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Ken Clarke - Middle Class Comments

 
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mark occomore



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
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Location: UK

PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:33 am    Post subject: Ken Clarke - Middle Class Comments Reply with quote

Ken Clarke said " That people who are middle class don't know how much they will be effected with the cuts" Oh so the upper class people who earn £££££££....... will be better off. I think the Government should have thought about the cuts first.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12438091

________

Mr Clark you be ok, don't worry about the middle class Wink . His comments reminds me of this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0DUsGSMwZY
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John W



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PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 3:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mark I think you are misunderstanding the point of Clarke's comment.

All he's doing is warning the middle classes not to be complacent about the cuts, and the affect on businesses, because THEY might feel the worst of it in terms of job losses, loss of services that they rely on, inflation etc

Many of my customers are builders, some might go out of business this year, and I could lose up to half my business income as a result
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Mark Mayhew



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PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think Mr Clarke is spot on-there is a lot of pain to be felt yet.

I can see the unemployment , inflation and interest rates all rising.

Things will not start to get better until 2013 at the earliest.
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ColinB
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think Clarke is right to say what he's saying. Of course, he's now been marked as being a bit of a loose cannon in the Cameron cabinet which means that he might be elbowed sideways in the next reshuffle (rumoured not to be far off).

I too believe that it's the middle classes who risk copping for the biggest headaches in the coming year and it's probably the middle classes who will pose the biggest threat to this appalling coalition.

You can't get blood out of a stone, but the Eton Old Boys in the Cabinet (none of whom have ever done a real job in their lives and have certainly never had to keep even the smallest of businesses afloat) have much of an idea of that.
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undiscovered



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 9:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have always thought Ken Clarke to be a man of principle (well for a toff)
I was surprised that he was given a position in the government because he was likely always to say what he thinks rather than tow the party line. As a voter i'd like more politicians like this
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ruddlescat



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 9:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't think it's accurate to describe Ken Clarke as a 'toff'

Whilst I'm certainly not one of his greatest fans mainly because of his extreme pro EU views as far as I know he came from a fairly standard middle class family and did quite well for himself as a barrister before going into politics

He's certainly not in the same category as Cameron or Osbourne and possibly some others in the present Government when it comes to the 'toff' stakes
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ColinB
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 9:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ruddlescat wrote:
He's certainly not in the same category as Cameron or Osbourne and possibly some others in the present Government when it comes to the 'toff' stakes


Yes, I agree.
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mark occomore



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would say MPs and David Cameron are middle class. They will have a shock later in the year when it hits hard.
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undiscovered



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mark occomore wrote:
I would say MPs and David Cameron are middle class. They will have a shock later in the year when it hits hard.


I think you could be right especially around May
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ColinB
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I see that Cameron has made another attempt to explain what he means by the expression "Big Society" this morning - and still we're none the wiser!

I'll explain it for you Dave: "Big Society" is another way of saying "Big Con".

There. Simple.
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undiscovered



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not so cynical Colin, I quite like the idea.
We can all help with improving our neighbourhoods, but what he fails to see is that it doesn't come free as certain things need funding, so an already efficient local council is having to cut the services that a "Big Society" needs and all they get from Central government is it's just a political gesture.

It's not going to work, you can't shrink government, scare small businesses into thinking there is another recession on it's way and expect them to both expand AND pay for what local government used to pay for.
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ColinB
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

undiscovered wrote:
I'm not so cynical Colin, I quite like the idea.


I like the idea too, but that's why I've always "done my bit" over the years. What I dislike is the cynical way that Call Me Dave is now making the age-old concept of caring for others and taking ownership of social problems a Tory party Big Idea.

I also see it as a way of disguising the fact that essential funds are in the process of being diverted away from organisations that need them in order that they can function in the way that Cameron envisages.

That's why I think that it's all spin and a big Tory con. Thankfully, I don't think many people (even in his own party) are being fooled by it all and that's why he's had to do a bit of top-up PR this morning.
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undiscovered



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe he is just feeling guilty about what Mrs T said about there being no such thing as community.

Well there wasn't much after she'd left
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ruddlescat



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

She actually said

'There's no such thing as Society' but like often happens with the Press that was a selected phrase from a longer sentence which went on to qualify that particular statement'

Cameron's Big Society thing is not really quite the same and clearly will not work unless funds are available to make it work and even then there are no guarantees
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ColinB
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ruddlescat wrote:
She actually said

'There's no such thing as Society' but like often happens with the Press that was a selected phrase from a longer sentence which went on to qualify that particular statement'


Yes, to be fair to the person I considered at the time to be our worst ever Prime Minister, her infamous expression has always been taken out of context.

ruddlescat wrote:
Cameron's Big Society thing is not really quite the same and clearly will not work unless funds are available to make it work and even then there are no guarantees


I predict that the political will is likely to run out even before the funding does.....
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littlepieces



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear Ken

I'm working class what about us?Things are not rosy for us either or is it because you and your party don't give a **** for us?

Regards

Lp
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ruddlescat



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 7:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think you're probably right there Colin
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mark occomore



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

These big words Prime Ministers have said in the past - tend to come back and haunt them.
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undiscovered



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PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 11:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

yes Mark,

The worse one by miles was Major's Back to Basics, nice as he was back 2 basics with Edwina at the time
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