Johnny Bognor

Interesting letter doing the rounds on Facebook.... A letter from a Jewish Spurs fan to David Baddiel. Must read... Dear David, Here we are again. The Y word. Or to refer to its real name, The C Word. Because as you and I both know this little problem is not about Spurs fans using the word Yid in a positive or negative manner. It’s about feeling uncomfortable at Chelsea games. I can appreciate where you are coming from. As a Jewish Tottenham fan myself, going to Stamford Bridge is an incredibly difficult day out for me. I’m 37 and I look like a typical NW London Jew. You and I would pick each other out as Jews from 100 yards at any holiday destination on Earth. I even have a brilliant Jewish hooter to top off the look. I am what I am. Getting off the tube at Fulham Broadway though, I might as well have that yellow star sewn to my coat, because you are quite right this is not what football is about. It’s a quite vile experience and as a father of two boys, one that I won’t be putting them through until they are a lot older, if at all. To be honest though, this is your problem and not mine. We turned an insult into a positive. All on our own. The gay community did it with the word ‘queer’. It’s quite clever really. Quite why you suggest that those who turned the insult into a term of fraternity should lead the way, so those that use it as a racial insult can be told not to use it, is quite frankly illogical. Chelsea, West Ham, Leeds. These are the three places where I have heard the gassing noises and felt that pang of nausea in my stomach. A pang you describe and which I’m sure you feel somewhat ashamed about. Be that as it may, Tottenham on a match day is probably the safest environment in England for a Jewish person. Isn’t that lovely? My family have 4 tickets and we are reform Jews. However I often give any spares to two ultra orthodox Spurs fans. They both wear kippot and one of them looks like every rabbi you’ve ever seen in your haggadah. They get cheered through the streets of Tottenham. They love it! People smile at them, chant ‘Yiddo’ at them and they wear their spurs shirts and their tzitzit with pride. How wonderful is that? In an era where there is so much bitterness and negativity, these two fellas can enjoy their football and their religion and feel totally safe. Thirty years ago that might have not been the case as the bananas hailed down on black wingers and coins were thrown at Jews to see if they would pick them up. David, I am a huge fan of your work, but in this you are so wide of the mark that I find your view offensive. I find what you are trying to do, actually borderline anti-semetic. Don’t hide away the victims and shut them up because it makes your match day experience difficult. This is Chelsea’s problem. This is West Ham’s problem. This is Leeds United’s problem. In Germany in 1933, SS men stood outside Jewish shops to deter anyone from entering. In 1934, buses, trains and park benches had seats marked out for us to sit on and our children were taught specifically anti-semetic ideas. In 1935 the Nuremberg Law was passed and Jews lost their rights to be German citizens and marriage between Jews and non-Jews became illegal. You know how this story ends. In 2013 Jews and non Jews in a small corner of London, are united. Please please please, don’t f**k that up. Warmest Regards, Nick Cowan.

Can't even bring the army in, as someone sold off all the green godesses.

OK, here goes..... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24129141 Let's hope no-one gets trapped in a fire next week.

... and the teachers striking/asking for more money is going to help how exactly? Are they not going to put even more lower paid low skilled public sector workers on the scrap heap? You could say raise taxes, but this will inevitably lead to private sector job losses. Either way, with no money in the pot, the teachers would be responsible for low paid job losses in either the public or private sector. Perhaps if they had to live under the threat of redundancy themselves, they wouldn't be so selfish and be grateful for the position they find themselves in during times like these.

This does always makes me laugh. Strikes are called out of misrepresentation or being taken the **** out of, but pay rises always come to the agenda. I wish the unions would be more honest and come out and say "we want more money", rather than try to dress it up as some principled stand against a change in ideology, like they always do. Really? The poor old teachers have had to endure and suffer a 3 year pay freeze? I didn't realise. Let me tell this to the 1,000,000+ private sector workers who lost their jobs during the financial crisis due to redundancy and company closures, because the parallels between the two are striking (excuse the pun). Silly old me.

Probably the last one I've highlighted the key words. They choose, so they should stop the whinging Maximum respect for the forces, because they don't complain or strike. They just get on with the job they chose to do. They are true public servants because they are not in it for themselves and are not concerned about what they can get out of it. They don't blackmail the nation by withholding their labour. They are the most undervalued in our society and how they are treated after sustaining life changing injuries is nothing short of a national disgrace. The cotton wool jibe is used against those who have it pretty cushy (compared to most), but then complain about things when they are doing something they chose to do.

It is a good deal for the lower paid as it does stop exploitation. There is a stigma attached to the min wage, so if you pay more, you attract better staff. Those staff earn more and the employer reaps the benefits. As close to a win win as you are likely to see.

