Granted, but I'm not sure the 'not getting new porsches':'doing something meaningful about climate change' is a 1:1 ratio.

<sighs>
OK, when a company or country is in lots and lots of debt, they must cut costs to compensate. A company would seek to cut overheads such as manpower or renegotiate contracts with suppliers etc. A country must cut overheads in the same way but this will be from health, defence, benefits (not likely), policing etc etc. All of which directly affect our quality of life. Alternatively, they can seek to gain more revenue which is called tax in the case of a country. So tax could also be raised which means less money in our pockets (which is bad). Do you understand now?

I'm thinking more of being able to retire before I'm 80… not whether or not I get a flash car.

yes i do pay tax i wish i paid less but if i have to pay more in the future ill survive, maybe ill a buy smartphone the year after rather than this year or just make do with the 4 bikes i have i still live in one of the richest and best serviced countries in the world
and so does clarkson

Plus Labour came into power partly on a 'make goverment more efficient to pay for stuff' ticket in response to Tory accusations they would just hoike up taxes to pay for stuff.

Which they completely ignored once they were in power, preferring to finance their half baked scheme on the back of consumer credit overreach and selling off the national reserves. Whichj is what landed us in the shite. If they'd done what they said they would and which we elected them to do, we'd have been more efficient, more competative, not taken anywhere near the blow we did in the credit crunch and we would not be staring the Tories in the face at the next general election. As much as I like what Call Me Dave says, I'm not sure the Tories have manged to dissassociate 'efficiency savings' with 'axe everything' yet.

I'm glad your are doing so well kimbers and have so little to worry about.

best serviced countries in the world

health
http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html
education
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4073753.stm
quality of life
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4020523.stm
what else?

so we are 20th out of 200 countries for health, seems good to me

What's a traffic womble?

Its just the usual little englander alf garnet style bigoted rubbish from him with not a truthful word in it.

I agree kimbers, backhander, those figures have cheered me up no end, take THAT Germany!

For what it's worth. Read that article in the paper a few weeks back and it's trademark usual Clarkson populist, chattering classes nonsense. It amazes me that someone that's benefited financially so much from this country and his privileged position within it can have so much disdain for it at the same time. Mind you I think that if millions were starving but he had a clear run to work in his Merc he'd be infinitely happier about the 'state' of this country.

I know many people agree with his 'politics' although this is an abuse of an already dirty word. He appeals to people that may actually be suffering from the mismanagement of the country, because for all his posturing, complaining and big words, he doesn't have a clue what he's bl**dy talking about.

My tuppence.

Si C

What's a traffic womble?

Pretend Police for the motorways, they're the guys who close motorways in order to move a cone, they exist because its too expensive to use real Traffic Police these days, what with the 45 million days H&S training they need, on top of the training needed to cover every farcical new piece of legislation or community policing project introduced, and the fact they spend 90% of their time doing paperwork so they don't have time to actually sit on the motorway network and catch people speeding. Mind you these people only speed becuase it takes 45 million years to get anywhere in this country, becuase sucessive goverments have done nothing to put in place any real alternative to the road network infrastructure, so it is consequently groaning at the seams, and everyone needs to be 3 different places at the same time to stop their companies going bust and their houses being repossessed so some greedy barstards can buy new porsches.

one of these
Wannbe policemen

they probably spend their spare time on ebay buying 'enforcement agencies' equipment

Ou, are we doing "country comparisons" then ???

How about this one ….. the general government debt as percentage of GDP, is below the average for the EU.
It is also well below that of France, Germany, and Italy – all countries with Tory governments.

you lot do know that clarkson earns over 2million a year from the bbc as he has a stake in topgear from the worldwide sales

so we pay him to make a tv show which we then sell through bbc worldwide and he receives millions more form the franchise including over 300 000 from merchandising alone

so while the times were good under labour he was happy to take as much money as he could off us

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1052704/Jeremy-Clarkson-rakes-ANOTHER-300-000-Top-Gear.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jun/10/jeremy-clarkson-terry-wogan-pay-cuts
he can **** right off imho

Ahh I see thak you.

you lot do know that clarkson earns over 2million a year from the bbc as he has a stake in topgear from the worldwide sales

Good for him, he's lucky. Just becuase he's doing well dosn't mean he can't use his celebrity to highlight what he sees as undesirable in this country, and good on him for doing it, too many round here are content to rest on their laurels.

I have a secure job, a decent wage, a 3% pay rise each year, a good bonus and our company is relatively recession proof. I'm still livid with the way the country is being run, hardworking friends with young families have had their companies go under, been made redundant, all sorts, all becuase self aggrandising muppets can't find their arse with their elbow. That isn't fair and they shouldn't have to pay for it.

Thus while I dislike Mr Clarkson, I identify with the grain of truth in his arguments and complaints. The fact that he can write well and he gives me a chortle every now and again merits reward.

ADH – what grain of truth in his arguments. There isn't a single one.

so your hes worth 2million of your license fee?
sounds worse than any benefit scrounger i know of

Ah but there is Teej.

The Police spend too much time paperworking, and not enough Policing. mandelson is craven. Unis are being forced into state school selective intakes, Congestion charge (tax) only necessary becuase the goverment has provided/developed no alternative.

so your hes worth 2million of your license fee?

