Your figures are wrong, so wrong, the budget deficit has never approached £1 trillion, the 2010 figures show a deficit of £148 billions, around 1/7th of £1 trillion. That figure takes into account money to bail out the banks that caused the mess. Look at the spreadsheet and you'll see that Labour actually reduced the deficit that the previous administration left them and prior to 2008 a deficit of 44% of GDP was easily manageable

Quote: cod'ead "Your figures are wrong, so wrong, the budget deficit has never approached £1 trillion, the 2010 figures show a deficit of £148 billions, around 1/7th of £1 trillion. That figure takes into account money to bail out the banks that caused the mess. Look at the spreadsheet and you'll see that Labour actually reduced the deficit that the previous administration left them and prior to 2008 a deficit of 44% of GDP was easily manageable'" My appologies, i should have said the national debt stands at almost 1 trillion, in fact i think its stated as actualy higher than that, ill have to look it up. Anyway with regards the the actual budget deficit, i believe it currently stands around 154 billion but is still rising and represents around 10% of GDP. which is only slightly lower than Greece which is currently running at about 10.5% of GDP but higher than Spain or Portugal whos deficits are running at about 9.1 and 9.2% of GDP, whichever way you look at it, we are in a bit of a financial mess at the moment and must hope for some growth in the economy which is the only way the current trend can be reversed imo . You may find this interesting . www.debtbombshell.com/

Quote: cod'ead "Your figures are wrong, so wrong, the budget deficit has never approached £1 trillion, the 2010 figures show a deficit of £148 billions, around 1/7th of £1 trillion. That figure takes into account money to bail out the banks that caused the mess. Look at the spreadsheet and you'll see that Labour actually reduced the deficit that the previous administration left them and prior to 2008 a deficit of 44% of GDP was easily manageable'" My appologies, i should have said the national debt stands at almost 1 trillion, in fact i think its stated as actualy higher than that, ill have to look it up. Anyway with regards the the actual budget deficit, i believe it currently stands around 154 billion but is still rising and represents around 10% of GDP. which is only slightly lower than Greece which is currently running at about 10.5% of GDP but higher than Spain or Portugal whos deficits are running at about 9.1 and 9.2% of GDP, whichever way you look at it, we are in a bit of a financial mess at the moment and must hope for some growth in the economy which is the only way the current trend can be reversed imo . You may find this interesting . www.debtbombshell.com/

Appreciate the thoughts (well positive ones anyway) I've been there 27 years the company has been good to me over that time. But having work taken from Brough to act as a stop gap to our factories in Lancashire takes some stomaching. The product is still a world leading capability, it requires the skills of craftsmen to make and the majority of those affected are hard working, proud and high skilled workers. So if you can't say anything positive or put aside your personal agendas it might just be better to say nowt. My thoughts are with my friends, colleagues and their families because whatever you may think this is a tough time for all and the end of a part of the fabric of peoples livesand the community. We are proud of what we have achieved and will face the future with dignity.

www.theage.com.au/business/bhp-t ... 1kxbt.html Check this out , Australia has little real unemployment and are short of skilled workers.

www.theage.com.au/business/bhp-t ... 1kxbt.html Check this out , Australia has little real unemployment and are short of skilled workers.

Well, putting aside your two wild assumptions on my politcal views and my opinion on current ecomonic issues, but of which are wrong, it doesn't change the fact that your statement was sentationalist. This country is, nor has recently been even remotely close to been bankrupt, not under the previous or current goverments.

Quote: Bal "Well, putting aside your two wild assumptions on my politcal views and my opinion on current ecomonic issues, but of which are wrong, it doesn't change the fact that your statement was sentationalist. This country is, nor has recently been even remotely close to been bankrupt, not under the previous or current goverments.'" You must have slept through it then. jimrogersblog.com/jim-rogers-ste ... -bankrupt/

Quote: Bal "Well, putting aside your two wild assumptions on my politcal views and my opinion on current ecomonic issues, but of which are wrong, it doesn't change the fact that your statement was sentationalist. This country is, nor has recently been even remotely close to been bankrupt, not under the previous or current goverments.'" You must have slept through it then. jimrogersblog.com/jim-rogers-ste ... -bankrupt/

I worked there for 5 years in the early 2000's. Great workforce, very proud of the Hawk and thats the downfall of the site. The site IS the hawk and unfortunatly every dog has its day and gets superceeded. The Hawk is and always will be a great trainer aircraft but even when I was there the Italians were trying to building something equal but cheaper, then when India said we like it but can build it for a fraction of your price the writing was on the wall.
Do you blame the government ? how can you. Do you blame BAE? possibly, they could have looked into the future and diluted the situation and given Brough diversification, but how long could they continue to the Hawk build without selling?.

That was a done deal in 2005 so how you can blame Cameron is a mystery.

Technically not bankrupt (bankruptcy actually relates to an individual so I'm unsure if a country can actually be classed as bankrupt), but on the bones of it's ass

Are you saying he plucked those statistics out of thin air?, i lived through that period of time as a young guy and remember it only to well, the strikes, an uncompetetive workforce, inflation running at 26% and the IMF having to come to our rescue because the Calaghan Government overspent (where have i heard that before), we were then known as the sick man of Europe and for good reasons.

Alan Johnson on national telly now highlighting this terrible thing on This Week.

I like alan johnson. One of the few politicians I've met who actually seem to give a damn

No, I'm saying that he, like you, has oversimplified the causes. I too lived through the 1970s but I also remember things like the 1973 stock market crash, the US withdrawing from the Bretton Woods agreement, the Arab/Israeli war, the quadrupling of oil prices etc etc etc

epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/18283 Sign the petition guys!

epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/18283 Sign the petition guys!