The recent fuss about closing ticket offices is typical. That was all about protecting non-jobs. I can recall identical wailing and breast-beating as the buses phased out clippies and that doesn’t seem to have worked out badly.

It’s a wonder tube trains don’t have stokers.

Moggy

There is bound to be some protectionism or even ludditism (is that a word I wonder) within the union structure, what you see as a brake on progress, inconvenience or hanging on to non jobs, to someone else this means keeping his/her job and income, the rights and wrongs are very dependant on were you are at the moment.

Let’s not forget without the unions most of us would still be at tugging the forelock and bending the knee stage, must add if a service costs a little more would much prefer it going to keeping someone in a job on relatively modest income, rather than contributing to the £multi million annual lottery wins of the real non job fat cats, remember directly or indirectly we pay for them as well.

Mr Green, substitute the word Tory for Union and I would agree 100% with your post, but that isn’t true is it, no more than your blinkered prejudiced approach to trade unions is.

There are very few employers who actually give a flying rodent’s rear end to the majority of their workforce, without the unions there would have been no progress or improvement in the lot of working people.

Frankly our current situation needs stronger unions, so many workers are being treated appallingly that there will be industrial unrest, then of course the Tories and sycophantic followers will be on their soap boxes accusing the unions of creating unrest, of belligerent and antisocial activity, of hurting the vulnerable by withdrawing labour, conveniently forgetting that these self same workers have seen their pay and conditions eroded, are treated and discussed with derision, are expected to do more and more with and for less and less.

Only a Tory government can WASTE £billions on an unwanted, ineffective and failed reorganisation of our NHS, then say there isn’t enough money to pay nurses, yet there is plenty of money for the consultants, the private sector cherry picking.

You voice your opposition to unions, this present parody of government sickens me with their disregard for the majority and pandering to the few, far from creating a recovery I feel that the problems have been compounded and any progress will be harder than ever.

OK John,

Haven’t called anyone “sir” since leaving school, was only trying to be polite.

Not quite sure were you get taxpayer funding from? incidentally trade unions are not exclusively tied to a political party, sure most unions are or have been linked to the Labour party, but in reality some unions are more likely to be allied to Tories rather than Labour.

For me the unions should be about looking after the interests of their members irrispective of whatever brand or flavour of government is in charge.

For an amazing chunk of my working life this country financially rode a roller coaster whichever political party held the reins, now I know some of you will have the voodoo dolls out at this, but the longest period of stability with living wages, affordable interest rates and a reasonably good feeling about the place was during Gordon Brown’s time both as Chancellor and even as PM until the crash.

I am not trying to say he got everything right, he certainly didn’t, but he had a better record than most.

I won’t mention the worst period IMO, have no wish to cause heart attacks, stress or raised blood pressure.

The picket line was just to stop the Con-Dems from privatising it and flogging the show to some off shore venture capitalist.

For all it’s imperfections we need the BBC if only as a counter balance to the rapacious moguls of commercial TV, we all know that Murdoch was within touching distance of taking total control of Sky just as the NoTW brown stuff hit the fan, his next target quite clearly the BBC, he had been blathering on for quite some time about the “unfair” competition from the BBC and very noticeable just who was the first through the back door of No 10 after the election.

Probably presenting his bill for support of the Tories, personally I am convinced that but for the NoTW bust up stopping him in his tracks, the BBC would now be under considerable restrictions in both financial and content terms.

As they say “you can fool some of the people most of the time” etc, etc.

The biggest con job ever perpetrated on the British public, yes she got away with it for too long, but notice the real North / South divide during her time, however to repeat can she and us be left in peace, so many Tories keep dragging her name into discussion, then get all indignant when she doesn’t receive the national adulation that they feel she deserves, she’s gone let’s leave it at that shall we.