THE BRITISH THREAD

Glad you enjoyed it, McT.

You must try and see Slings and Arrows though, even if it is only to catch Rachel McAdams (phwoaar) strutting her stuff. She must go on to much bigger things after this.
I'm sure that they will do a follow up to this series, and that the whole package will end up on mainstream TV eventually, as it's that good.

Might have missed 1st race

12.50 Lingfield ; Salou St Cloud EW

1.50 Lingfield ; Hotchpotch EW

2.30 Southwell Kingsmate EW

Luck to you!

Seems I'm going on strike (again)

22 Nov 2006


The National Executive Committee of PCS today unanimously agreed a ballot for a national civil service wide strike early in the New Year if the government continued to fail to give assurances on job security, drive down pay and pursue a dogmatic policy of outsourcing and privatisation.

The go ahead to ballot over 280,000 members in over 200 government departments, agencies and non departmental public bodies comes as key services continue to suffer as a result of the government's drive to cut 84,000 jobs, the use of consultants spirals out of control and staff face below inflation pay offers. With the first compulsory redundancies already announced in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs(Defra) and Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) the union fears that more compulsory redundancies in greater numbers will occur elsewhere in the civil service.

The ballot also follows last week's announcement by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) which signalled sweeping office closures and up to a further 12,500 job cuts, on top of a drive already aimed at cutting 12,500 jobs. The union believes additional job cuts above those already planned in other departments could follow as a number of government departments have their budgets cuts by 15% over the period 2008 to 2011.

Commenting Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: "The decision to ballot for industrial action to secure assurances on job security and services, in addition to pay and privatisation, highlights the growing frustration of civil and public servants. Redundancies are completely unnecessary and appear to be politically driven and as jobs are cut we have seen services suffer. Last week's announcement in HMRC raises the spectre of more cuts and runs contrary to the Chancellor's acceptance that further reductions above the planned 84,000 job cuts in the civil service would put the delivery of frontline services at risk. Added to this you have a large backlog of pay deals yet to be settled because of the Chancellor's intention to drive down pay amongst some of the lowest paid, many of whom earn as little as the minimum wage.

"With privatisation and outsourcing gathering pace in departments such as the Ministry of Defence, there appears to be little thought for the impact on service delivery or whether it represents value for the taxpayer. It is against this backdrop that the mood of the hardworking civil and public servants has darkened with morale plummeting and uncertainty growing. The government therefore has an opportunity in the coming weeks to avoid a strike ballot of the civil service by giving reassurances over job security and privatisation and by making serious headway in tackling low pay in the civil service and related bodies."

Good luck with that, smorgs.

Ms smorgs-

That lot doesn't mean that you are going on strike.

It's just posturing.

I'm all in favour of cutting Government spending and featherbed jobs.

The more of it the merrier.

A Jobcentre is about creating jobs for Jobcentre staff. It can't create any other jobs. In fact what it costs to run a nationwide chain of Jobcentre franchises on behalf of its employees could be used to create jobs elsewhere which might have something to show at the end. Such as better kit for the troops or research into a vaccine for some horrible thing.

They have to do the cutting first to provide the resources for the others.

They are not a bottomless pit.

Mr spendius,

Everything you just wrote is a load of bollocks!

I'm quite happy to have the arguments - if you can be arsed...

You know as well as I do that statements like that are ridiculous and just meant to get me to respond in a negative manner - which I did.

But apart from just saying bollocks to the obvious bollocks (big hairy ones) that you have just posted... I'm quite prepared to justify mine and thousands of others working day.

How can you make sweeping statements like that?

How can you criticize me directly like that?

How can you gloat over job losses like that?

How can you diminish and de-value me as a working person like that?

fondest regards

Ms Sarah L Morgan

x

Hey, I've just had a though, spends...

You know that your post was daft - so maybe you just wanted a response, 'cos really you like me so much, and although you think I am far too gobby for a woman (and a feminist) you are bored with ignoring me, but you don't know how to make friends again?


x

Anyone know the racing results?

I've had a flutter...

x

Yes, Sarah.

Kingsmaite was a "place", but Hotchpotch blew out, I'm afraid.

Montosari came in 1st though, so I'm very happy!

What does "a place" mean?

Don't worry about it, Sarah.
I've had years of having to put up with the likes of this crap, primarily coming from lay Magistrates, who don't know their arse from their elbows when it comes to understanding the nuts and bolts of what Probation is all about.

This type of critic usually has very strong opinions though, usually formed from years of reading the same stuffy broadsheet newspapers that contain readers letters from some retired Squadron Leader or other.

I tend to just shrug it off nowadays, as you'll never change 'em.

You've got to remember that your pay comes from these people's taxes, that they've earned by their hard sweat and toil, whilst they have their regular business lunches, pad their monthly expenses and say thank you when their nice fat year end bonuses are paid into their accounts.

How DARE you take money from the public purse! If it wasn't for you and your ilk bleeding their pay packet dry, they could have ordered a more expensive wine to go with their luncheon.

Shrug it off, girl.

It means it came in second or third, Dorothy.

It didn't win.

If you placed an "each way" bet of £10, for instance, £5 would go on the "win", and £5 would go on a "place".

This has the makings of a fine debating point

...he must be having his tea

x

Who? Thrush?

Que?

x

You're too young, Ms M.

I'll tell you when you've reached your half century....

Ms smorgs-

There's no need to get overexcited. I had a good do at it myself for a number of years.

Those who crow with glee that their morning case load hasn't turned up so they go for a stroll around town to look at TV sets are only at the bottom end. No wages stoppages as we have to put up with when we haven't got our noses pressed to the stone. And you should see the sickness benefit comparisons.

But that was only a glimpse into a crack in the door. When the media are there they are busy and concerned as you would expect.

The difference seems to me that I knew these truths about myself, as do a number of lay magistrates I know, and simply lay back having my tummy tickled. I would never have thought of inventing a righteous and piteous squealing spiel to justify myself.

Hey- I copped a buxom lady of about 50 in a reception area reading a book titled Revenge of the Middle Aged Woman by one Elizabeth Buchan.

Notice the "the" rather than an "a".

One would think, knowing something of woman's place in history, and indeed in the wider contemporary world, that any lady of ample proportions dressed to awe in such a salubrious setting would be reading 50 Delicious Recipes in an attempt to reward a man for the efforts of all men in our society in rescuing her from the ravages of life that the vast proportion of the women of the world have had to endure and still do.

Wherefore the evident desire for revenge? Is it growing. Forewarned is forearmed.

My mother read things like Good Housekeeping and Mrs Beaton as did all her friends.

she has probably been on a2k and came across someone called Spendius

How did I guess that he would know quite a few Magistrates.


Probably one or two Squadron Leaders as well.......




<shrug>