Hahahahaha. Brilliant Bearsy. Comedy Genius

Locally yes, by providing employment to unskilled workers on proper contracts at rates above the min wage. When the min wage was first muted, I wasn't in favour. Shortly after though, I quickly realised that it was a good thing for both the worker and the employer. More could still be done, like continuing to raise the tax threshold and taking more of the lower paid out of taxation. Of course people should strive, but with the public sector this me me me attitude is relentless. If they could open their eyes, there is no money in the pot and there are far many people far worse off. If anything, the time to demand more money and better conditions is in the good times, when they are more likely to succeed. That's not about left or right, it's bleeding common sense.

I never said namby-pamby public sector wastrel. I said wrapped in cotton wool (relative to those in the private sector without union representation). So when was the last time an A&E consultant was made redundant? Or let go with no notice? Or forced to look at a stakeholder pension, which he/she couldn't afford because their company didn't provide one? Or took a pay cut? With a guaranteed job and a starting salary range of £75k-£100k, A&E consultant looks pretty wrapped to me. OK, my turn. Teachers. Your go. PS It never seems to amaze me how the lefties ignore the common working man on zero hour contracts or minimum wage (or both) being exploited with no job security or benefits. It's all me me me (or us us us if you're in the public sector gang) and there was me thinking that the socialists actually cared.

That's only up there with "things can only get better". They're just party slogans. A chancellor announcing the end of boom and bust in the house is a totally different thing.

No excuse when you're chancellor of the exchequer. He could have asked any 1st year GCSE economics student who would have laughed him out of the room. So I don't think it was his stupidity. It was more sinister than that. For me it was to do with conning the public to win an election, by creating a false feel good factor, just so that he might be PM one day. He got his wish and went down as one of the worst on record. But he was definitely part of the problem, without a shadow of a doubt.

Brown's involvement goes far deeper than just the involvement with the banks. The so called "prudent one" (LMFAO) was only to happy to push HIS mantra that he put an end to Boom and Bust, thus misleading the British people and giving people false confidence. Either he was a fraud/cheat/Liar (knowing that boom and bust hadn't ended, but peddled his bull**** anyway) and deliberately mislead the nation (to justify his overspending) or he was the thickest chancellor in the history of having someone in charge of a country's finances. Being a history graduate, I am not leaning towards the latter, so stick him in the prison cell next door to the criminal/fraudulent bankers

This thread is about the green shoots in our economy. The optimistic/upbeat posts tend to be posted by those of a right persuasion and the negative news is posted by the lefties. So reading this thread, one would think so. Thankfully, there appears to be more positive news than negative news over the last six months, so maybe, just maybe, the UK is moving in the right direction. Whether that is down to GO or despite him is another argument. One thing is for sure, he can't be blamed for getting us into this mess in the first place ;-) I do sympathise with you badger and your band of brothers, as deep down, I am sure you all want the UK to succeed. However, the price to be paid is a potential tory government for another 5 years and that must really be a head **** for you.

Because the lefties want the coalition to fail. They want the country to go downhill because it is in their political interest. They cannot stand the thought of the complete and utter mess that their lot caused when in power, so if someone else ****s up, it gets them off of the hook somewhat and makes them feel better. If the downturn continues through this parliament, it gives their lot a chance to turn things around so they can take the credit. I would just like to see the economy recover as soon as possible, because it is in all our interests that it does so.

Without getting into symantecs, I am happy to concede that some (and I mean some), public sector workers are more vulnerable than others (i.e those lower paid unskilled public sector workers), but these aside, the rest are wrapped up in public funded bundles of cotton wool.

That is a really poor example BTF. Rather than the "nasty/evil" private sector company taking over catering in UK schools, I read it as the political party (ironically set up by the unions) outsourced schools catering to Sodexo in 2007. That's right, by proxy, the unions screwed over the very people they were supposed to be protecting. You couldn't make it up.

The vast majority are traditional private sector businesses much like those in retail, catering, hospitality and other small labour intensive businesses. Millions are employed in these sectors without representation. The unionised public sector don't know they've been born.

It would be quicker if you could tell me which ones are hard done by, compared to low paid private sector workers. It won't be a long list.

No, just putting this "hard done by public sector workers" nonsense into perspective

Many union members are public sector workers, many of whom are wrapped in cotton wool. It's the lower paid private sector workers that are being exploited. Many of them do not have union representation or insulation from redundancy or insulation from mis-treatment.

I deliberately avoid buying coffee in public as most people I see doing this go around saying "Can I get", "My bad" and "Turn that off already".

The issue surrounding the pasty is very subjective. Some people may prefer pukka pies, some may not. It is a matter of taste. However, the issue relating to the crisps, tea and twix is very real. Same quality, smaller quantity, increased price. I think there is more legitimacy in my complaint.

To be fair we did discuss this at the time. When a tea costs £1.50, reducing the hot water could only save 5p at the most. The smaller cups could only save 5p at the most, so why not charge £1.60 for the tea because most punters would not have noticed. Same for the crisps. As for the twix, if you advertise a twix extra, but serve up a standard sized twix, then isn't this is a case of false advertising?

When the balls in the goal it's not shearer or cole, it's Osvaldo... In the back of the net, I've just made myself wet, it's osvaldo!