Segment on the news this morning about how the strikes will affect air passengers in particular. The Border Agency says "While we appreciate the inconvenience caused to members of the travelling public but our first priority must be the security of our Border"
Highly commendable but what were they doing while this happened?
More than 1m illegal immigrants are living in Britain — double the government’s most recent estimate, according to a study.
The report warns that a proposed amnesty for illegal immigrants could add a total of 2.2m to the population because each of the 1.1m “regularised” illegals would be entitled to bring at least one spouse, child or other family member into Britain.
Head of agency obviously in line for a large and unwarranted bonus!
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My daughter is due at Gatwick a few minutes to midnight tomorrow so does that mean by the time she gets to the desk the strike is over and normal service has resumed or there is still a backlog ?
Fingers crossed :-)
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Good luck Ms HK! The normal service isn't good. I have clear memories of waiting 45 minutes in a passport queue at Gatwick, after 11pm at night, to be let into my own country by a jobsworth in a turban! Nuff said!
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>> Good luck Ms HK! The normal service isn't good. I have clear memories of waiting
>> 45 minutes in a passport queue at Gatwick, after 11pm at night, to be let
>> into my own country by a jobsworth in a turban! Nuff said!
Work with lots of people who wear turbans or other dress defined by their faith. The UK is their own country as well.
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>> Segment on the news this morning about how the strikes will affect air passengers in
>> particular. The Border Agency says "While we appreciate the inconvenience caused to members of the
>> travelling public but our first priority must be the security of our Border"
>>
>> Highly commendable but what were they doing while this happened?
>>
>> More than 1m illegal immigrants are living in Britain
Now is their chance to escape!
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Great news. 1m fruit picking jobs up for grabs then.
Every cloud...
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Many years ago there was some sort of amnesty which funded immigrants to return from whence they came. Jamaican chap went to pick up his ticket and was told there was a £10 fuel surcharge, for which he had no money. In desperation he went and stood outside the agency with his hand stuck out. Some minutes later a typical UK gent stopped and asked what he was begging for.
"Sir, I need £10 to get back to Jamaica" Reply - "No problem, here's a £100 - take 9 others with you"
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>> jobsworth in a turban
>> take 9 others with you"
Suppose all turbaned jobsworths and Jamaican undesirables were to be sent back from whence they came, leaving only the majority of nice Asians and hard-working agreeable Jamaicans here.
Does anyone, even Meldrew, imagine that the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of native English racists and xenophobes would then STFU and leave them alone? Of course not. With monkey-like ingenuity these carphounds would invent new reasons for dissing the Other.
Perhaps somewhere stark and uncomfortable can be found to which they too could be deported. Chance would be a fine thing, eh?
Faugh! and Tchah!
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Wed 29 Jun 11 at 14:37
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Jobsworth in a turban was a fact - probably had a British Passport and was born in UK
Jamaican was a joke, lighten up or watch the tennis!
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>> Jobsworth in a turban was a fact
I wouldn't doubt it for a moment. After all our country offers many careers to the willing jobsworth, so it would be unreasonable to expect foreigners not to learn the ropes. And I would be willing to bet that I have met and socialised with a lot more Jamaican undesirables than you have even seen, Meldrew.
But I do take exception to being urged to 'lighten up'. Many would say that I am relentlessly frivolous and can make a joke of anything. Have you perceived a grim, boring aspect to my character, hidden from most others?
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>> Jamaican was a joke
An offensive, racist one. I am also mortified by the notion that a "typical UK gent" would say/do such a thing. Such attitudes are, happily, shown by a tiny minority of people in this country.
Not that I gave you a gong, mind you. I'd rather the post stayed up and you were challenged.
Last edited by: Alanović on Wed 29 Jun 11 at 14:52
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I gave him the gong.
Comment was not required.
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You're quite right, Z. Shouldn't have bitten. Dreadful weakness of mine.
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Sense of humour failure all round!
Last edited by: Meldrew on Wed 29 Jun 11 at 15:01
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Have you just been transported here from 1963?
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You put your finger on it Mellers. Zero's numerous jokes, like mine, are a cunning disguise for our po-faced, killjoy, Calvinistic attitude to the human comedy.
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We have all manner of jobsworths kindly allowing us back into the UK at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, unfortunately usually only one at a time. I wonder if they alternate with the baggage handler?
In contrast I recently transited through Dubai airport, My incoming flight was delayed so I was on the ground for about 30 minutes, the airport was busy, a slick transit through the strict security and the checked in luggage made it between planes. Would that happen in the UK?
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 29 Jun 11 at 15:23
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>> through the strict security, the checked in luggage made it between planes. Would that happen
>> in the UK?
Place: Gatwick Airport.
Date: May 2011
Flight Easy Jet
30 minutes after landing, checked in bag collected, passport control cleared, customs cleared, waiting at bus stop for bus to car park.
Answer: Yes.
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>> 30 minutes after landing, checked in bag collected, passport control cleared, customs cleared, waiting at
>> bus stop for bus to car park.
Ditto Edinburgh 21/12/09. Could add Stornoway on 17/12 as well, in hire car and in town 30mins after touch down.
