Gideon wields his axe [The UK's Comprehensive Review Thread]

23_Tauri said:
I'd like to see what this graph does in the years 1946 - 1960, reflecting the post-War baby boom, as maybe income-fertility doesn't show the same relationship for these years.
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Me too, but the WDI database (which was only recently made free to the public) doesn't go there, and I have not found it at the UN either. The NBER paper has more international data.
 
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23_Tauri said:
Who's to say that living on their own, with the loneliness they might suffer as a result, would be any kinder to them than a house share arrangement?
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I appreciate that point. But in that case there is the choice of contact. Floating support workers, family. But to put someone with a severe Anxiety Disorder in cheek by jowel with total (and potentially unsympathetic) strangers isn't the mark of a civilised society. And with a 51% cut in Housing, congestion will increase.

If someone has such severe mental health issues that they can't live with other people then surely they would be a special case and the system would treat them as such, giving that person sheltered housing with some sort of support network?
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Wish that was the case.
 
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23_Tauri said:
Now that London has Boris Johnson at least they'll be plenty of bikes for the jobless to get on to. :D
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Actually there is a quite pronounced "tidal flow" phenomenon with the bikes even in the central area where the scheme works. The docking stations round my way (between Angel and Kings Cross) empty themselves shortly after 8am, while if you're lucky enough to grab one but want to dock it somewhere in Mayfair (yes--even though it's toffsville central), there are no vacant spaces after about the same hour. There are some helpful TFL chariots attempting to redistribute the bikes through the day but they don't fight the tide very effectively yet. Grumble. Just like bloody buses.

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Ah right - I see your point - I was using it how it is being used by the politicians/media which is what my point was about.

(ETA): E.g.

http://news.scotsman.com/news/Middle-classes-to-lose-out.6563050.jp

David Cameron has given his strongest hint yet that the middle classes will lose their benefits and entitlements in a massive overhaul of welfare. .... His comments came as Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith appeared to endorse means-testing for welfare, describing the payment of benefits to people earning £50,000 or more as "completely bonkers".



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-defends-cuts-Sure-Start-scheme-children.html

"Sam and I are part of the sharp-elbowed middle classes', claims Cameron"
 
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Darat said:
Ah right - I see your point - I was using it how it is being used by the politicians/media which is what my point was about.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-defends-cuts-Sure-Start-scheme-children.html

"Sam and I are part of the sharp-elbowed middle classes', claims Cameron"
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Daily Mail and David Cameron, I wouldn't rely on either. together :eek:

Middle classes is nearly always used by the press as shorthand for "us" or "them" depending on the context. I suspect each time it is used it refers to a different group. I think in this case we are better sticking to income definitions.
 
Francesca R said:
Actually there is a quite pronounced "tidal flow" phenomenon with the bikes even in the central area where the scheme works. The docking stations round my way (between Angel and Kings Cross) empty themselves shortly after 8am, while if you're lucky enough to grab one but want to dock it somewhere in Mayfair (yes--even though it's toffsville central), there are no vacant spaces after about the same hour. There are some helpful TFL chariots attempting to redistribute the bikes through the day but they don't fight the tide very effectively yet. Grumble. Just like bloody buses.

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My post was a reference to the famous Tebbit speech, but I'm sure you know that. :D
 
Francesca R said:
Employment (millions) 2010 Q3 = 28.8m, 2015 Q2 = 30.0m
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Thanks, when I can open PDFs I'll have a look at that.

Those figures would mean that there is a shortfall of at least 3 million jobs, so that would seem to be that the government is not planning on doing what it says it is planning to do!
 
Looking through some of the other detail, the plans are just pure fantasy, there is simply no way the "efficiency" savings are going to happen, many of the other changes they want to do can only happen by spending money (at least in the short term).

And I see funding to the NHS is going down, never mind this claimed fractional increase that is just disingenuous, for instance a billion is being took out and transferred to "social care".
 
Darat said:
Looking through some of the other detail, the plans are just pure fantasy, there is simply no way the "efficiency" savings are going to happen, many of the other changes they want to do can only happen by spending money (at least in the short term).
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I think that there's a hope that if the budget is reduced then ways will be found to deliver the service within the budget. Trying to make the savings in advance is self defeating.

In the private business I work in, I reckon staffing levels could be reduced by at least 10% with no impact on productivity whatsoever.

In a previous role I had to make 25% redundancies within a department and managed to do so with no reduction in the amount of work being done, no additional hours worked but rather less lollygagging.

Heck, the time I spend on this website each day, if devoted to productive work could support a 0.1 FTE headcount reduction
 
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