The Fisheys

Here in Australia, it's pretty easy to get to see your GP. You pay a nominal fee of I think $75 or so, and Medicare puts about $35 straight back in your bank. I get upset reading these horror stories of people waiting nearly a fortnight in the UK to see a GP, just wonder if you think a nominal charge like this would help.

Yeh my mate had a cat, he called it "Cooking Fat," it sounded like that I think. Yeh I remember him shouting out, "where's the Cooking Fat?" Mind you the same fellow couldn't work out why the Americans wanted to impeach President Clinton for getting Monica to sack his cook.

No need to encourage them into work, just curtail handouts after two years. No insult to your relatives, whose circumstances I do not know, but overall the reason why you see multiple generations of benefit claimants is it has become the "family business." In ye olden days, us hard working peasants worked all the hours god sent, paid our taxes, and watched the feudal baron chase round after village girls all day, or go hunting, or drink themselves stupid all the time. Now, walk,down any High Street and you can see the modern day equivalent, the chavs spending our taxes on drugs, booze, and tattoos, swearing at you, urinating, and smoking in the street and stuff. And why do they all have pit bull terriers called "Tyson," or "Kong," or something?

Quite simply the History of Mankind is based on immigration / emigration. Whether it was the Exodus from Israel, The Pilgrim Fathers, us lot in Australia, it is basic human nature to want a better life for yourself, and your family. There can be no doubt that after decades of communist oppression, Eastern Europeans can look forward to a better future in the UK. I can understand the arguments, the Tories oppose immigration because they feel "they" will vote Labour, Labour support it because they feel "they" will vote Labour. In fact neither is particularly true. The racist fringe oppose it and sell this to their putative supporters on the basis that the reason you haven't got a good job, car, house, girlfriend, boyfriend, hospital, school is because of "them," and sadly, there are many dumb enough to fall for this. There seems to be some suggestion that "they" only want our benefits. Probably not true, but just cut them anyway, then there can be no doubt. Opposing immigration flies in the face of human nature, and policies that do so always fail in the end. So suck it up and welcome them, and if you don't like it, try Australia. There is loads of room, and once they work out that they can use solar power to desalinate the oceans surrounding the country, and pump potable water to the entire country the population will soar.

Camelot should pay for this winning ticket. But this is where we can all help. Either don't buy, or buy fewer lottery tickets, and make sure we contact Camelot and tell them why. The key point here is that Camelot have admitted this to be "a printing error." They have not tried to say that the card has been tampered with by the winner, although they do seem to be trying to distance themselves from the printing error, trying to make out it's like an act of god, or something. I don't even think Camelot can hide behind their own rules here, the whole event seems to be covered by contract law, and I assume that these are Camelot's carefully vetted printers, it's not like the poor chap used his own printing company is it? I think he should speak to one of these "no win no fee" lawyers. Clearly the winner enters into a contract with Camelot by handing over his money for the ticket, that makes him Camelot's customer, to whom they have a duty of care. By using a faulty printing technique, Camelot have breached their duty of care, the primary legal test for negligence. He may only get his original stake back for the tort, but could probably get some very tasty damages, and his legal costs paid. Stuff it up 'em and good luck to him!

There is no difference. Most of us arrive to start work on time, we should leave on time. Your employer shouldn't pay you for walking to your vehicle, but you should leave your workplace at the appointed time....................and I am no Marxist. Unpaid overtime is a stain on any business that forces it on its staff.

Well you shouldn't do unpaid hours.

Even on your analysis I suspect this is in the 10% when I am right. Unpaid work is criminal

Yes it is called "time off in lieu," or TOIL, but this is only really available in the higher end of jobs.

Staff aren't paid, plural. If you have to be a capitalist, please get your grammar right. Your second sentence does not survive logical scrutiny. If the doors slam shut at "x" o'clock, how can you count the cash in zero time? You appear to assume every single shopworker has their own private, individual till, that cashes up in zero time, otherwise how can you be so sure it was "their mistake and they need to find it." What happens for part time workers, say one person works the morning, and one the afternoo

I would be a bit bothered about getting quotes before you effect private medical insurance, because surely the malocclusion could then be regarded as a pre existing condition. I am pretty sure you can "pay as you go" at the orthodontist. I think when I was looking at "extras" with my medical insurance it was actually only ever going to give me back my own premiums, so I didn't bother.

To be honest, I would ring the immigration people and ask the direct question. If you don't like their reply, contact your local Federal MP. If you have a spouse, or partner, I think they are less restricted, and so could own the shares in the business, and pay you a pittance! LOL

Come on, hydrogen is absolutely the way forward. Using solar power, desalinate seawater, using solar power, split it into hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen burns to dihydrogen oxide, also known as water. You can burn it to generate electricity, which you can use to pump the water inland to irrigate the whole country, or you can export it like the Arabs do with oil. yes there is a few Bob to be spent on infrastructure, but you know 150 years ago there was no infrastructure for oil, and we seemed to find the money for it, so living on an island, surrounded by seawater, bathed in sunlight, I am sure we can get it going. And, and, there is enough sunlight in the UK as well, that's why trees grow in Scotland!

