badgerx16

company

But what private company is anywhere near as complex, or open to public scrutiny, as Birmingham City Council ? Also, Councils don't have the ability to pick and choose their markets or customers.

We've done this to death previously - on a 'like for like' basis public sector workers doing similar jobs to the private sector, generally earn less. Certainly I would be paid quite a bit more doing exactly the same job for a private company, as can easily be evidenced by perusing job adverts. ( The fact that I choose not to is my decision ). The 'average' figure for the public sector is swollen by including such people as teachers. Even at the top this probably holds true, despite the hysteria over Local Authority Ch Execs' pay - in the private sector, if you ran a company with a turnover of £300 million+ and employed 10,000 staff, what would you expect to get paid ?

The vast majority of council staff work a minimum 37 hour week, get at most 31 days leave, and most earn less than £20k pa. And of course, there aren't any unions in the private sector, are there ?

Adding more to the 'squeezed middle'.

That still leaves poor old Grubb. Far more efficient on the public purse to have 1 man doing the work of 6. As back to the Budget, will these new economic development zones lead to another round of what we saw under Thatcher - companies that don't actually create 'new' jobs, but instead migrate their factories and facilities around the country looking for the most advantageous incentives, like some new form of capitalist 'travellers'.

I am, at this very moment, filling in the application to apply to retain my own public sector job, due to a 40% reduction in numbers at my grade within my unit. Not through cutting 'bloat', but because the BrokeBacks have cut our budget by 28% wef April 1st - I may be 2 weeks from redundancy from a post that I most certainly DO think operates efficiently And I think that anybody who believes the bullsh!t assertion that the public sector IS bloated is themselves mental - all IMHO of course. And just to be clear, I have taken 2 days of my annual leave entitlement to give me time to do this, so I am not wasting work's time.

What proportion of public sector jobs are 'pointless' ? The Police, the Armed Forces, Doctors, Nurses, Teachers.... Admittedly there are also HMRC, MPs, and the Royal Family ( via the Civil List ).

balls

Oldham supporting colleague has just asked if I can confirm the rumour that we are signing Dale Stephens. Any ideas ?

Wooooooot !!!

guerilla

So why not sort out Mugabe in the same way ? Oh, hang on, where's Zimbabwe's oil ?

9.19 miles CH Blackpool Football Club 10.81 miles L2 Morecambe 15.77 miles CH Preston North End Football Club 24.07 miles PR Blackburn Rovers Football Club 26.98 miles L2 Accrington Stanley Football Club 29.37 miles PR Wigan Athletic Football Club 29.91 miles PR Bolton Wanderers Football Club 31.74 miles PR Burnley Football Club 33.85 miles PR Everton Football Club 34.41 miles PR Liverpool Football Club 219.19 to SMS

So, is that the UK form of democracy where less than 30% of those registered to vote can produce a Government with an overwhelming majority, or the US one, where you get a 'choice' between 'right of centre' and raving bigots ?

Will he also stand up for the people of Bahrain ? Or intervene in Yemen ? Or threaten to impose a no fly zone over Tibet ? It's his chance to play 'Billy Big ********'; all Prime Ministers wish for their 'moment', and Gaddafi set himself up as the Aunt Sally.

Are you also glad we are blasting the 'fuzzies' to hell ? ( Taking your Cecil Rhodes quote into account ).

relative

Libyans are claiming they've brought down a French jet

Dune, I find your current avatar insulting to the blessed Red & White stripes.

mistral

But that would be democratic. And if the elections were (1) free and fair, and (2) open to all, then they would be more democratic than either the UK or the USofA can manage.

Goetz

On the other hand, do a quick google for the 'Night Witches', Russia's female bomber pilots.

Nissan