Pensions are in a "mess" because we are living longer. Brown did raid the pensions pot with an additional tax though.

Interesting that you feel that Brown made a "Horlicks" as a Nobel prize winning economist said different?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/econo...rdon-Brown.html

When I first started work in the mid-seventies there was a pay freeze and inflation was running at 28%. In order to keep the workers alive our company paid us a "productivity bonus" every three months which was equivalent to two weeks extra money. The top earners were paying 83% income tax, and the REALLY top earners paid 98%. This meant that all the high earning folk just buggered off and left the rest of us to stew (Rod Stewart, the Rolling Stones, Elton John all left the country to avoid this insane punishment). A more realistic top rate would have meant that these people stayed and payed, and we would all have benefitted.

Scargill and Red Robbo were running the country; British Leyland and British Coal went pear-shaped because of the power of the trade unions at that time making their operations a money sink. The joys of the Wilson/Callaghan era.... the disasters of the Blair/Brown era are still coming to light. If we ever have to endure a Milliband/Balls era I will move to Cyprus/Greece/Portugal..... . At least the weather will be better

She stole my milk!

Then she fed me G&T at number 10 after the Falklands war fifteen years later, but it didn't make up for it.





Well, two of them are; Blair is still alive, though...

With all the pathetic fawning going on in the media right now, I think it is very important that some of the street parties that are being planned this evening, as well as the fireworks displays and bbq's should be shown to give some balance.

The woman destroyed whole communities, ruined people’s lives. People died as a result of her actions.
I just wish I believed in a hell so I could feel better knowing the evil woman would burn .

Apparently she suffered from Dementia and was unable to remember many of her great achievements, funny, I couldn’t remember any either.

As against the 70s worker. "We're doing all and there's all you can do about it".

I can understand the antipathy of those from mining communities... Kent had a fair-sized coal-mining industry south of Canterbury near Wingham, and I know a lot of people who were badly effected by the closures.

The problem was that the mines were losing money hand-over-fist, and the ridiculous demands by the leaders of the NUM just made matters worse. Blair and Brown just repeated the same errors of the past - blowing all the money the country had, and just continuing when the money ran out. If ANYONE on this forum ran their household budgets the same way that ANY Labour government in my lifetime ran the country they would now be in jail or on the run! The problem is that almost anywhere else in the developing economies people can make and sell stuff cheaper than we can.... and we need to cut our cloth accordingly. This from a man with three Coupes

And already where I work, one of our customers have placed a large re-order of the "Iron Lady" BluRay & DVDs into store.....

The closest Mine to my home, closed LAST year. She closed it down, the workers bought it themselves. They ran it VERY succesfully for all those years. I would be careful of using the data from the conservatives at the time. They were after all, trying to justify their actions.. because that , well would be silly, wouldnt it?

You have to remember that most of the nationalised industries were actually very profitable, thats why they were privatised.

Ask what happened to all the North Sea Oil revenues, the money from the sale of Council houses, the money from the privatisation's. It all disappeared. How about the sale of the British Rail's rolling stock, (worth billions, sold for millions, there's a good NAO report into that).

The debacle of the Poll tax.

The more I think about it the less I like her and what she stood for. I have a rather nice bottle of Champagne sitting chilling in the fridge.

And full credit to them for that. But in the same way you can't look backwards and say that because they did, the government should have done. I dare say that it took a community pulling together and huge sacrifices along the way, with the closure and devastating impact on the community being a huge social incentive and the financial incentive of rewards more directly reflecting what you put in. These are not necessarily things that would have made it financially successful if the goverment had carried it on.

That does not mean it is right that the impact of a decision on a community must be subservient to mammon.

She punished those who deserved it and rewarded those who worked for it. If only we had a Tory leader with half the balls of Lady T we might have had a chance of fixing the mess we're in. However, we don't and all of you throwing parties to celebrate her death will beg for another Thatcher when parties on all sides keep kicking the can down the road and it really goes tits up here.

Good thread this one....

Agreed, we need a prime minister with balls, not a euro yes man.

Close the borders for a start, only let in those with skills heading into a job, then tell them there will be NO benefits till they have paid into the system for 5 years.

Then we can give the money saved on asylum seekers benefits to our elderly...

breath Richard breath....

Indeed it does.... so do I pay any less TAX today then.

