moonraker

I believe that if we paid a more realistic salary for the job they do we would get a better class of MP. Richard Branson is irrelevant. The sort of salary I am talking about is what an experienced private sector professional would expect, the doctor analogy above works for me. My Wife one son, one daughter and brother work in the Public Sector, I did for 20 years. I only partly recognise your comments and it very much depends on which part of the public sector you are alluding to, Health and Educational staff are in my opinion undervalued especially if you are not a doctor or teacher. But it is undeniable there are many areas in the public sector that are not staffed by heroes. Hard done by is not a term I would use, we get the politicians we deserve not because we vote for them but because we don’t value them.

Whether you like it or not the current pay for MP’s is to low. Once upon a time 99% of MP’s had a private income, either from their other job, family or inheritance and investments. Parliaments hours were scheduled to suit the legal profession. Those days are long gone but todays MP’s have to put up with working conditions that most of us would run a mile from; unscheduled late working, the majority of their time for the majority away from family, constituents who expect them to be 24/7/365 at their beck and call, constant sniping by the media, their colleagues in opposition and wannabee politicians representing narrow interest groups. Many MP’s could and a good proportion do earn far more from other employment. And here in lies the problem most MP’s would if not MP’s be commanding a higher salary than an MP gets without most of the crap that comes with it. So what we get are to many politicians who want the power and kudos of being an MP but are not prepared to sacrifice the income to which they are accustomed or to which they aspire. On the point of presence in HP this is a red hearing an MP’s first duty is to their constituents. The commons is an over used meeting chamber where they make to many unnecessary laws and facilitate inane debates that are judged on the quality of insult and comedy not reasoned and informed debating. The best work of MP’s goes on in committee, constituency surgeries and getting out and about talking to people. There are many very talented (and honest) people who might otherwise become MP’s if it were not for the lack of pay. If we paid our politicians properly I really believe our politics would improve both in conduct and in outcomes.

The Royal Navy has a great deal of significance in todays very uncertain world. Being an Island we do not have recourse to overland supply over 90% of our imports and export travel by sea, that is our economic lifeline and requires secure seas, piracy has a direct impact on our economy. We still have a number of overseas territories to which we have a legal duty for defence and security, these territories are either to small to be effective independent states and or want to remain with the British family. Add to these our international commitments via NATO, the UN and other less high profile agreements and the need to patrol our home waters a well funded, professionally manned, highly capable Royal Navy is as relevant today as it has always been. Currently we are asking far more of it than we are prepared to fund, and the fact that the men and women of the RN are delivering the outputs they are with insufficient and inadequate ships and to little manpower all whilst being undermined by politicians (all of them) is frankly a national disgrace.

This, all those saying we should have done this or that need to recognise that their is no magic strker tree. We should only bring in players if the ones avaible are good enough to improve the squad not just to fill a hole.

Goes to show that the vast majority of us fans don't really know anything about running a football club. Thats the nature of being a fan and a very strong argument against fan owned clubs.

12 is fine took my 6 yr old grandson in Hospitality for the Ipswich game, he loved it.

Can we achieve CL place, yes of course we can, will we, who knows. One thing is for certain anyone who says no we cant (Mr R Savage) is wrong. The pressure will mount however I believe that in Koeman we have the best manager outside of Chelsea and City to deal with the pressure, we have fans who do not have a sense of entitlement, our players are not overpaid pre-Madonna’s, and our team is as good as or better than the teams below us, for these reasons I am very hopeful we will be playing CL football next season.

