or that things will run as they did in the 1930s. But when we look at our options, and you think of the lasting benefits of infrastructure investment, you can see that even in little old Britain we have some stunning opportunities, of a scale not seen for a generation.
There is Crossrail, 75 miles of track, finally providing a link between Heathrow and the City and a staggering 10 per cent increase in London’s transport capacity. There are the upgrades of the Tube, massive investments in track, signalling and air conditioning, vital to the future liveability of Europe’s greatest city.
There is the Thames Tideway tunnel, a truly colossal enterprise, with a diameter wider even than Crossrail, which will run all the way under the bed of the Thames, through London to the sea, and finally help clean up the river by dealing with the unmentionable problem of what happens when the Bazalgette interceptors overflow.
There is the completion of the North London line, and its joining with the East London line, to create, for the first time, the equivalent of an M25 in the overland rail network.
These projects will produce employment on a vast scale: by 2013, it is estimated that Crossrail will need 28,000 workers, and these will be skilled, high-end, engineering jobs. We calculate that London alone needs a further 20,000 engineers to cope with the projects to which the Government is already committed.
That is why Crossrail plans to set up an academy for tunnelling and, for the first time in decades, we can tell our sons and daughters that they have a future in engineering. But even more important than the employment benefits of these projects – and I haven’t even mentioned the suggestion of an estuary airport – there is the long-term value and revenue they will deliver for this country.
The doomsters may or may not be right in saying that we are on the verge of a recession or a depression or a slump. But I know I am right in thinking that we will come out of it, and the only question is in what state we come out of it. We will beat this recession more speedily, and emerge in far better shape, if we make sure we put people to work in projects that boost the long-term competitiveness of the country.
That means investing in the things that can radically improve the transport, attractiveness and general liveability of the capital city, the motor of the British economy. We may be in a hole, but the lesson of history is that tunnels and bridges and dams can bring jobs and growth.
This is one of those rare moments when the sound advice to someone in a hole – especially a hole as big as Crossrail – is that they should keep digging. It would be madness not to.
[This article was first published in the Daily Telegraph on 14 October, 2008 under the heading "Financial crisis: In times as dire as these, the only thing to do is dig for victory"]
92 Comments
Kevin, I don’t understand why you single out these tattooed guys. At least they are natives. What about a London council paying £12, 500/ month rent for an Afghan refugee woman of 7 kids?
Google: PICTURES FROM INSIDE THE LUXURY £1.2 MILLION MANSION
and read the whole story.
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NEW IDEA: ” Every email, all website visits and phone calls will be targeted by police and security services under new proposals outlined by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith yesterday. The e-snooping lawsv will be enforced in an effort to tackle crooks, gang crimes, paedophile rings and terrorists. ”
The government’s own anti-terror guru Lord Carlile branded the idea ” AWFUL “. He said: ” Searches should be made on a case by case basis, so they can’t be done willy-nilly by Government.” BUT Jacqui Smith said NO, this new law WILL apply to everybody but she insisted: ” Information gathered will not be stored. ”
FACT: A terror suspect is living on benefits in UK. Egyptian Hany Yousessef is on a UN list of suspected al-Qaeda teerorists but our government has allowed him to stay here. You pay the bills.
Gurkhas have been forced to beg to live in this country, which they were willing to die for. But terrorist suspects and those who preach hatred and worse are welcomed with open arms. Labour has created this problem but Tory MP Greg Hands is just bad. He said he was shocked Youssef hadn’t been deported. But when challenged, Hands said he wouldn’t send this suspect back if he thought he might face a death sentence. Who cares what happens to people who want us dead. Am I right?
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NEW IDEA: Doug ( MP ) and Dan ( MEP )’ brand new book: ” THE PLAN- 12 Months to get Britain back on track.”
In their book, they tell us stories of serious corruptions in Westminster, blah, blah, blah…
FACT: Scotland Yard said they could not start to investigate unless a member of public had logged a formal complaint with them. To this day no John, Dick or Cock, I mean Harry sorry, ( I don’t know why I’m always thing about sex! ) EVEN the national newspapers, has ever complained to Scotland Yard. Just moaning, moaning and moaning and not actually doing anything about it. Maybe moaning is our national pastime?
