Cameron is PM

[AndyP & Lenore]

Taking into account the "discussions" going on elsewhere on the forums, I'm not entirely sure a thread on politics is the best idea at this time, however....

David Cameron is now our PM.

Did things just get better or worse?:confused:

A.

[GCA3N]

Tough call Andy, but I feel that atleast it's a change. Only time will tell.

[Livi]

Has the queen ok'd Cameron to be PM?

Im sure its down to her? someone please correct me if i am totally wrong or out of place with all this lol

[GCA3N]

Has the queen ok'd Cameron to be PM?

Im sure its down to her? someone please correct me if i am totally wrong or out of place with all this lol


I think it's an official ceremony more to do with tradition now as the queen doesn't really have the power any more. I think that's how it is nowadays.

[AndyP & Lenore]

Has the queen ok'd Cameron to be PM?

Im sure its down to her? someone please correct me if i am totally wrong or out of place with all this lol

Yeah, she's "asked him to be her PM and they kissed hands" apparently.

Like Greig says, it's a change. And a change is as good as a rest. As a business owner, I have to say I prefer a conservative government to a labour government. But really not sure about a con-lib-coalition government.

A.:D

[Livi]

Forget what i said above, just seen it on the news lol!!

[illegalhunter]

We need people to do more for themselves , and less Goverment .Less Govt less taxes

[stoney]

not shure if its good or bad we will see what happenes over the nex few years but you could look at it a labour being fly and let the other partys hike up the tax over the next few years to recover the money they have spent then will get back in power when it all paid off and lower taxes and look like the good guys

[baptie]

Were aw Doomed!

[bry_mini]

Were aw Doomed!

lol!

[Scottie]

I am neither rich enough or poor enough for it to make a difference to me.

[Craig]

I for one am *****ng myself about the Conservatives getting in.... One of the first things they will look at is cutting public services to save tax payers money...:sad: I work in the public service...

They also mentioned that they wanted to get rid of all quango's.... Well I work for a non departmental government body (a quango in their eyes) and fear for my job.... :frown:

Frankly, I had no issue with the last government, however as said, a change may be as good as a rest, just hope my rest isn't in ma hoose on the dole...!! :argh: :lol:

[Mini_Disaster]

Think its a good thing to be honest. Bring on the change!! Hopefully wont be so many dole scummers & benefits cheats now the Tories are in power.

Slightly worried about deals with the lib dems however, I just get the feeling they want to take my car off me & make us join europe!!

I actually didnt use my vote, I just didnt see the point, I live in a very secure Labour seat & low & behold the idiots around me have voted Labour's Eric Joyce back into his seat, taking some 60% of the total votes...........this happens, dispite him being top-claiming Member of the House of Commons for the 2007-08 Parliamentary Session. During his time in office hes claimed over £1M in expenses!!

People are bleedin clueless!!

I would have voted Tory if the candidate here didnt look like Susan Boyle.

Dont like Lib Dem's or SNP.............so just binned my polling card.

Glad Tories are in power again though, I think if anyone can get Britain to be anywhere near great again then its them!!

[Mini_Disaster]

I for one am *****ng myself about the Conservatives getting in.... One of the first things they will look at is cutting public services to save tax payers money...:sad: I work in the public service...

They also mentioned that they wanted to get rid of all quango's.... Well I work for a non departmental government body (a quango in their eyes) and fear for my job.... :frown:

Frankly, I had no issue with the last government, however as said, a change may be as good as a rest, just hope my rest isn't in ma hoose on the dole...!! :argh: :lol:

I hope it doesnt affect you Craig however I recon the public sectors deffo in for a spanking. Something like 1 in 3 people in scotland work in the public sector, my mrs included.

[camjay]

I'm not too happy about Tories being in power again to be perfectly honest. I don't think Brown did a good job, but he inherited a lot of the sh*t from Blair.

I still have very bitter memories of the 80's and Thatcher's Tory government - for the working class, it wasn't pretty - and having lived through it, it was tough times. I can still see news reports of these YUPPY twats down south quoffing champers whilst everyone else was skint! Through principle I could never EVER be a supporter of the Tories, but in saying that, I don't dislike Cameron.

I'm also a public sector worker - a nurse - and for the first time in 23 years am beginning to worry about my job having seen recent cuts first hand! However, time will tell so it'll be interesting to see what happens!

