Good news though nonetheless ?

Isn't it ?

The CEO of GSK was interviewed on the Today programme on Radio 4 this morning and he was asked about the redundancies. He said that it's all a normal part of business and is mainly in the administrative side of the company, but, overall, with the 1000 new jobs, GSK [ishould[/i see a net increase in staff.

Hardly a ringing endorsement is it? And it certainly isn't the 1000 net new jobs the idiot Osborne seemed to be shovelling this morning.

Indeed. However, if you bin off nearly as many jobs as you create then the net effect is rather less impressive.

Of course it is, it's great news. But let's not pretend it had anything to do with the 2012 Budget.

A little bit of research tells me that the current Chairman of GSK is Sir Christopher Gent, who aside from running the bastion of morality that is Vodafone and serving on the compensation committee of the board at Lehman Brothers that authorised the payout for its failed CEO, Dick Fuld, who received $34 m in 2007 and $40.5 m in 2006, was Chairman of the Young Conservatives in the 70's, served on the Tax Reform Commission established by the then Shadow Chancellor. Three guesses who that was?

Oh and he's donated over £140,000 to the Conservative Party over the last few years.

But then it could all just be a co-incidence...

And if you work to ensure that wages in general are decreasing (apart from for those at the very top) then you illustrate utter economic illiteracy and also an abject inhumanity.

rlFill yer bootsrl

rlDefinitely a budget for growthrl

The company I work for closed an entire manufacturing facility on the site where I work around the turn of the century resulting in hundreds of voluntary/regular redundancies and loads of (lucrative) early retirements. They are currently re investing around 35 million pounds in the facility that remained. At our plant in Scotland the workforce was trimmed by several hundred between around 2000 to 2007. They are currently investing 55 million over 5 years in new infrastructure which will create jobs and critically safeguard those already there.

Without the trimming of staff and subsequent increase in competitiveness it is likely that the company would have completely ceased operations in the UK. Whilst difficult for some (not all) of those involved in the original cut backs it is a fact of life that business must remain competitive in order to survive. This is life in the private sector. It will be the private sector creating wealth, and jobs, that leads the country out of recession so any news of this type, regardless of what may or may not have happened before, is good for the country. Some people need to look at things from an apolitical perspective on here just once in a while.

I think you will find that the GSK development will only create 300 permanent jobs as per GSK info to employees. The figure of 1000 relates to the resource required for the construction will neither be permanent nor even new employment.

Just as well given that it was the private sector that got us in this mess to start with.

I think there'll probably be some contribution from the public sector as well. Contrary to current propaganda the public sector does have a role to play in the functioning of the economy.

Keep up - it was Gordon Brown and Noo Labour. How quickly people forget