the bright side is Spuds drop another place

3rd

Ah a poll that suggests the electorate in a great democracy does not agree with one of its governments policies. The issue is not whether the majority of Americans support it or not, it is whether it is morally and ethically right to do it. The world is kept at a reasonable level of control by a device called sovereign states. There is no universally accepted model for a sovereign state save that it has control of what goes on inside its own arbitrary borders. In the west we promote the democratically elected government model, where an elected parliament represents the will of the people. On top of this are a raft of international treaties, agreements and protocols (largely of western origin) with which signatories are supposed to comply. There are many example around the world of countries that pay lip service to, ignore or are not signed up to various international treaties, agreements and protocols. The common view is that these countries are undemocratic, where law and policy is made without any reference to the will of the people. However it is difficult to believe that there is single country that is not guilty of some lapses in their internationally agreed obligations. The US is a democracy and a signatory of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, this report demonstrates that it has failed in its obligations. If the polls are a true reflection of US citizens views on torture then should the US Government not repeal their signature to the convention and act on the will of the people (the will of those polled). Torture will of course no longer need to be limited to use by secret agencies on suspected terrorists, it will be available to the other law enforcement agencies to us on their own citizens and those of any other country who enter its jurisdiction and are suspected of criminal activity. We have spent a very long time trying to improve the lot of the humane race and our treatment of each other , condoning torture is a retrograde step and its legitimacy can not be left to the views of the mob.

Oh dear, it is the ruling class who are inbred, best illustrated by our Royal Family.

There never can be an excuse for torture. Using hypothetical scenarios about ones family and saving them seem to me a pathetic attempt to justify something that has consistently throughout history produced poor results and demonised those who practice it: The Gestapo, The Inquisition. We in England for most of the middle ages resisted the use of torture it gained in 'popularity' due to the Church in Rome feeling threatened by the growing move towards Protestantism. It is ironic that the societies that most easily accept torture as a legitimate tool of the state are often the most devout and fundamental religious societies, and tend towards the right of politics where fear, greed, and self-interest proliferate.

Using a phone whilst driving a car fitted with Bluetooth should incur a punishment tens times higher than one without. Everyday I see 'mums' in Chelsea tractors taking their little darlings to school while making essential calls to: their personal trainer, beautician etc. The other group that have not yet heard of hands free are van drivers, but then many of them are ignorant of all driving regulations.

His record elsewhere does not support your hypothesis,. This season he had to construct a team capable of recovering from the "fire sale", he's achived that, bringing in 4 british players in the process.

Like all pundits The Man of Bronze comes out with some ill informed statements but in general I like him. In our case he has been pretty straight in acknowledging he got it wrong and he is far more entertaining than most. I enjoyed the article, but then fans always enjoy positive articles about their club.

I always enjoy a peek at our oppositions forums and reading Bluemoon only serves to illustrate how little knowledge your average football fan actually has of other teams, its not a City thing it is universal. It is a shame that fans of a club like city who truly have suffered hard are now so arrogant. It will be a very tough game and if I had to bet I would tip Saints to shade it.

A tradgedy and my thoughts are with all who were close to Phil, RIP.

Not pretty and not what we have come to expect, but all teams have days like this. A point away on a Monday Night is acceptable, the performance was not.

Wessex or the land of The West Saxons was essentially Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire parts of Gloucester and most of Devon. What is today Cornwall was by 1040 the main Celtic stronghold in Southern England. Essentially the Celts had been pushed to the fringes, Cornwall, Wales and Ireland by the successive invasions of the Angles and the Saxons in the South and West and the Vikings in the North and East. So the New Forest would have been Anglo Saxon, the predominance of blonde hair is a red herring when it comes to Angles and Saxons.

They have a history of loosing to Lower League oppostion, http://www.thegiantkillers.co.uk/1949leicester.htm, the commentary is great.

Yes, if we dont get one then you can treat yourself to something nice as compensation.

This, Chelski and City both have key first choice players for whom they do not have a comparable replacement and the long term loss of them would cause problems. I do not think we will loose any key players in January, as alluded to in the article it is a united squad with a common purpose and CL football mid season may not be as attractive as a LC Win and a top 4 spot (not a dream but a real prospect) with saints.

But they still have their club, which they own don't you know!

???

If Garcia is claimimg his findings have been improperly represented or worse then in the long run this may be a good thing. Blatter and his minnions have tried to dress up a PR stunt as a credible investigation, it seems that Garcia will not stay quiet and be abused in this way.