Hey, I'm, no market is god kinda guy, but yeah, OK, fine. If nobody watched Top Gear and the programme didn't earn the corporation loads of wonga, they wouldn't pay him 2 mil, seemples. I don't really care what he earns, I don't begrudge him doing well in life. I support public broadcasting, better than the pay per view model which seems to trend to populist tat. I don't actually own a TV, so I don't pay him anything, but even if I did the funds are not ringfenced, so its hardly direct. I do buy the Sunday Times, which is a more direct input to his pocket I suppose and I enjoy his droll, thought prokoking comments on life in the UK.

Just a mild sidetrack if I may…

ernie_lynch – Member,

No one cares what you think.

Ah – so I'm not alone… 😆

too many round here are content to rest on their laurels.

Jeremy closes his macbook pro with a self-satisfation exhalation of hot-air.

"I just can't stand the way this countries being pi$$ed up the wall" he mutters to himself as he removes his ermine robe and sinks his soft, unworked body into the bubbling marble jacuzzi he's recently had installed in his study.
"Someone's got to do something about it" he softly mutters as the air jets pulsate his waxen thighs and milky white crotch.
"You won't see me resting on my laure.."
But before he finishes his self-righteous sentence he drifts off into a deep slumber and dreams of all the hardships he imagines he might have had to endure if he wasn't enourmously, unbelievably, incredibly priviliged.

Good ole Clarkson, man of the people.

P.S. That actually happened.

TJ, more grains of truth than your avererage trollings/oppinions.

Good ole Clarkson, man of the people.

Gosh Damn! You're Right! Get the chunt down the mines this instant! That'll learn him a hard days graft!

That's more like it!

Down with Clarkson!
Down with Clarkson!

Come on everyone!

Do you earn more than me per hour? YOUR OPINIONS ARE INVALID 😈

Unless you are actually a Chinese coal miner, probably not.

Clarkson's opinions aren't invalid because he earns a lot, they're invalid because he's a bigoted, ill informed populist d|ckhead.

you lot do know that clarkson earns over 2million a year from the bbc as he has a stake in topgear from the worldwide sales

Good for him, he's worth every penny.

Unlike half the civil servants, 90% of MPs and all MEPs.

anotherdeadhero – Member

Ah but there is Teej.

The Police spend too much time paperworking, and not enough Policing.

And you have evidence to back this up? Its a favourite of the daily wail brigade but there is nothing to back it up at all. The paperwork is essential to serve the ends of justice. What paperwork do you suggest is not essential?

mandelson is craven.

A slimeball for sure but craven? craven could be aimed at others in govenement and politics generally but not mandelson. Craven me3ans cowardly does it not?

Unis are being forced into state school selective intakes,

Evidence? Universities are being asked to ensure the intakes are fair which they have not been in the past

Congestion charge (tax) only necessary becuase the goverment has provided/developed no alternative.

Congestion charge – what alternatives are there? Its a damn fine idea that has worked well.

This is all accepting the lies from the neocon propaganda machine. Not one word of that is true. The right wing press have repeated lies until folk believe them

Man, it's happening again, all these threads, always get into some kind of 'discussion' about some 'facts' or another. Can we please just stay on topic in agreeing that Jeremy Clarkson is a massive c0ck?

I agree with Wiredchops…….clarkson is a C0ck!

Exactly! That's the spirit. This left/right 'debate' has been raging on this forum since its inception (mostly thanks to TJ 🙂 ) I say we focus our energies into a tangible goal. 100% agreement on the sheer C0ckness of Clarkson. Who's in!?

Hooray!

I thought the main thrust of the thread intially was that he isn't a c*ck, is he a c*ck or isn't he? Can I keep watching Top Gear and enjoying it while totally disagreeing with half the things the c*ck says or not? This is confusing… 😯

ddmonkey, don't worry, I have thought Clarkson was a C0ck since I was twelve. Yet I have continued to watch Top gear and read all of his articles just to cement my opinion and increase my feeling of self-righteousness.

Mr Woppit – Member

Ah – so I'm not alone..

Excellent ! I look forward to you not commenting on any of my posts in the future 8)

So Woppit, when you asked me to give you an explanation yesterday on your "atheist crusade" thread, you weren't really interested in my reply…………..you little tease you 😀

I think its the fact that he is a c*ck that makes Top Gear so much fun. If he wasn't it would be a pretty dull programme.

ddmonkey, if you ask me, it's the secret to his unfathomable success 🙂

And another thing, not only do I think that JC is sometimes controversial on purpose, I also think that some of the things that happen in their escapades are a little bit contrived! No really! 😉

Oh JC is undeniably a huge c0ck, but I kinda like him for it.

This is all accepting the lies from the neocon propaganda machine. Not one word of that is true. The right wing press have repeated lies until folk believe them

Hey, I don't believe it for one minute, but I think there is a grain of truth in it, its def important enough to warrant discussion, and in the abscence of sufficient transparency to reveal meaningful 'facts' or 'proof' one way or the other, thats just what I'll do thanks, such is my perogative as a free citizen of the world.