I don't own a car but I do live in Oxford and for 850 jobs to be lost at BMW Mini plant here is quite frankly a disgrace. No compensation, ONE hours notice. Who would be surprised if the factory was burned to the ground.

and this is what destroys complete communities.

Several governments and both parties are to blame.

And you wonder why in ten years you have streets of young yobs telling you to fuck off and nicking anything not nailed down.

I read today that "only" agency workers were made redundant. I'm sorry but if your not employed directly, you'll always be first for the chop. You can thank Thatcher for the rise in temporary employment throughout the UK.

absolutely, Angel. Well said.

Sorry to burst your bubble guys.

Thatcher LEFT office in the early 90s nearly 20 years ago.

The current legislation has been redone by several governments since.

If NEW LABOUR thought the employment laws were wrong they could introduce a new one.

The problem is 100% Gordon Brown and his mismanagement of an economy. He frittered away our GOLD and our OIL revenue. Now we are in massive debt and the GOVERNMENT cant do anything except prop up the banks so the system itself does not collapse.

This is a NEW LABOUR made recession - in fact it is global because the FSA allowed UK banks to act in such a greedy way. Thatcher had regulation and stopped fat cat excesses.

In 2009 to blame Thatcher for anything happening now is totally ridiculous when she has absolutely nothing to do with what is happening in 2009.

The generalisation that Thatcher stood for greed is not actually backed up by the facts. The gap between rich and poor grew most under BLAIR and NEW LABOUR - so the real GREED merchants were New Labour according to the only real measure.

The brutal facts of 2009 is that the World is teetering on the edge of a system meltdown. I believe the financial system is on the edge. It could go under with any large event ( GM going down or Japan or USA or UK going bust or China calling in its loans to the US ) and then it will be every country for themselves. The idea of co operation when your population are starving and / or rioting will be the outcome.

I have warned people on here for years about this impending crisis. Stop looking for blame - New Labour were not the architects of the problems : just the messengers.

There will be many places burned down as the situation gets worse. The MINI fiasco is just the start. There are literally loads of businesses who are running out of money to pay staff - this will soon see another massive wave of companies and individuals going under. The media is trying to pretend there are green shoots this week ( They have been briefed by BROWN to try and keep morale up )

So I once again repeat my advice :

1. Keep a decent amount of cash at home ( The banks may close down one day )

2. Have enough food and water in non perishable form to survive a month to 3 months for you and your family

3. Have a generator and wind or solar alternatives for power in case of power cuts ( energy will get more expensive suddenly - Russia will double the price if their problems get any deeper and will turn the taps off if they dont get their money )

4. If you have a garden get it prepared for growing stuff.

5. Get a bike if you want to get anyhwere

Above all dont panic - look at the future as an adventure and an opportunity to live life without all the modern things which to a certain extent disassociate us from our survival instincts.

We have got FAT and HAPPY and LAZY in the last 30 years of tech growth and boom. We are due a correction in our lifestyles. That is no bad thing. We need to make sure the NWO does not grab power like Hitler did in Europe during the last deep recession of the 1930s/

but do the agencies receive any redundancy from this?