Ed Milliband..... I do believe he's got it.

[The Large One]

Balls continued to work closely with Brown on economic mismanagement throughout the period regardless of his official role in spending all the money they didn't have.

What, from the Department of Children, Schools & Families?

 

[beorhthelm]

Total rubbish. Germany has 'dirty' jobs, they pay good wages ... etc... Why have German and Finnish factory jobs not only survived but flourished?

quite right and the question is a good one. its no good just saying we must have factory jobs, like its a solution. the points i put are reasons why manufacturing went away though, so we have to at least acknowledge them so they can be addressed.

we arent Germany, we arent Germans, what have they done differently, whats different in their national outlook? i know they dont have the same view on home ownership, and they have alot more space for the population which are factors. where ever you go abroad things are different, in France for instance they pay lip service to planning, they want to build a road to improve an area they build a road and f*** the objectors. we have 7 years of planning and public inquiries to build a small stadium in a field by a motorway, college and water treatment works.

I want to see manufacturing, i want to buy British, but how do we get there, you dont just say lets build factories and find you suddenly have lots (unless you want to be broke again very shortly afterwards).

So you agree then, we are F***** then after all.

only if we keep saying we are. if we had a good dose of positive outlook, new start and lets move on, we might do so. 4 f***ing years of politicans, papers and us lot saying its all doom, no surprise its pretty gloomy. others put the 2008 crisis behind them, in particular the US who are technically still buggered but carry on as if nothing happened and seen their growth return.

 

[Seagull58]

Life is too short to dismember the socio-political issues contained in your story, I merely suggested in my OP that Ed Milliband has understood the nation's problems.

I'm not going to bother arguing or point scoring as it is quite pointless. However It would be quite interesting if some of the posters here, instead of trying to pick holes in other's posts, could actually accept that we are in big trouble and suggest some ideas to create jobs or get the economy moving. Sadly its easier to fight like rats in a barrel or to try to belittle each other or deny there is a problem.

The nub of the problem, to quote Dickens, is that Labour followed this quote: -
“Credit is a system whereby a person who can't pay, gets another person who can't pay, to guarantee that he can pay.”
whereas the coalition is following this quote: -
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.”
Hence, there will be misery until they have managed to balance the books that Brown and his henchmen screwed up so well.

 

[User removed 4]

What, from the Department of Children, Schools & Families?

Yes, George Osborne also has dual roles.

 

[Seagull58]

Last time they couldnt beat a Labour party that featured Brown AND Balls.

Yet you are hopeful that after 5 years of 'government' they will beat a Labour Party with just Balls?

I admire your optimism.

Not true at all. They DID beat the Labour Party. However, they didn't achieve an overall majority against all the other parties combined.

 

[Lokki 7]

...

 

[Seagull58]

But like I say; its party conference season and its the opposition you can say what you like and it doesnt matter.

Apparently some people have previously gone mad and said things like; 'we wont charge students for going to University', and even put it in a manifesto! They didnt have to say how they were going to pay for it.

and somebody (Brown) promised to hold a referendum before signing the Lisbon Treaty on the EU.

 

[User removed 4]

...

?

 

[The Large One]

Yes, George Osborne also has dual roles.

Aside from Chancellor of the Exchequer, what other roles does he have?

What other roles did Ed Balls have while Minister for Children, Schools & Families? What role did he have within the Treasury at this time? And does Michael Gove (Balls' successor) have dual roles?

Yeah, I know... questions, questions, questions...

I'd have thought head of a department or ministry was supposedly full-on.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I'm looking forward to living in "One Nation" under Red Ed. That'll be the one nation with the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly New Labour brought in, that's assuming Scotland votes to stay in the One Nation in their independence vote in 2014.

One Nation? What a crock of shit from the young man.

 

[Lokki 7]

?

I keep doing double fcuking posts these days, it's annoying. I actually got tied up doing some actual work for a few minutes and it looked like my original post hadn't gone. I blame BOZZA.

 

[User removed 4]

Aside from Chancellor of the Exchequer, what other roles does he have?

What other roles did Ed Balls have while Minister for Children, Schools & Families? What role did he have within the Treasury at this time? And does Michael Gove (Balls' successor) have dual roles?

Yeah, I know... questions, questions, questions...

I'd have thought head of a department or ministry was supposedly full-on.

BBC News - Analysis: Will George Osborne keep both his jobs?

 

[Lokki 7]

I'm looking forward to living in "One Nation" under Red Ed. That'll be the one nation with the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly New Labour brought in, that's assuming Scotland votes to stay in the One Nation in their independence vote in 2014.

One Nation? What a crock of shit from the young man.

Absolutely spot on. Red Ed used "One Nation" 41 times, Disraeli never actually had to use it. I wonder what this tells us?

 

[The Large One]

BBC News - Analysis: Will George Osborne keep both his jobs?

Oh, OK. I thought you meant he had two official governmental roles, rather than one governmental and one party role.

But that still doesn't answer my point. What job in the Treasury did Ed Balls have while he was Minister for Children, Schools & Families?

 

[Seagull58]

It is an absurd story as it suggests the Tories are the only ones interested in self empowerment and the Labour party are only interested in helping the victim. How come, historically, the unemployment rate has always risen under the Conservatives then?

Unfortunately, what we learn from history is that every Labour government bankrupts the country by spending money they don't have, and then each following Tory government has to rein in spending to get the country back on an even keel, during which process unemployment rises. Brown kept unemployment down by creating more than half a million, non wealth creating, public sector jobs and borrowing the money to pay for them.

 

[User removed 4]

Oh, OK. I thought you meant he had two official governmental roles, rather than one governmental and one party role.

But that still doesn't answer my point. What job in the Treasury did Ed Balls have while he was Minister for Children, Schools & Families?

He didnt, just the same as George Osborne's chief of political strategy role isnt an "official " job , but are you trying to say it has no bearing on the direction of the tory party ? In the same way that Balls was a close confidant of Brown, he helped shape and influence policy.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Absolutely spot on. Red Ed used "One Nation" 41 times, Disraeli never actually had to use it. I wonder what this tells us?

Ironically, "One Nation" is a pathetic, shallow attempt to appeal to Middle ENGLAND. The twat's already got the Scottish and Welsh vote. You couldn't make this stuff up!

 

[Seagull58]

Haven't we been here before? Sorry if anybody else has made this point, but if more people are in work, more people are paying tax, there are fewer people claiming benefits and there is less need to borrow money.

It may have escaped people's notice, but we are borrowing money at what seems an alarming rate at the moment in order to finance our austerity.

That argument doesn't apply if you are creating jobs in the public sector e.g. the half a million+ that Brown created. They are being paid 100% from the public purse and only paying 30 to 40% back in tax. Hence, there is more need to borrow. Brown and Balls never worked that one out.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Yes, George Osborne also has dual roles.

True: screwing the economy AND looking smug.

 

[Simster]

That argument doesn't apply if you are creating jobs in the public sector e.g. the half a million+ that Brown created. They are being paid 100% from the public purse and only paying 30 to 40% back in tax. Hence, there is more need to borrow. Brown and Balls never worked that one out.

They didn't have to work that one out because you are talking out of your arse.

There is nothing wrong with providing jobs in the public sector providing we are paying for jobs that need doing and we are prepared to pay for them to be done. For example, if we cut out all the pot hole filling companies in the name of austerity, then not only will our roads crumble away, meaning business has to find expensive or less efficient alternatives to the road, but also we don't have any pot hole filling businesses to fill them if the money ever does return.