Johnny Bognor

Indeed they are, but a degree does not guarantee success (as shown) and we need educated people to function, but why the need for **** swinging contest from the intellectual lefties on here?

I don't have a problem with academia per se. I have a problem with socialist snobs.

If you were that well educated, you would realise this thread is about Alan Johnson quitting frontline politics. Note how I brought him into one of my posts to make it relevant. The reason why I contributed to this thread is to raise the issue of intellectual snobbery and how those who are guilty of it are no better than the snobs they despise. One thing I will give Alan Johnson, he's not a hypocrite like some other lefties I know.

Not at all. Take an average history graduate who gets a 2:1 and then goes on to stack shelves in Tesco's and holidays in Ibiza. Then take someone whose real passion is history....reads history books every night, goes to museums every weekend / part takes in battle re-enactments and holidays in sites of archeoligical interest over a period of 20 years. One is more 'qualified' than the other, but which one is the expert?

No, I have been grafting since I graduated. Anyway, let's look at the subject of this thread. Alan Johnson - no degree, no masters, no phd - a far more respected politician than many of the doctors and graduate MP's sitting in the house of commons (on both sides) and this coming from (what some would describe as) a one nation tory. Let's look at some of the most universally recognised successful people in society from Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, Doug Richards, Theo Paphitis, James Caan through to Michael Dell, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Simon Cowell and even Walt ****ing Disney (eat your heart out film studies graduates).......I could go on, but I am getting bored. Not a degree between them. As I said, anyone with a degree, well done - have a certificate. You have proved you can learn - big deal. In other news, my **** is bigger than your ****. Ha! Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

Actually, it really bugs me. These so called intellectual lefties despise the snobbery from the upper classes (or wealthier classes), yet they look down their educated noses at other people in the same way and like to rub it in. I think it is disgusting and shows them up for the green eyed hypocrites they really are. Not made it in life and so they have to make themselves feel better about themselves by comparing their academic trophies. Bloody pathetic if you ask me.

Look at the my qualification is bigger then your qualification brigade. A qualification is a badge which proves you can learn, but does not automatically make you an expert or inteligent. There are many people without degrees who are still intelligent. The intellectual snobbery (particuarly from the lefties) is rather lacking in class. I have a Business Studies degree and I can honestly say, hand on heart, that a barrow boy from your local market has a better understanding of supply/demand or cash flow than any average Business Studies graduate. Most of what I know about business was not learned in a class room, but from real experiences and I have the scars on my back to prove it. These scars are worth far more than a bit of paper that I managed to achieve 20 years ago.

True, but look at the "crash" after the bubble of the late 1980's in your graph. 25% came off prices which is a long way from the 90% depicted in the yank doctors graph (particularly with the UK and Scotland (which didn't crash at all)). Then consider that prices doubled from 2000 to 2010 which is 100%, i.e. less than 10% per annum and is more like 7%. In the doctors graph (assuming it is to scale) he has trebled prices over a very short period of time. As it happens, everything has gone up exponentially over time from salaries, cost of living to pretty much anything. A packet of 20 B&H was less than £1 in 1990 and now they are over £6. Granted houses have gone up more than many other things, but exponential increases are not exclusive to the housing market.

House prices going up is only great if you are an investor. However, demand drives prices, not what someone thinks they should be. Having said that, access to 'easy' money artificially inflated the market, so a drop is inevitable. The average annual increase in house prices in the UK over the last 10 years is less than 10% (I've checked this against Land Registry, Halifax and Nationwide figures), so the "drama" effect in that graph is misleading with the ultimate outcome of people panicking. The graph is showing 300% rise in valuations over a small period when in fact house prices have not gone up by half that much over the last 10 years. There may be more falls to come, but they will not be as dramatic as in that graph and in the long term they will go up, unless God is going to make some new land or we are going to start culling the population.

I've seen that graph before and the problem with it is that the scales of valuation and time are presented in such a way to exagerate the rise and fall. The analysis was compiled by a US professor and it was supposed to relate to the US housing bubble. Therefore it doesn't necessarily mean that the same would happen in the UK, but lets assume it did. For arguments sake, lets assume that the period in question is 10 years. The assumption is that house prices went up by more than 300% in just two years which is complete nonsense. The shape of the graph may have some truth in it (in that there are ups and downs), but the peaks and troughs are way overstated by a long long way. Therefore, don't panic.

So what you are saying is that "he was on the bus" or are you saying "he was on a bus"? The difference between "a" and "the" is crucial.

