Wage Gap

[teejay]

Thatcherism didn't destroy this country, it was destroyed in the 70's by Labour and the Unions who couldn't compete in a globalised market. The reason the council houses were sold off is that with the debt left by Labour (sound familiar?) they were unsustainable as the rental income was far lower than the cost of maintaining them. Lets also not forget the real reason people moved out of the council housing, it's because council estates were generally rubbish places to live with high levels of crime, not some rose tinted happy commune.

[somabc]

I go away for 1 week and there is thread on who destroyed the country?!

[teejay]

I go away for 1 week and there is thread on who destroyed the country?!

SO you missed the Marmite debate? Now that nearly destroyed the country...

[somabc]

So much to catch up on....

[teejay]

Oh yes, also don't ask Mattx about his ride to work....

[SpuffMonkey]

Thatcherism didn't destroy this country, it was destroyed in the 70's by Labour and the Unions who couldn't compete in a globalised market. The reason the council houses were sold off is that with the debt left by Labour (sound familiar?) they were unsustainable as the rental income was far lower than the cost of maintaining them. Lets also not forget the real reason people moved out of the council housing, it's because council estates were generally rubbish places to live with high levels of crime, not some rose tinted happy commune.

You'd be funny if you weren't so daft

[aerospacemango]

Thatcherism didn't destroy this country, it was destroyed in the 70's by Labour and the Unions who couldn't compete in a globalised market. The reason the council houses were sold off is that with the debt left by Labour (sound familiar?) they were unsustainable as the rental income was far lower than the cost of maintaining them. Lets also not forget the real reason people moved out of the council housing, it's because council estates were generally rubbish places to live with high levels of crime, not some rose tinted happy commune.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! That's the funniest thing I've read this month!

The council estate that I grew up on in the 70's and early 80's may well have not been some rose-tinited happy (sic? Hippy?) commune, but WAS a good place to live. There was a spirit of community. The sort of place where everyone knew everyone else, and we were in and out of each others houses....not to rob them, but because they were our friends. All the adults were "uncles" and "aunties".

As a young boy, I thought I just had a massive family! And funny...but that IS what it felt like!

I wonder how much you really know about those times, teejay. Are your views those of someone who lived through those times? Or are you just someone in their 20's with a degree in politics/sociology, who happens to think that every book they've read on the subject is the gospel?

[beeswax]

@aerospacemango I think you and @teejay have equally valid points to put across regarding your differing experiences of living on a council estate. Teejay does say 'generally'. I have no experience of living in a council house, but my wife was brought up in one, which her parents later bought (they'd be stupid not to). We still pop over the hill to what was her local and meet a lot of the same people who were living there 40 years ago. Some bought and some are still renting, and the general tenor of the 'estate' is of a quality to compare with any private housing of comparable age and size.

[teejay]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! That's the funniest thing I've read this month!

The council estate that I grew up on in the 70's and early 80's may well have not been some rose-tinited happy (sic? Hippy?) commune, but WAS a good place to live. There was a spirit of community. The sort of place where everyone knew everyone else, and we were in and out of each others houses....not to rob them, but because they were our friends. All the adults were "uncles" and "aunties".

As a young boy, I thought I just had a massive family! And funny...but that IS what it felt like!

I wonder how much you really know about those times, teejay. Are your views those of someone who lived through those times? Or are you just someone in their 20's with a degree in politics/sociology, who happens to think that every book they've read on the subject is the gospel?

Yes, I grew up in the 70's/80's, yes I grew up on a council estate. Tell ya what, lets get a time machine, you go back and live on the council estate I grew up on, I'll live on yours then I'll have a good laugh when you decide council estates aren't one big happy family.

[aerospacemango]

Yes, I grew up in the 70's/80's, yes I grew up on a council estate. Tell ya what, lets get a time machine, you go back and live on the council estate I grew up on, I'll live on yours then I'll have a good laugh when you decide council estates aren't one big happy family.

Sorry teejay, but as I said, my experience of them must greatly differ from yours then.....

I lived on a council estate just outside London....Full of overflow London families....Maybe that's the difference? Where did you grow up?

[MK-2]

Sorry teejay, but as I said, my experience of them must greatly differ from yours then.....

I lived on a council estate just outside London....Full of overflow London families....Maybe that's the difference? Where did you grow up?

I grew up in the 80s in Hackney on a council estate, and trust me there were no big community spirits.
Crime - Yes
Gangs - Yes
Street parties and big happy families - No

[alan-d]

I lived on a council estate in a shoebox, things were so bad that you had to tie the lid down to stop it being pinched.

[Gibbo]

Thatcherism didn't destroy this country, it was destroyed in the 70's by Labour and the Unions who couldn't compete in a globalised market.

I can't comment on your bit about council housing (although I was dragged up on an estate in the 70s and turned out OK) but there is some truth in your bit about Labour and the unions. Labour pandered to them and gave them far too much power. There's a good bit about this in the Concorde chapter of the book Backroom Boys: The Secret Return of the British Boffin by Francis Spuffford.