h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So Gordon Brown has flown out to Saudi to try and talk about more oil....just a minute..isn't the price of petrol so high in this country because of the tax on it?
Instead of using more fuel and running up the carbon footprint by flying out there wouldn't it be more sense to cut the fuel tax by 5p a litre?
In fact MP's could turn down their £40,000 pound pay rise and the money saved would off set the cut in fuel tax.
Once fuel is cheaper ...transporting food would be cheaper and the prices should drop......seems like common sense to me.
How can they justify £40000 pay rise? Where I live the average pay is £12,000 to £15,000 a year. People are struggling to pay for basic things and MP's complain about wanting more money.They are supposed to represent the people.Maybe it is time they all had a job appraisal..let's see now:
Failure to combat rising crime
Failure to provide affordable housing
Failure to combat poverty
Failure to keep down inflation
Need I go on?..They would be sacked or sent for re-training if they were working in industry.Certainly be told to pull their socks up and set deadlines to achieve goals.They wouldn't get a pay rise that is for sure.
Maybe I am being too simplistic....or maybe the trouble is everything is so bound up in bureaucracy that no one can see the simple solutions anymore.
Thats my rant for the week
Otherwise apart from the very windy weather and the rain ,it's been a quiet Sunday.
to all. Have a good week

It pains me to say this, in fact it rips my heart out, stamps all over it with a boot of irritation and piddles juice all over it, but I believe the MPs declined the £40k:

http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/ministers-reject-mp-pay-rise/

Which is annoying as it would have given us public sector peeps a fairly big stick to bash Brown with when he tried to impose our 2% pay rises (or, to put it another way, 4% real terms pay cuts.)

Anyway, that aside, it's good to hear you had a good Sunday!

EDIT: I assume quiet is good?

well no disasters put it that way.
The £40000 was only one of 3 things they were offered....I am not sure what the other offers were.
Good to see you Roy

Actually, it appears I was out of date:

http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/mps-could-get-40k-pay-boost-for-housing/

'Reports have suggested that MPs could get a new housing allowance worth £40,000 per year before tax.'

Righty, where's that big stick with 'STRIKE!' written on it...

Good to see you too!

Thats what I thought I had read..hence the rant....Though if they pay tax on it will be cut down to about£25000. However after the farce of the 10p tax cut,they will get no sympathy
I am glad I was of some use Not much use for owt else these days.

puts my £66 per wk income support and gas/electric bill £77 per mth somewhat short"existence is futile" (Vogon constructor fleet)

Exactly prof.Thats what made me so angry..when we are all struggling just to eat and think twice before using the gas.MP's are running two homes full blast and being offered £40000 to do so!

I feel I should point out that it is quite a commute from, say, Newcastle to Westminster and many MPs do, therefore, need a second home in London and rent in the capital is quite high at the moment. Further they do tend to work fairly unsociable hours...except, of course, during their many breaks when Parliament is off. However ministers also get rather a lot of homework to do, so as to keep them very busy and stop them running their department, which is the Perm Secs job.

My studio flat cost me £520.00/m, nearly half my take home pay, and that's about to increase. I have no 'first' home to accompany it. I have little sympathy for the travelling demands of those dedicated to Parliamentary service!

As others have suggested, the government should buy (or build) a block of flats for the MPs to stay in when in the city and pay for them with the money saved from MPs accommodation expenses. An ex-council block of one-bed flats would do the job admirably.

Hear hear!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3994945.ece

This makes me

There are government owned apartments/flats which some MPs use. However the MPs still have to pay rent on them. I'm not saying that some MPs don't abuse the system, but not all MPs do and not all expenses claims are unreasonable. I agree that effectively free government accommodation should be provided in the form of apartments and that these should be maintained to a specified standard by the government, thus preventing many such abuses of the current system. However the way it works at the moment it is a neccessary evil to provide money for MPs to pay for London accommodation.

Oh and back to the thing about the price of oil/petrol. The current cost of oil is, much like the current economical situation and the cost of housing, primarily down to speculators in The City who are excessively greedy. Non crude based fuels, such as biodiesel and bioethanol also have the same tax placed upon them but are substantially cheaper. Oh and Petrol is still, largely, cheaper than most bottled waters.

one of many things yes, but if there was more oil on the market in the first place even with the speculators buying it the price would go down.

one suggestion I've seen on tv letters page, is:- after the Olympic games, let the mp's use the athletes quarters


I still say Guy Fawkes had the best idea

Can I just remind everyone this is my journal, not ask or the forum and I don't want any fighting going on. This is my thoughts and opinions and whilst you are entitled to comment, you do not belittle anyone or be offensive
Thank you

Maybe if he had succeeded things would have been different prof Prof for Prime Minister..some common sense in parliament
I'll start the campaign

me as PMI WOULD get this country running properly, Europe would not control and the bad guys would get PROPER punishment

prof as PM...yeah!

...every friday drink with friends and saterday visit to the parents

if that is compulsory I will have to go to jail...not visiting my parents every week!
Morning Pheloxi

that would be out Pheloxi, I'd be too busy pulling the "rope"