Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre
Spot on.
But it seems that Unions nowadays are more focused on improving the outcomes of the 45, than the 25 or indeed the 15.
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Maybe, but if there's a vote for strike action in local government then I'll be on strike. I'm a union member and knew the 'risks' when I joined so will be out. The future does indeed look very very bleak for some sections of society, very bleak for others and bleak for others. I think it's only a very small percentage of the country that'll be able to absorb the costs with little or no impact to their ongoing lifestyle.
We'll be ok but will have to change our aspersions for the coming year or 2. The holiday we were planning for my wife's 50th will be postponed or scaled back and I'll make my car last another year or so. I know some people will scoff at our concerns and yes in the whole scheme of things I know how lucky we are but I do really worry about some of the junior people at work who just don't have the ability to cut their outgoings as easily as we do and some of them with young families are already hurting so are really going to struggle. If help is put in place to mitigate the rise in fuel costs then that'll help but the general rise in the cost of living is still going to hurt many people.
And this is where my politics varies from many on here. Whatever people say we are one of the wealthiest countries and we should be ashamed at the stress and worry some people are experiencing at the moment. I don't agree in paying people to do nothing, but we must understand not everyone is as able or capable as we are and we must help those less fortunate than us. I've no problem with public services paying their way or even making a profit but I do feel they should be in public ownership so we all benefit from any surplus not just the privileged few or foreign state owned companies. I think it's not too late to become as near to energy self sufficient as possible and it's not to late to set up a sovereign wealth fund to ensure the whole country benefits from the spoils of exploiting our natural resources. If we had a state owned oil company, there'd be no need for windfall taxation because as the owner the country would benefit year after year. I'm sure carbon capture has improved to the point that coal could now be cleaner, indeed the CO2 captured could fill the gap now it's uneconomical to make it in the fertiliser factories.
If all this makes me a leftie in the eyes of some people here then sign me up, because there is a much better way of doing things than the system we have now.