The underspend of public funds in Northern Ireland is £366m (approximately 4.5% of the total budget). This represents a reduction on previous years but local politicians are angry that education cuts have been pushed through when extra resources were available.NOTE the figure of a 20% underspend in the linked article is incorrect.
Ireland is in the middle of a boom – a running boom. Chances are, even if you have never run a step yourself (apart from some painful P.E. classes many moons ago), someone you know has taken up running over the last little while. Road races in Northern Ireland and in the Republic have seen [...] read our review »
A silly media row about racism just had to figure in the riots’ post mortem. Was the Tudor history expert David Starkey racist on Newsnight when he said: The whites have become black. A particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic, gangster culture has become the fashion. And black and white, boy and girl, operate in [...] read our review »
maybe if there wasnt a stupid and pointless inquiry into bllody sunday costing around 400 million we would all be dead on, eh?
I think the point is we could have another one, and break even.
Each year the schools turn out children under qualified for jobs and in some cases not being able to read or write. How can this government and their direct rule part-time ministers get away with allowing the civil servants to submit budgets and then return the monies to London.
its about time someone did the figures on what leaves this part of Ireland in the form of VAT income tax and the rest and compare it what makes up budgets for government depts.
But Brian that would be completely self defeating.
There are 2 possible outcomes :
1. NI is a net source of funds for the UK – cue republicans bleating that us poor Irish are subsidising greedy Brits.
2. NI is a net drain of funds on the UK – cue republicans bleating about unsustainable articifial statelelts
As has been discussed on this board ad nauseum – NI is an integral part of the UK economy. The money that is ‘returned’ to London – it doesnt mean its going to Ken Livingstone or the Millenium Dome – it means it is returned to the UK exchequer (from whence it came) for use around the UK (including NI) – its not like they are taking ‘our’ money and subsidising the SE England.
Perhaps the money could be used to pay off a tiny sliver of the national debt?