Good riposte Louis, but methinks you may have left yourself wide open come the weekend, but maybe not, we are all kindly souls on here!
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I will never understand why in the U.K. we are so obsessed with the past. Tourists flock here to see history and our quaint customs , which is good for the economy ,but they should also be coming to see the future. We became Great Britain by looking forward not back , we can become Great Britain again by investing in our country not selling it off to the highest foreign bidder.
We still have the House of Lords and a corrupt honours system were a wealthy person can buy a knighthood by donating to the Tory party.
It is now 2017 we have seen the first black man become President of America , another man will soon be the first non politician to succeed him. Here we have only the second woman as Prime Minister , who is far better than the first.
We must look ahead , other European and world countries have affordable energy programmes, rail systems with clean modern trains which run on time and fair ticket costs , petrol and diesel prices far lower than ours.The National Health and social services are in constant crisis because money is diverted to bail out banks and feed the world. The education system must reflect the modern world with emphasis placed on engineering , medicine and robotics . We can be Great Britain again but only by investing in the future.
Louis,I was only thinking the same as you after having read Vics post,too much negative and not enough positive. Imagine paying £6.000 per annum to commute to work on the train and not being able to get a seat every day.I read somewhere that the train operators plow 97p in the £ back into the service leaving them with just 3p in the pound of all money taken.
Regards.
Jim.B.
The Government should stop ALL Overseas Aid. £16,000,000,000 to corrupt countries. We give aid to 185 countries including China and India who are far richer than we are.
We give the EU every year, £13,000,000,000 and receive £4,000,000,000 back. a net loss of £9,000,000,000
£25,000,000,000 of our Tax Payers money, Every Year.
What could Britain do if all that money, Every Year, was invested here.
If we got rid of daft Marxist, commie, pinko, Union leaders and politicians, we could drag our selves out of the dark ages. They hold us back with their outdated ideas.
If we had a total ban on immigration for five years, to give us a breathing space, that would also help.
Then we could invest in New Industries, create good paying jobs for all and get rid of the daft Benefit system that pays people Not to work.
In 2014/15, we spent £258,000,000,000 on Welfare payments.
What a waste of Tax Payers money and also loss of Taxes from people Not earning.
This country could be a Paradise on earth with everyone working, Excellent Hospitals and NHS, Excellent Education, in Schools, Colleges and Universities.
We could have excellent housing for everyone.
It is simple, why can we not do that. I am sick of paying Taxes on a miserable Pension that I paid for myself, when all the Bums in my avenue are getting £23,000 a year TAXFREE, for driving around in new cars and living the good life and never had a job. All are two and three car families.
Brian.
Our NHS would be far better, if we stopped treating all and sundry who have never paid a penny into the system whether they be visitors or immigrants legal or illegal, as a pensioner visiting Spain and supposedly on reciprical agreements I still have to pay 25 - 33% of the cost of any medicines or dressings issued. So what is good for one EU country should be good for another. They also have notices in the waiting rooms in 10 -12 different languages which say 'we only speak Spanish, if you need a translator bring one with you, otherwise we cannot treat you, not like us silly buggers who spend millions on translators at £100 per hour plus expenses debited to the British tax payer
My response was in reply to Louis's talk of renationalisation and was not meant to be negative, just pointing out that nationalisation didn't work.
If we don't look back we cannot learn from our mistakes
I agree that the current system is not perfect and requires changes, but how do we achieve it, I don't know the answer.
Maybe as a country we should look at how other countries control their systems, and if necessary adopt the best.
I agree with Brian, the ludicrous amount we spend on foreign aid is far to high, we should respond to a medical crisis or other natural disaster.
Any money could be invested in the UK.
Regards
Vic
Vic UK rail fares are six times higher than those in Europe and are on average 14% of a persons salary who has to commute by rail that is one hell of a deduction,as you say what is the answer.
https://www.bing.com/news/search?q=R...pe&FORM=NWRFSH
Regards.
Jim.b.
Jim, I spent a few days in Hamburg before Christmas. A ten Euro transport pass gets you unlimited travel on the bus, train (within city limits, the S Bahn and the passenger ferries.
My niece's husband buys a season ticket, I think it is a years ticket. It gets him unlimited travel and also for his two daughters. The more he uses the season ticket the more points he gets and he uses that to get free travel now and again for his wife.
The season ticket can be used on any network in Germany, try that in the UK.
Not sure of the season ticket price but I know that it is a lot cheaper than the UK and many more benefits.
Regards
Vic
PS travel pass was for four adults and two kids.