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Cough, cough, cough. ***@@BB*** Peter Mandelson’s close friendship with Russia’s richest man, billionaire Oleg Deripaska, ignited a fierce Commons row yesterday as more details of their links emerged. cough, cough **@@BB**
Tory MP Hugo Swire demaned that MPs should be allowed to debate the affair. Commons Leader Harriet Harman ( ***@@BB*** ) at first refused them, saying Swire’s claims about a potential conflict of interest were smears, but then was forced to intervene. The growing row threatend to tarnish the shock return of Baroness Mandelson as Business Secretary to the Government after twice having to resign as a minister over links with wealthy businessmen. ***@@BB***
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cough, cough, cough, cough ****@@@BBB**** CYRIL, I told you Mandy only fancied rich men and Guy only fancied rich women. ***@@@BBB*** cough, cough, cough.
Madonna wants to give Guy £60M plus TWO of their mansions for a quick divorce. She said she was angry that he called her ” Granny ” when he was talking with his friends. So why did he marry her in the first place??? If it was not for her fame and her money? Well, he already told his lawyers he did not want one penny from Madonna, just full access to the kids that’s all he wants. Let’s wait and see !!! cough, cough, cough ***@@BB*** Bollocks to Mandelson and Guy- 2 gold diggers.
cough, cough, cough ***@@BB*** We need some joint, we don’t need Benylin.
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Stacy – very good point. An electric man who came to read the meter was fuming about immigrants as he had been round to read their meter. They went out while he was there. He said he would only be a minute and would turn the lights off on leaving..? They told him not to bother as everything was paid for by the government. The heating and TV was on too.
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New idea: Gordon Brown wants to introduce a new international system of financial regulation to prevent future crisis’.
Fact: 11 years ago Gordon Brown introduced a new system of financial regulations to prevent ‘boom and bust’.
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Stacey – I and millions upon millions of ordinary people agree with you.
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Steven – Brown ignored persistent warnings from the IMF about debt.
Back to tattoos on necks and faces if I may…
This is the last straw for me, I suppose. I perceive it as an aggressive act “Don’t f**k with me !” is what it seems to suggest. I’m hardened against public vulgarity and coarsness in Britain – but even I (a martial arts expert) find this intimidating. What on Earth must our more civilised cousins from the continent think when they see our people behaving like this ?
If we’re going down the Keynsian route then why not build the prisons we so desperately need and staff them properly (Unlike Dartmoor where my friend reports the staff are at breaking point) ?
At times it feels as though our very civilisation is at risk – it really does.
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That’s why Gordon Brown will never REALLY tackle the problems of so many people on benefits, because he is counting on the votes of scroungers….
(I do not deride anyone who genuinely needs help, only the workshy.)
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Kev really is a martial arts expert – I have evidence.
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I read today that Boris Johnson is learning Arabic and i think that is a brilliant thing to do. The more we learn about other cultures and the more effort we make to communicate with other cultures, the nearer world peace will be.
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apparently Gordon Brown’s strategists have advised that Gordon takes his wife Sarah with him when he campaigns in the Glenrothes by-election. IT WON’T MAKE AN IOTA OF DIFFERENCE. The only reason that Sarah Brown received a warm reception when she introduced Gordon at the Labour conference is because people sympathise with her for being married to the moody, moronic, mendacious Scots git. Every woman in country sympathises because we can all imagine the absolute hell if you faced that over the breakfast table.
Her political value is nil.
