bridge too far

He'd probably be the only male - most men wouldn't be able to keep up with the moves. And I speak from significant experience!

I think there was a dialogue going on and then, out of the blue, Douglas Alexander announced the changes as a done deed.

He was the chairman of our local constituency Conservative association. Local speculation is that he had a heart attack.

The problem is that a lot of High Street premises are owned, indirectly, by pensions funds. If they don't get their rents, the pension fundss, and ultimately the pensioners, lose out.

I think many people in the private sector would also strike to protect their rights but, sadly, they don't or can't join a union. Strength in numbers and all that. I believe Virgin Airways pilots are balloting on strike action - but then, no doubt, they belong to BALPA.

That's why I wouldn't confront them. To reiterate - no material possession in the world is worth dying for. In any event, I wouldn't stand much chance, being an old woman. Perhaps I'd do a moonie - that'd scare them to death

Spurious argument, given that SOG had already opined that most burglars are only after money (and he'll know more than the rest of us given that he works for the CPS). In any event, fear of what may happen in court is irrelevant because it would easily be demonstrated that knifing the burglar who'd killed your family would be self defence. What is needed is clear guidance on the whole issue.

Angelman talks about internet shopping being one cause of small independent retailers failing. And I've talked about archaic leasehold law requiring quarterly rental payment (in advance, Angelman, not in arrears). And of course the big boys undercut the little guy because of their sheer buying power. Another consideration could be the cost of parking. I've lived in two towns in Oxfordshire. One charges (quite a lot) for parking. The other one doesn't. One high street is deathly quiet during the week and not that busy at weekends. The other one? Vibrant all the time. I wonder why? I guess ultimately we can't complain if the little individual high street shops shut if we don't patronise them. But I reckon that once the little guys have been driven out of business the big boys will hike their prices because they've got rid of the opposition. Still, who can blame anyone for hunting out the best deals when we're all feeling the pinch so much. I think this is the tip of the iceberg - even Habitat's gone to the wall FFS!

I wouldn't if I challenged them and they killed me would I I haven't been burgled (touch wood) but my son and his family were a couple of years ago. They didn't even realise until they went into their kitchen and saw the back door open (it was on a winter's evening, quite early and before they went to bed). I have to concede that their teenage daughter was quite nervous for a few weeks (she was 13 at the time and they stole her purse amongst other things). But thank goodness they didn't catch the burglar in the act - who knows what might have happened. The family could have been left without a father (and my son wouldn't have been an easy target, being way over 6 foot and built like a rugby player). I guess it all boils down to the fact that possessions don't rate highly with me whereas my children and their children do.

In no way am I condoning the burglary (although, judging by recent press comments I think there's more to this case than meets the eye). I just don't think my car / TV / laptop is a) worth killing for and b) worth being killed for. My children are grown up and living their own lives, but if they were little and there was a risk they'd be hurt or I'd be hurt defending a few trinkets then I'd let the burglar get on with it, quite frankly.

Perhaps if the archaic system of paying rent quarterly should be looked at. Much easier to manage your cash flow if you pay monthly.

I know it's different for self-employed people but bear with me on this one and take it as a generalisation. At the moment, tax payers are complaining that they are having to pay for some elements of public sector pensions. Some of those pensions are so tiny that the government is required to top them up when people reach retirement age by providing pension credits. If a large number of public sector workers decide they can no longer afford to contribute to their pensions because the contribution rate is to rise, they will withdraw from the schemes and so the size of the pension credit scheme will rise inexorably. And you and me, the tax payer, will pay for those pension credits. Now let's turn to the private sector. Many people working in the private sector can't afford to contribute to schemes provided by their employers, or to individual private plans. Sergei has just said he can't afford to at the moment. So what's going to happen when these people retire? Their state pensions won't be enough and they won't have a private pension to fall back on. So they'll receive an even greater state pension credit than those with miniscule public sector pensions. And who'll pay for those state pension credits for the private sector workers? You and me, the tax payer. Obviously, folk who can afford to pay into an adequate private pension scheme will be OK as, probably, will public sector workers who can afford AVCs. And those at the top of the private sector - well they get annual pensions that you and I can only dream about as salaries, let alone pensions. In many cases, they don't even contribute to their pensions or, if they do, they get tax relief at the higher rate anyway. Their pensions are paid for from the profits of the companies concerned. Who pays for those companies' profits? You and me, the consumer. So we all end up paying for each other, one way or another.

