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laertes

Listed below are comments made by laertes between Friday, 13th June 2008 and Sunday, 1st November 2009.

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Matchplay format needs further tweak 6:55pm on 01 Nov 2009 Good ideas Ian but I must pick you up on your writing: golfers were "nailing" 3 woods long before anyone had heard of Louis Walsh. Golf does not deserve to be dumbed down to X factor level.
Australia no longer needs you... 11:39am on 16 Mar 2009 Homophone corner: "brake" not "break" in 2nd para
HBOS: Strong men will weep 12:35pm on 27 Feb 2009 Do these losses and the details of how they were run up now put the lie to "It all started in America".
Another Black Friday 11:02am on 12 Dec 2008 "the Business Department has deemed Vauxhall to be viable"

What expertise and information do you suppose the Business Department has to enable it to make an accurate diagnosis? Forensic accountants? Market experts? Detailed information about costs, funding, profitability, investment plans?

None of these. This is an organisation that gave more money to the lawyers on the coal compensation scheme than it did to the compensation seekers. They have to rely on what Vauxhall tell them, which will be managed information to present the case Vauxhall want.

On top of that, vauxhall assembles cars from parts largely made in Europe, which have got 30% more expensive in the last few weeks, thanks to the exchange rate.

And finally, why would we give any money to them while the outcome of US decisions is still up in the air, pending the new administration's arrival in Jan / Feb.
Pay cuts versus job losses 09:34am on 11 Dec 2008 Not too sure on your logic here Robert. Pay cuts were often advocated as an alternative to job losses in previous tough times, and even not-so-tough. There was less realism from workers then, though.

It is unlikely that you, me or anyone else outside the business actually knows the economics of the plant in question. It maybe that the unions are correct in that saving what could be as much as £25 million from the cashflow could be the difference between closure and keeping the plant running until the economy recovers. Corus has been part of a lot of takeover activity in the last decade and could well have a lot of debt to service.

It is also unlikely that the solution is merely "cutting overheads", which typically only form a small part of the costs of a large capital plant like a steelworks. Costs of direct labour would not in any event count as overheads.
Police pay millions to mobile companies 09:12am on 11 Dec 2008 As long as the police have to pay, it means they have to think carefully about when they request the information. If the companies could not charge, the police would inundate them with requests, costs would go up (which consumers would pay for) and response times would get worse.
Taxes to fall and then rise 4:35pm on 21 Nov 2008 You suggest we should be encouraged to spend rather than save. But surely a big increase in saving would increase the funding available to banks. Is it a serious suggestion that the correct response to a problem caused by debt-fuelled consumerism and property borrowing is now more consumerism.

Furthermore, a hike in VAT to "repay" the borrowing would be one of those temporary tax increases that never gets reduced.
A divisive Davis? 3:00pm on 13 Jun 2008 If Davis beats a Labour candidate convincingly, with the LDs out of the contest, having had a proper debate about all the civil liberties issues, does he not make that issue a Tory issue and take it away from the LDs for good? That would hurt the LDs, who get support from those who think Labour too lefty and Conservatives too nasty. Taking a lump out of their vote because the Tories had become the party of civil rights would be a big win for the Conservatives.

As for being a waste of public money, an MP is elected by his constituents. If s/he feels, at any point and for whatever reason, that his/her mandate is challengeable, then it is entirely proper to put the question again.

We did not hear this reasoning when TB cleared off to pocket cash as quickly as possible after resigning as PM.

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