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Cough, cough, cough ***@@@BBB***
HELPLINE service NHS DIRECT pays £250,000 a year/ every year/ to an interpreters contract company to translate advice into 160 languages like Cherokee ( Red Indian cowboys’ language like Brokeback Mountain, spoken by only a few mostly living in Oklahomo, I mean Oklahoma, who all also speak English! ), Basque ( terrorists ), Fijian ( bottled water ), Icelandic ( frozen food supermarket ), Mongolian ( Richard Gere’s birth place ), Yiddish ( kids? ), Garlic, I mean Gaelic ( Carla Bruni’s husband ? ), Akan ( Sarah Palin’s homeland ? ), Homo, I mean Homa ( homos’ tongue ? ) among other languages. ***@@BB*** Bloody Loonies !!!
Bloody NHS nancy spokesman says: ” We only pay for the languages we need, that’s all ”
Well, I tell you what – BOLLOCKS TO THE WASTEFUL- USELESS- NANCY- POLITICAL- CORRECTNESS- GONE-MAD-NHS !!!
And that’s the language they need and understand, IF they have any brain. **@@BB**
All we know is – if yous up sticks and move to, say, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece or any bloody backward countries like that, and yous can’t speak the bloody language, then sorry, yous have to pay for someone who can speak the bloody language to help yous with the bloody paperwork, bills, trips to doctor, lawyer, dentist, council offices…
NOTHING is free over there. And they are bloody members of the bloody nancy EU. No wonder all the Poles just want to come here, not Spain. Not even sun, sea and sex can entice them !!! ***@@BOLLOCKS*** to them ALL, we say. ***@@@BB*** Cough, cough, cough.
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Language, please.
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BOLLOCKS !!!
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The Poles are all going home, which I am sorry about, because I have huge respect for them as a nation.
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http://aolsearch.aol.co.uk/aol/search?query=Ray%20Lewis%20and%20the%20battle%20to%20fix%20Britain%27s%20broken%20boys&invocationType=sb_uk
A very illuminating and moving article on Ray Lewis, bringing up to date with his work after his upsetting resignation as one of Boris’s Deputy Mayors.
Ray Lewis showed the courage of emperors and the dignity and forbearance of saints in the way he resigned without fuss to avoid damaging the work that Boris was doing for the children of London. His demeanour put every voice raised against him to shame.
At the time of Lewis’s resignation, the part played by certain members of the Church seemed dubious to say the least and it seemed that hellfires might be waiting for some of the participants if certain alleged newspaper reports were to be believed. We will never know, but “quiet man”, Ian Duncan Smith was unusually roused to an anger strong enough to motivate the following statement:
“I have a real question mark over the Church in all this” he said. “They sat on Ray Lewis’s file and they never went to him and said – “Let’s clear this up.” I think they behaved in a disgusting and appalling manner….. it wasn’t the behaviour of a responsible institution”.
The one statement that I have always totally admired and agreed with Tony Blair about is when he said, about his role in the Iraq war “God will judge me”. That is all that we can say to any member of the Church if they were to do anything as heinous as bring down a man who had devoted his life to helping troubled kids. Maybe they didn’t do anything wrong.
Maybe we have all got it totally wrong. But if they did, may God forgive them.
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Jaq said:
“Kev really is a martial arts expert – I have evidence.”
Ahme – yes. I’m – er – very sorry about your dislocated elbow, Jaq. I do hope it’s on the mend.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/3210098/Ray-Lewis-and-the-battle-to-fix-Britains-broken-boys.html
Moving and revealing article on the situation regading Ray Lewis. I feel so strongly on this subject, I had better not comment further.
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It’s ok, Kev, I have another one
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Have you heard- Tesco even goes over there to recruit staff because they’ve heard they’re very hard working people! That maybe true for the first few months, but after that, once they’ve found their feet they just slow down and work like everybody else- they are not stupid, aren’t they? ( and the silly know-all managers can not do anything about it ! ) and we can tell you that WE work just as hard. So them hard working IS really just a myth.
Another thing, every 3 or 4 months we have this big Equality & Racism meeting where we all have to listen to bullshits from the training managers who say which means if you don’t sit at the same table with them in canteen, maybe you are racist!
