So, some of the lowest paid council workers were on strike during the week. I'm not (and never have been) a union man so normally I wouldn't have any sympathy with strikers. However they've been offered a pay rise of 2.49% and the Government has admitted that on its own figures inflation is running at 3.8% (the truth is probably nearer 7%) so on this occasion I frankly I don't f***ing blame them. By accepting a 2.49% increase they would in effect be taking a pay cut. To be fair an increase which...

Adrian69702006

So we are told that Labour have failed to win the Henley on Thames by-election and their candidate ended up coming in fifth's place, losing his deposit into the bargain. Given that it was an unwinnable seat in the first place, once wonders why Labour even bothered to field a candidate. After all, the world knows that if a dog were to stand as the Tory candidate in Henley it would most assuredly win in that Hiome Counties heartland. Equally there are plenty of urban constituencies in the industrial...

Adrian69702006

So Ed Balls is at it again. Not content with leaving them in peace we are told that he now wants to merge the few remaining Grammar Schools with what he describes as 'failing' Secondary Moderns. Where have we heard this before, I wonder? Ah yes, the 1970's Labour Government of Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan shamelessly pursued a policy of introducing comprehensive education wherever possible, destroying many good schools - both Grammar and Secondary Modern - in the process. A few selective schools...

Adrian69702006

So, Frank Field, one of Gordon Brown's backbenchers, has dared to articulate what many of us feel within our bones is true - that Gordon Brown's days in Downing Street are now numbered. If by some miracle he manages to stay, he'll almost certainly have gone two years from now. With the acknowledged facts before him, namely that he's now presiding over the most unpopular Labour Government for 70 years, one can't imagine that Mr Brown will hand in his resignation to Buckingham Palace and call a...

Adrian69702006

So the Budget has come and gone as predicted. Much as we might have predicted the Chancellor did absolutely nothing for single people on relatively low incomes such as myself, who've historically borne a disproportionate share of the tax burden. There's a surprise! In the main we might say that it was a fairly mundane affair - at least to those who slept through it and I'm assured plenty of MP's did just that.

For those who had one ear open though, there was plenty to catch out the...

Adrian69702006