STFC -£60m

Sigh

...but this is fucking outrageous. How much has been wasted on propping up Northern Rock? ID cards? Iraq war? Even worse when you learn that this whole disaster may have come about due to an error in basic arithmetic.

The time has come as they would say down under in Oz and the Kiwi twin islands of the permanent white cloud "Let's whip around the hat boys and say bugger to the short sighted idiots and morons with their heads stuck up the nether end of their personal universes or words to that effect !"

Regretfully, this is always the reality of [Old | New] Labour. Tax, spend, withdraw. So, we get to pay the taxes, we get to contribute to first class scientific projects and we withdraw before anyone actually gets to do anything.

So sad, so very, very sad.

What naffs me off most is that the 7 million quid penalty is more or less what we're supposed to be saving out of our Daresbury site (which is one of STFC's labs) - that 7 million is 350 people losing their jobs.

What a joke....

so much about what goes on in the sky, or on the moon, or stuff. Too much to do to make oneself PC and mediocre.

Strewth mate, too bloody right! That' s just what I said as I took a gander at the article

They keep banging on about how nobody is coming forward to teach Maths & Physics in schools these days but then turn around and cut scientific funding left, right and centre.

So what kind of impression does this give to kids just finishing school with their Maths / Physics / Chemistry / IT degrees? It tells them "Don't waste your time and brain on real science. Go work for a company that makes databases for accountants"

Most of this generations Einsteins and Hawkings are all bored silly working in IT. They may be reasonable well paid but they are bored out of their minds.

Canada is sounding more and more attractive.

BAE, despite saying it would "try" to come in on budget, has said the current overspend is £500m. It is holding it's hand out for more and it will get it too.

I bet BAE would get 70M for telescopes if there was a military purpose for it.

It seems that Astronomy doesn't have any votes in it...

Oh common!

STFC this, STFC that..

Names! Start by mentioning actual names of people responsible!

There are board members, who voted for this, who should be named (and at least questioned, if not shamed).

While there is homogenous mass blamed, nothing will change.

The best way to destroy a country without war is to dismantle its education system. This p[roject is part of our long established research astronomy effort and its loss apart from being stupid given the money we have spent already, insane because it is now coming of age is bloody embarrassing.

I would quite happily sack off the Olympics, the World Cup Bid and of course any number of goverment projects like ID cards to save this.

For the record i am not involved in any way with this project, in fact i am not a scientist just a regular wage slave who likes cool stuff like discovering things in space.