Truth is most of them can’t hold a small conversation in English at all. If you do try and sit with them, they ‘ll just ignore you and talk with themselves in their own tongue anyway, and that makes YOU look stupid and your other co-workers will laugh at you behind your back for trying to be trendy and political-correct. That’s why we do have to work together but we don’t sit together in canteen.
Too many of them at work, always speaking very fast and loudly in their own language. And they are very talkative, too; the women and also the men !!! You think you are living and working in Poland !! WE have had enough. WE want the nice, peaceful, good old ENGLAND back, please. ( And we are not even true English. We are naturalized Brits.)
If WE go for a job interview, we are judged on our English. If our English is not up to scratch, we are turned away. So the question is who interviewed and recruited so many of them who can’t speak English to work in UK ? Who is to be blamed for this existing simmering resentment at our many workplaces nowadays? It’s the silly, trendy, know-all, polical- correct management and managers that’s who.
Discipline ( for —, —, — )..goes out of the window as the silly, trendy, know-all, political-correct managers are too scared to deal with their ‘pet’ workers. The Equality & Racism meeting was only last week!!!
From reading the daily papers, we know that- the first year living here they receive no social benefits. If they work, they receive working tax credits, child benefit, council tax benefit … and can apply for a council flat/house IN ADVANCE !!! . ( And now, all councils are putting themselves under pressure to find THEM council flats/houses ASAP because of Equality & Racism – you got it !!!!
After working 2 years continuously, you can pack your job in for no reason and claim the dole. The jobcentre MUST gives you contibution jobseeker’s allowance, housing benefit to pay council/ private house rent, council tax benefit, child benefit …even if you left your job for no reason, as you have paid enough contribution in those 2 working years. After one year ( or longer depending on how much you earned in those 2 years ) on C.J.A, you then are moved onto the jobseeker’s allowance group – this is when people either go and find another job or just become lazy with all sorts of excuses- can’t find any job, my English no good, can’t speak English… The jobcentre can only say: ‘ OK, you go to college and learn English FIRST.’ But, for how long ? Exactly ! You can’t make people learn and speak the language in 3 or 6 month time , can you? It might take them 2, 3 or 4 years or forever! And after that? ‘ Sorry, can find no job, Sir ! ‘ What can you do ?
And all members of EU countries are entitled to the same above benefits if they live here! And this explains for their disappearance after a couple of years working with us.
Who would want to move and live in their countries over there ? They have fewer and smaller benefits or none at all. They’re very clever- if you ask some of them ( one at a time ) who can speak a bit English ( on different occasions ), each one of them will all say the same: ‘ Cost of living in my country is just the same, some items are even more expensive than here ! ‘- meaning ‘ We are not gaining anything by coming and working here, we might be loosing out coming here, so what’s the big deal if we come and live here? ‘ It looks like they all have agreed with each other beforehand as what to say if asked !
Funny thing is, if you google the cost of living in Poland, all the Brit expats just tell the truth on their websites : most things are cheaper, only their child benefit is smaller; £10/ month/each child, comparing to £20/week/first child and £18/week/each child after that in UK ! And THEY don’t even have to produce their children’ birth certs to apply for child benefit over here for the children they claim they have left behind over there ! Nobody knows if the children really exist or not. Even now, Silly Labour Benefits Minister has to go over there to hold talk with their crafty Minister about this problem. What can you do when their papers and magazines list all the UK social benefits ( including disability benefit ! How can a disbable person come here to WORK? ) and urge their readers to move to UK fast because ‘ UK has a Pay first, Check later policy ‘ ?
Labour government has never told us the true number of Poles living here. They say only 1.5M. Newspapers say 2.5M. Now the Labour government says 500,000 have pissed off home because of the recession, it still means 2M of them are still here; and that’s just the Poles – the population of Greater Manchester ! Who said they ALL have gone home?
Political refugees? True is, maybe 1/500 is a genuine one. Telling you this with great honest inside knowledge. A genuine political refugee will never go back to his/her own country even after he/she has secured a citizenship and British passport. How can they call themselves political refugees when after they have amassed a fortune in numerous social benefits and then transfer the money back home for their relatives to build luxury houses, open their own business- shops, restaurants, small hotels… and take often months long holidays in their own countries ( as they have no work commitment here! ) and dress, act and speak like they are some upper-class foreign tourists in their own countries whilst remaining as permanent residents here ?
