Came home today to find “Charlie” not at-all well. He is presently at the vets and it looks like a thyroid (spelling?) problem. Vet was excellent and thinks he has a chance so its fingers crossed here at the moment……….

Really gutted to hear the news……..

Got everything crossed for you critter592.

Our special tabby “Charlie Cat” disappeared the other week for a while. Mrs W and I were really upset……but he made it back in the end…..

all the best !

Its a fair point Lincoln……..

My Dad went in one hospital…….disaster…….Went in another due to an admin problem. they discovered bowl cancer, operated, got it all (thank god!) and at 85 he is still going strong.

Two NHS hospitals…..one garbage one magnificent. I agree.

Happy to see a complete root and branch investigation of the NHS. Providing:

AA/ Healthcare remains free at the point of delivery, no compromise.
BB/ Investigation is taken out of party politics and is carried out by people I elluded to in an earlier post.
CC/ No time constraint….its completed when ready. Put Alan Sugar or Richard Branson in charge or both !

PS ……. just bought a Skoda!!!!!!

Silver Fox…..good tip thanks.
PPP yep you are correct about personal debt. Spot on! Alas I live in an area without public transport and go to work at crazy times as well as most bank holidays etc. I really need totally reliable transport. Kia were offering a 7 year, 100,000 mile warranty. Alas at 17% APR…..I have to pass.

CD
Yes the Corporation tax was a good move but will not achieve that much in isolation. Companies need access to investment funds at sensible rates and now!

Good advice S Fox……and that is what I said.

If this is representative of how thw banks are treating business…………!!

CD

The point I was trying to make about QE was that I think it has been mis-used. In my humble opinion it has simply been used by the banks to shore up their balance sheet through the purchase of bonds.

I appreciate that this is the basis of QE however.

Since the Government effectively is the main or a substantial shareholder in a number of banks it should be MAKING these banks lend and at sensible rates. Because that is where your growth and expansion is going to come from.

It is also worth remembering that when the banks crashed in 1931 it was effectively over the banking system protecting the gold standard.

Will the banking system crash again trying to protect the price of Government bonds ? Taking with it the remains of the western economies ?

The government should also be offering tax advantages to COMPANIES to allow them to invest some of the large amount funds they are presently sitting on and employ more people. That is where the growth will come from.

The current government is doing neither. Which is amazing for a Tory Government, for which this is standard fare. I wonder what Norman L thinks about it .

I’m looking for a new car since my Panda blew up. kia have just given me a quote on a 3 year HP purchase @ 17% APR. 17 % when the BoE Base is 0.5 % !!!!!! can you believe that. And that is with a substantial deposit.

I listend to Clegg and Cameron this afternoon. More meaningless rhetoric. 2 years in and its :
Double dip recession.
2.7 million unemployed and rising
Increased borrowings
Everywhere north of Watford going to hell in a hand cart.

As Dick Dastardly said to to Mutley…….Do something !!

CD

Please see my earlier threads where I detailed my thoughts about QE, bank lending and current company balance sheets, with regard to the economy.
And using such matters to put growth into the economy.

I feel a good percentage of the electorate had their say last week……

On borrowing, the current Government is borrowing more than the last presently. The only way you are going to stop that is by getting more people back to work and paying tax.

If you cut, cut and cut again with no stimulus the economy will (as is presently happening ) die slowly.

When I was made redundant I had few choices. I ended up moving south to get work. My mortgage in the north was nearly paid off. I invested in my self, borrowed money (ie on a mortgage) and made the move ie I invested in myself.

This is what the current Government needs to encourage. Investing in people to get them back to work……not cut, cut cut.

There was a great analagy on radio 4 this morning. To paparphrase…. If the patient is the economy and you just keep making cuts the patient will die simply owing slightly less……..

Moggy

If you take the Blair years into account ie the whole Labour period of administration, they reduced waiting times considerably. Built lots of new hospitals (ok, ok PFI is another argument). Employed many more docors and nurses and increased their pay dramatically.

I previously lived in impovorished East Lancashire. Our original hospital was a decrepit Victorian structure in a shocking state and our gp’s surgery was nothing more than a leaking port-a-cabin. Under Labour we got a new hospital and a new surgery. During the Tory boom time in the 1980’s did they spend money on new infastructure? Absolutely not.

If you want me to quote the proof and figures I will do when I get time.

From earlier posts of yours you seem to have some considerable hands on experiance of the NHS, consiquently I am sure you are aware of the NHS improvements in the Labour years as a whole.

Could the money pumped in to the NHS during the labour years been used more efficently. According to doctors and nurses I know, the answer is yes.

You both present sensible and understandable arguments however we are as a country in dire straits. As we are all aware, it is not just our country but most of the western european nations and a few others as well. Japan has been struggling for years.

It is going to be very interesting to see what happens in France and I wait with interest.

However the present PM and cabinet seems to be aloof and detached from working people. A lot of the current cabinet are millionaires. They seem to be interested only in widening the gap between the rich and poor and squeezing most of the people in the middle. Getting those least able to pay for defficit.

For me the NHS remains sacrasanct. Other people have differnt views which I appreciate. My views are based on the fact that the NHS keep me going. They allow me to stay working and pay tax.

If I had to pay for health care then I simply could not afford it and would have spent a life on benifits. I think there are probably millions of people in the same position as me.

I also believe that the British people will vote ultimately against any party that ends free health care at the point of delivery.

As to the argument about putting healthcare in private hands. Simply, private companies are run for one reason and one reason alone…..the profit of the shareholders…..If you want an example, have a look at your gas, water and electric bills and have a look at executive pay in those areas.

Lincoln 7 raises some interesting points. I have both worked and studied in the US and have seen entire families completly destroyed as the result of a serious illness for which they could not obtain insurance or was excluded.

That is not the type of world I want to live in.

Ok, lets have a complete new look at everything but has to be done outside party lines. If such investigations take years, so be it. Lets look at how the rest of Europe pay for health and benifits (ok but not Greece eh?). Get industry, commerce, the likes of Branson and Sugar involved. Elder statesmen such as Paddy Ashdown, Lord Owen, John Major and Tony Blair (like him or not he was very successful and Cameron has in part tried to copy him….even the entire Tory back benchers gave him a standing ovation on leaving office) . And no, not GB for he was no more PM material than I .

Can I make a suggestion……..let me buy you all a beer before the summer is out. Its easier to explain over a pint is’nt it !