Try as I might, I cannot listen to this manFollow

Gordon Brown mumbling on

The captain of the sick ship Labour prattles on. I just could not listen. Its like trying to listen to one of those horribly boring lecturers that send you into a coma. No panache .. not a hint of leadership.





Edited, Jan 16th 2010 1:52pm by GwynapNud

You are right, changed to include anyone who has an opinion of this man.

I'm not saying I'm impressed with Cameron. In fact none of the parties are impressing me right now. I'm been distinctly unimpressed with Clegg The fact remains that just because the opposition are low grade does not excuse Browns less than passable performance.



Actually, my family have been hit directly by Browns meddling in pensions. With my parents coming to retirement age soon, they have seen the taxes on pensions reduce their expected income dramatically.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/pensions/article1593939.ece

Labour have seen 12 years in power during an era of high tax revenues and ability to spend. So why are you blaming Thatcher for the poor state pension when you should be looking at Brown - the Chancellor for most of the Labour tenancy? And with Darling cutting pensions in his pre-budget report I'm surprised you even mention this.



He did it while he was Chanceller with tax creep. I'm not even going to go looking for cites here




What type of education? When I went to University I received a grant which on my first year paid for my entire accomodation and my books. By my final year, it barely paid for my books (it was being reduced). I left in debt to the student loans company.
I would hate to think how much more debt I would be in completing the same course now.

With many employers insisting on 2.1 degrees for positions, if you cannot afford to go to University, you cannot afford to progress in your career.

Now while this is not all Labours fault, as the Tories started the decline in the grant, Labour have not addressed the issue of those from families with low incomes being unable to attend university.

Some blurb here



Edited, Jan 16th 2010 2:29pm by GwynapNud

Well, it sort of does. It's all relative, really. You have to vote for one of the fuckers.



Well, because she did it, mainly. I blame Blair for not un-doing it, if that helps, but by far the largest legislative blow to the pension system came from the Tory side.

I don't really blame Brown for major policy decisions while he was chancellor because of how centralised the party became under Blair. Frankly, I doubt he had all that much say.



Not comparative.

Statistically, more people go to university now, and the make up of univerities is more socially diverse.





Edited, Jan 16th 2010 3:04pm by Kavekk

And Canada has great ice cubes!

A statement like this is meaningless. Novody can "plug" the pension gap anymore, and no one will ever restore the link to earnings. I know Cameron he said he "aspired to do it", but he won't. The freeze that Darling announced is temporary, and pretty much inevitable. There is no "worse party" for pensions, it's a poor system that was abominably managed for decades. Not only that, but when Labour had a surplus it would've made no sense to invest it in "plugging the pension gap". People wanted better schools, better hospitals, social programmes for poor kids, stuff that not only benefited society but also stimulated the economy. It might've sucked for your parents, but it was the right thing to do.

And anyway, all this discussion is irrelevant because Brown is irrelevant. He's got 5 months left and then we won't see much of him again. So really, if you hear him speak, just switch the bloody channel.

L) Need moar options