Bolitics The New Condem Government

[Awol]

If you say so Jon, So many of your points I think are to use your phrase, bullshit, but can't be arsed to really go into war and peace mode as you clearly have an issue with Obama and anyone who criticises the UK.

You know what they say, when you're in a hole stop digging. Well done!

No condemnation whatsoever of anything the ConDem's do seems to be the stance

The BP leak has nothing to do with the UK Government so condemning then for this is both pointless and ludicrous in equal measure.

[drat01]

To me to you to me to you to me to you ............ :-)

[meregreen]

I know it's eating you up inside that Cameron Is PM and the new government have made a good start in undoing years of labour harm but there really are no point to be scored by going on and on about a visit to the troops

Hmmm,years of harm. Introduction of minimum wage, ending of long waiting times for health care, up to 2 years under Tories, restoring link to average earnings for old age pensions, schools adequately funded, tax credits introduced to help low paid, winter fuel payments for elderly, free bus passes nationaly for pensioners,doubled the number of child care places, 234,000 appreticeships in 2008/9,as opposed to 75,000 under last Tory Govt.in 1997.banned fox hunting,smoking ban in public places,42,000 more teachers than in 1997,3,700 new or significantly improved schools,rough sleeping has dropped by two thirds, and homelesness is at its lowest level since the 1980's,introduction of the "right to roam" opening up thousands of acres to the British people,20 billion spent bringing social housing up to decent standards, 3 million child trust funds, paternity leave for fathers,a free nursery place for every 3/4 year old,free TV licences for over 75's,...I could go on. We had 13 years of a Government that for all its faults, and no Government is perfect, genuinly tried to bring some fairness, decency and compassion into our country after the dreadful carnage imposed on us by the Tories. I look forward to the next Labour Government.Just hope the current incumbent in Downing st doesn't do too much damage before he's rumbled and dumped.

[avfc89]

No such thing as a Society Meregreen according to The Tories.

[tonyh29]

and some noble ideas there were to .. however public spending of our money increased by over a trillion £'s , in an attempt to implement its promises to transform our hospitals, schools, police, pensions and social services

what have we got for the extra trillion or so of our money that the Government has spent on our behalf? The best public services in the world? Or a massive squandering of our money on misjudged policies and increasing bureaucracy?

We have more young people who are both unemployed and not looking for a job than anywhere else in Europe.

More people are on benefits than ever before.

our private pensions savings have collapsed

violent crime has more than doubled from about 500,000 crimes in 1997 to 1,100,000 in 2007

genuinely tried to bring some fairness

and yet widened the poverty gap even further

look forward to the next Labour Government

i hope you are a young man

[meregreen]

and some noble ideas there were to .. however public spending of our money increased by over a trillion £'s , in an attempt to implement its promises to transform our hospitals, schools, police, pensions and social services

what have we got for the extra trillion or so of our money that the Government has spent on our behalf? The best public services in the world? Or a massive squandering of our money on misjudged policies and increasing bureaucracy?

We have more young people who are both unemployed and not looking for a job than anywhere else in Europe.

More people are on benefits than ever before.

our private pensions savings have collapsed

violent crime has more than doubled from about 500,000 crimes in 1997 to 1,100,000 in 2007

genuinely tried to bring some fairness

and yet widened the poverty gap even further

look forward to the next Labour Government

i hope you are a young man

I'm old enough to have lived through the horrors of Thatcherism and the suffering it inflicted on our people . What did the Tories ever do for the unemployed or young?Incidentally if crime statistics were collated using the old system of statistical analysis it has dropped, crime, including violent crime has fallen by 41% according to the British crime survey.Since 2002 the police no longer classify a crime as violent, it is now left to the victim to decide.Many more incidents formerly classed as misdemeanours are now classed as violence.True the poverty gap has widened, but that reflects more on Labours failure to redistribute wealth from the rich to the less well off. Incomes have risen at all levels of society though. Do you think the Tories will take from the rich...no neither do I.If you really believe public services have not improved in the last 13 years then just wait for the dismantling of those said services by Cameron and the idiot Osborne.A bunch of greedy bankers almost brought the world economy to the edge of collapse. I for one will not allow a bunch of Labour haters to try and denigrate the great things done for this country by Labour in the last 13 years without instilling some balance.

