Madmen in Authority

davilown

lostinrates wrote: »

Its great you've paid your debt off. Some have just started their own phase of debt repayment. For them the double whammy of facing own need to restrict budget and then the need to deal with government stuff must be doubly daunting. I have to admit, I'm not looking forward to raised taxes etc as our mortgage payments start.

I think that's probably where I'm a bit naive as I don't have a mortgage so my costs won't go up fortunately. I do feel for people who have just started to pay their debts off as I know what it's like. It's mainly those who believe that they aren't doing anything abnormal from the Jones' next door and accumulate more and more debt even though there's a possibility of IR rises in the not too distant future, and that house prices could stagnate for the next 4-5 years or even fall.

In addition to this, I would like to see the coalition being given a decent chance at dealing with the problem. Facts are facts, and until we have them all, we can only guess at the truth.

lostinrates

davilown wrote: »

Facts are facts, and until we have them all, we can only guess at the truth.

Any facts we really get will only be with benefit of hindsight. Even the best leader can't actually see the future, only hope to avoid the worst potential out comes.

All that said, I agree that ''something has to be done''.

Degenerate

Myners was brought in because he had the city background to do a specific job at a time of crisis. It's not even clear whether he was really a Labour supporter before he was drafted into government. The fact that he was not on-board with the full government agenda just shows that Brown was willing to make a non-political appointment in the national interest.

He's also the person responsible for allowing Fred Goodwin to waltz off with his monster pension pot whilst the taxpayer cleared up the mess, so I wouldn't take his judgment as infallible.

davilown wrote: »

I saw that on the news earlier - I have to say that labour 'lied' from the beginning of the recession about how much debt the country was in and how we would come out of it.

What's your basis for this statement? Last years deficit came out significantly lower than the Labour governments predictions.

That's not to say the current coalition is not now,

Even the economics editor of the pro-Tory Telegraph is acknowledging that Cameron is currently spouting indefensible lies.

however, the little note from the previous Treasury Sect to the incoming was enlightening.

The only thing that shed light on was what a humourless c*nt David Laws is.

Thrugelmir

What's your basis for this statement? Last years deficit came out significantly lower than the Labour governments predictions

Tax receipts are an unknown quantity. Very hard to predict.

With BP's problems in the Gulf of Mexico and the increased expenditure. They'll be paying less than the £6 billion they paid in Corporation tax in the last financial year. So already thats a drop on last year.

If I was AD I would have painted a picture that was pessimistic. As then there's always an upside. What people have to come to terms with is the scale of the figures. They are vast. Its as much a change in culture across society as anything else.

Degenerate

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Tax receipts are an unknown quantity. Very hard to predict.

With BP's problems in the Gulf of Mexico and the increased expenditure. They'll be paying less than the £6 billion they paid in Corporation tax in the last financial year. So already thats a drop on last year.

Be that as it may, it's a fact that the deficit came out substantially lower, which leaves no grounds for davilown's statement that Labour lied.

Thrugelmir

Degenerate wrote: »

Be that as it may, it's a fact that the deficit came out substantially lower, which leaves no grounds for davilown's statement that Labour lied.

We've yet to be told the true extent of UK plc's finances. Last years borrowing figure is just one part of a much more complex figure.

This administration is keen on the public being told the truth. So I believe there will be some interesting revelations in the months ahead. I like AD personally, but GB was all smoke and mirrors. Too much was hidden in the small print of documents ( his budgets for eg) or released as a press release on Friday afternoon. So missed commentary in the weekday press.

In fact now AD is free to speak. I'd be interested to hear his real views. As I believe he was at odds with his boss.

Degenerate

Thrugelmir wrote: »

We've yet to be told the true extent of UK plc's finances. Last years borrowing figure is just one part of a much more complex figure.

Please elaborate on this. There may be complexities when you drill down into the details of public spending, but at the top level the overall position is really quite simple to assess: expenditure - revenues = deficit.

Labour made projections for the deficit going years ahead. So far the actual figures that have come out have vindicated those projections as over-cautious. What is there "yet to be told"? It's in the ConDems hands now.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Degenerate wrote: »

What is there "yet to be told"? It's in the ConDems hands now.

Exactly right.

The Tory on the politics show last night got a real ticking off for trying to sell this line.

I think the example they used was the projected debt repayment figures, which Cameron had announced as being "worse than we thought" at 70 billion a year if the deficit continued at this level.

However it was pointed out that those figures had actually been released in March, before the election.

This is just political nonsense..... The numbers are not changing, and nor are they "worse than we thought", they've been in the public domain for some time.

But there was no way the incoming government was ever going to say, "well actually, we knew about the numbers before the election and just avoided the issue to get elected"......

LauraW10

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

This is just political nonsense..... The numbers are not changing, and nor are they "worse than we thought", they've been in the public domain for some time.

But there was no way the incoming government was ever going to say, "well actually, we knew about the numbers before the election and just avoided the issue to get elected"......

And worse we are expected to believe they have NO PLAN. Please! - does the coalition really have no plan?! No plan - No ideas ?! They've spent all that time in opposition and they've never planned what cuts they are going to make?!

The coalition should just spill the beans.

LauraW10

This is from this morning Torygraph

David Cameron invites a 'double-dip recession' if he insists on Greek medicine for Britain's deficit


Prime minister David Cameron warned on Monday that "Greece stands as a warning of what happens to countries that lose their credibility, or whose governments pretend that difficult decisions can somehow be avoided". We beg to differ.

The main danger to the UK's credibility is when ministers spread fear in the markets and talk down the economy. Harsh cuts in public spending, as expected in the emergency budget on June 22, have the potential to push the UK into a double-dip recession.

Over the last two years the governments have responded to the financial meltdown by loosening monetary policy, lowering interest rates, providing extra liquidity, introducing quantitative easing measures, alongside expansionary fiscal policies.

From the Telegraph

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/7811591/David-Cameron-invites-a-double-dip-recession-if-he-insists-on-Greek-medicine-for-Britains-deficit.html