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Gatwick is a small provincial airport compared to Dubai. I take the car to Stornoway so can't comment.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 29 Jun 11 at 15:33
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>> Gatwick is a small provincial airport compared to Dubai.
Dubai handles 47 million passengers a year.
Gatwick 32 million.
Gatwick is hardly small & provincial
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>> Gatwick is hardly small & provincial
>>
>>
Sorry, I forgot that the world revolves around the south east of the UK.
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> Sorry, I forgot that the world revolves around the south east of the UK.
Heathrow 66 million passengers. Ranked no 2
It does almost.
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>> > Sorry, I forgot that the world revolves around the south east of the UK.
>>
>> Heathrow 66 million passengers. Ranked no 2
>>
>>
>> It does almost.
Opps - sorry - forgot to add them up
Stanstead 22 million
Heathrow 66 million
Gatwick 36 million
I'lll slip Luton out of it just to be fair
Total 124 million.
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opps Forgot London City Airport.
Think thats another 3.3 million.
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>> Heathrow 66 million passengers. Ranked no 2
Always thought Heathrow was #1 for passenger numbers. When did it fall, and what has replaced it?
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It will probably fall to no 4 this year.
Its always been 2 or 3 vying with the major US internal hubs of Chicago O'Hare and Atlanta, but Bejing is racing up there, possibly to be no 1 this year.
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>> >> Heathrow 66 million passengers. Ranked no 2
>>
>> Always thought Heathrow was #1 for passenger numbers. When did it fall, and what has
>> replaced it?
>>
LHR is number one for international passengers. Dall/Fort Worth (I think) is the busiest airport in the world.
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>> Heathrow 66 million passengers. Ranked no 2
>>
Its not the number of passengers, its how well they are treated, and the facilities provided.
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>> Its not the number of passengers, its how well they are treated, and the facilities
>> provided.
And here are todays scores
Goalpost 0: Moved 1
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>> Goalpost 0: Moved 1
>>
My post on Dubai airport was about our rapid and easy transfer through a busy big airport on a tight timescale, and our luggage making it too.
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And you said it wouldn't happen in England. Except it did and does.
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Gatwick isn't that small but it is very limited by only having one runway and the infrastructure is overstretched dealing with the passenger numbers they have now eg the delays at the UK Border.
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I could be completely wrong here - so don't shoot the messenger - but I've been told that there aren't any major problems anticipated other than slightly increased queues.
Having said that, I'm at Manchester where there's usually only one Border officer on duty anyway, and the red lane is a phone on the wall for you to ring Customs yourself.
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Are you kicking me out as well Meldrew I only where clogs once in a while.:)
Whent back a few years ago where i lived in Rotterdam South.Didn't regonise the place all the whites had moved out.Maybe something to do with Gert Wilders he is staring up a lot of trouble.
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pfEJaI2iS4
Speech from Geert Wilders.English subtitles.
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Don't know about impact in bigger outfits but he 'scores on the doors' here are one striker from amongst nine staff. London office functioning normally.
Branch office closed though as both staff have school closure/childcare issues.
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Traffic was unusually light in Reading this morning.
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...Branch office closed though as both staff have school closure/childcare issues...
Issues?
If public servants didn't talk so much pc waffle they might have more sympathy from the public.
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>> If public servants didn't talk so much pc waffle they might have more sympathy from
>> the public.
What alterntaive do you suggest o great one?
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...What alterntaive do you suggest o great one?...
Ban the use of the word 'issues'.
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I have issues with that :-)
Another coffee iffy ?
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...Another coffee iffy ?...
Yeah, yer right.
Speaking of coffee, my latest method when I have a microwave to hand is to put a drop of milk and the cold water in a mug, zap it, and then stir in the coffee.
Works quite well, although careful timing is required to get the mixture just under boiling point.
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Our delightful local HR head took the opportunity to remind us yesterday that any time off work to cover school closures would have to be taken as vacation or unpaid leave. Our school is open but 'running a modified service', as the train operators might say.
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Called the local court this AM to have an order enforced (ex client owes me money)
'We can only deal with matters relating to today's hearings' I was told ...
'Why' I asked
'Due to the strike' I was told
I said I thought that my case, an earlier hearing, should take precedance
'We only have a skeleton staff and can only deal with matter relating to today's hearings' I was told, 'you can complain to the court manager'
'Is the court manager on strike?' I asked
'Yes' I was told
'That will help then' I said ...
Frankly it's nuts, cant these people see what state the country's finances are in, the only saving grace is the fact that most strikers will have wages deducted amnd that will bolster the chancellor's coffers.
And I am very disapointed with the teachers who have left our daughter at home today, they are supposed to be a leading influence on a child ... and gone are the days that teaching was not well paid and the generous civil service pension made up for it, no, today teachers are paid competitively and need to understand that the country simply cannot afford their gold plated, guaranteed pensions any more.
Rant over (for now)
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Part of me hopes that this country goes under, since a large proportion of the population seem to oppose any cut/change of any kind, they should be made to suffer to consequences.
Let them all go on strike, bring every industry to its knees, see what it gets them. Might not be what they want.
