It's not the same old Tories- this lot are worse

If you need a good example of how extreme the Tories now are, you only have to look at the European Parliament.
They sit in the centre right group. This week that group (the centre right) elected a Polish MEP as their leader.
This particular MEP was for three years a member of a political party which preached homophobia,gave the Nazi salute, and had links with the National Front (now called the BNP) same vile creatures - both incideous racists.
By electing this particular MEP as their group leader, the Tories are giving us a snapshot about what they really stand for.

Clarkson opens his big mouth....again

I see that Tory tosspot Jeremy Clarkson has been up to his old tricks again. This time he described Gordon Brown in a less than complimentary four letter word, on his programme, Top Gear.
Why the BBC persist with this buffoon is beyond me. Its not as if he promotes the British car industry- he doesnt.
The licence fee funded BBC, in my view, should not have allowed the particular comment to be broadcast.
And before anybody accuses me of political bias, I agree that Alan Sugar's apprentice series should not be aired during the period before the next general election.

A different experience.

At Jaguar Halewood, we currently work a four day week, days only. They are basically four 9 and a half hour days.
Last week, I took the opportunity to work on the skeleton crew swingshift (lateshift.)
During pre credit crunch days, the whole factory used to work a double day shift system, earlies and lates, working between 6.30am and 11pm. Hopefully we will return to these hours in the not too far distant future.
Working the swingshift this week was a strange experience. The hours were 4pm to 1am. It was great having all day off, and, whilst I am used to working lates, it was strange looking at your watch, seeing it is 8pm,then suddenly realising you still have five hours of work left to do.
I worked alternating days and nights for nineteen years, but last week was a totally different experience.
The good part about it was I managed to get up early every day to make the most of my time off!!!

Always the bridesmaid,never the bride!!

The firm I work for, Jaguar Halewood, has just announced 300 redundancies. This is not as bad as it is made out to be, the 300 will come from the older workforce who will get non actuarial reduced pensions.
It is a win also for the company who, when (or if) the LRX comes into Halewood, they will be able to replace those workers with agency labour, on inferior term and conditions, and no pension entitlement.
Please reader, dont think I agree with this situation. I MOST DEFINITELY DON'T.
I always seem to lose out. When I was 48, the pension package went to age 52, when i was 50 it went to 58, when I was 52 it went to 60, and now i am 53, it has come down to 56!!
It's not that i want to stop working. I don't. I simply want to move my life into a more positive and productive direction.
The Government urgently needs to address the problems at JLR, and ,as a first step, allow them access to the funding that has been approved by the European Investment Bank.
Jaguar Land Rover has three manufacturing plants.
Solihull- 4 products
Castle Bromwich-3 products
and Halewood- only 1 product after christmas.
THIS SITUATION NEEDS URGENTLY ADDRESSING

Liverpool Liberal Democrats- neither Liberal or democratic?

Last night, at a meeting of Liverpool City Council, a motion was on the table moved by the Labour group, requesting the removal from office of a convicted criminal who is a current serving city councillor.
Despite the importance and serious nature of the motion, the Liberal Democrats VOTED AGAINST EVEN DISCUSSING THIS IMPORTANT ISSUE.
This means a convicted criminal still represents the electorate in Church ward, in the Liverpool Wavertree constituency, and will, in all probably, stand in the safest Lib Dem ward in Liverpool at the next local elections in 2010!
Hardly the actions of a supposedly Liberal and Democratic party is it?

Speed Awareness Course

A few weeks ago I got zapped by a speed camera. No complaints on my part. I was doing 37mph in a 30mph zone. I was banged to rights.
As an alternative to a £60 fine and three points on my licence, I chose to pay £90 and go on the alternative, the speed awareness course.
I attended the course yesterday. It lasts six hours, and is divided into two parts, lectures discussion and theory, followed by an extended drive with an advanced driving instructor.
I expected to be in the company of mostly boy racers, but was surprised to find I was about the average age (I'm 53) attending the course.
In the morning session,I learnt some things about hazards and concentration that I had previously not given too much thought to.
I have been driving for twenty seven years, and apart from one informal work related test,I have not been supervised driving since I learnt to drive and took my driving test. I approached this part with some trepidation, however my fears were unfounded. Ron, my driving instructor, pointed out to me some of my bad driving habits (We all have them!!) He was very nice about it, and was constructive rather than critical.
If you get zapped, I can thoroughly recommend the course. I now have a fresh insight into speed and driving in general. I enjoyed the day, it was very informative and you take positives away with you at the end.