Wonder where your hard earned tax goes

[Old WoodChip]

It's a crazy world we live in Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

[treequip]

I didnt press the button

[likeitorlumpit]

Never really convinced by these arguments any more. We need what we need

[Taupotreeman]

Never really convinced by these arguments any more. We need what we need

 

Agreed.

 

 

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[WorcsWuss]

I'm more concerned about how local authorities are controlled.

I have no real issue with military spending, it is what it is.

Worcestershire sent someone out to my son's primary school to check bus passes the other day. Little things like that all over the country are what add up....

[difflock]

I would scrap Trident and stop pretending to be a serious Stratigic world power.

A much reduced Air Force with much fewer top brass.

 

BUT

Maintain our Paras and Royal Marines etc as top notch fighting troops, properly equipped as per the American Marine Corps with dedicated close air support etc,and used in peacekeeping roles wherever, most especially to protect British citizens in troubled regimes.

 

That would be something to be proud of.

cheers

m

[simont]

I would scrap Trident and stop pretending to be a serious Stratigic world power.

A much reduced Air Force with much fewer top brass.

 

BUT

Maintain our Paras and Royal Marines etc as top notch fighting troops, properly equipped as per the American Marine Corps with dedicated close air support etc,and used in peacekeeping roles wherever, most especially to protect British citizens in troubled regimes.

 

That would be something to be proud of.

cheers

m

 

I agree with more to the forces, we need to keep trident. Britain is a small country but we sit at the top table because of our special relationship with the states. This leaves us open, so we need the deterant because of this.

 

Look at the falklands, 200 + soldiers died defending the islands, argies are making noises so what is defending the islands now, we have no carriers left.

 

Stop giving aid to regimes and brussels and look adfter ourselves first i say.

[Yorkshireman]

I'm more concerned about how local authorities are controlled.

I have no real issue with military spending, it is what it is.

Worcestershire sent someone out to my son's primary school to check bus passes the other day. Little things like that all over the country are what add up....

 

I've got to agree La spending is off the wall , many of us know of the March silly season where councils suddenly realise they have spare cash to spend before the financial year end and get schemes ordered before they lose the money

 

Why ? because they dont actively control budgets

Why ? because its not their money

Why ? because they can put rates up again next year

 

One of our local councils has spent millions putting up a vertical pier to attract vistors into the town so that they can climb up the pier in order to gaze out over the sea & the 40 huge wind turbines set up in the inner coast line

D'oh what a marvelous attraction thats is !

[WorcsWuss]

LA's are in desperate need of a shake up.

Not long ago I tried to get us an opportunity to quote to build a new 8 classroom block at my daughter's high school. Looking at the feasibility study it looked like a comfortable 8 to 9 hundred thousand. The LA building economists had budget costed it and got it to over £1m.

This meant it didn't go to tender but went to framework, where 3 contractors take it in turns to do all the jobs over £1m without it going to tender....

What do you think the job is actually costing....?

 

 

Yup, £2million.....

 

So that's £1m of public money squandered.... A big chunk of it will go back into the property services department for 'project fees' justifying unnecessary jobs.....

 

The most tragic thing is the school wanted science labs, about £50k per classroom.

And out of the 8 rooms they're getting precisely zero science labs, because they 'can't afford' them......

 

Thankfully the new academy system addresses many of these issues but unfortunately my kids' schools are still LA controlled....

[difflock]

I get a couple of "free" LA type building/specification magazines at work.

I goggle at the "bespoke" nature of school design, for a while there they HAD to incorporate "pods" whatever they are.

And other quite needless expensive "notions"

In these straitned times schools should be build like Lidl supermarkets.

One size fits all, unless sponsored by a local beneficary.

Specially since children in Africa and perhaps even China learn perfectly well in breeze block constructed shanty schools.

Someone remind me

What was this thread really about?