and dont forget to shut the door behind you.

Personally I think he has more integrity than most politicians I see, but from what I can see integrity isn't that high on the list of a politician's prerequisites. Hey ho--snake oil, anyone?

Couldn't agree with you more Jay.  

I think we are in a mess and there are hard times for us all whilst they try and sort it out.
I am having a nice glass of wine whilst I can still afford to, anyone want to bet on how bad it might get???

Yep, you guessed it I'm a pesimist :( but at least we still have our dogs :)

I work in the public sector, as does my husband, and it's going to be pretty bad.

I may struggle to hang on to my house, never mind my wine bottle.

ive already lost my job, time to try something new maybe?

My husband has already been made redundant twice, tried something new which failed.  We will not survive a third redundancy - still recovering from the second time.

Saw the new name for the party ConDem(n)ed.   LOL. Classic

Vanhalla, I'm sorry I didn't mean to be flippant, I appreciate there are many people in dire situations.

So did I, then jumped into the fire of the voluntary sector and got made redundant--now working freelance twice as hard for half the money :), came within a hair of losing the house BUT I have my dogs. Stopped buying alcohol as part of the household efficiency savings, so please have a glass of wine for me too!

No, it's fine Karen!  I was not offended at all by your comment, only deeply concerned about what the future may hold for us.

> made redundant twice

OH and myself in last year... our combined salaries have dropped by almost half !!

mine made redundant four times in the last seven years and things arent good for him again at the moment.
my wage will drop at least a third ( if i can get another job ).

Times are going to be hard for everyone I think - except possibly our politicians and ex-politicians - nice little earner there in resettlement money and winding up allowances for their offices! I certainly have no love of the conservative party but I do not think that any govenrment should serve more than two terms as it just makes them complacent. However, to lay all the blame at Gordon Brown's door is not right or fair - if you need to blame someone, blame our money grubbing bankers (not the branch staff!) who don't seem to have done too badly compared to others!

No one on this side of the Atlantic bears as much responsibility for this crisis as Gordon Brown. Even as analysts warned that a crash was due, he continued to deregulate the City .

Chapter 93 in "Scapegoats we have known and loathed"...Does anyone remember Margaret Thatcher? I'd have thought she'd want to take the credit, certainly a generation of economists have grown up to recognise her and Ronald Reagan's policies as a watershed in the context of global economy. Then there's the fact that until recently people didn't seem to know or care that you didn't need to be financially literate to run a bank, work on the stock exchange or run multi-million government contracts. No wonder  

Every one of us is to blame just as much as our politicians. We vote them in, mainly out of our own self interest, and we expect them to work miracles for our sins or we insist on our right to crucify them for allowing us to borrow way over our earnings, speculate on property and worthless shares. Whatever happened to taking responsibility ourselves?

I work for the NHS and have gone through the ranks and am now a Team Leader. I worry for my job as the conservatives dont want managers anymore. My secondment ends 1st July and at the minute I go back to Medical Secretary.

However, I am extremely grateful I have a job - and this secondment will look good on my CV.

:-)

Whatever happened to taking responsibility ourselves?

People can only take responsibility for those things which are within their control. We elect M.P.s to represent us in the much bigger issues which we, as individuals, have no direct control over.

Isn't the logical conclusion then that if they are not representing the public interest then the public is obliged to come up with a constructive alternative? Also (just my opinion), focusing only on matters over which we have direct control may be quite limiting compared to the potential of direct and indirect influence. Margaret Mead said it much better: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." She didn't say anything about them being elected to do so.