A lot of cuts rely on public ignorance and forgetfulness so that it can be pulled off with little fuss!

MPs tend to recieve payments in absentia for sitting on company boards it is more to get their names on the letterhead!

I work for the MoD Scottie and for security reasons they dislike and ban 2nd jobs!
_________________
This guy is liscensed to chill, and thrill, but the opportunities to thrill are rather less than anticipated!!!!

I am employed by the local council....but don't hold it against me

I would never do that Scottie!
_________________
This guy is liscensed to chill, and thrill, but the opportunities to thrill are rather less than anticipated!!!!

Today a man was arrested and charged after making acitizens arrest on a teenage yob! Human rights? Who's? The yob was throwing apples at his house! The 3rd incident in a week? Where i live in Somerset there was a mutiple stabbing incident! One of the victims also stabbed one of the attackers whilst suffering from a wound that went through his stomach and out of his groin! Tell you what guess who was arrested by robo plod?
_________________
This guy is liscensed to chill, and thrill, but the opportunities to thrill are rather less than anticipated!!!!

My dear eccles.
We are a global power I said, not a superpower, if we ever were, that really existed during Queen Victoria's reign.

Population and landmass are weakly linked to power.

Our debt is controlable.
Fat Cats are making money.
The high charges is a problem I agree.

The tax burden could be altered slightly, but do remember its council tax that alters dependant on the value of your house.

The failure to build enough houses (with all that implies for infrasturcture) is a huge problem. Driving up mortgages, houses prices and the demand for higher wages. This failure sets in a high degree of inflation of which the banks are the chief profiteerers.

However you have every right to defend your home, but your actions will be need to be justified. There are issues there, but its not the simple world you describe.

Kit is improving for the forces, I hear a lot of good things about whats going out to Afghanistan.

Bravo bravo Steve and Tryst!

tzazo i trust that you will be able tomaintain your current life style with 50% taxes on middle earners?

A superpower we are not with only 4 frontline submarines and 1 of those is being scrapped!

Sustainable debt is where you can afford to service it? The UK prints and places more cash into circulation! Not sustainable in my books! I believe Keynes the economist covered these aspects when he wrote about Germany post world war one!
_________________
This guy is liscensed to chill, and thrill, but the opportunities to thrill are rather less than anticipated!!!!

The other thing I'd say that tzazo mentioned.

Afganistan? What the hell are our troops doing there to start with? What right have we to interfere in other countries? We are not a police force for the world.

Kuwait was the only country to ask us to get involved but even then, to my knowledge, they have not paid a cent toward the costs incurred in ridding their country of their enemy.

What are our troops doing in Iraq still? If they have not sorted out their political regime yet, they never will and we should leave them to it. It's our money and our resources going into this and we are not seeing a penny of it back. What right did we have to invade to start with? These countries have been killing themselves and each other for centuries. All it has achieved is to further stir up an already angry hornets nest.

Afganistan has historically been Britains bogey country! I agree we don't need to have such a presence there BUT with such a presence of terroristssomething is needed to prevent these nasties from repeating such atrocities as 9/11! I wasworking that day and believe me the USAwent completely off line!
_________________
This guy is liscensed to chill, and thrill, but the opportunities to thrill are rather less than anticipated!!!!

I think you will find that like we in the UK are coerced into accepting skyhigh taxation mant Afghanis are coerced into accepting the Taliban! Again here is an interesting point but support for the fight against terror by our so called Euro comrades is negligible! they are happy for the USA and us to do their dirty work! Think outside the box but this is also a war against hard drugs. The problem as with everything this Govt does is C**P preparation and supply of materials! A run down war machine that is the root cause of the casualty list!

When Brown was there on a visit he was asked by a squaddie why the Govt taxed him through the roof when the Americans served tax free? Why he had to pee in a tin when others had porta loos! Gordon and co like the worldwide addulation but think bugger all about those at the sharpened end of the stick! I saw that the chinook fleet needs 406million worth of upgrades! The asshole who bought them like that should have been sacked!
_________________
This guy is liscensed to chill, and thrill, but the opportunities to thrill are rather less than anticipated!!!!