You've never had it so good

Cleaver

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11793486

The prime minister's enterprise adviser has apologised after saying most Britons had "never had it so good" despite the "so-called recession".

Lord Young of Graffham told the Daily Telegraph the Bank of England's decision to cut the base rates to 0.5% meant many homeowners were better off.

But he later stated that he had written to David Cameron apologising for his "insensitive and inaccurate" remarks.

In the Daily Telegraph interview, Lord Young said: "For the vast majority of people in the country today, they have never had it so good ever since this recession - this so-called recession - started..."

Lord Young, a former trade and industry secretary during Margaret Thatcher's government, added that "most people" with a mortgage found their monthly repayments had decreased by up to £600 each time.

He suggested the government's cuts, outlined in last month's Spending Review and totalling more than £80bn over four years, would just take state spending levels back to what they were in 2007 - a time, he said, when people were "not short of money". He said: "Now, I don't remember in 07 being short of money or the government being short of money. So, you know, I have a feeling and a hope that when this goes through, people will wonder what all the fuss was about. Of course, there will be people who complain, but these are people who think they have a right for the state to support them."

He said that the forecast of 100,000 public sector job losses a year was "within the margin of error" in the context of the 30 million-strong job sector.

Any thoughts?! It was funny how quickly he got told off and came back with the following:

"I deeply regret the comments I made and I entirely understand the offence they will cause. They were both inaccurate and insensitive. Low mortgage interest rates may have eased the burden for some families in this country. But millions of families face a very difficult and anxious future as we come to grips with the deficit. I should have chosen my words much more carefully."

We're all in it together!

Generali

As a song I used to listen to in the 1980s went:

You've never had it so good,
The favourite phrase of those who've always had it better!
Burn it up!

supercat92

I think the word 'insensitive' springs to mind!

lemonjelly

4 posts & no-one talking about the "Lord" being out of touch?

Anyone in the commons/lords has never had it so good anyway, what with 2 homes, juicey slalry, 13 weeks off a year....

Cleaver

supercat92 wrote: »

I think the word 'insensitive' springs to mind!

You think? My opinion is that he pretty much summed up what most people were already thinking really.

lemonjelly wrote: »

4 posts & no-one talking about the "Lord" being out of touch?

And in the same vein, I think his comments made him sound quite on the pulse of what people are thinking.

lemonjelly

Cleaver wrote: »

You think? My opinion is that he pretty much summed up what most people were already thinking really.



And in the same vein, I think his comments made him sound quite on the pulse of what people are thinking.

Eh? Really? When you say "people", are you talking of a majority, or a minority?

I don't agree that the majority are thinking this - & No. 10 seem to agree seeing as they've slapped him down quickly it seems.

Proper belt tightening is (imo of course) likely to start in the new year, & I feel a lot of people are at the very least cautious or apprehensive.

Pete111

Cleaver wrote: »

You think? My opinion is that he pretty much summed up what most people were already thinking really.



And in the same vein, I think his comments made him sound quite on the pulse of what people are thinking.

I agree with you Cleaver - what he has said rings true to me.

From my perspective, I'm paying a shed load less in Mortgage interest (approx 4k-5k a year) and as I understand it, most of my friends are also. I'm not even on a ultra low tracker, I was able to remortgage onto a 3.8% fixed rate last year (previously 5.2%)

As of this point only one person in my extended circle has lost their job and they found another quite quickly. Several people in my group (inc myself) have moved upwards in their firms or moved on to better jobs since 2008 so up to now this recession has been quite benign. Some of us were remarking on this only the other weekend.

This could of course change in coming months but here's to hoping!

Cleaver

lemonjelly wrote: »

Eh? Really? When you say "people", are you talking of a majority, or a minority?

I don't agree that the majority are thinking this - & No. 10 seem to agree seeing as they've slapped him down quickly it seems.

Proper belt tightening is (imo of course) likely to start in the new year, & I feel a lot of people are at the very least cautious or apprehensive.

I kinda agree and disagree.

I'm cautious, worried, apprehensive and everything else about the future of the country and jobs for the future. But what did he actually say?

• Most people still have the same income but have less mortgage to pay;
• If a few hundred thousand people from the public sector lose their jobs it's not that much when you consider 30 million people work in it.

To be honest, aren't both of these statements pretty much true? He was a moron to say what he said, as he should have known that he'd get his wrists slapped. But the fact is that the majority of people who have mortgages have seen costs fall and the majority of people have kept the same income as pre-2007. In addition a lot of people will agree that losing a few hundred thousand jobs from a public sector as big as ours isn't really that massive on the grand scheme of things.

And obviously No.10 will be quickly shutting him up. They want to cut, cut and cut and his comments are completely at odds with the 'we're all in this together' rubbish they are spouting.

lostinrates

Cleaver wrote: »

I kinda agree and disagree.

I'm cautious, worried, apprehensive and everything else about the future of the country and jobs for the future. But what did he actually say?

• Most people still have the same income but have less mortgage to pay;
• If a few hundred thousand people from the public sector lose their jobs it's not that much when you consider 30 million people work in it.

To be honest, aren't both of these statements pretty much true? He was a moron to say what he said, as he should have known that he'd get his wrists slapped. But the fact is that the majority of people who have mortgages have seen costs fall and the majority of people have kept the same income as pre-2007. In addition a lot of people will agree that losing a few hundred thousand jobs from a public sector as big as ours isn't really that massive on the grand scheme of things..

I guess to answer your question we need to know if most people pay tracker mortgages....I can't remember figures for % of population who are mortgage payers and stuff...far too serious for me.:o

lemonjelly

Cleaver wrote: »

I kinda agree and disagree.

I'm cautious, worried, apprehensive and everything else about the future of the country and jobs for the future. But what did he actually say?

• Most people still have the same income but have less mortgage to pay;
• If a few hundred thousand people from the public sector lose their jobs it's not that much when you consider 30 million people work in it.

To be honest, aren't both of these statements pretty much true? He was a moron to say what he said, as he should have known that he'd get his wrists slapped. But the fact is that the majority of people who have mortgages have seen costs fall and the majority of people have kept the same income as pre-2007. In addition a lot of people will agree that losing a few hundred thousand jobs from a public sector as big as ours isn't really that massive on the grand scheme of things.

And obviously No.10 will be quickly shutting him up. They want to cut, cut and cut and his comments are completely at odds with the 'we're all in this together' rubbish they are spouting.

No, I don't think this is true.
My reasoning is that this only applies to OO's (& arguably, only OO's on trackers). Those on fixed rates aren't paying less. Anyone who isn't an OO is not paying less. I don't believe that most of the population fall into this category.

My other feeling is that household incomes are slowly being squeezed. Accordingly the disposable incomes of households, to spend on things like leisure, luxuries etc is reducing. I don't see this as a positive, and I definitely don't think it has remained the same through the recession.

Also, people experiencing the kinds of things you describe - cautiousness, worry, apprehension - are unlikely to feel happy in themselves, contented, well off etc.

lemonjelly

lir fancy stealing my thunder with a quick sentence!:mad:;)