????

Just failing ...I'm a dunce

Riveting stuff eh Mick

For Mick... Mile End Brentwood High Wycombe Swiss Cottage Queens Park Highgate Camberwell East Dulwich Camberwell Alcaidesa (Sp) Camberwell East Dulwich

ok

I wouldn't want anyone from a catholic church collecting my post with a young baby about.....

I think Mathew is due ?20

Or got another Birdie.... *boom tish

We'll let you off then Keef. I'm continually amazed at the number of Man U 'fanatics' I meet who have been to OT less times than me

Magpie although I agree with your conclusion the credit crunch is a bit more complicated than that and largely involves highly leaveraged trading of various financiial 'assets' many based on property especially in the US - the UK homeowner (public or private sector) has had little effect in the toxcity of these assets on that given that there's been very little repossession of private property here and houseprices have not collapsed as much as many predicted (yet). The blame for the banking crisis is largely at the feet of US lenders, credit agencies, auditors, international investment banking (which the UK is heavily involved in), crazy corporate leaverage and lending, financial regulators for not regulating and the governments for letting this all steam ahead merrily. People in the UK borrowing and spending heavily hasn't really come into the credit crunch other than stoking the boom and now paying backk debt rather than spending. Where I do agree is on your second point that as much of the governemnts spending has been funded by this mirage and now it's stopped and won't be returning for a while leaving us with horrendous ongoing public sector costs and no spare cash to deal with it in the hard times as our then Iron Chancellor apparently believed his own "No more boom and bust" mantra. I truly think he's incompetent and ill fit to govern on this alone let alone his myriad other faults and I've never voted anything other than Labour in a general election. That'll change next year. Yesterday's budget statement was a disgraceful excercise in trying to get relected rather than dealing with the very severe problems that face us all. But back to the point, we are all suffering as a result and thus far the private sector the vast majority of whom are not employed in high paying city jobs have faced the brunt of the recession in terms of redundancy, pay cuts, lay offs, pay freezes, etc and the Public Sector's spokespeople lines on freezing pay (let alone job cuts) seems to be saying that the public sector should somehow be immune to this.....self-interest clouded in propoganda from those whom continually preach us on collectivism, fairness and equality. I'm fed up with it.

When's the draw for the next rounds?

Thanks kpc kind of what the view on West Ham forums is...priority is to stay up and we need some cash for that so short term looks possible. May not happen anyway

Soooo, it looks like, as expected, Gould & Sullivan in for a stake at West Ham. Any thoughts from the Brum contingent?

Sean to illustrate From BBC TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, who broadly welcomed much of the chancellor's statement, said: "Public sector workers - many of whom are low paid - should not have to pay the price for a crash they did nothing to cause." So, all private sector workers caused it? Private sector Job losses and pay freezes and suspension of works and half pay and stopped overtime are all deserved?.... Simply put why on earth should the private sector alone face deal with the recession and catastrophic public fiinances Mr Barber much of which goes to fund public sector jobs and pensions

Sell that one you did of the tennis player scratching her ar*se *bob*...I'm sure there's money in that.

rice cooker...job done

Now,was that 9/10 trolling or touching naivety from someone who doesn't understand the vocabulary of the internet? I genuinely don't know..

The government's apparently announcing a 'scrappage scheme' for old boilers today...if you hang on they may do this for old speakers in the next Budget

Sean back to pensions. My original post was in response to Stereoforths - saying tax the private sector employees pension. Actually more equitable and to encourage basic rate tax payers in the private sector to pay into a pension (the huge majority of whom have almost no meaningful private pension fund or in for most no arrangements at all) would be to have a 40% relief on all contributions..I would cap this at say up to 40% of ?200,000 to avoid the extreme wealthy exploiting it. But this costs money, to attack pension incentives for anyone earning above the basic rate of tax is mad and extremley unequal when compred to Public Sector pension arrangements. I'd like everyone to have a decent retirement pension and for the vast majority of the working population (who work in the private sector) that isn't evn remotely going to happen. Personally I'd like a decent state pension for everyone, index linked and set to say final salary of average earnings..sounds raesonable to me and fair for everyone. Those people who could afford it and chose to could thencould then make their own additiuonal arrangements for retirement through investments or possibly some for of private ppension. To pay for this we could scrap public sector final salary pensions which are actually linked to inflation and carry no risk compared to huge risk and non-inflation linked poor return private pensions about which the only incentive to take up is the tax relief that Steref wants reduced to 25%. To your point on private companies carrying a final salaery pension liabilities they just can't afford it given demography and health trends and nor can the state a pity but fact. As an aside with the public sector it appears to me that the debate always centres roughly around these spurious assumptions Public Sector workers are all completely altruistic Public Sector workers all earn far less than private sector workers with similar skill levels/qualifications Public sector workers could leave their jobs tommorow and walk into jobs where they will earn twice as much as they do now Public sector workers are all nurses and teachers and doctors (actually 21,000 dentists, 440,000 teachers, 230,000 Doctors and 390,000 nurses in total ie including private) And with Pivate sectors -Private sectors workers are all city bankers or boardroom directors with 6 figure salaries, offshore funds, million pound bonuses and severl homes. Basically most private sector workers are going to end up with pensions of a very few thousand a year, many don't realise this yet, but that's the reality.

Well it will be Populist...effective, good for the economy, or make any meaningful difference to the defeceit probably not.

Mick a proven international whose scored at every level on a free for just his wages!??..Even if the contracts ?5 million + it was a cinch decsion for a club with Man Us transfer budget. A 2nd division top scorer aged 19 would cost more and would be absolutely unproven. No brainer to sign him as he was offered and an astute move then as quite a few of us said..no more, in fact far less, of a gamble than ANY paid for transfer.

He did say what Owen could bring and be used for but there were a few saying that Owen was a risk signing which was cleary wrong then...and I thought Matt was one of those

...not what I remember you saying back then Mathew........

I like to give my steak a bit of a beating... ...there you go Daizie/*Bob*/ Jimmy an open goal

700

I don't see any tinsel round those runner beans...FAKE