Vince Cable - muppet

[Simster]

BBC News - Vince Cable warns GMB against co-ordinated strikes

I can't believe he thought it would be a good idea to warn unions not to go on strike and threaten them with tougher laws if they did.

The man is a conceited prick. I'm not liking what I'm seeing from some of these Lib Dems. They are going to be absolutely obliterated at the polls next time round. I wouldn't even vote for this shower as an anti-Tory tactic any more.

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

You have to admit that this remark has all the arrogance of Marie Anttionette's ' Let them eat cake ' gaffe just before she and her hubby had their heads guillotined off in 1793 .................

Vince Cable sounds more and more like one of the worst types of early 19th C tyrranical Industrialists with every utterance he comes out with. In fact he seems determined to pick a fight with just about anyone from any political persuasion, be it left or right wing. It's almost as if he gets off on trying to become as unpopular as possible. First it's Labour in the election campaign, followed by the Tories whilst in government. Rupert Murdoch, then the TUC, who's next I wonder ..........

I fully expect he'll criticise Mother Teresa and Bob Geldof next.

 

[User removed 4]

I remember the days when Vince could do no wrong in the eyes of certain NSC posters !

 

[Uncle C]

And what exactly is wrong with telling the Unions a few facts of life?

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

Prior to the coalition being formed I thought Cable actually talked a lot of sense about the economy, certainly compared to the bankrupt New Labour spiel. I then hoped he would be a positive influence among the hawks within the coalition.

I think he still has the best interests of the economy at heart in wanting to avoid industrial unrest at a sensitive time for the recovery but is out of touch in preaching to Unions when so many public sector jobs are at risk. The way things are going for the LibDems his own job may be on the line before too long.

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

What I find bizarre is that the Lim Dems always promoted a collaborative approach to government when in opposition, yet as as soon as they actually have some power to wield seem determined to come across as the most opportunistic bandwagon jumping ' we are the masters of the universe now ' that is completely at odds with the tradition in which they were formed.

Vince Cable would be well advised to remember that it's not particularly clever trying to antagonize people if you hope to win people to your arguement.

 

[Danny-Boy]

I once went to a dinner where Cable was the guest speaker. When they asked for questions from the audience I asked why the LD's did not have a policy taking public utilities like water back into public control. It wa the time about 7 years ago when water bills were going through the roof.

Cable's reply that to farm them out to NFP (not-for-profit) groups was the best way forward may have made sense but he presented it in a very patronising, arrogant way. I don't think handling the public is his strong-point.

 

[Simster]

And what exactly is wrong with telling the Unions a few facts of life?

Fighter Command's last post is a good summary, but I have a few of issues with it.

a) Firstly, he is not telling the unions "a few facts of life". He is threatening them with changes in the law if they dare to protest (legally) with the cuts his government are overseeing.
b) Those union laws have been in place for decades, and with good reason. If his governments tries to implement policies they don't like, it is their legal right to protest.
c) This is not 19th century industrial Britain, and they are not striking because of some trivial sticking point. They are striking because JOBS are on the line.
d) If a Tory government had tried to bully the unions by threatening them with changes in the sort of law to make legitimate strikes more difficult, he'd be the first to barrack them in the commons for it.

Bushy is right, he was a golden boy not so long ago. Now he comes across as an increasingly bullying and incompetent twat with every passing week in power.

 

[pork pie]

I think he has celled it exactly right in this in this instance. When will some of these plebs learn that their beloved NEW LABOUR BROKE OUR COUNTRY?

Oh, and obviously he is a muppet.

 

[Was not Was]

Fighter Command's last post is a good summary, but I have a few of issues with it.

a) Firstly, he is not telling the unions "a few facts of life". He is threatening them with changes in the law if they dare to protest (legally) with the cuts his government are overseeing.
b) Those union laws have been in place for decades, and with good reason. If his governments tries to implement policies they don't like, it is their legal right to protest.
c) This is not 19th century industrial Britain, and they are not striking because of some trivial sticking point. They are striking because JOBS are on the line.
d) If a Tory government had tried to bully the unions by threatening them with changes in the sort of law to make legitimate strikes more difficult, he'd be the first to barrack them in the commons for it.

