20 Years AGo Today -The World Changed - no JFK wasn't shot

Sewinman

Rushie wrote:

So let me get this right. The profitable part of the UK Nuclear Portfolio is owned ultimately by a French company. Whereas the costs for decommissioning the nuclear power stations are borne by the UK tax payer? Which genius put that deal together?.

Yep, it was put together because it would have been impossible to privitise the nuclear power stations without such a seperation. Who would ever take on such a liability?

attica

dilemna wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

I have memories of the late 70's that include power cuts, general strikes, rubbish piling up in the streets, inflation reaching 25% and the UK going cap in hand to the IMF for a bail out. Clearly some people have 'forgotten' the uttely abysmal legacy of the labour government before last.

Here we go again....

Indeed, Liebour and Ted Heath were a shower, but Thatcher went far too far laying waste to the UK's industrial heartlands.

3.5 million unemployed, ......... the Poll Tax.

Surely Ted Heath was a Tory?

schlepcycling

rjsterry wrote:

So let me get this right. The profitable part of the UK Nuclear Portfolio is owned ultimately by the French government. Whereas the costs for decommissioning the nuclear power stations are borne by the UK tax payer? Which genius put that deal together?

Fixed that for you.

rjsterry

Simon Hogart - political sketch writer for the Guardian - wrote a piece a while back about his experiences of the last 4 or 5 prime ministers. Apparently Thatcher had almost no discernible sense of humour - she had to have the jokes in her speech explained to her and be assured that they were funny. She also came out with a few unintentional one-liners.

notsoblue

rjsterry wrote:

Simon Hogart - political sketch writer for the Guardian - wrote a piece a while back about his experiences of the last 4 or 5 prime ministers. Apparently Thatcher had almost no discernible sense of humour - she had to have the jokes in her speech explained to her and be assured that they were funny. She also came out with a few unintentional one-liners.

Great article that!

Clever Pun

I'm pretty sure JFK was shot

rjsterry

schlepcycling wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

So let me get this right. The profitable part of the UK Nuclear Portfolio is owned ultimately by the French government. Whereas the costs for decommissioning the nuclear power stations are borne by the UK tax payer? Which genius put that deal together?

Fixed that for you.

That was Rushie, not me. See? Syntax is important (see irrational hatreds thread).

Stevo_666

DonDaddyD wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

I have memories of the late 70's that include power cuts, general strikes, rubbish piling up in the streets, inflation reaching 25% and the UK going cap in hand to the IMF for a bail out. Clearly some people have 'forgotten' the uttely abysmal legacy of the labour government before last.

Here we go again....

Seems to me that the trend is to have one good term then they go too far in the second/third (by now the Party leader is getting old no longer can identify with the current soceity of British public at the time).

Then its all change.

Brilliant single term then goes too far with the parties ideoogies and gets old, ousted. Then all change.

Could be wrong.

Actually that's probably not too far off the mark. Sure, all parties seems to 'go off' after a while, get chucked out and the next lot get a go.

The Tories under Thatch probably had not a fantastic first term (see above re: clearing up the pre '79 mess ) but then won the '83 election on the back of the Falklands conflict and then had a stronger second term - if the size of their majority was anything to go by.

Stevo_666

dilemna wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

I have memories of the late 70's that include power cuts, general strikes, rubbish piling up in the streets, inflation reaching 25% and the UK going cap in hand to the IMF for a bail out. Clearly some people have 'forgotten' the uttely abysmal legacy of the labour government before last.

Here we go again....

Indeed, Liebour and Ted Heath were a shower, but Thatcher went far too far laying waste to the UK's industrial heartlands.

3.5 million unemployed, ......... the Poll Tax.

The Poll Tax was probably Thatch's biggest mistake as she underestimated the strength of feeling about it badly, especially amongst people who like to smash windows when they disagree with things.

3.5 million unemployed at the peak, but that dropped far lower as time went on. Compare that to the Callaghan Govt which nearly bankrupted the country - see above re: IMF, inflation etc - or the Brown Govt who - guess what - nearly bankrupted the country. What's worse?

PresumingEd

Thatchers "economic miracle" was simply acheived by flogging off verything she could via wholesale privatisation, squandering the North Sea gas revenues and massively increasing the tax burden. The eventual reduction in the unemployment figures was then aided by an artificial boom designed to give her a third term in office; this directly led to the early '90s recession.

The sad fact is thatt New Labour simply continued the deeply-flawed Thatcher ecomnomic model, leading the yet more false growth and another recession.

and yet some people still think she did good!!