badgerx16

Come on JB, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics", and those tables, regardless of who generated them, are proof of absolutely nothing. They are classic example of condensing things down to the point of total pointlessness. There may well be truth in there, and it may well support your argument, ( and I don't necessarily disagree with it ), but anybody with 2 brain cells to bang together, and capable of thereby generating a thought, can see that as firm evidence goes, this is gossamer.

Not at all, I agree with what you say ( !!! ), though I expect there will some on here who now start a round of trying to outdo each other to prove which side has the lowest pay, ( isn't there a national minimum wage in effect ? ). There will be jobs on both sides that have no direct comparison, ( how many nuclear ballistic subs are operated by the private sector ? ), but you have to accept that the tables on the statistics.gov site are pretty meaningless in the 'real world', and are only really useful as ammunition for the Tory press and for public denouncement of the 'wasteful' public services.

Still harping on about the Europa League - deluded or what ?

The problem with such condensed statistics as the tables JB quotes is that it lumps ALL jobs into one pot, for instance in the public sector you will have Local Government, Whitehall & Westminster, the Armed Forces, the NHS, School teaching & non-teaching staff, etc, all grouped as one, and skewed by the comparatively higher salaries paid within the Civil Service. The same effect will be seen in the Private Sector stats; shop and retail staff are paid less than industrial workers. It would be fairer to make the comparison of like-for-like jobs, for instance a junior clerical grade from either side of the divide, an IT project manager ( as demonstrated by BTF ), Senior departmental managers, etc. The picture is far more varied and confused than the bland nationally averaged stats might appear to show.

It is never as black & white as the politicos want us to think, and it's much easier to present a blanket 'Public Sector bad, Private Sector good' message in the current climate, and with a favorable press.

bird

warship

How does a homeopath commit suicide ? He takes a lethal under-dose.

able

petal

wall

Does your Internet persona truly reflect your 'real' personality ? Although I find it very hard to do, I suppose I have to pity you out of Christian kindness.

The LG scheme is invested - it is theoretically self funded, but a lot of Local Authorities have over the years tried to save money by cutting back their obligation to contribute, hence there is a 'black hole'.

True - it's not the rich per se; it's the Royal Family, the descendants of William the Conqueror's dukes, and the Church of England that own the vast majority of our green and pleasant land. ( Most of whom lack the qualifications and experience you allude to ).

When the public sector budgets start getting pruned, where does the effect actually get felt ? Yes, some jobs will go; at my Authority we are already looking into over 200 posts going in the next couple of months as the cuts already announced bite, and these will almost all be 'front line' jobs as the funding reduction cuts the grants that pay their wages. However, look at something like Building Schools for the Future - contracts with PRIVATE contractors have already been signed, and are now worthless; ContactPoint was being developed by PRIVATE IT consultancies, as was the ID card scheme. Councils and other public agencies spend huge amounts of money in contracting in services and supplies, all from the PRIVATE sector. And as for the new 'free' schools, they are being funded in part by diverting £50 million from the Harnessing Technology Grant from existing school budgets. And of course, given the projection of 300,000 public sector redundancies, these will all be competing in the jobs market with over 2 million already unemployed, and will have to be added to the welfare bill whilst they are looking for new employment. This will affect everybody - unless you are a non-dom, have an offshore bank account, or can afford an expensive tax evasion lawyer.

gloamin

spike

mum

Dermot

Can somebody please crock Heskey in training, just to ensure Capello can't be tempted, even for a moment, to consider him for the rest of the tournament

Top of the group & actually BEAT France B in their first match

I was amused at the start when the commentator said that England had dropped their 'calamity keepr' in favour of James, who I thought had a monopoly on that moniker. Anyway, now we have 4 Skates ( past & present ) on for the whites - James, Johnson, Defoe, & Crouch.

So she's supporting Belhadj & Yebda ?

You're looking at something over £500K per week in wages running around in the white shirts - bloody overpaid prima-donnas

Get Beckham on, even if he has to play in his suit he'd be much better than this dire show