Easy to justify, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys! The problem comes if you think paying Monkeys mega bucks stops them being monkeys, which it doesn't. This is an independent review body, it's views should just be accepted.............and parliament should also accept the recommendations of every other review body that reports to it now, on public sector pay, benefits, pensions etc. its worth remembering Cameron tried to cut the number of MPs, but was outvoted by Labour and the Libdems.

First thing to do when in a hole is stop digging, snag is with the coalition they have just slowed down the rate of digging. Its a bit like setting your house on fire, then criticising someone,for paying for the Fire Brigade to come. It remains nigh on impossible to find any respectable economists who believe that the Socialistas run public finances better than the Tories.

Personally, I think it would almost be an act of gross negligence not to spy on other countries!

Dunno what is wrong with my computer, just posted this. It's getting to the stage now where if you were a TV personality in the 1970's and you haven't been arrested, you need to call your agent to find out why.

Yes but it was Ozzy Osbourne who agreed with Labours spending plans, not George Osbourne. LOL

20,000 dentists in the UK. Earn about £100,000 a year on average I think, so total is £2 Billion a year. Your beloved socialist Labour Government increased our national debt by more than that each week they were in power! Don't think they'll get in again, and I don't think we need lectures on fiscal policy from them what voted for them!

Got out any links to say they wouldn't? I think I may have had this discussion before with you, it is possible to spend a great deal of time researching this, but probably the only way you will ever find out the truth is to either write to your local MP, or even the head office of HMRC. Ask them about the early 1980s. Before Mrs T cut the top rate of tax to 40%, the top 10% of earners contributed 10% of the total tax take. After she cut it to 40% their overall contribution rose! meaning the rest of us had to pay less. The trouble with high taxes is that it is worth avoiding them. You don't have to be a nasty, fat cat capitalist to do it either. Do some research yourself. The taxman used to sample the rubbish after every Premier League match, in essence they would look at empty cigarette packets. It was interesting that in 1999, when Easyjet started going out of Liverpool, the percentage of Spanish bought UK brands rocketed at Liverpool, and Everton..............or you could ask any newsagent, sales of rolling tobacco have gone through the floor, but not Rizla papers. Ask yourself why? It is cheap politics to base your solution to the worlds ills on a policy of increasing taxes on "them", the undeserving. Depending on your own political belief or prejudice "they" may be welfare scrounges, the sick, the rich, the bankers, MPs, foreigners, civil servants but not nurses or teachers, yada, yada, yada. I will always shoot at people who claim only confiscating 40% or 45% of someone's hard earned is a "break." It's nothing of the sort, and people will weigh up whether it is worth the carrot. Having said all that, I entirely agree with the sentiments behind your posts, and share your deep sense of frustration that the poor, the elderly, the sick and the disabled are seeing their living conditions worsen. Something must be done. I would start by scrapping the tax levied on low paid jobs called "National Insurance." This is a stonking 12% on the first £42,000 a year or so, then it drops to 2%. It really needs to be binned, but OK, I accept it is to "pay your stamp," and so it has some attraction to the misty eyed idealogical left, it is never mentioned, never questioned, and 12% of your hard earned just grabbed from the lowest paid workers. Just abolish it, but if you have to keep it, then why not just charge the 12% full stop! with no ceiling! and cut the top tax rate to 30% to make up for it...................in fact why not just have one rate of income tax at about 25%, and raise the tax free ceiling to say £25,0000.

Great Idea. They will all move offshore, we will get no taxes off them then, so we will have to tax the rest of us even more! doh.

Come off it! The option to retire at 50 was withdrawn by the last government, and I see no clamour to bring it back. Not sure the phrase "can practically retire" stands any kind of intellectual scrutiny, you either are, or are not. I don't think there is anything wrong with public sector pensions, we should be focussing instead on getting better pensions for everyone else. I suppose it depends on if you are driven by envy, (I can't have it so they can't / shouldn't), or ambition, (let's improve everyone's pension). The grown ups recognise the issue has arisen because people live longer, so draw their pensions for longer too. Oh and finally, when you retire early, your pension is reduced, at 50 it was 75% of your earned pension for life.

High earners saw their marginal tax rate rise by 25% from 40% to 50%. It is currently "only" 45%. Hard to see this as any kind of giveaway; more like an excuse for a "getaway."

Quite the best post I have read for some while. Come to Oz, it is so much better, I wish I had 20 years ago!