Sorry Leo - I actually like your postings as they always create decent debate but i have to pick you up on this one as it's a current hobby horse of mine. I honestly think the teaching profession is coming under attack like never before and in many cases unfairly so. Sure bad teachers should be rooted out but the current trend seems to be attack them all using the usual "they get 12 weeks holiday" "they only work from 9-4 and still moan about their pensions" stereotypes. However, the specific example aside, I totally agree about the culture of jealousy.
I was a headteacher years back..... it was my great passion, therapeutic work with disaffected kids..... but bureauocratically a nightmare job... not enough resources to do the job etc etc. ... govt assessment deadlines .. Left for less money..... a real life saver. No point being passionate about it these days, treat it as a job, only way to survive..... so demoralising...
Apologies Lenny, it seems that Prince Charles elects to pay some tax on the income from the Duchy of Cornwall - not what is due. This is what is quoted in Wikipedia:- The Prince paid a voluntary contribution to the treasury of 50% of his Duchy income from the time he became eligible for its full income at the age of 21 in 1969, and paid 25% from his marriage in 1981 until the current arrangement commenced in 1993. Tax is calculated after deducting official expenditure, the biggest source of which is the Prince's staff of about 110 who assist with his performance of official duties, including private secretaries and a valet working in his office at Clarence House and at Highgrove House. The official expenditure of the Prince of Wales is not audited by the National Audit Office So after claiming for his servants and other un-audited expenditure, he pays a contribution. Why should he be treated differently to any other wealthy person?
My postings are intended to be slightly provocative to engender debate - but I do actually believe the things I write - I do not do it to WUM so hopefully others come in and put perspective to my thoughts - there are so many on the watford forum who have excellent but differing views. Helps get through the summer I am afraid I am in the teacher stereotype camp. Teachers seem to want us to believe they are something special - in the past I think many were - now they are no different to any other workers - except that many have the chip on their shoulder about holidays and hours which they try desperately to deny. For me though this ought to be a different thread if it were to be debated properly - it would not take much bait to bring BB shooting in
If you ran a business then costs of your employees would be deducted before profit is calculated. I worked for the Inland Revenue back in 1972 and the Inland revenue did then and probably still do now oversee his tax affairs. Wiki may call it voluntary as back then he was not obliged to pay tax - but he believed he should - fair play to him on that. All companies can employ staff and he should be no different - secretaries, PAs etc have jobs to do and are not employed purely for fun or as a tax dodge.
Maybe we should have a current issues thread... or a number of them on key subjects.... to keep us going on these wet days.... On the education discussion...The thing about teaching is it is geared up to term times and an hours system per week based on the capabilities of young people to absorb what we call "education" ..... If we were to revamp the whole thing I guess it could look very different....... One special ed boarding school I worked in had 6 6 week terms for example... with games etc late afternoons.... and a one week break for the boys every six weeks... and a summer "school" of activities. I tell you six weeks "teaching" disturbed kids is exhausting for staff within the resource envelopes allowed for staffing etc. When I was head of a special school in Newcastle, for one half term, half the staff were off the sick every day with stress related stuff... and different staff members every week too..... I almost went under myself the pressures were so great.... and left in the nick of time. There was an interesting comment I read a couple of weeks back from a trainee teacher who says how disillusioned he was whne a group of heads came to talk about the job.... and they were all grey suited and talking about "management".....
Thiis is the trouble with govts: http://opinion.publicfinance.co.uk/2014/05/child-protection-not-for-sale/ From 38 degrees website: "Would you trust private companies like G4S, Atos or Serco to look after vulnerable children? Or to influence decisions about taking children into care? Protecting children is one of the most difficult and sensitive roles for a government to perform. But education secretary Michael Gove is consulting on whether to outsource this role to profit making companies" Nightmare... It is ideology driven......
Who said that I get my skoda valeted by some great Romanian car washers near my mum's in deepest lincs.... really ... and they do a great job!
More than a tad late in speaking up - you have to wonder why he, and others, have not mentioned this before. "...a growing sense that the basic social contract at the heart of capitalism was breaking down amid rising inequality.." Only a 'growing sense'? Where has he been all these past few years?
Well let's face it this is why: "Carney completed a bachelor's degree in economics at Harvard in 1988. He later attended the University of Oxford where he received an MPhil in economics in 1993, and then went on to receive his DPhil in economics in 1995 for his thesis titled The dynamic advantage of competition."
Capitalism with plenty of competition is the only system that works. You can always tweak it a bit but nothing else comes remotely close in effectiveness and fairness.
Spot on Scully - would always have you as a wing man - the trick is to create wealth under a capitalist system but to temper its distribution by values that benefit more than a mere individual
If he thinks he needs a valet then yes - you do not employ someone to save the % of their tax - we can all think of jobs we consider unnecessary - like sports journalists ?? (only joking)
Sorry.. I just don't get this.... Under the capitalism I know... .the rich get richer etc.... I think some deconstruction of what is meant by capitalism is needed
There are practices in the London financial markets that have been wildly out of control which I think is what Carney is referring to. The excuse to bash some of these people must not be extended to the rest of the country. In my personal experience from being a whingy whiny union representative, starting and running several small businesses from scratch to starting and running a medium sized business which employs 30 + staff I feel the capitalist or entrepreneur part of my life has produced more for the general society. Nothing should be done to deter the self employed from risking their all. If every small business took on one person there would be no unemployment.
