And the other one says something like 'surely it can't be that difficult to keep hospitals clean', well as E pointed out: no, not if you've got a lot of nice low-paid immigrants to do it for you
It's actually very difficult to keep hospitals clean. It requires a lot of dedicated and skilled staff who are trained specifically in the precise cleaning needs of hospitals.
The Tories thought this was expensive - and thought that it was easy to keep hospitals clean - and sacked them all. As with railway maintenance, we are now screwed for decades, because that sort of expertise simply can't be recreated overnight. And because of that, no government is likely to try, because there are no votes in doing something that's only going to show results ten years later and which the next govenment is likely to scrap anyway.
That's why the vandalism to public services that the Tories did in the 80s and 90s (and Labour, to be honest, seems to be continuing that with areas like the Post Office and education) was so unforgivable. It will take decades to get back to where we were before, if we ever can. That's one reason why I think I will never vote Conservative no matter what the provocation - the damage Maggie did will outlive me, and they don't deserve my forgiveness in my lifetime.
You bet. I was a child in the early '80's, living on a base in Warrington (yeah yeah yeah, that place right between Manchester and Liverpool that didn't hit the maps until AFTER the US Base closed and the IRA bombed Town Centre), with all the prejudice that went along with it (parents teaching their kids to hate me because I'm the child of an American Solder and *I* bring bombs and destruction), but at least I got to spend my time taking advantage of the AWESOME and REGULATED transit systems that once existed.
Deregulation of public services is a fools money-making scheme. Check out CA's famous scandal to cause rolling black-outs to squeeze more money by becoming independent billing agencies of electric plants. Even I knew that was stupid, and it infected VA too... oh I'm gay, so I won't lecture on the prejudice VA has to offer, but needless to say, I'd rather immigrate to England/Euro than continue to put up with VA's stupid "Marriage Protection Act" under it's flag against tyranny. So, don't hold that against immigrants!
There's a big double billboard somewhere in Kensington, with the hospital and immigration ads right next to one another. I spent ages trying to figure out precisely what kind of point they were trying to make about hospital staffing (and what solution they were advocating), until I gave up and assumed they were just two unrelated slogans on the same billboard. Or possibly Labour party posters designed to put people off voting Tory via subliminal hints of Michael Howard in Lederhosen.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-03-18 09:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-18 10:16 am (UTC)The Tories thought this was expensive - and thought that it was easy to keep hospitals clean - and sacked them all. As with railway maintenance, we are now screwed for decades, because that sort of expertise simply can't be recreated overnight. And because of that, no government is likely to try, because there are no votes in doing something that's only going to show results ten years later and which the next govenment is likely to scrap anyway.
That's why the vandalism to public services that the Tories did in the 80s and 90s (and Labour, to be honest, seems to be continuing that with areas like the Post Office and education) was so unforgivable. It will take decades to get back to where we were before, if we ever can. That's one reason why I think I will never vote Conservative no matter what the provocation - the damage Maggie did will outlive me, and they don't deserve my forgiveness in my lifetime.
Damages
Date: 2005-03-18 01:53 pm (UTC)Deregulation of public services is a fools money-making scheme. Check out CA's famous scandal to cause rolling black-outs to squeeze more money by becoming independent billing agencies of electric plants. Even I knew that was stupid, and it infected VA too... oh I'm gay, so I won't lecture on the prejudice VA has to offer, but needless to say, I'd rather immigrate to England/Euro than continue to put up with VA's stupid "Marriage Protection Act" under it's flag against tyranny. So, don't hold that against immigrants!
Are you THINKING what we're THINKING?
Date: 2005-03-18 11:09 am (UTC)