The problem with these calcuators is that they apply a regional average rise or fall to the property price, which takes no account of localised house prices which can be affected by the desirability of the area or the type of property for which there may be more or less demand. For example, in Bognor prices have fallen whilst in Chichester prices have held much better. I had two properties between 2007 and 2011, one of which sold earlier this year for £40k less than it was on the market for 4 years ago. The other property was recently valued at £50k more than I bought it for 3 years ago. They are only two miles apart but one is a new build (the one that went down) in a very average area and the other is a Georgian property (which went up) in one of the better areas. The best thing to do is get 3 estate agent valuations as they know the local market, they know what is demand locally and have a better feel than an onine calculator. As for the NR, I have every sympathy with those trapped. I had the sale of my first property fall through at the last minute in 2007, having found my dream home, I didn't want to lose it. We got another buyer and so I went straight to the NR (who were pretty much giving everyone anything they wanted) to by the dream home independently of selling the old one (to guarantee I would get it). It was a risky position. On the day of exchange, it came out that our buyer was bankrupt (how the **** this didn't get picked up, I'll never know) and we preceeded with our purchase. This left me with two properties with repayments that would make most peoples eyes water. So I had no choice but to rent out the old one. While I was on the NR fixed rate, things were OK, but after two years I went on to their variable. Then the BOE slashed interest rates, whilst the governement owned NR put their rates up. I seem to remember it being 5.5% when pretty much every other lender had variables of 3-4%. To rid myself of NR, I needed to sell the old one (where I had quite a bit of equity) which took three years. Fortunately I sold the old property back in Jan so was in a position to **** NR off. Now I am back to one mortgage on a 3.19% fixed rate and my mortgage payments are 70% less than they were a year ago. People say the taxpayers bailed out NR......********, the mortgage holders have and continue to bail out NR by being completely ripped off by their ridiculous variable rates.

The card reader is a brilliant idea and is not difficult to operate. Stick your card in along with your pin, select identify (to access online banking) or authorise (when you make a payment) then key in the code on the website into the reader and return the code from the reader back to the website. Coudn't be easier and provides an excellent extra layer of protection. Surely someone with your intellect could work this out?

RIP David, you made the greatest sacrafice anyone could make. True life stories like this put "dicking" around on the internet into perspective. I think I'll leave the iraq argument and I sympathise / empathise with your personal position on this (and apologise if I have wound you up).

What about scargill's real socialist party? There was no surge in support for them, although I am sure they would get your vote :-)

.... and how many of them voted for Labour at the next election? So much for socialists and their principles, eh?

Slight misrepresentation there VFFT, which I do say disappoints me. Had the tories abstained, the vote still would have carried as the Labour MP's that voted for, far outweighed the Labour MPs that voted against, by a factor of nearly 2 to 1. Even if you add in the entire support of the Lib Dems, there were still 50 labour votes spare. To say the left and centre were set four square against is simply not backed up by the facts and to me it looks set four square for it. Then to top this, leftie voters re-elected them.

Come on, Verbal, they are all corrupt. As for my expectation, I blame the media. I grew up in the 80's when Yes Minister and The New Statesman were on the TV and so perhaps I was brainwashed by them. I am not an out and out tory, but unfortunately no party exists that represents my views. If this party did exist (http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/news.php?CID=&NID=3181&Title=The+Entrepreneurs+Manifesto%3A+Empowering+The+New+Wave), they would get my vote. As there is only one party that is "close" to my views, who else should I vote for or should I not bother?

The last tory government had more than its fair share of sleaze, only an idiot would deny that. But the last Labour government weren't exactly whiter than white. I don't know about you, but it seems worse when a leftie is at it (as you almost expect a tory to do it) even though it is actually as bad, no matter the colour of the purpetrator. The nasty wasty tory party are all bad, but even they didn't take the country to war on the back of a lie. Some people on here need to take a closer look at themselves. Those in glass houses and all that.....

A typical day in the TF household? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK3bRR6OPCc Actually, fair play BTF. I am sure plenty of women would, if they could.

You're bang on the money there, because no Labour MP has ever been "bent" and done things like fiddle their expenses.....oh. ....and as for the Labour Party, they would never try to solicit funds in order to influence policy http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/937232.stm

To be fair, tall people have to pay them too.

... and they draw comparisons with Premier League players http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/

I would like to see more bonuses paid out in shares (which can't be cashed in for 5-10 years). This still gives the renumeration, but links it to the success of the bank over the medium to long term. This would put an end to the short term gambling.

Well, after many exchanges, we've agreed on something at last. Although my mrs has not dealt with anything on the scale of Peggy & Co, she has had someone on her flight trying to set off a bomb and fairly recently her plane was struck by lighting (which cracked the underside of the fuselage) and had to prepare the passengers for an emergency landing in the sea (they were very lucky to make it back to LHR) and that's not to mention being punched and spat at along with deaing with deaths on board. There is much more to the job than serving tea and coffee and the skill set required goes beyond 'normal' competencies..