Seen over RAF Burtonwood this morning.

20Mar2015_9245 by p_meddemmen, on Flickr

Hi All,
Couldn’t you get a closer shot of the bird ? Looks like the Cheshire cats on the prowl. 😀 Great photo though.:cool:
Excellent photos all the same by you all many thanks for sharing with those of us who never had the chance to view the eclipse. :eagerness:

Geoff.

Hi All,
Moggy,
The rise of Zero Hr contracts does not mean company’s are working less Hr’s jus that the employees Hr’s they do work are not consistent in many careers now the way I see it, also while it may appear more people are at work how many of those are Full-time ? Easier to employ two part time than one Full-time, If those figures are correct then you don’t having said that I draw your attention to this article from the guardian http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/13/zero-hours-contracts-low-pay-figures-rise
This from the Office for National Statistics.
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ashe/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings/2014-provisional-results/stb-ashe-statistical-bulletin-2014.html

Geoff.

Hi Bruce,
Now all that I can agree with matey you hit the nail on the proverbial head, especially your last quote. :eagerness: Incidentally you mentioning emergency payments, did you know that they have always remained ? It’s just that the policy of mentioning these payments to claimants have changed i.e. Unless the claimant actually utters the phrase “Emergency Payment” when contacting the DWP the Operator/Advisor ‘s are not allowed to suggest them, so unless you actually are aware of these payments you still get nothing even when you have nothing already.

Geoff.

Hi All,
Bruce,
Like you I have taken on board certain mistakes from what I have watched and read in particular the amount of oil produced obviously the over production is wrong.
As far as the food banks go I think a lot more was done in the way of charity outlets in the past i.e. Soup kitchens,Salvation Army etc.etc. I suppose it’s with the advent of the increasing population,high food prices and unemployment combining to having more of these food banks open up that along with they are a good tool for those who want to be in pour bringing them into focus while using them in campaigning as Moggy suggested.
As for everything else well We came,We read,We wrote, We discussed. I am SPARTACUS 😀

Geoff.

Hi All,
Moggy,
Sorry matey but I haven’t I have been listening to my own chancellor the wife 😀 Sue does all the bill paying and juggling what we have coming in to what we have going out, who else is better to judge ? and I can tell you this Sue will only buy joints when they are at rock bottom when a particular meat is not selling well and that’s why the meat is offered at a discount. What I will say is we are slightly better off as we have no mortgage having paid this off, if it was not then we would indeed be with the worse offs. Myself and the wife have worked our entire life in my case from school having to call on the social a couple of times throughout my career when needed.
Anyway the crux of it is I am constantly informed when I comment about such and such is only that price, that it may have been a while back but the prices have shot up and keep going up, that along with what I see on the Tv media not just mainstream, along with the media papers I get a general picture and what I see is what I have put.
While I can’t 100% definitely say most people are on Zero Hr contracts like above I get a general picture and I see that more and more company’s are taking on agency staff,Offering zero Hr contracts,Paying minimum wage and thus that is why I put my opinions as a reply, from my own point of view I have my daughter and her friends who also work in different careers all saying the same thing, I may add that I over hear these discussions/comments and I am not part of the narrative in any way, you have to admit the rise of the Zero Hr contract has increased drastically compared to those employers who offer Full-time Permanent contracts.
It’s easier for a company to employ agency workers as they can farm out the contracts and finish them when they want without any of the overheads, you have people sitting by the phone waiting for that yes we want in A/B/C for X amount of Hr’s, I know this only to well from personal experience in the eighties.

Geoff.

Hi All,
JB,
Exactly.:eagerness:

Geoff.

Hi All,

Bruce,

I f they did they obviously got it wrong the F-35 is a farce the money that has been pumped into that would have been better spent developing the Harrier as there where plenty of scope to further that aircraft, the F-35 is an all singing all dancing with the bells and whistles that could be put on it when all you need is kit that works, just another aircraft that is to advanced for the job let alone any mission creep if any IMPO. You have an aircraft flying around particularly the VSTOL version with it’s extra weight from a second lift engine that has overrun by millions, has had it’s threat neutralised allegedly by newly developed radar that can apparently see it and if I am not mistaken it was beaten by un-stealthy aircraft in an exercise a couple of years ago (Please correct if wrong.)
Another example is the two aircraft carriers that the RN has now the aircraft that can be accommodated by these two carriers is 45 on each and how many are we equipping them with allegedly 12 max if the Dispatches programme is to be believed so where is the cost effectiveness with all that ?
It has been a complete white elephant from start to finish, it has been faced along with the continual cost over-run with technical difficulty’s, threatened with cancelation once or more, so faith in what was promised is waning as many of the country are having to be sweet talked into continuing, Canada as an example voted on whether to continue and they are a major NATO member so what does the future look like if this saga contuse ?

