Our tax money at work

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by SV650rules

Too many people who run this country down, we regularly swap places with New York as the best financial centre in the world. ARM processors of Cambridge, world leaders in powerful energy efficient processors for mobile devices ( which were ignored by others because 'mobile phones would never catch on, they were just a fad' ). Concord, ( the only bit the french designed was the decor ) flew so fast and so high ( without afterburners due to genius who designed the engine intakes at Filton ) that few military jets could catch it ( EE Lightning was pretty much only one, and that had no range ). As Bibio says many tech advancements come out of UK but are sold off or given away for peanuts. For a small Island with 0.1% of world population we really do punch well above our weight. I say a p0x on people who run this country down.

Name one other country that has thrown so much money at people and companies during the Covid-19 emergency ?

I'm assuming you mean that Concord could cruise without afterburners because it needed them to reach cruising speed.

Spending on covid bailouts? We are not even close: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52450958

ARM who were British are now Japanese and heading for Saudi ownership. Creating ideas and then selling them to other countries is not a great example of being a world leader - it shows we're lousy at business.

I'm not running the country down but we talk and strut as if we are as important as we once were. We need help from the Americans to launch our nuclear weapons, we had vital help from them in the Falklands. In Iraq we sent soldiers into battle in unprotected Land Rovers. The second aircraft carrier was going to be mothballed because we couldn't afford to run two (but now have magically found the money) and like I mentioned before, we need US Marines on board because of our lack of aircraft. We talk big but don't have the money to back it up so maybe our rhetoric should match our finances? Painting the flag on a military aircraft is the same thinking - looks impressive but we cannot back it up and it would need to be repainted in a hostile situation hence it's a waste of money. If the PM wants to fly, let him go commercial airlines and save money. (make it Ryanair).

In science, based on number of scientific articles published we are 5th., by patents we are 12th (below Brazil). The LIBOR scandal dented our financial reputation and yes, we are number 2 at the moment, Brexit will probably change that (according to the City).

Sport? I know little but based on soccer competitions we're as good at that as we are in the Eurovision song contest.

I write to my MP regularly asking him to intervene when our engineering companies are being sold off, Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds being the last. He's a Tory, says he can't intervene in the free market. It's in the national interest! Finally, they are now talking about introducing a law that will stop hostile takeovers by foreign companies. I'd like to think that the virus will be a wake up call since we were so ill equipped to deal with it in terms of making the necessary medical protective equipment but based on my experience of the last 50 years nothing will change, but let's hope

[DJ123]

Business is all about 1 thing; making money.
In the electronics industry there are companies being bought out and ran under the main corporate umbrella, or being integrated. The bigger corporations have the know how, the money to build it up and make it better. Whether it's a small start up with the latest and greatest tech, or the big companies. Most recently Infineon buying Cypress.
A lot is designed and built in the EMEA region, but generally in the UK we mainly design as we not have the assembly houses/are able to compete on costs.
Remember Mr Dyson supporting Brexit and British jobs, then moving his HQ to Singapore (a tax haven) . . . . Business is about making Money.

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by Seeker

I'm assuming you mean that Concord could cruise without afterburners because it needed them to reach cruising speed.

If the PM wants to fly, let him go commercial airlines and save money. (make it Ryanair).

Concorde needed afterburn to take off. Cruising at more than speed of sound without afterburners is called supercruise. Even today not many mega-expensive military planes can do it, The EE lightning could, as well as Concord.

Ridiculous to expect Leader of one of the worlds leading economies to travel by commercial airlines, mainly due to the flying petri dish nature of commercial airliners as well as the security problems and of course image. People who think they are badly off in this country should try living somewhere else. Poverty is really a matter of degree, poverty in some countries is dying of starvation, the definition of poverty in UK seems to be not having the latest I-phone or play-station.

[Bibio]

if Concorde was American it would still be flying. but its not and the yankers could not wait till we got rid of them. the yankers were always pizzed as they could not do it and it was a red face. Concorde was built for a sole purpose and that was fast transatlantic flight but the yanks embargoed it to begin with coz they are ******z and think the world revolves around them.

[Biker Biggles]

But the world does revolve around the USA and has done for a hundred years or more. It used to revolve around the UK but hasnt for well over a hundred years. It revolves around whoever has the biggest economic clout and at some point in our lifetime that will be China. Get real and develop some attitudes and policies to survive in the world as it is rather than some fairy tale concoction.