[ELFMAN]

I agree with Camjay - I hate the thought of the Tories (albeit with the Lib Dems maybe curbing some of their enthusiasm) being back in power, and I'm not totally convinced that Cameron isn't still a Yuppy Twat behind his 'New Tory' media-friendly persona. But don't be fooled into thinking if Labour had held on, it'd be much, if any, better. The sh*t will hit the fan whoever's 'in charge', the Public Sector (like a lot of private businesses) is already feeling the pinch and it'll get a lot worse before it gets better I'm afraid. It was bad enough in the 80's with Thatcher - that was just through pure bloody-minded 'Sod Society and grab the cash' dogma - but now we've got a global economic **** up to deal with and it won't be pretty. None of the parties were letting on what they were really going to do about it, cuts-wise, but we'll find out soon enough.

I work in the Voluntary Sector, for a Voluntary Organisation, doing Design & Printing for Community Groups. There's only me and a part-time lady on the staff. Our wee bit of Council funding's been cut already this year - only slightly, and luckily we create income from the work we do which at least pays my wages, but there are other voluntary groups which do a lot of great work in the community (saving the State a whole bunch of money by providing services which would cost a lot more if councils and the like had to do it) who are losing large chunks if not all of their funding, and that will affect some of the most vulnerable people who rely on them. It's like Deja Vu from 30 years ago... I was with the same organisation (from 1985) and we went from a staff of 12 to about 4 when Maggie was in full swing. But despite all that, I'm still there... just older, more cynical and even more knackered!

So there are hard times ahead for everybody. Hung Parliament? They should've hung some of them at least - along with Fred Goodwin and his greed-ridden global banking cronies who helped get us into this whole sorry mess.

[euan]

They'll be out in 4 years anyway, by the time they've cut the deficit (or tried to get close to what they said in the manifesto) everyone will be pissed off, and it's goodnight to him.

For all the people saying Brown was two faced with his bigot comment, I can't help feeling Cameron is worse.

[Delboy]

Yeah, she's "asked her to be her PM and they kissed hands" apparently.

Andy - are you saying Cameron is a "wumin'"? :smilewinkgrin:

[euan]

Andy - are you saying Cameron is a "wumin'"? :smilewinkgrin:

He's been called a lot worse on some groups on Facebook ;-)

[Andrew]

As a civil servant I'm not optimistic. :frown:

For some reason having no pay rise, cutting my pension and possibly losing my job are essential requirements for bailing the country out of a mess created by people who earn more than me and probably get bonuses 10 times my salary.

Not that I'm bitter mind. :smilewinkgrin:

[AndyP & Lenore]

Andy - are you saying Cameron is a "wumin'"? :smilewinkgrin:


He's been called a lot worse on some groups on Facebook ;-)

Oops.

Fixed.

A.

[N16SHP]

I'm not really old enough to know what it was like when the conservatives were last in power. All I know now is that I am planning to leave this country at the thought of David Cameron leading it after reading his manifesto. The thought of them only having one seat in Scotland stands SNP in better position of an independant Scotland which scares me even more!

I believe that Gordon Brown did a relatively decent job as PM. He started to lead the country out of recession, albeit slowly, and he openly admitted he made a couple of mistakes. Whens the last time you heard an MP admitting they made a mistake. I'd say it is a little unfair to say that he inherited s**t from Tony Blair, as Gordon Brown was the chancellor and knew what was going on anyway. I think the fact he addressed the country before stepping down and going to see the Queen, which no other PM has done before, shows he really is a proud man.

I, like most people, also have a grump in the way the electorial system works. For starters I voted Labour yet believe my local Lib Deb councillor had better points, but I was looking at the overall picture and not wanting to see Lib Dem in power.

All of this of course is my opinion!

[camjay]

I'd say it is a little unfair to say that he inherited s**t from Tony Blair, as Gordon Brown was the chancellor and knew what was going on anyway.


Agreed. Perhaps I worded that wrongly. This country was down the swanny long before Brown took over and he was indeed partly responsible. However, Blair never got half the hassle and grief Brown did. Why is this? Is it because some people didn't want an Scotsman to lead their country??

[N16SHP]

Agreed. Perhaps I worded that wrongly. This country was down the swanny long before Brown took over and he was indeed partly responsible. However, Blair never got half the hassle and grief Brown did. Why is this? Is it because some people didn't want an Scotsman to lead their country??

I sometimes think that we see him differently being a Scot, but when we discussed it at work, if he was English, most of us would still have the same opinion that he did not too bad.

Here's an interesting one for you: Would we be supporting David Cameron more if he was Scottish. I'd have to say I probably would :(

[camjay]

No. Because Scottish or not he would still be a Tory! :p

[Gismo]

I'm just glad i'm out of the country, a conservative Lib deal doesn't sound like it's very good.
For my opinion the government should be decided on who wins the most votes, not needing a majority

[N16SHP]

The whole reason the Libs were formed was to change the electorial system. So lets see what happens in that department!

