cuts - Wednesday's Spending Review

[mrsbaldwin]

Brace yourself ladies - these cuts are big, there will be tens of thousands of public sector redundancies and it's said (by the Fawcett Society amongst others) that they will disproportionately affect women.

Some workers will get some sort of payoff, and some will be pleased to go. Some will find new jobs.

But I reckon the overall effect (licks finger and holds it in the wind) will be to drive down women's wages, meaning that once you are made redundant from your public sector post you may find more work but it will be at a lower rate and the extra competition for jobs across the board will drive wages down across the board. This may be true for men as well but I think it will affect women - mums - more.

If you are watching the press coverage on Weds, what do you think the effects of the cuts and the job losses for women (and mums) will be?

[Frrrrightattendant]

LOL at sovereign support grant

Hysterical!

I hear we are to have a hitler Youth as well.

[MaMoTTaT]

yes so the Queen is giving some up......what are they (the Government bods) going to give up

[cotswolder]

well my job has gone then!

[BoffinMum]

Please don't sell the Queen. She is one of the remaining women in positions of authority. Could we not auction off some of the minor royals instead?

[Jcee]

Sovereign support grant? hilarious

[LadyBlaBlah]

7.1% per year for 4 years in MASSIVE for councils

[Lotofdamnationandhellfire]

Devolution of financial control, let local councils make their own cuts and take the blame locally.

[bedhed]

We will privatise all those services now provided by your council. The sevice will be shit but as you are usually poor, sick and vote labour, no one will know.

[alicatte]

Poor George Osborne - having to spend all that time looking at the civil list. Maybe that's why ...

Hey ho - big council tax rises year after next then. Actually, I think that's fair enough.

[PlentyOfPockets]

"But I'm not a neoliberal economist (is that the same as a neoconservative? I really need to read that Naomi Klein) - call me an old romantic but I don't think many people are neoliberal economists, or am I just not noticing?"

I can tell you're not , neither are most people - even tory voters, on the whole. The people who ultimately benefit most from a completely deregulated free market don't give a stuff how much it hurts ordinary people. They don't give a stuff about building a consensus either. There are not all that many of them but they hold a disproportionate amount of world power.

Yes, neoliberal is the same as neoconservative, Thatcherite economics, Reaganomics etc.

[Lotofdamnationandhellfire]

Boffin Mum - completely agree, quite like the queen see the point in her. Not sure about some of the minor royals who really want to work anyway.

May simpler to sell Prince Charles?

[caramelwaffle]

Business Rates up, up, up in the future...

[Lotofdamnationandhellfire]

Or Prince Phillip? (Apart from comedy value)

[cotswolder]

local people in charge of planning! are they mad?

[alicatte]

Will that help those people in expensive areas?

[smokeybacon]

Please slow down George. My pg brain is finding you very difficult to follow..

[caramelwaffle]

alicatte - yes

[bytheMoonlight]

So new council tennents to pay 80% of rent, how can they justify a two tier system with neighbours on council estates paying two different amounts of rent for properties which will be the same?

[ISNT]

Did he say something about council tenants rents being put up?

At the same time as they are capping benefits?

I've only got the BBC written feed thingy to go on...

[LadyBlaBlah]

It is deliberate smokey

Davey C uses the same tactic

[bytheMoonlight]

*80% of market rate rent

[alicatte]

That was a bit of jump

One minute Defence spending then 'malaria'.

Is he rattling through this because he's nervous?

[byrel]

Council housing rates to be 80% of market rates

[cotswolder]

so internation aid is ok then! I'm sure that will make everything more acceptable here then as our systems go down! If we are facing cuts then international aid should as well!

[LadyBlaBlah]

They may as well carry on cutting defence - there is nothing to defend. Apparently