North East = Soviet Union?

i was waiting for some liberal to start shouting 'capitalist' at me or something...

wot wot guffaaww

leave the lad alone... his columbian sugar beet stocks just went skywards!

Last I read, when enterprise reached its last zenith in the north east, we had parts of the region with 70 percent unemployment, average life expectancy of 54, and NO change over time in conditions for working people, and that virtually every improvement in the living conditions for the people of the north east has come through the government, whether via SOE industry(that collapsed when exposed to the market, leaving us with so many "Mickey Mouse" jobs that despite record low unemployment, we still earn 150 percent less than london), or by our benefits and social programs that lead the world.

Seems to me that since the downfall of the state in the economy, we have had NO more growth, a widening gap between the rich and poor, and a populace so riddled with apathy and lacking in spirit that we are reduced to benefits leeches and call centre workers. It is the upper middle class who have been doing the leeching, and the SOEs that have given wealth to the North East.

Harry

PS - sorry for the spiel but that title sucked me in

I agreed with what you were saying until you made that 'thin ice' comment there...