My wife took a 20 hour cut from her monthly wages as have other employees as it helps the company stay open. So she still has a job and nobody got made redundant. As and when the public sector takes a 13% wage cut like she has, THEN ill have some sympathy, otherwise they should get back to work and be grateful they have a job at all, shame on the lot of them.
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DT reports that to get the level of pension currently on offer to civil servants, someone in the private sector would have to contribute £500 a month for 40 years.
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I have some sympathy with anybody who has a gold plated (provided the government doesn't go bust) fully RPI linked (not capped at 2.5% or 5%) pension geared to retirement at 60 who is told that they will have to work longer, accept CPI indexing, and contribute more. But only some.
Some time ago in the defined benefit scheme I was last in, final salary linkage was swapped for career average earnings link, as planned for the civil servants. Since then we have moved on to complete scrapping of defined benefits. There is much wilful misunderstanding of career average by some union leaders. Historic earnings are revalued; some employees who take lower paid jobs at the end of their careers might actually benefit. The ones who will lose most are the ones who end up on big salaries (so can best afford it).
The same union leaders are also avoiding the point that the value of benefits already earned is preserved.
It's disingenuous "fairness" when the injured parties will still have better pensions than virtually everybody else, supported by taxes paid by that same everybody else, and without regard to the country's budget.
In Greece, 25% of the working population is civil servants. They have generous pensions, retirement at 57/58, early retirement has been common (!) and in the main they have hitherto effectively had jobs for life. The ambition of just about every young talented person is to get a public service job. Can this be connected to the state of their country? And yet they are still revolting. They have a shock coming.
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I don't know if it has changed but there was a time when a civil Service pension was based on the best consecutive 12 months pay in the final 36 months of service Cue unpleasant but lucrative 12 month posting to somewhere hot/cold and horrid to jack up the pension paid for 40+ years service.
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Meldrew,
It's still worked out the same way.
I can recall, from a quarter century ago, a few competent but staid clerks being temporarily promoted to junior manager graded 'technician' posts in their final year. They performed adequately but without the vim a youngster would have brough to the role.
Nothing like that happens now - not in my bailiwick anyway.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Thu 30 Jun 11 at 15:37
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I think it used to be fairly standard to bung people a good increase just before retirement to increase the pension. Certainly happened in my (then) local authority.
There was also generosity in the private sector when pension surpluses were common (though at least they were funded), the usual one being taking pension early without reduction. My mother did quite well on that score when she retired from teaching at 55. Now a thing of the past by and large.
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As a member of one of the striking unions who worked today I'm in broad agreement with Manatee. PCS & NUT have jumped the gun (though I can see the argument for an early show of force).
I think the move to career average is inevitable as are some changes to the contributions. On the latter there are wide variations accross what he media tend to portray as a generic 'public sector scheme'. In the Civil Service the main pension is non-contributory & unfunded. Staff pay either 1.5 or 3% for the widows element but those who retire single get their contributions back. Local Government staff OTOH pay into a funded/invested scheme. Fire Services pay. I think, well over 10%. It does seem iniquitous to raise all contribution rates by the same number of % points when there are so many different systems.
Negotiations need to focus on how the changes are implemented and over what time scale.
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This issue has caused a lot of friction and arguments with my friends. I am personally in the middle, I can understand why people are striking, but stop whining because you know what, there is nothing stopping the government just giving companies like Sirco a contract to run schools etc.
People just need to be greatful they have jobs at the moment because so many people don't.
That said I do understand why the people striking are annoyed.
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I am on a military pension, the only reason I lead a comfortable life is that I made sure I was totally debt free at retirement. People who don't plan and have horrific mortgages, car loans, and maxed out credit cards, etc. don't stand a chance.
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I passed a couple of village schools on my travels today, seems they were open for business.
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People have to learn to live within their means.Which isn't easy for a majority.Advertisiing buy this buy that keeping up with the neighbours and going in to much debt.
I receive a BP pension like Old Navy, not in debt house payed for.
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SWMBO refuses to let us apply for a credit card now!
So no debt, but not much money coming in means micro managing of bank accounts and spending, something with which she accuses me of being obsessed!
(True).
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My grandnippers in Surrey/Sussex marches did go to school today, but there were glitches and hitches. It wasn't quite a normal day I gather.
My SiL who is an academic lefty was looking anxious about the strike which she supports in doughty old-left fashion, in principle so to speak rather than with any enthusiasm. To her enormous relief she had to go abroad for a lecture or conference or seminar or something. She said in so many words that she was chickening out, and was guiltily relieved.
So she's out of town and that is why I am now staying in her well-found Islington gaff, with which she is very generous. Must go out before I crash and put a scratchcard in the jalopy though. And tomorrow i will have to pay the Livingstone car toll so happily embraced by Dennis the Menace...
Nice to be in the smoke again though, first time in a month nearly I think. Marylebone/Euston Roads very smooth and flowing twice (once a favourite route, but avoided for years).
Perhaps the economic squeeze really is reducing traffic volumes. Were I a coarse joshing sort of chap I might be tempted to cry: Roll on full-blooded recession!
But I'm not so I won't.
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Public Sector Strikes - henry k