Another trick, for people outside EU- enroll in any courses with a ‘ management ‘ title which doesn’t require any entry qualifications ( too hard for them ) and get a 3 years student visa. When the course finishes, you are given 1 year stay to find a job. BUT you can get a job working as a dishwasher/ waiter, which is dead easy, and hey, presto! you are allowed to stay here permanently.
English courses student visa only gives you 6 months stay. Both kinds of visas allow you to work 20 hours/week to earn some money to support yourself during your stay. Truth is, bosses never stick to the rules, most give them full-time jobs anyway, and they can use this employment to apply for permanent resident, too. You can’t do nothing to stop them.
Silly Labour now says this Fall, they will make these ” management ” graduated students who come from outside EU to find a job that suits their new qualifications if they want to live here- because there are far too, too many bogus ‘ management courses ‘ students . We know, there’s already a sympathysing group calling for the Government to spare those who came here before this new law comes into effect this Fall ! How can you sympathize with people who have cheated their way into this country to rip the numerous social benefits on offer? BUT they can’t stop million others coming from within the EU, can they ?!! And which number is greater- those from outside the EU who want to come here or million others are coming here from within the EU? And Silly Labour is telling us they are doing a great job sorting out this problem AT LAST ?!!!
This is too much inside information. I ask for this comment BE DELETED AFTER 24 HOURS from when it appears on this page, after you here have read it first, as we don’t want some people to read this and spread words for their own benefits . Thank you Melissa.
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This evening, on SKY news, Lord Levine launched a thinly veiled attack on the government as he stated that mistakes have been made by regulators.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Lloyds-Of-London-Boss-Lord-Levene-Blames-Financial-Regulators-For-Economic-Crisis/Article/200810315124823?lpos=Business_Carousel_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15124823_Lloyds_Of_London_Boss_Lord_Levene_Blames_Financial_Regulators_For_Economic_Crisis
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Lord Levene is the Chairman of Lloyds of London. Meanwhile Gordon is still spend spend spending like an over inebriated lottery millionaire who is soon to find out that he has lost his ticket in the washing machine. Our spending is the highest for sixty years and still he spends more and still he justifies it to an appalled Mr. Cameron in the House Commons. WHERE WILL IT END?
Mr. Brown, for once I speak as a friend and not as the demons in your head who advise you. FOR PITY’S SAKE CALL A GENERAL ELECTION BEFORE WE ARE ALL TOTALLY BANKRUPT, OR ARE WE BANKRUPT ALREADY?
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Angela – very good point but I fear we are bankrupt already.
What I also fear is that there is no quick fix to this. So the next PM, whoever he may be, either cannot shine because of this or will be excused because of this. In other words if he’s rubbish we won’t know until much later. And if he’s brilliant it will be almost impossible to tell.
I’m sure you will know what I mean. And how I envy your confidence in the future.
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Jaq, you are right in your second paragraph, Gordon is making it impossible for anyone who succeeds him. I do think he is so small minded and petty he would prefer to sabotage the economy to give another government the hardest possible time so will take wild gambles now. That is a big cause of concern for me.
But over optimistic though you may have previously thought me, I have a very high opinion of David Cameron and a very high opinion of his team, including William Hague, Boris and George.
Cameron will not shrink from what has to be done, he is tough, he is highly intelligent, but most of all he has the guts to act decisively and make hard choices.
When they get back, which I still firmly believe they will, they will do the very best that can be done in what will probably be a dreadful situation. Boris is an ideas person. Cameron and Hague are ideas people. Not only on the economy, they will put right the mess left by Labour and restore this country to a much better state. They will provide the flash of inspiration to that one bright ray of hope.
I would bet everything I had and I do have faith.
