[dave-r]

81 Billion UK Pounds cuts in public spending.

over 490,000 public sector jobs to go.

No state pension for men or woman before the age of 66.

And you wonder why I feel I have to sell the Challenger.

My wife and I could both be affected by this. But I think our particular jobs will be secure even if we will not get any pay rises for at least 4 years.

I can see there being a lot of "unrest" in this country. Certainly crime will shoot up because there will be fewer Police, more unemployed, cuts to unemployment benefit, and fewer prison places so only the most serious offenders will get locked up. It will be like the Thatcher years all over again.

[DINGBAT]

Ireland is in the same shape Dave.
The two previous budgets of 2008 and 2009 along with a mini budget in between was to have solved the problems in the economy. They did not.
What is coming in the December 2010 budget is being quoted as being the most draconian in the history of this country.
With a swipe of a pen they also intend to higher the retirement age from 65 to 68. When you look at the French situation in relation to retirement age it makes one wonder.
The old adage is man lives but 3 score years and ten. Work till 68 die at 70.
Scary times ahead me thinks.

[drewcrane]

Just locally here we have lost 660 thousand jobs,or roads suck , police are being chastised (AND FOR GOOD REASON),

Since our governments have followed the same economy model for quite some time it will be quite some time before we get these baffoons out of office and get things running better,yea things look bleak at the moment,

I have been self employed for 30 years now and this is the leanest I have ever seen it, and not alot of hope eitheR

Day by day is what I say, just glad i have some work to do today

[RedRaven]

I predict a riot

[dave-r]

The saving grace for me is that (so far) my private pension is still OK.
So I can still retire at 61 in ten years time as planned. I just hope that does not change between now and then.

[drewcrane]

I predict a riot

Yea the talk here is a Revolution

[patrick]

I predict a riot

Yea the talk here is a Revolution

Same over here on the west side! Things will get worse before, they will get any better. We are all feeling the pain of this recession/Depression. The G-man just doesn't want to here the "D" word. I hope you can retire by 61, Dave. I may have to wait until, 71+. Then... Death. We'll see how it go's.

[Tim]

Dave said:-

"I can see there being a lot of "unrest" in this country."

There'll be a bit more when they release the bonus payouts for the UK Banks.

[Adrian Worman]

Rioting in France on this mornin's news. They don't seem to put up with any shit do they, good on 'em

[fbernard]

Rioting in France on this mornin's news. They don't seem to put up with any shit do they, good on 'em

Ah, but this is all different here! Budget cuts will be minimal, losses huge, and deficit will grow, business as usual. And nothing much will be done before the next election (in 2012!). I preferred when we elected our president for 7 years. At least, there was more time devoted to work...

Right now I don't know what to think of the retirement problem. All I know is that when it's time for me, in the early 2030s (I hope), there will be 3 or 4 retired people for each working person.

There's bound to be some unrest on the way to 2030 here too, then.

About the "riots" : in several towns (and one in particular, Lyon), troublemakers are infintrating demonstrations and colleges to jump at the opportunity to burn cars, break windows, and generally fight the police. Their motivations? From an interview I heard this morning on the radio, getting a revenge on the police (who dared to hit some drug networks in the suburbs earlier this year) seems the likeliest...

[dave-r]

My wife has been told that 56,000 jobs have to go from her department (Inland Revenue) which is about 25% of the current workforce. This is after they already lost many thousands in recent years after other cuts.