[tonyh29]

I for one will not allow a bunch of Labour haters to try and denigrate the great things done for this country by Labour in the last 13 years without instilling some balance.

Whilst denying the same sense of balance to Thatchers government :winkold:

[snowychap]

I see the the government has dropped the plan to have a register of landlords.

Apparently, everything is all hunkydory in the private rented sector and of the three million private tenants in this country, the vast majority report they are satisfied with the service they receive from their landlords.

I'm not sure how they came to that conclusion. Did they ask everyone? Or did they make it up?

[Juju]

I'm not sure how they came to that conclusion. Did they ask everyone? Or did they make it up?

I think they asked their natural supporters, those who might afford several homes. The tory "looking after your friends" begins here.

[tonyh29]

The tory "looking after your friends" begins here.

:yawn:

[Richard]

Tory hordes

Does that replace the MOB of Mafia or is there some sort of hierarchy? Is Hordes above MOB and below Mafia for example or does MOB rule ?

[Richard]

OBR forecasts lower growth

The new independent fiscal watchdog has downgraded the economic growth projections for the UK economy.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts the economy will expand 2.6% in 2011, down from the 3% to 3.5% estimate given in Labour's last Budget.

The lower figure will likely increase the impetus of the coalition government to cut public spending, as lower growth means fewer tax revenues.

Yet the OBR also says the deficit and debt will not be as bad as forecast.

Continue reading the main story Sir Alan was keen to emphasize the point... that these forecasts are not deliberately conservative in the way that past Budget forecasts were

Stephanie Flanders

BBC economics editor

Read Stephanie's thoughts in full

It predicts that the UK's public deficit will fall, down to 10.5% of GDP in the 2010-11 financial year, from the 11.1% estimated by Labour.

For overall net government debt - the sum of all borrowing - the OBR estimates this will decline to 62.2% of GDP in 2010-11 from the previous estimate of 63.6%.

Former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling said the OBR figures "show that borrowing will be less than I forecast, so the government doesn't have the excuse to raise VAT, which it is planning".

He added that if the government cuts public spending too aggressively it could send the UK into a double-dip recession.

However, the OBR says the structural deficit - the part of the deficit that is not automatically reduced by economic growth - will widen from Labour prediction of 7.3% of GDP in 2010-11 to 8%.

This is the most difficult part of the deficit to tackle.

'No permanent damage'

Chancellor George Osborne is due to unveil an emergency Budget on Tuesday of next week, and has pledged to cut public spending to reduce the deficit.

The OBR will issue a new set of figures at the Budget, taking into account the coalition government's new tax and spending plans.

Despite downgrading the growth figures, OBR chairman Sir Alan Budd said he did not think the recession had caused "permanent damage" to the economy.

He added that the changes to the forecasts were "all within the normal range of uncertainty".

BORROWING FORECASTS (% OF GDP)

YEAR APRIL BUDGET OFFICE OF BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY

2010/11

11.1

10.5

2011/12

8.5

8.3

2012/13

6.8

6.6

2013/14

5.2

5.0

2014/15

4.0

3.9

Source: OBR

Death spiral

In a speech in London later, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is expected to say that the government must act now to cut public debt or risk losing its ability to protect people in need.

He will argue that cutting spending is the "progressive" option which will allow the coalition to bring down the deficit in a way that delivers fairness.

However, one senior economist, David Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, shared Mr Darling's concerns about the risk of a double-dip recession.

He told the BBC's Today programme that cutting public spending could risk sending the UK economy into a "death spiral".

"I think the danger is a phrase that Ben Bernanke used, it is called the death spiral," he said.