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Border bookshop and WHS sell magazines and daily newspapers in Polish, inside there are lots of adverts of ” social benefits consulting firms ” run by Poles living in UK who will advice and do all the paperwork of applying for all sorts of social benefits on offer in this country for Poles who live here but can not speak English for a fee. So, even if they can’t speak English and don’t know the way, they are not really losing out as you would imagine.
Labour new Immigration Minister Phil Woolas says the government would not allow the population to grow from 61M to 70M, BUT he rejected demands to impose a cap or annual quota on immigrants. Also, Brussels says UK has no right to stop EU citizens who have the right to come and live here. So what can the new Labour Immigration Minister do ? NOTHING.
I remember that during the EEC days, and then during the EU days, before some dirt poor EE countries joined us, member states citizens already had the right to move and live freely within the Union, but not many citizens would grab that opportunity as the living stands in most member states were very similar.
Clearly, when they made the rule, they could not foresee that years later they would have some new members from dirt poor EE to join them. The problem is nobody would want to immigrate to those dirt poor new member states, hence the big imbalance which obviously is causing huge problems on social and economy in UK.
It’s difficult for these immigrants to get a job in Italy as the Italians ( even the Italian authorities ) are very tough and strongly against these social benefits grabbing immigrants and fake refugees.
English people are brought up to be nice, polite, decent and generous. Aggressive foreigners know this very well. That’s why they are coming here and taking over the whole country. This is NOT fair.
Tackling or talking about the never ending influx of dirt poor, non-skilled immigrants problem is NOT racist. Freedom of speech. Fair is fair.
And I AM a naturalized Brit, too.
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Well I blame the Labour Party, not for letting people in, because that is fine, but by not monitoring the whole thing and letting in thieves, drug dealers and so forth and also far too many people for our services to cope with. My attitude to said party can be summed up in a nutshell.
The Labour Party are exactly like the Puritan Pilgrim Fathers who went to America ostensibly to do good, but ended up plundering, looting and raping and then they gave the Indians syphilis.
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Angela – thankyou for your reply. I think the reason for my lack of confidence is that I don’t see that 4 years will be enough time to rectify the damage Labour has inflicted on this society, however good the leader is. And if the answer is austerity then the electorate might vote out the necessary government after that 4 years for more empty promises.
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PS: like your pilgrim fathers analogy.
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Boris,I don’t live in London but I agree wholeheartedly with your approach. There’s too much gloom and doom about and you can’t build anything positive with a bad attitude. Ok, we all know what Gordon Brown has presided over, that’s done, there’s no use crying over what has gone. “IT’S A FOOL THAT ALLOWS HIS YESTERDAY’S TO ROB HIM OF TOMORROW.” Can’t remember who said that but it has to be so true. We need people like you Boris to keep inspiring us. So we have problems, so what. Let’s get on with it and make sure that those past events are not repeated, I just wish we had more people in the north like Boris to shake things up and get thing moving. I just do not believe the naysayers who reckon it’s going to take eons to get over this, with the right attitude and pulling together it can be done. Come on we’re Brits let’s go.
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Jaq, remember, always take me with a huge pinch of salt. The shooting thing was only an example, it did sound a bit crazy, but that is the strength of feeling I have. You are probably right – four years will not be long enough to undo the damage done. Never mind, at least we will have the consolation that Cameron will undo all that ridiculous P.C. rubbish and hopefully Boris will spread more of his magic into our lives and bring some hope to disadvantaged kids.
They will have a tough time and they will make mistakes, and no doubt we will all suffer together, but I sure as hell would rather suffer under their stewardship!
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Gordon Brown, for crying out loud, lay off George Osborne and get on with the job you are paid to do! Do you honestly think the general public cares a fiddlers toss what stupid row you and Peter Mandelson are trying to inflame, do you honestly think we don’t see through your pathetic evil machinations?