Not to mention:
e) Isn't there a load of much more important stuff to be talking to unions about, instead of picking fights? Industrial action is amazingly rare at the moment, why wind people up?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

These Lib Dem politicians don't know what the hell they stand for anymore. Which means they stand for f*** all, and certainly nothing any of their voters voted for. They're just blowing about aimlessly in the wind now. They should disband.

 

[adrian29uk]

The people who are going on strike are the not ones who created the financial mess in the first place. Yet they are the ones who are probably going to lose their jobs.


And for Vince Cable to come out and say in such words that if they strike they will pay for it, is the most stupid thing anyone could say.

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

Fighter Command's last post is a good summary, but I have a few of issues with it.

a) Firstly, he is not telling the unions "a few facts of life". He is threatening them with changes in the law if they dare to protest (legally) with the cuts his government are overseeing.
b) Those union laws have been in place for decades, and with good reason. If his governments tries to implement policies they don't like, it is their legal right to protest.
c) This is not 19th century industrial Britain, and they are not striking because of some trivial sticking point. They are striking because JOBS are on the line.
d) If a Tory government had tried to bully the unions by threatening them with changes in the sort of law to make legitimate strikes more difficult, he'd be the first to barrack them in the commons for it.

Bushy is right, he was a golden boy not so long ago. Now he comes across as an increasingly bullying and incompetent twat with every passing week in power.

Cable's problem is much the same as John Prescott's, unable to exert influence in a government over which he has no control he feels compelled to spout sound bites in an attempt to make his voice heard to justify his place at the top table. His major problem seems to be that he doesn't appear to be able to develop those sound bites into any form of concrete policy, so he feels compelled to issue vieled threats that just start to make him sound ridiculous. It's not what he says that's the problem, it's his inability to say it convincingly.

 

[brakespear]

The people who are going on strike are the not ones who created the financial mess in the first place. Yet they are the ones who are probably going to lose their jobs.


And for Vince Cable to come out and say in such words that if they strike they will pay for it, is the most stupid thing anyone could say.

this.

 

[CliveWalkerWingWizard]

And what exactly is wrong with telling the Unions a few facts of life?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

It's not what he says that's the problem, it's his inability to say it convincingly.

Probably because he doesn't believe it. He does like being driven around in a ministerial car tho.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I agree with Cable, the Coalition agrees with Cable, the CBI agrees with Cable and the Mayor Of London agrees with Cable. He speaks for a lot of people.

Thank God this government has got the balls to warn the unions of the danger of strike action. And as a business owner I'm fed up paying stupid amounts of PAYE/NI, VAT and CT so it can be spunked away by the public sector.

As for the death of the Liberal Democrats, it's a 5-year Parliament so 4 years to go. Let's see what shape the country's in then before passing judgement - these "knee-jerk" reactions that blame everything on Clegg and the Lib Dems are naive.

 

[Superphil]

I agree with Cable, the Coalition agrees with Cable, the CBI agrees with Cable and the Mayor Of London agrees with Cable. He speaks for a lot of people.

Thank God this government has got the balls to warn the unions of the danger of strike action. And as a business owner I'm fed up paying stupid amounts of PAYE/NI, VAT and CT so it can be spunked away by the public sector.

As for the death of the Liberal Democrats, it's a 5-year Parliament so 4 years to go. Let's see what shape the country's in then before passing judgement - these "knee-jerk" reactions that blame everything on Clegg and the Lib Dems are naive.

Quality post.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

When will some of these plebs learn that their beloved NEW LABOUR BROKE OUR COUNTRY?

The institutionalised criminals of the Banking Sector broke our country. And every other country also. Fact.

 

[Was not Was]

I agree with Cable, the Coalition agrees with Cable, the CBI agrees with Cable and the Mayor Of London agrees with Cable. He speaks for a lot of people.

No doubt, but that doesn't explain why he has chosen to go wind up a major union at a time of very little industrial action. Isn't a bit like coming round to yours for dinner and telling you that he'd be really pissed off if you fiddle your expenses?