[euan]

As a civil servant I'm not optimistic. :frown:

For some reason having no pay rise, cutting my pension and possibly losing my job are essential requirements for bailing the country out of a mess created by people who earn more than me and probably get bonuses 10 times my salary.

Not that I'm bitter mind. :smilewinkgrin:

I really hope that things work ok for you, and I don't want to get this into a public/private slanging match, however I have to say - welcome to the real world ;-) I've worked for the same (private) company since 1999, and in that time our final salary scheme closed, there are staff who've not had any pay rise (inflation or otherwise) for multiple years running, two rounds of compulsory redundancy, and at the same time, we're all working more hours and having benefits cut.

[Crombers]

I'm just glad i'm out of the country

You ain't the only one :thumbs up:

[camjay]

I've worked for the same (private) company since 1999, and in that time our final salary scheme closed, there are staff who've not had any pay rise (inflation or otherwise) for multiple years running, two rounds of compulsory redundancy, and at the same time, we're all working more hours and having benefits cut.

I would agree - I think working for a private company could be very unsettling. I work for the NHS, and although we are still very fortunate in as far as staff benefits etc, we have seen lots of unwelcome changes in our working conditions, terms etc. For an institution that used to be "safe as houses" we're all getting a bit worried!

[AndyP & Lenore]

I would agree - I think working for a private company could be very unsettling. I work for the NHS, and although we are still very fortunate in as far as staff benefits etc, we have seen lots of unwelcome changes in our working conditions, terms etc. For an institution that used to be "safe as houses" we're all getting a bit worried!

That level of security simply no longer exists anywhere, sadly.:frown:

A.:frown:

[Scottie]

I feel for you all I really do. I know more than most what it is like to work in a unsettled and unsure environment I hope no one looses their job but I fear that some sectors may see some drastic cuts.

[Sheilz]

I detest the Tories. I also detest Labour. I despise Lib Dems (what will we be today brigade). Public Sector cuts will come and as anyone who reads the BBC forums and Daily Mail (bastion of anti-Scottish opinion) will know, there are a lot of pretty ignorant people out there who appear to be rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect. LOL some of the things I've read had me wondering if they're folk that've fallen foul of the system one way or another. Sectors in the population seem to forget that the private sector is dependent on the public sector to function and also on the spending power of those who earn their livelihood from it. Throw thousands of public sector workers on the dole and watch the domino effect on small local businesses.
About the only decent things that will come from the Tories in government is strengthening the Independence movement. Eventually the Scottish public will cotton onto the fact that 'Vote for us to keep the Tories out' is just empty spin since under the current system its the south of England that determines who governs the rest of us. Pavlov's dog learned what the bell ringing meant and with time I have high hopes the Scottish electorate will too. The only decent policy I think the Tories have is to separate the high st banks from casino banks. That should've been done when Brown de-regulated the banks. I don't feel sorry for Brown at all though I don't see him as being quite so vile as Tony Blair. Between the two of them they squandered the nation's wealth on illegal wars and policies to suck up the a*rse of the buffoon Bush. Blair is a slimey corrupt bstrd and ought to be facing charges in the Hague. We're in debt to the tune of almost 2 trillion pounds (they don't like to publicise PFI schemes since it tends to be Tory voters who benefit from generous payment terms from the Exchequer) while Brown and Blair squandered every penny going into thier coffers leaving nothing for a rainy day. Absolute bloody disgrace.
I agree with Camjay and Elfman, its too easy to target the vulnerable in society. However if the government is determined to end scroungers and thieving from the system they ought to start with their own kind. The Exchequer is cheated out of a lot more tax than it is of benefits. The Murdoch mafia have a vested interest in ensuring the public demonise the poor and vulnerable to hide the antics of the rich. I always feel the Tories are morally bankrupt and I don't think Cameron will be any different. Maybe for a start he might try to woo Scottish voters but once he realises we aren't that fckn stupid the axe will swing and since there is no Tory base to protect they wont give a sh*t. If the Scots lie down and take it, then some would argue they deserve all they get.
On a personal level I'm not really sure how vulnerable social workers in Children's Services will be. High unemployment tends to increase our workload. However if the worst came to the worst then I would continue with an application to move to Oz. Have already been told I will qualify for a visa.

[euan]

On a personal level I'm not really sure how vulnerable social workers in Children's Services will be. High unemployment tends to increase our workload. However if the worst came to the worst then I would continue with an application to move to Oz. Have already been told I will qualify for a visa.

