Whitey Grandad

I'm bleating about the enormous tax burden that employers have to shoulder in order to support a bloated public sector. Times have never been good for manufacturing in Britain and I look forward to enjoying a profit if ever I see one. Tell that to any business these days and they'll roll around laughing. It's a common misconception that if you have a business then you're rolling in it with lots of cash benefits and allowances. A lot of small businesses work 60 to 80 hours a week, every week. Now employers NI is going up yet again, it's just another payroll tax. The qualification thingy was an anomaly which has now been removed, quite rightly. My daughter and niece have been through the PGCE process so I know what's involved.

OMG Real Madrid it is then.

It is an MA at Cambridge which in theory qualified me to teach, although I would be the first to admit that I would need a lot of training first, but until about three years ago was sufficient. I accept that you wife puts in a lot of time and dedication, but one specific will not disprove a generalisation. I know plenty of people in the business world who put in more time than she does (yes, really) and who don't have the associated job security or fringe benefits.

What benefits might they be? Certainly not unemployment benefit, holiday pay, sickness pay, pension. Out in the 'real' world you can only eat what you can kill.

Until the requirements were changed recently my qualifications were sufficient for me to be able teach in schools and universities.

Luxury!

It looks like random musings done to impress. There are various equations relating to gravitational attraction and they've even managed to squeeze in Einstein's relativity. To me it indicates a troubled mind, maybe someone who has difficulty sleeping?

I'm self-employed and have been running a business employing people for 27 years. I was a school governor for 4 years, I have close relatives who are teachers and employees in the health service. My comments are based on a lifetime of observation and experience so I am in a good position to make comparisons. The Public Sector have it easy. BA is a dinosaur left over from the age of the big publicly-owned corporation. You can tell from the age of its staff that they're on good money or they wouldn't still be there.

If you're not up to the job then get out and let someone else do it. At least you're not working with an axe hanging over your neck. (not 'you' personally')

It's some time since I have been to Ontario so I don't know the current suituation over there but I do know about nurses and teachers in the Uk and they are the most secure, unproductive cushy numbers that I have ever come across. How many teachers have lost their jobs in the last 11 years? It's just over 10. One main reason why so many are losing their jobs now are because of the enormous millstone that the Public Sector hangs round the necks of the Private. If I'm biased it's because I am fed up with supporting Public-Sector employees who aren't pulling their weight.

I'm not arguing, they are.

I agree. At least at SMS the corners point towards the centre of the pitch, at Highbury you were looking along the west stand and Portman Road gives me neckache.

One was 'tight'. The other was well off.

The day after Christmas was not a holiday until the Bank Holidays Act of 1871. Until then the only days off were Christmas Day and Good Friday. If you do your family history you will find that many people got married on Christmas Day because it was the only day they had off work. The same act defined Boxing day as always the 26th December with the corresponding bank holiday moving to the Monday in cases such as this year.

That is another beef of mine. The OS is only for truly devoted followers of the faith. The answer is Monday 7th December. http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~1894275,00.html

When people all around you are being made redundant it sticks in the throat somewhat when those who have well-paid and undemanding jobs find something trivial over which to walk out. I had to make one of my staff redundant back in March and it wan't very pleasant to have to tell someone that they didn't have a job anymore.

Oh stop is Wes, you're making me cry! :smt089

Government services are one thing but subsidising a bloated public sector by overtaxing the working classes is quite another.

They shouldn't pay a higher percentage, no. I suspect that you haven't been to Britain for a while where even the middle classes are paying a horrendous prercentage of their gross earnings, and I include employers' NI in that.

Mmm, the idea is to maximise the tax revenue and reducing tax rates can very often do that. Government taxation is legalised daylight robbery and anything over 20% is far too high, in my opinion.

It's not so much that he has to learn to stay onside, he has to learn to play so that the flag doesn't go up.

If they carry on like this they can have next Christmas off as well. And the next...

Are you sure they're not electronic tags?

VAT went up but income came down. Came down a lot.

I shall never fly BA again, I've witnessed too many bad experiences. They even bumped my daughter and her new husband on their honeymoon flight even though they'd booked and paid over a year in advance. There are plenty of alternatives, use them instead.