NO, indeed due to governments fiddling I find myself getting ever deeper into the 40% TAX bracket. I consider myself to be far from traditional middle class, but I, along with ever more of us, find myself in there!

Today I pax taxes to subsidise big busiess and shareholder returns. Many businesses find ways to pay less Tax, but they often pay wages that means my tax burden is used to support their workers with benefits. IDEA Have a minimum wage set to a level that means people don't need to claim benefits. I wonder how much that would SAVE?

And don't lump me in with Blair and Brown. This pair of Fwits were just Maggie pawns. They were all style over substance and we fell for it. There was hardly a socialist hair on their heads.

When Maggie came to power if something said BRITISH it was BRITISH. Today almost everything is now owned and managed for proffit for the benefit of off shore business. Our TAX pounds built much of this nations infrastructure but Maggie sold it all off. Yes some of us bought shares and made money from the "good times" But what legacy have we left our children?

Adam,

Would you like shares in this rapidly appreciating Porsche? I took it off your drive privatised it this very afternoon...

One day I will find someone who can explain:

a) why trying to sell something back to me that I already own isn't theft?

b) why it is expected that a service can be provided by an external party at a lower cost while providing the same service unless someone is getting shafted?

c) why is the lie that market forces act to create the lowest possible price perpetuated when it's obvious that the opposite applies: market forces find the absolute highest price the consumer will bear?

Nothing, as a lot more businesses would go bust. Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Portugal.... all of these countries are now facing deprivation of Middle-Age proportions because THEY SPEND MORE THAN THEY EARN. This cannot go on for ever; even the mighty USA will find this out eventually.

This BRITISH thing was great when we were dealing with fuzzy-wuzzys and paddy-field farmers, but unfortunately other countries can now manufacture the goods we need for far less than us, as their costs are far lower than our bloated state and expectations. God help us when the current generations of engineers/designers/IT geeks start their own businesses in Asia and Latin America. Like it or not, the UK has not the natural resources to enjoy a Labour life-style.

We're DOOMED, DOOMED.....

Oh dear, rant over, as I'm going to cook some food prior to watching those Manc paupers kicking a bladder around.

What he said; I for one like conviction politics. She was bloody marvelous

Too late it's already quite common in the construction consultancy to farm out portions of work to offices based overseas. The issue is finding the cheap placeswith the skills needed.

Not sure how that would work, if a employer suddenly has to pay x amount more to his employees, he's going to have to increase the prices of his goods/services to cover his additional labour cost's.

So everyone's happy earning a decent wage but they (and everyone that wouldn't benefit from a increase in the national minimum wage) would be spending more money on inflated prices of goods/services?

Or they will, where possible, shift work elsewhere so no jobs at all.

I have just watched the Ulster TV news ! You can guess how that went on thier opinion of MT.
She really was responsible for alot of un happyness across the UK.

Not sure I put much store into what Gerry Adams had to say. Tosser. (Gerry that is).

Maggie's funeral would be the perfect day for an extra holiday. A day of mourning or celebration depending on your own feelings. Everybody wins.

I totally agree with you RK.
But i was thinking more about the general Ulster people.

I think in any way comparing Maggie Thatcher to Hitler is insulting and disrespectful, no matter what you thought of her.

Anyone even making such a comparison, even in jest should be ashamed of themselves.

Have some frikken respect, especially on Holocaust Memorial Day. Bloody ignorant fools. Your fathers or grandfathers who fought (and also died fighting) against Hitler, rescued the victims in the Concentration Camps and liberated Europe would be rolling in their graves.

Is it Holocaust Memorial Day today then?

Adolf Hitler was also a great politician as was Mussolini and Mrs T.

That's were the comparison ends OK

I can live with that Mikndo69. Anyone would have to agree with that comment. You could also add Churchill, Reagan, Kennedy etc. that to the list.

On both sides of the aisle, but great politicians whether you hate them or love them.

No its not the UKs memorial day thats on the 27th Jan.

I think hes is refering to some reports today and israels memorial day.

Wasn't Holocaust Memorial Day on 27th January?

I always thought our fathers and grandfathers fought in wars so we could speak freely; people are entitled to express their views, which might include a not-entirely-serious comparison between Thatcher and Hitler. Or Stalin and Barry Chuckle. You are, of course, free to disagree. Won't mean our kids get free frikken milk in schools any more though.