70% of workers in Newcastle are on govt payroll........

[johnfm]

According to Boris in the telegraph:

Boris said:

Are we really going to continue with an economic model that means the Government is paying the salaries of 70 per cent of the workforce in Newcastle-upon-Tyne?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/bori...

I guess that may be a safe Labour seat then...

though Jim Cousins is standing down and only had 3900 majority...

[NailedOn]

Labour = Big Govt = State payroll & pension = Labour Votes = etc. (also = tax++ for us.)

[Biker's Nemesis]

Any other area's with the same sort of percentage?

[HarryW]

Wasn't it levels of around 50% that lead to the collapse of the old Iron Block countries, apparently it was unsustainable

[Andy Zarse]

I wonder if it's co-incidence that the Northern Rock, nationalised by Labour, is using £millions of what is essentially public money to sponsor Newcastle United Football Club?

Black and White gerrymandering corrupt bds!

[Biker's Nemesis]

HarryW said:

Wasn't it levels of around 50% that lead to the collapse of the old Iron Block countries, apparently it was unsustainable

Newcastle Upon Tyne isn't a country though. Does anyone have and figures for the rest of the UK?

[Parrot of Doom]

Isn't most of the tax office in Newcastle? If so, that'd sway the figures somewhat.

[Biker's Nemesis]

Parrot of Doom said:

Isn't most of the tax office in Newcastle? If so, that'd sway the figures somewhat.

Yes and a big pension dept at Benton just a couple of miles from where I work.

[Fittster]

Parrot of Doom said:

Isn't most of the tax office in Newcastle? If so, that'd sway the figures somewhat.

There's a big National Insuranbce office there. A lot of government departments are placed in poor areas of the country.

[Dogwatch]

Andy Zarse said:

I wonder if it's co-incidence that the Northern Rock, nationalised by Labour,

Any guesses what would have happened to NR if it had been based south of (say) Birmingham?

[johnfm]

Well, that makes sense then - if there are large HMRC, NI and other departments there. Better than housing them in London price real estate.

ALl they have to do now is create a simple flat tax system so that taxes can be collected by half the staff. Simple.

[rhinochopig]

What the hell else are they supposed to do for a living? Newcastle and area was a heavy engineering region. Successive governments have made sure that we don't have a heavy engineering industry any more.

[fathomfive]

rhinochopig said:

What the hell else are they supposed to do for a living? Newcastle and area was a heavy engineering region. Successive governments have made sure that we don't have a heavy engineering industry any more.

Exactly, it's either that or call centres.

Though there are still one or two success stories down on the river. Luckily I'm at one of them

[Fittster]

rhinochopig said:

What the hell else are they supposed to do for a living? Newcastle and area was a heavy engineering region. Successive governments have made sure that we don't have a heavy engineering industry any more.

Please explain what the UK lacks that Germany and Japan have?

[XMG5]

Better than 70% of workers in Newcastle are on the dole........

Edited by XMG5 on Monday 1st March 13:06

[rhinochopig]

Fittster said:

rhinochopig said:

What the hell else are they supposed to do for a living? Newcastle and area was a heavy engineering region. Successive governments have made sure that we don't have a heavy engineering industry any more.

Please explain what the UK lacks that Germany and Japan have?

Managers - that can manage. A culture that rewards engineering excellence and not bean counting. Seriously, visit any UK engineering company to see how much quicker it is to progress up the career ladder if you move out of a technical discipline and into PM. A government that is supportive of said industry, i.e. buys stuff from within their own country, when they say they will and in the numbers they promise. A sensible approach to unions and government interventionism - together Thatcher and the British Unions successfully killed off engineering within the UK. A culture/society that values engineering/science as a career. Investors that are willing to invest in engineering - The returns are not as big as other industries, and the time-scales involved.

I could go on, and on, but I think that summarises some of my points.

Edited by rhinochopig on Monday 1st March 13:12

[cs02rm0]

rhinochopig said:

What the hell else are they supposed to do for a living? Newcastle and area was a heavy engineering region. Successive governments have made sure that we don't have a heavy engineering industry any more.

Erm. Find something to sell to the other people there, move to be employed elsewhere, or take jobseekers? I'm not a fan of hiding the unemployed under the umbrella of government.

[Snoggledog]

HarryW said:

Wasn't it levels of around 50% that lead to the collapse of the old Iron Block countries, apparently it was unsustainable

Nope. The ex-commie countries didn't run levels that high. Or rather not the ones I know about.

[rhinochopig]

cs02rm0 said:

rhinochopig said:

What the hell else are they supposed to do for a living? Newcastle and area was a heavy engineering region. Successive governments have made sure that we don't have a heavy engineering industry any more.

Erm. Find something to sell to the other people there, move to be employed elsewhere, or take jobseekers? I'm not a fan of hiding the unemployed under the umbrella of government.

Neither am I, but given that within 20 years the whole job market in the NE has been decimated, it makes to utilise the large skilled but unemployed workforce available, wherever possible. In this case by migrating many Gvt jobs to that area.

[JagLover]

rhinochopig said:

What the hell else are they supposed to do for a living? Newcastle and area was a heavy engineering region. Successive governments have made sure that we don't have a heavy engineering industry any more.

Move elsewhere to find work?

Many large cities now were quiet towns before local industries encouraged migration there in the nineteenth century.

There seems to be an attitude now that it is up to the government to support these areas, long after local industries and mining have shut up shop.