Quinlad, You've chosen a bad subject. I've been a single parent - and I coped without claiming benefits or asking society to keep me or to help me - and without feeling sorry for myself. I worked damned hard, and juggled hours to fit - and all before New Labour, so please don't preach to me about people who have to do these things. I know exactly what it's like.
Football hooligans are a disgrace, but that doesn't excuse what's happening now, does it? Town centres are no go areas not just on match days, but every evening, and young people are stabbing and shooting each other without even a football match for an excuse. Why is it that whenever there's a problem that needs to be addressed, people like you and 123 don't offer a reason, or a possible solution, but simply say "Ah yes, but look what used to happen", as though that somehow negates the current problem?
As for the NHS, tell my 45 year old sportsman husband how wonderful it is now. He caught MRSA during a minor operation - and because of that, underwent several very major operations over the course of a year, and is now left with a disability that has blighted his life forever. And all for the want of some disinfectant and some properly trained cleaners - and how much has all this cost the NHS? Thousands and thousands of pounds. And how many more are there just like him? Our local A&E unit is huge, and is open 24 hours. It employs one cleaner, who works an eight-hour day and obviously finds it impossible to do the job properly. However, the hospital does have a plethora of office staff. Certainly got their priorities right, haven't they? That's the sense of New Labour. They're throwing millions at the NHS, but cutting costs in the most essential places - and at what cost? What false economy. As the old saying goes, they know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
....cont