We don't notice it coming.

Started by Sir Percy, May 28, 2006, 09:35 PM

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Sir Percy

In this transparent, democraticisivating age, where everyone has his/her/its say, we don't notice the water heating up around our small froggy bodies. Feminism crept in this way. Socialism does the same. Part and parcel of the same issue. Its someone else's fault and Governments should pay us out of someone else's pockets. Problem is, it only us that have pockets.

I reprint this here, not to incence our friend Gonzo, but to show that all is not well in that bastion of freedom, the once Great Britain.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2200150,00.html

Britain's northern 'soviets' swell on Brown handoutsDAVID SMITH AND CLAIRE NEWELL
Regions receive higher levels of public spending than former communist countries

THE growth in public spending in northern areas of Britain is so rampant that it is resulting in the "sovietisation" of swathes of the country, new figures show.

Gordon Brown, the chancellor, has pushed up national public spending beyond the levels of former communist countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The dependence on the public sector of the north of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland has grown so sharply over the past year that many areas are now significantly more reliant on public spending than countries such as Sweden, known for the bloated size of its welfare state.

The new figures, compiled by analysts at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) and to be released in a report tomorrow, show that between 2001-02 and 2005-06, public spending grew from 38.9% to 43% of gross domestic product.

The national increase over the past year, from 42% to 43%, disguises the fact that in southern regions dependence on the state has barely risen, while in northern areas it has jumped sharply.

The reliance on the public sector varies between regions, from just 33.4% in London to 71.3% in Northern Ireland. The public spending share in Northern Ireland has risen from 65.2% to its present level in four years; Wales has gone up from 56.3% to 62.4%; the northeast from 56.4% to 61.5%; Scotland from 50% to 54.9% and the northwest from 47.8% to 52.6%.

"In some regions high public spending is a reaction to the problems of economic deprivation," said Professor Doug McWilliams, head of the CEBR. "But what is noteworthy is that the public spending share has risen much faster than can be explained by this."

The "sovietisation" of parts of Britain as a result of Brown's huge increases in public spending looks even more dramatic when the figures are adjusted for comparison with other countries. On this basis, public spending is equivalent to 76.2% of the size of the Northern Ireland economy this year, 66.2% in Wales, 64.9% in the northeast, 57.7% in Scotland and 56.1% in the northwest.

This compares with 56.1% in high-spending Sweden, 54.1% in France, 51.9% in former communist Hungary, 51.5% in Denmark, 46% in Germany, 42.6% in the Czech Republic, 41.2% in Poland and 36.3% in Slovakia.

Sir Digby Jones, director- general of the CBI, the employers' organisation, said that he was increasingly concerned about the "crowding out" of the private sector by a rapidly expanding public sector. "I'm very, very worried about this," he said. "The private sector is responsible for around 62% of GDP in China -- a communist, totalitarian regime."
In the northeast of "the fifth largest economy in the world" there is a mirror image, he pointed out, with the public sector responsible for nearly 62% of GDP.

Tony Travers, director of the Greater London Group at the London School of Economics, said the differences were due to the weakness of the private sector in large parts of the UK.

"What really varies is the scale of the private sector economy," he said. "In the southeast, the east and London, the scale of the private sector is very much greater.

"All of this raises the question of whether public spending is a good or a bad thing. Thirty or 40 years ago regional planners would have said that the thing to do to close the north-south divide would be to shift public spending north. The thing that makes economies grow is the vibrancy and success of the private sector."

John Adams, director of research at the Institute for Public Policy Research North, agreed that the figures reflected big economic differences between the regions.

"It's right that the national exchequer should transfer money to poorer people and that you have some kind of system that protects the poorest people," he said. "But the ideal situation is that all the areas of the country have a healthy economy and healthy employment."

Many northerners argue that they deserve a greater share of government money.

"The north has historically been behind the south," said Eleanor Marsden, a teacher from Hull. "If the north is getting more money than the south, it is because there are severe areas of deprivation in the north that as a country we have been very slow in addressing. Some places in the north haven't been touched since the war and that's something that really isn't acceptable."

Barry Peek, an engineer from Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, disagreed. "These days I'm not sure there is such a strong north-south divide. House prices have risen everywhere, including the north," he said.
"I'm not sure that the north is as deserving as it used to be -- and pumping money in isn't necessarily the best way to achieve things."

OFFICIAL: YOU'RE NOT WORKING HARDER, IT JUST FEELS THAT WAY.

BRITAIN'S stressed-out generation, the millions who believe they are working harder and longer than ever, have got the wrong end of the stick. Official figures show that working hours are falling, not rising, and that the average working week is shorter than it has ever been, writes David Smith.

The statistics show that average working hours are declining for both men and women. The average working week for all people in full-time jobs has dropped nearly two hours in the past 10 years.

The government's Labour Force Survey shows the average working week for all full-timers, including paid overtime, has dropped from 38.8 hours in 1996 to 37.1 hours in the first three months of this year.

The male average working week has come down from 40.9 to 38.9 hours and the female average from 34.7 to 34 hours.

The Department of Trade and Industry, in a recent report, noted there had been "a gradual downward trend in working hours for a long time, but this appears to have accelerated as a result of the working time directive". The European Union directive, introduced in 1998, but with exemptions for certain staff, has cut the number of people working more than 48 hours a week by a fifth.

Working hours have dropped sharply over time. In the middle of the 19th century, the average industrial worker put in as many as 3,500 hours a year -- double the present annual average for full-time workers -- with 60 or 70-hour working weeks common.

Politicians have regularly argued that Britain needs a better work-life balance. Last week, David Cameron, the Tory leader, addressed this theme when he said in a speech that there was more to life than money
vil, like misery, is Protean, and never greater than when committed in the name of 'right'. To commit evil when they are convinced they are doing 'good', is one of the greatest of pleasures known to a feminist.

Malakas

Simple-minded question from an ex-pat:
Those legions of newly empowered persons who have moved into the 'workforce' over the last two generations - where do they mostly work? Public sector perhaps.

How about those who work in the 'private' sector - what kind of industries do they work in?
'm an asylum seeker. Don't send me back.

Julian

I believe there is simple fact. Any country that doesn't produce or manufacture is ultimately going to suffer.

In my opinion Cameron's words are softening us up for some kind of eventual takeover however my own take on the various polls is that both Blair and Cameron are seriously out of touch with the electorate..

Both of em want to appease their global masters..

Cameron you twat, you've been had!

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