saintfully

To me it looked like the programme-makers were playing the innocent while actually sh.it-stirring... I thought it was a good feature soured by the Old Club/footy establishment vs New Club/Cortese bollix at the end. Fans of other clubs watching must have wondered what the presenter was going on about. It was all a bit embaressing and I wish heads could be banged together to resolve the problem. Failing that, New Club/Cortese have to continue doing what they're doing. IMHO.

I agree with the 'wait and see if it works' policy. My impression is that most path workers accept that there are areas that could be made more efficient, but do not accept that private sector management practices are necessarily the best way to deliver changes that might be needed. From where most sit, it looks more and more driven by ideology which I think many people would agree is not what is required here... without wanting to sound too pompous, peoples lives are too important for decision making driven by dogma. By the way, thanks for responding in a sane manner and not like some of the mentalists you get on here.

Well, GSTS is a PPP not PPI, but I know what you mean. GSTS should not really be the yardstick by which these changes are measured though, as it has been designed to be the flagship of the policy. Even here, the partnership with SERCO has meant disgruntled staff finding themselves under-pressure to accept a much greater workload with more responsibility - often without adequate support from Senior Staff. Elsewhere, sadly, the reality for many pathology staff is job cutting by non-recuitment, (enforced) voluntary redundancy and the threat of loss of pension/rights following impending privatisation. Happily, most existng staff are not naive enough to think that just because the policy flagship entity behaves itself, it will continue to do so in 5 years time, will offer the same terms to new staff or will be followed by new PPP's or privatisations. Finally, as for the private sector paying higher wages... I think you'll find that's only true if you don't count the pension rights. IMHO and many others, PPP is the thin-end of the wedge - afterall, its not as though SERCO do it for fun, they do it for profit. As in any listed company, its ultimate responsibility is to its shareholders, not to its customers.

Here's my contribution to the ITK/privatisation debate. Did you know that in various locations, NHS pathology services are being privatised? It's already happened in London at Guys for example. Why should you care? What services does NHS pathology provide? Well, whenever you need a blood transfusion (emergency or otherwise), need your bacterial infection diagnosed, need your genetic disease diagnosed, need your potential cancer investigated via chemical analysis - thats pathology. How happy are you that the company operating that service will be doing so for a profit? Ask yourself - how likely is that they will employ the best staff for decent wages and train them properly?

If the state invests £100,000 in a doctor each year and he enables a population of entrepreneurs and workers to generate wealth more efficiently (by keeping them 'off the sick'), has the £100,000 been wisely invested? Has it been used to generate wealth?

Or, go into an extended period of stagflation: no growth due to excessive cuts, plus inflation imported as a consequence of a depreciating currency. That's what we had last quarter - -0.5% GDP plus 3% inflation. Eeeek.

To be fair Dune, you do look like a bit of a pussy.

This. I think an important factor in the contraction was the massive loss of confidence in the economy in the last quarter. The Irish Euro crisis made potential investors (construction sector) think twice. A major factor in the most recent Irish crisis was a failure to rebound following the initial round of cuts/deficit reduction. This 'cutting too deep and too fast' meant the Irish economy faltered, the banks debt grew rather than shrank and thus, overseas investors got scared and the cost of Irish borrowing rose. The Irish crisis was happening as the reality was dawning on what the ConDems were about to do to the economy (following publication of the Comprehensive Spending Review). People looked across the water, saw what happens if you cut too fast and too deep and retrenched - hence the contraction. So, in my view, Labour's policies might have averted the crisis since all the talk would have been how to cut deeper, instead of what happens when you cut too deep. Meanwhile, the usual ****** will get spouted about how the UK will have been screwed on the gilt markets if labour had got in. In fact there is no evidence to support this; markets look for certainty - the rise in borrowing rates prior to the election was largely due to the uncertainty the election was bringing - not the potential result.

No change there then

Bestival: Primal Scream: Screamadelica: Get my f.u.c.k.i.n. rocks off!

From one Hassocks based Saint to another, that's nice work.

Its quite sweet in a 'Top Gun' kinda way

I think this is my favourite thread ever. But I think Colbury needs to calm down... he's spoiling it by letting his repressed homosex feelin's for Deppo get the better of him.

I heard that interview too. Gove was absolutely battered - he couldn't have sounded more condesending and slow-witted if he'd tried. It was pretty embaressing.

Whats the name of the famous TV quiz show that featured in the film Slumdog Millionaire? HTH

Nice work - lottery numbers please

Exactly - I'm a saints fan therefore I support the manager.

Not just any old happiness either, 'real happiness'. I've never been to Australia and so have never known 'real happiness'. Now I'm sad... but am I really sad? (Cue predictable response).

Personally I recommend going for a walk in the countryside. I speak as someone whose had two careers and who is now embarking on a third(ish) (finance to research scientist to salesman basically). My conclusion is that work is generally unfulfilling for a lot of people because its repetitive, whereas a lot of people have wide-ranging interests. Spending too much time on one thing makes life boring - my therapy is therefore to change it as often as possible, whilst keeping the endorphin levels high enough to give me the energy to do so. IMHO, the best ways to get endorphins are sex and exercise. Wa.nking dosn't count, so as a single person, its exercise for you. Or take drugs for a bit and obliterate everything (tried that too and although its good for a while, I don't think its a sustainable approach in the long-term). Happier New Year.

When he's not laughing at you. Happy New Year.

Went for Lallana because of his improvement. However, for me, our best player is Fonte who should be playing above this level.

Ahhh, did the internet make you angry...... (I was hoping to wind-up Dune, but you'll do)

I cried when the IRA bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton.... ....I just couldn't believe they didn't get her.

Just out of interest, what was his favourite sandwich? Mine is bacon, obviously.

Not surprisingly, I disagree with almost everything you just wrote. I think that nationalisation is the way forward with compulsory union membership enforced by threat of jail. The only way to save the UK from the threat of the anarchist free-marketeers is statism and a unionised workforce to ensure submittance of the individual to the group.