trousers

Sigh....how many more times do I have to explain this? Here goes explanation no.93.... When I started my career in IT at the age of 17 I signed myself up for over 40 years worth of "debt" (to use your word to describe "contributions to the exchequer via PAYE". By the time of my retirement I will have paid somewhere upwards of £750,000 in "debt". Are people seriously saying that I should have looked at this "debt" looming ahead of me and decided that going to work wasn't worth saddling myself with that much future payment to the state? Student fees are a relatively small addtion to someone's PAYE contributions. It is not a debt in the usual sense of the word. i.e. Nobody has been given a wad of cash by a creditor. Let's get some logic into this debate rather than scaremongering sensationalism. No? Ok...back to the irrational bun fight then...

What's this got to do with Boxing Day...?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11992177 I've always liked the cut of Mr Reid's jib...

:-))

Are you my wife?

"Oh no they're not!" (which end of the horse would you like to be sir?) ;-)

Exactly

The coalition policy is causing companies to re-think their intake policy - i.e. Consider more school leavers than university graduates. Surely that's making things LESS elitist....?

I send my daughter to private school but have had to sacrifice holidays and don't have any disposable income left. So, you're correct...it's not strictly true...

Me? Contradict myself? Nah, never....that would make me a hypocrite.... ;-) So, are we in agreement then that any money that you are compelled to pay the chancellor of the exchequer in the future can be labelled a "debt"? We wouldn't want to be inconsistent, would we? I'm currently £420,000 in "debt"...

Ssshhhh.....don't give the facts away just yet...we're having far too much fun with the mythology at the moment.... ;-)

Oops...I should have corrected the "debt" bit too while I was being helpful. It should read "small additional contribution via PAYE" ;-)

Corrected it for you. My pleasure

Two words: John & Prescott ;-)

I see what you did there... ;-)

In tonight's London Evening Standard: "Leading accountants are to target school leavers amid fears they will be put off going to university by the tripling (sic) of tuition fees. Companies including Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Deloitte and KPMG plan to increase the number of places for students who have not been to university." Surely this is the 'win win win' that I've mentioned before? i.e. It's the companies that end up paying to 'further educate' their new intake of employees rather than the state or the students themselves. Great to see this clever coalition policy starting to have a positive common sense effect so quickly. Everyone's a winner. Can someone give the students a gentle nudge to tell them they don't need to vandalise public property anymore. Many thanks.

If only you humans realised how funny you are

I know it's out of context and not a full measure of our performance but I didn't go to the game and have just watched the extended highlight and, as far as I can tell, we had some decent chances and on another day would have come away with something from the game. As I say, I don't doubt the overall performance wasn't good enough but when I then watched the Adkins post-match interview I could see what he was getting at.

If it's "only the internet" then there are just as many reasons for publishing the infractions as there are not. If it "doesn't matter" then it doesn't matter one way or t'other.... Shirley?

The "furthering of knowledge" isn't a domain that is exclusive to universities. I didn't go to university and look how clever I turned out... ;-)

What happened to the idea of publishing who has been banned and why? Transparency and all that. A good idea which can't do any harm IMHO

It's just a planet FFS

Come and drown your sorrows at the soul cellar!!!

;-)

Tonight I'm off to the Soul Cellar. Southampton rock band COAST are playing there tonight - should be s good crack. Where do others tend to head for after a home game? Same venue every time or does it depend on what's on?