very weak budget

The_White_Horse

would have liked to have seen a public sector wage decrease of 10% this year followed by a freeze for the next 4 years.

all overpaid.

would have also like to see a bigger chop to the public sector - 25% is lousy. needed a 50% chop.

still better than nothing. would have also liked to see child benefit scraped for any more than 2 kids.

treliac

The_White_Horse wrote: »

would have liked to have seen a public sector wage decrease of 10% this year followed by a freeze for the next 4 years.

all overpaid.

would have also like to see a bigger chop to the public sector - 25% is lousy. needed a 50% chop.

still better than nothing. would have also liked to see child benefit scraped for any more than 2 kids.

Scraped from where.... the bottom of the barrel?

Sorry you are disappointed TWH. You'll just have to continue your one-man crusade until someone listens.

Spartacus_Mills

The_White_Horse wrote: »

would have liked to have seen a public sector wage decrease of 10% this year followed by a freeze for the next 4 years.

all overpaid.

would have also like to see a bigger chop to the public sector - 25% is lousy. needed a 50% chop.

still better than nothing. would have also liked to see child benefit scraped for any more than 2 kids.

Personally I have never agreed with Child Benefit so any reduction is a good thing.

With regards to public sector pay and benefits what has happened is a good start but must be considered a work in progress. It is harsh to say they are all overpaid. A great many are but a great many are not.

They really need to get into the pensions and reduce the employer contributions while giving the employee the chance to increase their contributions. They also need to move to average salary or even money purchase scheme. I hope the Hutton enquiry goes down this route.

There is no point in hammering public sector workers for the sake of it but the situation is critical and the budgets have to be cut.

bendix

TWH is, of course, exaggerating to make an effect. The budget could have been more aggressive, but I for one am very happy with the balance they have struck.

Remember - this is an emergency budget, prepared only 50 days after the election and - more fundamentally - needing to keep both parts of the Coalition happy. To have got so much through in such a short time is, frankly, very impressive, and augurs well for the future.

Next thing to look for - the public sector spending review in the autumn, followed by another budget in the spring.

The government has - in 50 days - come up with a strategy to deal with a very serious problem and at the same time start a process to realign the role of the state in our lives, something which Labour dismally failed to do over many many years.

Bravo, I say.

Ironically, I think the Govt will get a public opinion boost from this. People will see how carefully they have balanced all interests, while taking some very tough decisions.

The_White_Horse

what must always be remembered is that this govt is (as always) cleaning up a massive mess inherited from the lefty failures.

Fiddlestick

The_White_Horse wrote: »

would have liked to have seen a public sector wage decrease of 10% this year followed by a freeze for the next 4 years.

all overpaid.

Really?

They are ALL overpaid?

Even the office cleaners on £12,000 a year or less?

They should suffer for your mandatory 10% cut across the board?

robin_banks

Fiddlestick wrote: »

Really?

They are ALL overpaid?

Even the office cleaners on £12,000 a year or less?

They should suffer for your mandatory 10% cut across the board?

The white horse is an instrument of satire.

markharding557

Bendix said:

Ironically, I think the Govt will get a public opinion boost from this. People will see how carefully they have balanced all interests, while taking some very tough decisions.

I suspect this is more to do with the restraining libdem hand than what the cons really want

sunshinetours

Actually quite refreshing to also see at last some simplification of certain tax issues rather than overcomplicating and including all the actual detail in the small print

As the first batch of "pain" it seemed quite well balanced I guess and probably will do more to reassure the financial markets and UK's overall rating with the world rather than anything else

bendix

markharding557 wrote: »

Bendix said:
I suspect this is more to do with the restraining libdem hand than what the cons really want

Perhaps, but that's not really important. The important thing is that together they came up with something absolutely fundamentally right.

Personally I - like White Horse - would have been more inclined to be more savage, but that's because we're conviction Tories, in the mould of Maggie T.

That doesn't mean I can't see the strategic and intellectual value of taking a softer line in this first attempt - it's all for the greater good, and if that is the role of the LibDems in this coalition, bravo for that.

Spartacus_Mills

robin_banks wrote: »

The white horse is an instrument of satire.

I am sure the irony of that comment, coming from you, is lost on no-one.