Ordinary people are concerned with their bills, the housing market, crime, the way the country is deteriorating….. what George Osborne said or didn’t say is of the supremest indifference, but frankly if we had to take his word against yours, Mandelson’s or Uncke Tom Cobleys, we would take George’s word any day of the week. Peter Mandelson, in our eyes, doesn’t exactly stand for uprightness, truthfulness and doing the right thing by this country, it stands for vicious infighting and throwing a wobbly if he breaks a nail.
Mandelson ought to learn when to turn the other cheek, he is just so vindictive and combative, do you seriously think that is a good example for the youth of this country? He would hunt someone down if they accidently trod on his foot!
You have wrecked our economy and now you are trying to make a smoke screen by blowing up a petty situation into a bonfire! QUIT IT. WE SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOING. IT JUST MAKES US WISH YOU WOULD PUSH OFF MORE, YOU DISHONEST, VACILLATING EXCUSE FOR A PRIME MINISTER! shame on you!
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HOLLYWOOD GOSSIP.
Apparently Nick Clegg, (who is reputed to act as a double for Dec of Ant and Dec fame to make extra money, because he cannot meet his mortgage payments) together with David Miliband and James Purnell have all auditioned for the new US teen sensation movie HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3.
The reason they were all attracted to the partS? This time, they get to be seniors……….
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Itis so obvious, reading the papers and observing Brown and Darling in the Commons…. they are prepared to sacrifice the long term interests of the economy for short term political gain. IT IS ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. They don’t give a damn for the people of this country, for small businesses, for peoples’ security, all they care about is keeping their asses in government. SCANDALOUS.
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Could somebody fire Jeremy Paxman soon, because once again on t.v. he was made to look an absolute idiot.
Ever since David Cameron brilliantly dissected his interviewing style, Jeremy has been rumbled. His heavily accusing manner now just looks predictable and silly instead of scary, and it is becoming boring to anticipate the way he handles every single interview.
On Newsnight, the night before last, he was talking to Michael Heseltine about George Osborne’s holiday trip to Corfu and threateningly trotting out the accusing phrases “Old Etonians swanning around on yachts, etc. etc.” Heseltine arched an eyebrow and gently chided him as if he was a recalcitrant child, totally unaffected.
Paxman’s blusterings were turned into the tantrums of a sulky toddler, he looked a total plum. Your cover is blown Jeremy, you are revealed as a doofus, it is time you were put out to grass. Nobody is scared of you anymore.
Of course the whole matter of the Corfu holiday has been laid to rest and revealed for the damp squib it was, aerated by a PM desperate to detract attention from his own shortcomings.
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George Osborne has committed one sin as far as Labour are concerned and one only.(he has committed NO sin as far as this country is concerned). He is just too effective as Shadow Chancellor. He started running rings round Gordon Brown when they had sneered at him as Boy George, and he can only get better. He is also excellent on t.v. and radiates stability and honesty.
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I agree with the above. George Osborne is a huge asset to the Tory party.
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Also, when George Osborne explains things about the economy, he does it with SUCH CLARITY…. it is a pleasure to hear and you come away feeling you have learnt something. ( I am not having a joke at your expense, Boris! How likely would that be?)
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Forget any minor indiscretion George Osborne may have commited. Surely the real lapse of judgment is Gordon Brown’s for bringing back such a disruptive figure as Peter Mandelson? Three weeks and already there is a godalmighty punch up and the fur is flying!
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How desperate must Gordon Brown be! Alastair Campbell to come back as a part time advisor? The man is totally disliked, and discredited in the eyes of this country.
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http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5452/is_200601/ai_n21407082/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1
Nathan Rothschild, ancestor of the Nathan involved with Deripaska and Mandelson, financed the Duke of Wellington when he needed finances for the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The markets were watching Rothschild for an indication of whether to buy or sell. He sold and the stock market nose dived. Victory for the Duke was initially regarded as unlikely, particularly when Blucher was defeated and Wellington retreated.
This retreat was not the disaster that it appeared to the rest of Europe. Wellington was unusual in that he would retreat if he was not happy with the terrain, or needed to regroup. This tactic was often misunderstood at the time. After a skirmish at Quatre Bras, Wellington retreated to Waterloo, a position that suited him perfectly and one he had selected several weeks before.
