SteveT

Please send me a private message if you are, or have been an employee in one of his pubs. He is planning to sue me for libel for telling the truth about him. Thank you in anticipation. Steve.

I expect they got into this country on student visas or some such nonsense. Bar studs.

Bunch of p!ssheads you can tell it's Friday.

75% of our labour market work in 'Services' to which China offers no competition. wrote Huguenot. How do we create future wealth without exports, Huggers?

If none of that works, get a baseball bat! wrote Keef Half a dozen guys from the carpark of B&Q explain that they have work but you will have to break the door down to get in to do it, take half a dozen baseball bats or pick-axe handles and a sledge hammer or a petrol driven chain saw. Crash into the place with the sledge or the saw and then stand back to allow those who are willing to walk out, offer a fifty pound note each for those who leave, the rest are dragged out double quick without hesitation. The door will need replacing but the guy's you have hired will cope with that and any other works caused by the squatters. It is your place and you belong there, you have all rites on your side spare them nothing they should not be there. An axe or a machette is more useful than firearms in this type of negotiation. The action takes a few minutes and then the place will be restored back to the rightful owner, your good self. Alternatively you can take a can of petrol and pour that through the letter box then call the police that you smell petrol in the flat and they will evict who ever is in there which can be a less exciting way of acheiving your goal. Good luck and may the devil be with you.

This is crazy talk, you're trying to blame the Chinese for the financial crisis??? Wrote Huguenot No that is not the case and I have written no such thing, what I am getting at is they have put the western world out of work because of their slave rates and our incapacity to respond and compete with same. We can only blame ourselves for the position we are in, and the lack of response by successive governments since the war.................... although I'm unsure of which war. Times have changed - for good. We ALL better start working harder. wrote quids. Payments for this industrious endeavour should be for a mere fraction of the wage we take home today, less than the slave rates in China whilst producing a greater output. So goodbye unions, some layers of management, along with cars and three meals a day and obesity. Hello more bicycles, more walking to work, a chilly home life, it seems more like the fifties already when no child I new went to school in a car.

It sounds like there may have been more than one little turd as six bikes went they must have had transport to load them into. Thieving swine.

Whilst there are sophisticated, educated elements in China, they're numbered at around 60m out of a population of 1.3bn. Identifying an exception to this will not disprove this argument - the uneducated majority is still the powerhouse of their economy, and a very precarious model it is. wrote Huguenot. It may be precarious but they have in a relatively short time more or less bankrupted the western world which does not compete with their 'slave rates' and the amount of influence they have around the world for basic resources is at best worrying. They have mountains of money which they are spending on their domestic policies to maintain high levels of employment for their young vibrant work force. I fail to understand your attitude as if they are not to be taken seriously when they are potentially the greatest economic power on the planet.

the financial services sector will have to play a huge part in the recovery we are all hoping is on the way. wrote DaveR. It is rather like saying "the water in the bottom of the boat which is made us sink will eventually help us out of this mess it got us into" They have surely lost any credibility in the market they once had, so I doubt they are going to re-flate the economy with what they now have to offer the general public. The only way out as far as I can see is to produce goods which every one abroad wishes to buy, and when we have to compete with China Japan Korea Malaysia India Thailand USA etc. I do not see it happening until we can match them on price and quality. Don't hold your breath then.

Neither Mick Mac he writes for his Daily Bread!

There are loads around secondhand James just don't be in a hurry to purchase. Camera clubs are a good source as they are buffs and always wanting the latest thing they tend to sell on stuff.

Is it going far enough? writes Jah Lush Not nearly enough. If I ruled, Brown and his financial crew along with some of the key players would be in the stocks, not the market or the exchange but the ones I would have the convicts building all along the river banks. I would bring back flogging and hard labour and show Brown and co. what real work is. Is that far enough or have I missed something?

Is that a joint in the old puffs gob?

The best one you can afford is my advice, and try a few out at the shop and see what they do. The disadvantage of course is the size, weight, and bulk when you carry them.

There are better ways to spend 400 quid. Stop up any leaks around doors. Insulating the walls with polystyrene on the walls and ceiling. Add another layer of insulation in front of any glass by means of a product resembling the stuff which laminates photos etc, which sticks to the window and door frames available from any decent diy place. All this will improve it but not eradicate the cold spot, unless the wall cavities and ceiling contain insulation. The curtains will look nicer than anything I have suggested though.