Recession?

For those not familiar – Europe is in a bit of trouble at the moment. Some may remember a little over a year ago Mr Cameron proclaimed that Britain was out of the woods. I beg to differ somewhat - a few little reminders have recently caught my eye in the local media:

·      In Rotherham, South Yorkshire 100 drain covers have been nicked in the last 2 weeks – to be sold for scrap metal!

·      Youth unemployment in Barnsley, South Yorkshire is at 35%

·      Manchester Police are facing cuts of 3000 jobs over 3 years

·      Doncaster council is cutting 800 Jobs

·      The Ministry of Defense cannot afford to commission it’s fleet of new spy planes – so they are being scrapped before they are even commissioned!

·      In a similar vein the government  decided that it could not afford to commission an aircraft carrier – so it decided that it was ‘strategic’ to share it with the French

Then again there are plenty of other bizarre things going on in Britain with regard to finance and jobs:

·      A litre of petrol costs £1.30 and a haircut can be had for £3

·      A sound 10 year old car can be had for £500-600 – yet the insurance will more than likely be more

·      For many unskilled jobs it is possible to earn more money by claiming government benefits than to work!

·      Fixed speed cameras are thought to be more effective than police – yet it is thought that only 10% are actually operational. Interestingly after 8,000 miles driven since moving I have only seen my first traffic police car yesterday