As for the Nimrod it was cancelled after having started the upgrades for service so well on the way and yes while it is an old platform what was being done to replace it nothing ? The Nimrod should have been untouched as we have had no Maritime surveillance aircraft that was so essential to the country as we be an island. We are instead left to be the poor relation in NATO with having to rely on requesting other NATO members to police our borders when we perceive a threat, In the papers today is a trawler fisherman that claims his nets had tangled with a submarine after being dragged along, guess what no NATO sub US or RN sub in that vicinity I’ll give you two guesses to who it was, the Russians parked their largest carrier in full view of the Scottish coast no so long ago this all because we have no maritime aircraft we can call on, the stupidity of cancelling the Nimrod upgrade is mind boggling especially when we do not have a replacement available or was even planned.

All parties that are elected into office will massage the figures to appear the better government and always will but to tell those who put them there that the country is doing well when it is obviously not and is dishonest to say the least, I repeat that it will be if you have enough dosh floating around or you own a company that is dong well but most are I would think are just about keeping their heads above water.

Like I have already said massaged figures they do not include those who I mentioned in my original post if you add them in then the figures increase, as an example you can include those on training courses in both sets of figures while you in training you are neither employed or unemployed so you take them out of one lot of figures add them to another thus the employed figure go up and the unemployed figures go down and to be honest which figure would you choose to put them in ?

While there may be some truth in allowing room for growth how can it when most are on Zero Hr contract/Minimum wages it’s because those who would undoubtedly like to buy cannot and that is why Mortgages are over longer terms not just so people can afford them, not only that those who lend obviously end up with more money because the money paid back is mostly off the interest and not from the cost of the house. How can the individual not be relevant surely what you earn has a direct effect of what you can afford and as I mentioned low pay means you cannot afford much anyway despite the allegation the banks are trying to help, they are all in a win,win situation as if the Mortgage lender defaults then they just kick those lenders out and still obtain the property while the lender has no recourse about what has occurred, this despite the government spouting on about making the lenders accountable for pulling out all the stops to help the Mortgage payer and ease the problem.When dealing with Mortgage defaults I have not heard of many that will be favourable to the lender, most lenders want the loan repaid quickly.

The Saudis have been over producing since the sanctions on Russia was imposed this as I said is in the part of those sanctions forcing the price down thus crippling Russia’s output price nothing more so I do not agree with no country would do that. Inflation is not low again I say if you have spare income after all your bills and a lot of it then yes I agree you may have a point for most that is not the reality, most are finding it hard to afford to live the liveable wage is a lot higher than what the minimum wage is, I agree hat the interest rate to some degree affects inflation but unless you are at that level you will not notice to much. As for food banks are you seriously suggesting that they are used just because they are there ?
while you may not want to be flippant you are misguided by that thought, the food banks are there because the price of food has risen simple as that. You are aware that even working people use food banks ? You just cannot stroll up to one and be handed a food parcel you have to apply through the DWP only when you have gone through that vetting process do you eventually receive a token to obtain the food parcels, even then I think I am correct in saying you can use them three times (Please correct if wrong.) These food banks are there and growing in number because of the state this country is in people who just want o live a normal life are using them as a direct link to inflation on food, they are having there rights slowly eroded away over the years despite those rights being fought for by others so many years ago.

All the above and post are just my opinions and like everybody else we all have them and I will just have to disagree with some and agree with others. :eagerness:

Geoff.

You miss my point completely; I’m not worried about other countries or how they see Britain…

…I’m trying to get a balanced view of how our economy / government is actually doing.

You’re obviously not happy so let me ask you a serious question; when were you happy with the government in Britain? What Prime Minister did you respect and trust? When was this golden age when the economy was in rude health, unemployment was low, it was easy to get a mortgage and everybody had ‘spare dosh’?

I’m serious…..when was this time?

Hi All,
CD,
To be totally honest I don’t suppose I ever have been because those that I have voted for have never followed through with their pledges, as far as
PM’s goes none, I never said the Economy was in rude health,Unemployment was low or it was ever easy to get a Mortgage and everybody had spare dosh. :confused:

Geoff.