Whitey Grandad

But I still made them, and they were extra to what was required and in return I was promised a pension if I lived that long. It's not my fault if successive governments have raided my contributions to pour them down the gullets of The State instead of investing them. Effectively they have borrowed from me instead of the open market and now they've got to pay back. Not my choice, I didn't vote for them.

Aren't those who vote Labour exactly the same? There's nothing fair about any of it, everybody just wants things 'fairer' for themselves. The poorer think it's unfair that somebody else should have more than them and want more money given to them, the better off think it's unfair that they should give money to those who don't work as hard and want less money taken off them. If life were fair we'd all be paying the same amount of tax.

That's immigrantist. If the country you're going to has plenty of space and resources and is willing to welcome you into its vast, sparcely populated nation for whatever reason it chooses then that's fine.

From The Times today:

How are the poorest 'clobbered'? They don't pay tax, or very little.

This is (yet) another big bugbear of mine. Westminster has progressively shifted Old Age Pensions from a paid-for return on years of contributions to just another state benefit. There used to be a Department of Work and Pensions but now all government handouts get lumped together, presumably so that they can get attacked as another source of income. This wasn't the deal when I paid NI out of my first pay packet in the 1960s but successive governments of all colours have used contemporary contributions to fund current budgets. Effectively they have raise the pension funds of the people to pay of their pet projects instead is setting it aside for later. Robert Maxwell would have been proud.

No problems, all in good spirit. You're right about the problems of people living longer, but I do like to point out that many of my generation never actually get that far. One of the benefits of this brave new world for you youngsters is that you get to live longer. And work longer of course

Why do you think that? No welfare goes to me. I have a modest state pension for which I have made a lifetime of contributions and, well that's it. I have paid a lot of tax and I'm still paying now, plus all the VAT, Council Tax, fuel duty... Even my 95 year old mother pays tax on her (very) modest pension. Do I take it then that you won't draw your OAP when you reach that age? Always assuming that you don't die before that like many of my friends and family who never saw any benefit from their contributions.

Dream on. If you took all their money away there still wouldn't be enough to make any difference. Whatever your feelings about some people earning more than others and the gap between rich and poor, making the rich poorer will not make the poor richer. There are just so few of them and so many of us. By all means soak them and the tax avoiders for all you can get but don't for a minute think that it'll make the slightest difference to ordinary people.

Nah, she'd probably think it was the dog anyway.

Exactly. Those of us who lived through the 50s know austerity when they see it.

Don't fret, best so far, next year will be even better.

Ah well, gloat and hope now. At least our home game with Villa should be a bit easier if they're holding back for the Cup Final. I hope

Speculation here but probably a year before he kicks a ball and then a few months to get back to fully match fit, all being well.

So how does this affect the voting for MOTM?

And speaking English is one of the reasons so many want to come here...

For a club with ambitions it's one step on the road to progress. And stop calling him surly

Getting towards the end of it but you only need one. This is expected to be a quiet year with only one major hurricane but again, you only need one. We were on Bermuda five years ago in mid September and all went well until the big storm that I was keeping my eye on turned into a hurricane and swung straight towards us. We got out a couple of days early on the last plane out. They had been boarding everything up for a few days. It was strange seeing a storm develop so slowly. In the UK a storm blows through quickly but this took a week to build up with the the seas getting steadily bigger until the beach disappeared as the storm slowly crept nearer at 7 mph.

Yes, especially the first.

Nothing much to say, really.

Possibly, but Schneiderlin doesn't head the ball a great deal.

I hate that too. Sometimes I wish the interviewee would just say 'would you please let me finish?'

It's also a problem because we're near the top of the table. If we had reached mid-table security with a few games left then we could afford to give the young and inexperienced a handful of games but whether you're struggling to stay up or fighting for Europe you need the best team out ere for every game.

"It's not enough to succeed. Others must fail". Gore Vidal

My daughter has quite a few shirts from 15 years ago, most of them signed by several players. Any idea of value?