BTH said:
And you'd started off so well too!
Just what do you base this theory on seeing as you only think this is true? Something you read in the Daily Mail perhaps?
You then go on to mention 'big bosses' so I assume you think big bosses in the public sector earn big money. Yes, they do, but most of the rank and file don't. I work in the public sector and, like most of my colleagues, I earn less than the average national wage. Big bosses - or chief officers - earn considerably more admittedly, but the received wisdom is that they could probably earn more doing a comparable job in the private sector.
Unlike the private sector, however, I don't know of any public sector workers who've ever had a productivity or Christmas bonus, won a free holiday or been given a company car - factors that are conveniently overlooked in the public versus private sector debate that Lord Snooty and his pals have been so keen to prolong ever since they effectively declared war on the public sector.
As for your assertion that "wages in the public sector have grown proportionately with public sector growth over the past few decades," again, where does this information come from and - more to the point - what exactly does it mean?
I can assure you that the fact that we haven't had a pay rise in line with inflation, never mind above it, in years, together with initiatives like Single Status/Job Evaluation have ensured that the vast majority of public servants haven't had a wage rise in real terms for years.
Sorry mate, I think you've completely misunderstood what I was saying! Maybe I put it across badly. I think we're on the same side here!!
What I mean is whilst people think we spend loads and loads on the public sector we dont atall, the rank and file dont get paid anything especially when you consider the quality of welfare we have- compared to France, Italy, Austria, Belgium we spend alot less on the public sector. This is true, my source is not the Daily Mail - check the OECD World Factbook 2010 - it compares public spending in OECD countries.
The Tory government say we've got this huge debt crisis the "worst in the world" when we don't if you look at statistics comparing our debt (as percentage of GDP) to USA, Italy, France, Japan, Canada, Germany (the G7) - we have the lowest debt as a proportion of GDP. (Source: IMF)
What Im trying to say is that the Tories are massively exaggerating the amounts spent on the public sector and the amount of debt we're in, in order to justify cuts in the public sector - which actually are not "necessary" nor "inevitable". What pisses me off is that people eat it up and repeat it on threads like this, and its just bullshit.
The attack on the public sector is ideological, if it were an ounce meaningful and necessary there would be cuts in more profitable places first - we could raise billions a year taxing unused houses, we could raise billions a year closing tax loopholes, we could raise billions a year taxing financial transactions - not to mention the 80billion Trident costs. Attacking peoples jobs, livelihoods and communities is not the only option. (Lots of sources!)