Yeah, but if you think the snakes here are scary, you should see the ones over there! At the least the ones here are well dressed.

I would agree, there do seem to be people with an axe to grind on a lot of things. Living down south I hear a lot more English people feeding lines from the Daily Mail about the cost Scotland is to the English, but equally nothing about what Scotland brings to England in terms of business taxes and oil revenues. It's a very one sided argument and one I don't ever get into as people are too ignorant. The really worrying thing is that these are clever, educated people. Quite frankly, I'm keeping my head down! The next thing will be the cost of the north, etc etc.

[Sheilz]

Yeah, but if you think the snakes here are scary, you should see the ones over there! At the least the ones here are well dressed.

.

LOL but at least in Oz a snake's a snake and they don't wear suits and bowler hats.

[Andrew]

I really hope that things work ok for you, and I don't want to get this into a public/private slanging match, however I have to say - welcome to the real world ;-) I've worked for the same (private) company since 1999, and in that time our final salary scheme closed, there are staff who've not had any pay rise (inflation or otherwise) for multiple years running, two rounds of compulsory redundancy, and at the same time, we're all working more hours and having benefits cut.

I've no idea what you do to earn a crust but I have been dealing with the real world, including the unsavoury elements of society, on a daily basis for years.

Over the years when society and the economy have been enjoying the boom times and the newspapers full of stories of salaries up, bonuses up and prosperity in the private industry, my branch of the civil service never enjoyed the fruits of this. We were always told that the salaries we 'enjoyed' was compensated by our decent pension scheme. A final salary scheme that civil servants pay into, I think it's 3.5% of pensionable salary, and was closed to new entrants in, I think , 2006.

[Sheilz]

I would agree, there do seem to be people with an axe to grind on a lot of things. Living down south I hear a lot more English people feeding lines from the Daily Mail about the cost Scotland is to the English, but equally nothing about what Scotland brings to England in terms of business taxes and oil revenues. It's a very one sided argument and one I don't ever get into as people are too ignorant. The really worrying thing is that these are clever, educated people. Quite frankly, I'm keeping my head down! The next thing will be the cost of the north, etc etc.

Absolutely and its not just Scotland. If all the wealth created in the different regions and countries in GB was returned to source the City of London would soon be seen for what it is as nothing more than a collection point. It doesn't create the wealth, its the rest of us that do that. Same goes for the financial institutions, sometimes they make money but as we have found to our cost they also squander and tough **** if its you or I's pension fund that's been hit. That's Brown's biggest crime. He has been a 'patsy' to these poker playing fiends.

[N12 JLK]

Listened to the radio on Monday and someone phoned in to the show and said that the Torys have been in for 10 mins and already there has been a scotsman put on the dole. I for sure will be taking a day off work when Thatcher dies to celibrate.

[Sheilz]

Listened to the radio on Monday and someone phoned in to the show and said that the Torys have been in for 10 mins and already there has been a scotsman put on the dole. I for sure will be taking a day off work when Thatcher dies to celibrate.

There's a group on facebook supporting a state funeral for her but only on the condition that she's buried alive. O lord I got roasted from some yanks for joking about it. Beeding Republicans thought she was the best thing ever.

[Livi]

Torys have been in for 10 mins and already there has been a scotsman put on the dole.

Is that not a joke being Brown is the scotsman and he lost his job and home? :lol:

[Sheilz]

I've no idea what you do to earn a crust but I have been dealing with the real world, including the unsavoury elements of society, on a daily basis for years.

Over the years when society and the economy have been enjoying the boom times and the newspapers full of stories of salaries up, bonuses up and prosperity in the private industry, my branch of the civil service never enjoyed the fruits of this. We were always told that the salaries we 'enjoyed' was compensated by our decent pension scheme. A final salary scheme that civil servants pay into, I think it's 3.5% of pensionable salary, and was closed to new entrants in, I think , 2006.

Spot on Andrew. That has always been the trade off between working for the state rather than a business. I get pretty annoyed when I hear folk banging on about cushie council or civil service numbers with jobs for life. I've yet to hear one of them offering to share their bonuses or much higher salaries with us lesser paid people when they were coining it in but suddenly there's this great outcry when things go wrong for them. That's not to say everyone shares that opinion but it is one promoted in the press which clearly has a hidden political agenda. How popular will the Tories be with the average daily mail reader when the council workers start gettting laid off? The fact is its a personal tragedy for anyone losing their job no matter where they're employed.

