Anna K

The fault for all this lies squarely at the doors of the investment banks, whose greed led them to go looking for fresh markets that they could exploit, no matter how unsuitable and unsafe. They knew they were subprime but changed the rules and safeguards to suit as they went along, and sacked anyone who offered up objections, as long as they continued to get their massive bonuses they didn't care, (and still don't.) I too object to being told this is 'my fault' I have always lived within my means, have never been in debt, and know what I can afford. (The concept of saving up for something before you buy it seems to be long gone.) That doesn't mean I necessarily blame borrowers either. Maybe they were under the impression that banks gave sound advice and wouldn't lend money to people who weren't in a position to pay it back. (I remember naively saying this to someone.)

All of the above. and more. The infrastructure of the nation will not be renewed in any meaningful sense leading to a slow and steady decline across the board. Spin and propaganda on a level unseen outside of the old soviet block will take the place of actual action. The NHS will continue to decline whilst we are being told it is the best in the world, as will education likewise.

You seem to be assuming that the government has our best interests at heart. Once maybe, but no longer. I'm afraid that the ordinary people of this country feature very low down their list of priorities. Their loyalties now lie almost entirely with cronyism and feathering their own nests. This country's current state is a direct result of continuous bad policy and poor government from both parties and will continue as long as their is no alternative choice between them. They regard the us with utter contempt.

Capitalism creates winners and losers. In the past the west has always been the winning side. I suspect we are about to experience what it feels like on the losing side in the very near future.

Having just come back from Australia which seems to be a fabulous country, I'm truely intrigued as to why an Australian would want to settle here. What are the good bits here that I must be missing?

Is it just me who thinks it's the lads voting Chris and Ola back in as her costumes get tinier with each passing week.

Wouldn't someone in this position get working tax credits or something? I would also make sure that the job actually paid out as some don't. They then get a months work out of a succession of applicants for free. The job centre and the powers that be don't seem to be able to do anything about it as it still continues.

As always with this labour party - it's not what they say, but what they don't say that's important.

Dear Redrobbo, What a lovely uplifting post. I'm sure it will have reassured many that good places are out there, with the caring staff we would all want for our loved ones. What also comes across is your own love and care for your mother in what must be very difficult circumstances. It isn't always possible to care for someone we love at home for all sorts of reasons, and it isn't always desirable, but it seems you have done your very best for her and I'm sure she would be proud of you.

Ecclesfield, Chapeltown, Wentworth, Harley are all reasonable areas with a wide range of housing and prices within easy reach of the M1.

Yes, I've just watched it too. I don't know where to start. £700 per week? £400 per week? It was all about money. Where does that money go? Certainly not to the staff. Where is the job satisfaction? the person who really cares? The old person having a chance to enjoy their final years? I would start by recruiting the right people with the right attitude and then implementing proper compulsory worthwhile training, then I'd value them and trust them to do a good job. Care for the carers. Too many of the people in charge fail to have the right image of what successful care in this sector looks like, so I'd take them to see up and running homes that deliver exemplary care (like the one they showed in the programme,) Running homes like these is a vocation not just a job. They have got to want to see their residents happy as well as clean and fed, and that doesn't need lots of money, just a better approach, empathy and understanding. A higher number of trained staff does cost however, so 4 million pound houses might have to wait.

Most of the money has been spent backstage bringing it up to standard, (it really was grotty before,) with improved storage for scenery etc and new hydrollics under the stage. They also spent a fortune on a fancy new roof which I think was a bit of a waste. I think we're very lucky in Sheffield to have two fabulous but very different theatres and urge anyone who's never been to give it a try. I also hope the theatres can keep the prices down making it accessible to everyone.

The reason bankers get such huge bonuses isn't because they are spectacularly good at their jobs, but because they have deliberately rigged the system towards bonuses at the expense of safety and common sense - hence the mess we're in now. Similarly they have made it so complex as to be virtually incomprehensible to outsiders. The Government should definately call the bankers' bluff and make an example of them. All this cant about being able to attract top staff is just bluster and the government needs to demonstrate it as such. Stop the bonuses and let them resign, (without the usual golden handshakes.) Their jobs could be filled in a jiffy by plenty of talented people. Anyway where are they going to run too? As far as I'm aware there are no vacancies and a surfeit of bankers doing the rounds. The real reson this probably won't happen is because half the cabinet are bankers with vested interests, and they all belong to the same old boys network of you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

I agree that my post was somewhat simplistic, but as you say there are many reasons why people at the top end up there, and talent often isn't one of them. Social mobility is the lowest it's been for years, and the answer to why the 'people at the bottom aren't doing it' are complex, but not so much to do with ability, as opportunity. Ask yourself how many top drawer jobs are taken by Oxbridge graduates, and how many of them are ex Etonians, or have a well connected mummy or daddy. They don't advertise the fact of course, eg. preferring not to use titles etc, but you don't have to dig too far to find how closely intertwined the upper echelons actually are. Just look at the shadow cabinet. Yes there are a few exceptions from the working class who make it to the top, but this is a very small percentage of the general population, and you'll find very few in the top establishment posts. Look at the statistics: the young white working class male is now acknowledged as the least likely member of the population to prosper. Why? I know plenty who work damned hard, and many more who would do if given half a chance. Yet 90% of the population earn a lot less than £30k. In my day at least there was education (11+, Grammer School, and free University places,) to even things up a bit, and effective Unions working on behalf of the exploited and underpaid, but those days are gone. These are the sort of things we should be fighting for, not arguing amongst ourselves. Of course my answer was simplistic, -don't get me started, I could go on for hours.

It's not a case of the unemployed getting too much, but the employed getting too little. Instead of having a go at the unemployed who have enough problems, they should be having a go at the bosses who pay as little as they can get away with. In any organisation compare the rate of the people at the bottom who usually do most of the work and create most of the wealth with those in the middle and top, -the supposed 'experts' who are paid substantially more than they are worth. The pay gap is huge and growing and will continue to do so while attention can be successfully diverted into the lower orders fighting among themselves and squabling over the crumbs.