Certainly not now! And it wasn't in 1991 when I started out in the NHS either and I wasn't on the lowest clerical pay band! Many clerical workers in the NHS today will start on about £13K for full-time work. That's another point, actually. A lot of clerical workers are women who work part-time hours so they won't even get £13K. And their pension will be based on average salary over their NHS working time. So if they work, say, 0.5 FTE and their eventual salary is based on 0.5 of, say, £18K (extrapolating salary increases over the past 20 years) over 20 years then their pension will be £2,250.

That's a different question, surely? They would be attempting to assault me and I would be justified in defending myself. However, let's assume it IS a parallel situation. I don't keep a knife on my bedside table and any rapist would have me pinned down so I wouldn't have the opportunity to go downstairs and grab a knife from the kitchen drawer.

Says it all about you, then, doesn't it.

There won't be many with 20 years experience because they probably won't stay that long. However, many clerical workers (receptionists, medical records clerks to name but two) will be on band 2 or 3 on the following payscale. And remember, it's career average so any that started 20 years ago (as I did as a clerical officer) started on about £8K! http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/details/Default.aspx?Id=766

If someone broke into my house I'd just say 'take whatever you want' because no possession in the world is worth taking a life for. (Cue: stream of people queueing up outside my house to rob me )

Nick, here's an example I've worked up for you: A clerical worker in the NHS, with an average salary of £15K and 20 years service will get a pension of £3750 p.a. and the total contribution that worker will have made to his / her pension over the 20 years' service is £18000. However I do know that many NHS clerical workers will not be able to afford a pension contribution of £900 pa and not many stay with the NHS for 20 years.

I've done some research for you Nick. The average teacher pension is £9K http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/may/14/pensions-public-sector-reform However, the average public sector pension (because that's what I was talking about) is between £5K - £8K, see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13775278 and the average NHS pension is £7K, see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11446832 NHS pensions are now based on average salary and length of service. And the average shown above is based on 18 years' service. I don't know how many people actually stay with the NHS for 18 years.

I would argue that many parents have no option other than to try to balance parenting and careers in order to provide for their families. I don't believe necessarily in 'careers first to give children the best' because the best isn't necessarily material but rather it's a warm, happy, stable home. Equally, putting children first at the expense of a career can result in a parent (more likely the mother) being out on a limb when the children leave home and the marriage breaks up and the woman has little or no recent work experience. And, by the way, not every family has the option of calling on grandparents / other family members in an emergency. Having said all this, I absolutely support the teachers in what they're striving for - even though my SiL won't be striking. But then he's new in post and doesn't want to upset any apple carts.

Wasn't our esteemed Prime Minister promising only the other day (before this event) that his government will review the rights of householders?

Forgive me for going slightly off subject but a distant relative is in a band (Deadwax) performing at Hamptons next Saturday (2 July) http://www.deadwaxband.co.uk

Sorry - I should have said best game of WOMEN'S tennis.

Awesome match on right now between a 5 foot nothing 40 year old Japanese woman against the 6 foot something 30 year old Venus Williams. Some of the best tennis I've seen for a long time.

I'm not talking about the local Tesco manager. I'm talking about the really fat cats whose pensions are worth millions. Even if you stop going to Tesco, you'll still go somewhere else where you'll be contributing to that fat cat's pension. If the diamond encrusted platinum based big boys' pensions were more realistic, there'd be more chance of the workers in those industries getting something decent. Oh and the average public sector pension is between £4K and £8K a year. And, for that sum, the public sector worker would have had to work in the order of 20 years in their sector and would have contributed 6% of their salary to do so. Gold plated my a*se.