Napoleon was overconfident, and had not bothered to study Wellington’s tactics in depth, dismissing him as a Sepoy General. His only tactic had been to divide Blucher and Wellington and defeat them separately. He thought Blucher was totally beaten, but did not count on the toughness of the old General. Blucher survived even though he was ridden over twice by French cavalry. When he realised Blucher had come back, Napoleon said “I made one mistake. I should have burnt Berlin!”
It was possibly the most famous example of short selling ever when Nathan Rothschild sold all his shares but he had the advantage of reliable sources of information, (messengers who travelled with amazing speed) and was much better informed than the rest of the country. He received the news that Wellington was winning the battle and had linked up with Blucher, ( followed at snails pace by Marshall Grouchy). Rothschild then bought back massively in the shares, and made a enormous fortune.
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Alastair Campbell is a horrible man, what on earth do they need him for? Nothing good or positive, I bet.
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Well Gordon is bringing back the A team. (if A stands for annoying, that is).
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Now is the time for Nation building its not time for wimps,lets see some serous innovation Boris-i know its there,so many talented people in London you need to latch on to some and get some advise.
Why not a creative forum early week, a kind weekly ideas competition,and the winner each week gets implemented small steps ,you could add to your fame .
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I’m still leaning towards voting Labour. Twas Stanley that convinced me to vote Tory last time. I was gutted he didn’t win his seat.
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I totally agree Jaq: how could they not have voted in the charming Stanley Johnson?! However, keep steering towards blue
Luv
Mel
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Just use me as a dip stick Boris as the last time I was made redundant it was because of a so called recession and guess what I’ve just been made redundant again. The last time I was a little younger and I still had some ambitions of climbing back up the slippery pole which is known as the job market and full employment. However this time I’m 58 and I am really scared about my prospects of obtaining a job at all, let alone one which will pay all the bills being heaped upon us by this bunch of self centered egoistical deaf to world affairs fools who are now telling us that the way back from the brink (which they created) is to get more deeply in debt, a policy which I tried once in 1991 and for which reason I still have a mortgage today. Personally I would rather live in a cardboard box than buy into this madness but then shortly I may have no choice and neither will my family anyway. They say it’s good to talk but as usual the conversation is but one way with those in power blithely erasing sensible argument from their memories and doing it their way. Another one of New Labors rants is education, education, education but their’s a couple of problems with this patter and you don’t need an expensive education to see them. Firstly when we have all passed through Oxford or the like and we have our diplomas can we then expect an average wage for shall we say cleaning toilets or sweeping the streets or any number of (low achievers) type jobs? Then again where is all the money supposed to come from to get educated when most jobs in our economy (around £6.00 an hour) wouldn’t keep an average family in canned dog food for a week let alone educating them as well. Being as this is the case for most families and particularly responsible for the breakdown of family ties and meals on the table at six since wiffy has to go to work as well what chance education? They can’t even let the teachers alone to do their jobs which is reflected in the very manners which kids display when they no they are above the law. So it’s not a lack of gray matter but mainly due to their parents absence. Well enough bleating of this lost lamb but I sincerely hope people out there and politicians in general get back to basics. We all need the basics to sustain life. Britain needs investment in it’s indigenous people and the inventions they make but they need backing with LONG term investment to fruit and not selling abroad for a fast buck. Stay true to yourself Boris and good luck.
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London has massive problem with ground water building up,some 100yrs ago when London was Industrialized the water was pumped and used today its not as London is covered with high density Offices,Residential ,Commercial ,Retail these use very little ground water.
Try http://www.windesal.com we can take this undrinkable ground water turn it into fresh drinking water in sustainable way.
At same time creating some powerful symbols of a green future for this wonderful city.
So come drought situations we can sustain London with fresh drinking water and provide green energy with our surplus power
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Long and deep
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what a prick
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[...] remember Boris talking approvingly about depression era New Deal building projects. Hot air, one now [...]
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