Quote: Aaron @ May 2 2010, 7:19 PM BSTIn a weekend when Tony Blair's been on the campaign trail, you REALLY can't accuse David Cameron of being 'perma-tanned'!
I must admit I haven't noticed a tan on Cameron.
General Election 2010 Page 78
Quote: bigfella @ May 2 2010, 7:18 PM BSTWe have to start making stuff again and exporting it!
Like what?
Quote: bigfella @ May 2 2010, 7:20 PM BSTI must admit I haven't noticed a tan on Cameron.
He's orange!
Quote: chipolata @ May 2 2010, 7:20 PM BSTYou know Labour are in trouble when they wheel out old Tone as their secret weapon.
Painful to watch, isn't it? Even more painful to listen, with that bizarre new accent he's got.
Quote: bigfella @ May 2 2010, 7:18 PM BSTWe have to start making stuff again and exporting it!
I buy about a hundred dollars' worth of UK beer every month. Imagine if the other 300 million Americans did the same!
Perhaps a pipeline could be laid across the Atlantic to facilitate the transport of your liquid gold? A BP-like blowout would be much easier to handle than the well that's leaking in the Gulf of Mexico, as there would be millions of volunteers clamoring for a chance to clean up the gushing beer.
Quote: bigfella @ May 2 2010, 7:20 PM BSTI must admit I haven't noticed a tan on Cameron.
Quite.
Quote: chipolata @ May 2 2010, 7:21 PM BSTLike what?
Stuff!
This the country that had Brunel, Barnes Wallis, Mitchell, Dyson.
Invent stuff, build it and sell it!
Problem solved!
On a serious note, ships. P+O keep buying a new cruise ship every other year. The buggers get them built in Germany. Why not build them here!
Quote: chipolata @ May 2 2010, 7:21 PM BSTHe's orange!
Are you sure the settings on your TV are correct?
Quote: DaButt @ May 2 2010, 7:25 PM BSTI buy about a hundred dollars' worth of UK beer every month. Imagine if the other 300 million Americans did the same!
Perhaps a pipeline could be laid across the Atlantic to facilitate the transport of your liquid gold? A BP-like blowout would be much easier to handle than the well that's leaking in the Gulf of Mexico, as there would be millions of volunteers clamoring for a chance to clean up the gushing beer.
Beer saves the UK! Interesting thought.
Quote: bigfella @ May 2 2010, 7:26 PM BSTStuff!
This the country that had Brunel, Barnes Wallis, Mitchell, Dyson.
Invent stuff, build it and sell it!
Problem solved!
It's quite depressing how much of a service-driven economy we have, isn't it?
Quote: bigfella @ May 2 2010, 7:26 PM BSTOn a serious note, ships. P+O keep buying a new cruise ship every other year. The buggers get them built in Germany. Why not build them here!
Exactly. Ships, aircraft, satellites, communication equipment. Cutting-edge stuff that is part of a market worth hundreds of billions. It also comes in handy if your country needs to switch over to wartime production mode.
Quote: Aaron @ May 2 2010, 7:28 PM BST
It's not good. 
Quote: DaButt @ May 2 2010, 7:30 PM BSTExactly. Ships, aircraft, satellites, communication equipment. Cutting-edge stuff that is part of a market worth hundreds of billions. It also comes in handy if your country needs to switch over to wartime production mode.
Indeed.
Quote: bigfella @ May 2 2010, 7:26 PM BSTStuff!
This the country that had Brunel, Barnes Wallis, Mitchell, Dyson.
Invent stuff, build it and sell it!
The trouble is the teaching of science is truly awful in this country. Has been for over twenty odd years. So the bright kids who could invent stuff, end up being siphoned into the easy "soft" subjects like English, Sociology, Politics or - *shudders* - Media Studies. And then pursue careers in marketing or PR or some other wank profession we don't need.
Quote: chipolata @ May 2 2010, 7:32 PM BSTThe trouble is the teaching of science is truly awful in this country. Has been for over twenty odd years. So the bright kids who could invent stuff, end up being siphoned into the easy "soft" subjects like English, Sociology, Politics or - *shudders* - Media Studies. And then pursue careers in marketing or PR or some other wank profession we don't need.
Now we are getting somewhere!
Education, needs a re-vamp.
The greatest assest of any country is its population.
Get the education right and we start having a country of achievers.
Just think how much a cure of cancer would be worth on the worldwide market. The stuff we "build" doesn't just have to be bits of metal.
bigfella will be voting Conservative, by the sound of it.
The sad reality of it all is that there are still plenty of bright people, but their inventions are now manufactured in places like China and India where labor is cheap and regulation is lax. It boggles the mind to think that it's cheaper to send raw materials halfway across the planet to China and then ship it all back than it is to produce it locally.