Mr Blanchflower's fear is that a big cut in public spending will hurt the private sector.

"There is no evidence that the government is going to create private demand, this could push us back into double-dip recession," he said.

ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECASTS (% CHANGE ON YEAR EARLIER)

YEAR APRIL BUDGET OFFICE OF BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY

Source: OBR AND APRIL BUDGET

2010

1 - 1.5

1.3

2011

3 - 3.5

2.6

2012

3.25 - 3.75

2.8

2013

N/A

2.8

2014

N/A

2.6

'Huge problem'

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was set up by the Conservatives last December, when they were still in opposition.

It is responsible for providing an independent assessment of the state of the public finances.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) gave the first OBR figures a cautious welcome.

"The new forecasts are more realistic than those in the March budget, but the growth expectations are still overly optimistic," said BCC chief economist David Kern.

"For the world economy, the expectation that growth will return fairly rapidly to the levels seen before the recession is too rosy - especially given the current eurozone problems and worrying signs that the US recovery may be stalling."

Prime Minister David Cameron warned last week the OBR figures would "show the scale of the problem we are in today".

He added that dealing with the deficit - which totalled £156bn in the last financial year - would affect "our whole way of life".

[Richard]

It's the budget next week, what are your predictions for the actions that the coalition will take?

[JulieB]

It's the budget next week, what are your predictions for the actions that the coalition will take?

20% VAT is a real possibility as we all thought.

CGT up (but doubt on business assets though cos alot of companies would just go Offshore & then Govt would lose Corporation Tax)

Doubt if rate of PAYE will go up but you never know.!!.... Personal Allowances up quite a bit to compensate for tax rises & to work towards promise of first £10K of income being tax free.

Apart from this .....who knows?

It's George Osbourne's Mansion House Speech this evening.....should be interesting regarding regulation of the banks and all things UK Financial Services.

[JulieB]

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts the economy will expand 2.6% in 2011, down from the 3% to 3.5% estimate given in Labour's last Budget.

Therfore everyone will say that successive Governments have indeed been manipulating the figures for political ends...which is why the OBR was set up.

[Jon]

It's the budget next week, what are your predictions for the actions that the coalition will take?

Mass slaughter of chavs, estate scum and single mothers to alleviate the burden on the taxpayer?

[kidlewis]

It's the budget next week, what are your predictions for the actions that the coalition will take?

Mass slaughter of chavs, estate scum and single mothers to alleviate the burden on the taxpayer?

well the first two should be done regardless of political allegiances. Then again most chavs will crash, smoke themselves, overdose or beat each other to death with any luck.

[tonyh29]

should impose a Northern tax just so the people North of Watford can have something to moan about :-)

a VAT rise could casue inflation ..wonder if they might just opt for VAT on some zero rated goods this time out ??

[Jon]

a VAT rise could casue inflation ..wonder if they might just opt for VAT on some zero rated goods this time out ??

oxygen tax perhaps?

EDIT: set it at quite a high level though, so that those who can least afford it (the poor, chavs, estate scum, single moms, immigrants) will eventually die out, thus alleviating the burden on the taxpayer, and "middle england".

Job done.

All heil CamerEgg.

[JulieB]

Hmm.. So Mr Sants is staying on at the FSA to see it's break up & is then offered the top job at the Bank of England...

Despite the fact that he has been charge of a failed extremely expensive institution right the way through the banking crisis.

Couldn't beleive this bit last night when I heard the Mansion House speeches.

Last week it was announced he was leaving the FSA with a whopping £108K bonus

This is the guy who emailed his entire staff the day of the election warning them that if they voted Conservative they might be voting themselves out of a job and has been widely touted as one of Labour's key supporters.

Makes you seriously wonder whether this guy simply knows TOO MUCH!! ...and rather than have him out there as a loose canon it was better to keep him firmly in the loop!!

Jobs for the boys or what?!!!