[N12 JLK]

Is that not a joke being Brown is the scotsman and he lost his job and home? :lol:

Yes

[Andrew]

Spot on Andrew. That has always been the trade off between working for the state rather than a business. I get pretty annoyed when I hear folk banging on about cushie council or civil service numbers with jobs for life. I've yet to hear one of them offering to share their bonuses or much higher salaries with us lesser paid people when they were coining it in but suddenly there's this great outcry when things go wrong for them. That's not to say everyone shares that opinion but it is one promoted in the press which clearly has a hidden political agenda. How popular will the Tories be with the average daily mail reader when the council workers start gettting laid off? The fact is its a personal tragedy for anyone losing their job no matter where they're employed.

The problem is that too many people believe the Daily Mail image of the Civil Service; Whitehall mandarins, pin stripes, bowler hats, massive pensions, cushie office jobs etc. This is not the profile of the vast majority of those who work in the Public Service.

Off the top of my head , in the last ten years I have been spat on, told 'hope your kids get leukemia', 'hope you get cancer ya c....'. 'I'm gonnae wait outside and slash you' etc and I don't even work as a nurse in A&E.

[camjay]

Off the top of my head , in the last ten years I have been spat on, told 'hope your kids get leukemia', 'hope you get cancer ya c....'. 'I'm gonnae wait outside and slash you' etc and I don't even work as a nurse in A&E.

From the nursing side of things, its well publicised the type of abuse we have to put up with. We are aware though that this type of disgusting behaviour is by no way exclusive to health sector workers. Almost all public sector workers have had to put up with all kinds of aggressive behaviour. Personally, I've been told to "f**k off" (several times) called a "slag" and a "b***h" - I might be a b***h, but I'm no slag LOL!! But seriously, I've been manhandled, groped and pushed. NHS workers have been told there is a "zero tolerance" towards any type of aggression or abuse, yet our governing body tells us we are not carrying out our "duty of care" if we refuse to treat these people! Morale in nursing is rock bottom and if I could find a job doing something else for the same kind of money, I'd be off like a shot and trust me, this is the opinion of most of my colleagues! Oh, and what are bonuses?

Sorry folks, off on a rant and slightly off topic but had to get it out! That's the last I've to say on the topic!

[euan]

I've no idea what you do to earn a crust but I have been dealing with the real world, including the unsavoury elements of society, on a daily basis for years.

Over the years when society and the economy have been enjoying the boom times and the newspapers full of stories of salaries up, bonuses up and prosperity in the private industry, my branch of the civil service never enjoyed the fruits of this. We were always told that the salaries we 'enjoyed' was compensated by our decent pension scheme. A final salary scheme that civil servants pay into, I think it's 3.5% of pensionable salary, and was closed to new entrants in, I think , 2006.

So the papers are saying it's a boom time and salaries are up etc - that is all paper talk. Sure, we read about top bankers and their rediculous salaries, but it's the same in the public sector, it's just not as well publicised. For the average person in the street, private or public, I don't think the differences are actually that vast.

I've spent a lot of my time working for a private sector company but working for public sector organisations and have made a lot of friends in it so I can see it from both angles. I'm not denying that some public sector workers have difficult times at work because of the lines of work they are in, and I can stand back and appreciate the work that people do as I know I couldn't do it.

It's not always rosier on the other side, it may well have been a boom time in some places but by and large most of my friends experiences are the same as mine. A very good friend of mine works in a hospital, and his wife is a teacher - they were both stunned when they found out what my and my wifes pay and conditions were in comparison to theirs.

I'm not having a pop at you, I'm sorry if you took it as such, but it really isn't going to be any different in the private sector for the next few years.

[Scottie]

hey while I understand from reading the previous posts that you all have a grump about your job. You have no idea what it was like working for one of the largest companies about having to apply for your own job every 2 years always working worrying when your job would end all the utter bullsh1t that went on the procedures blah blah blah blah

although the pay was great
the bonuses even better
pension yip that was good
the share match well that was good
no of holidays well second to none

Oh and FWIW there is nothing like the price of petrol to get people calling you names that frankly were not the best down the phone though and never in person.

[euan]

I think at the end of the day, unless your Hugh Hefner, there are always things you don't like about your job ;-)

[The Dogfather]

I've seen both sides of the story, but my jobs in the civil service were probably one of the easier ones as I didn't have to deal with the public much, thank god.

From my experience, in private industry you are paid more but you are worked harder and there's little if any job security, in the civil service the conditions are better but the work can be soul destroying and the pay is considerably less. However, you only really had to worry about job security when the government changed.

[Andrew]

I think at the end of the day, unless your Hugh Hefner, there are always things you don't like about your job ;-)

Oh I don't know, I bet even Hugh Could find something to mump about :smilewinkgrin: