Birmingham bankrupt

Politicians love Trident because it makes us a 'Great Power' so they can go on dick-waving and pretending that we are bigger and harder than we actually are.

Meanwhile, the conventional forces, the ones that really matter, are decimated and badly equipped.

Never mind, if the Russians wipe us all out, we can take a large number of them with us. Such a consolation. I won't mind being vaporised as long as Ivan and Olga are vaporised a few minutes later.
 
I once had an argument with a Tory candidate about the state of a local park, back in the 60's and 70's this main park had a Parkkeeper and a small team of gardeners who maintained it in pristine condition and people were rightly proud of it

Come 1979 and the incoming Tory government it was all cut and continued to be cut year upon year, the park now relies on a team of mostly retired folk who try their hardest to keep it looking good but they can only do so much, the local authority cut the grass and maintain the trees and that's about it

It's a small thing but it was important, and this example has been multiplied across the country, there are Sure start and Children's Centres standing empty because the money to run them has been withdrawn by central government

Tax Cuts only really benefit the very wealthy, but they have devastated this country
 
BrianW said:
Politicians love Trident because it makes us a 'Great Power' so they can go on dick-waving and pretending that we are bigger and harder than we actually are.

Meanwhile, the conventional forces, the ones that really matter, are decimated and badly equipped.

Never mind, if the Russians wipe us all out, we can take a large number of them with us. Such a consolation. I won't mind being vaporised as long as Ivan and Olga are vaporised a few minutes later.
Click to expand...
MAD is a thing.
We need to maintain an independent nuclear deterrent.
You can argue what shape that should take or how much money we should be spending on it but we cannot disarm ourselves.
It leaves us open to the leverage of friends and foes alike.
 
goalmole said:
MAD is a thing.
We need to maintain an independent nuclear deterrent.
You can argue what shape that should take or how much money we should be spending on it but we cannot disarm ourselves.
It leaves us open to the leverage of friends and foes alike.
Click to expand...
How do Germany, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland etc. survive?

Are we somehow more Terrific and Unique than these countries? They are certainly richer than we are, or most are, We simply cannot afford this luxury. It's like having a Rolls Royce on the drive (to display but not use) while feeding the kids baked beans for their meals each day.

Now, if we had a United States of Europe, and that entity had nuclear weapons, that would be reasonable, as a USE could afford them. But we prefer to be an impoverished offshore island with roads full of potholes and schools with collapsing walls and roofs, just so we can pretend to be Special.
 
BrianW said:
Politicians love Trident because it makes us a 'Great Power' so they can go on dick-waving and pretending that we are bigger and harder than we actually are.

Meanwhile, the conventional forces, the ones that really matter, are decimated and badly equipped.

Never mind, if the Russians wipe us all out, we can take a large number of them with us. Such a consolation. I won't mind being vaporised as long as Ivan and Olga are vaporised a few minutes later.
Click to expand...
I tried to explain this the other day on another thread.

9 countries have nuclear weapons, meaning 186 don’t and have still managed not to be hit by them as of yet.
 
So, knowing they were heading towards financial difficulties, why the hell did they agree to host the fucking Commonwealth Games ?
 
Is it really any wonder that councils are in financial trouble. If you need £1 to cover essential statutory services but only receive 80p to do it you go into debt.

Cameron and Osborne's ridiculous austerity plan has ruined this country. The notion you run the country like you run a household was ridiculous, the maxed out credit card stuff was nonsense. The austerity plan was an ideologically driven move to cut what the % of GDP that the nation spent on public services to similar levels of the USA. It was neo-liberalism on speed, it has destroyed the fabric of the nation, public services are awful, the NHS is in crisis, the transport system is a mess, crime figures are rising, the country is fucked and inequality has risen expotentially.

Birmingham has issues, its one of our great cities, but it suffered under the mass de-industrialisation policies of the Thatcher regime and continual cuts in funding from central government were always going to end one way. because if you need £1 cover essential statutory services but only receive 80p you end up in debt and bankruptcy.

Meanwhile just now in PMQs Sunak talks as though everything is wonderful.
 
Vic said:
Park rangers. They were the first to go....

Seriously, you seem to be supporting the whole Tory austerity spiel that efficiency savings will make up for the entire withdrawal of government support grants, or that sacking a manager or two would do the trick.

It's nonsense.
Click to expand...
We have a small park behind our street, and set up a neighbourhood group to look after and improve it. We had dedicated park rangers who helped a lot.
Cue a tory election victory and within 12 months all rangers had been laid off.
The park we planted bulbs in, fixed the steps, had 'fun days' in and got a better kids playground for is now overgrown with weeds, full of litter and a local haunt for drug dealing. The every other day council bin emptying on there is now once a week, if we're lucky.
 
goalmole said:
MAD is a thing.
We need to maintain an independent nuclear deterrent.
You can argue what shape that should take or how much money we should be spending on it but we cannot disarm ourselves.
It leaves us open to the leverage of friends and foes alike.
Click to expand...
Really?
How leveraged does Germany find itself, or Japan?
 
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