Osborne Loses It - Our Triple A Rating And Its Future

terrencetrentderby

lemonjelly wrote: »

Thatcher presided over the selling off of £1bn in state assets, yet still presided over 2 deep recessions. Why is she constantly trotted out as being a success story?

Because she defeated 3 successive socialist Labour party leaders is my guess.

BobQ

A._Badger wrote: »

Now, now, SteveieJ, there is no need to put words in my mouth. I didn't say they were all spies - though some clearly and indisputably, were: Jack Jones for one. The rest are just open or allegedly former supporters of communism.

Which ones do you dispute?

I do not know if JJ was or was not a spy but I have generally found that people who rely mainly on the reports of the Daily Mail making allegations after a man's death that sources claim to have seen things in unpublished files, have not grasped the principle of evidence.

Incidentally when was open or alleged support of a legal political party a crime one needs to dispute? I do not like the party (or the BNP) but supporting them is not illegal is it?

BobQ

lemonjelly wrote: »

Thatcher presided over the selling off of £1bn in state assets, yet still presided over 2 deep recessions. Why is she constantly trotted out as being a success story?

Kindly wash your mouth out with soap!

You do realise that this innocent remark could spark another 100 posts to defend the Lady's greatness? Prepartions are probably already underway for her to be declared a Saint.......

Moby

A._Badger wrote: »

So the waves of strikes and unrest that crippled the UK throughout the 1960s and '70s had no political motivation and were in so sense coordinated by militant communist unionists?

'In denial' barely covers it. But then look at the beliefs of the deniers.

If you are going to denigrate the reputations of dead people ...lets see your sources and how credible they are......!

Moby

A._Badger wrote: »

As I have said, the proof came when Jones had died, He was finally exposed by Professor Christopher Andrew.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8289962.stm

The fact that the traitor denied it is hardly to be wondered at.

Ah I see is this the quality of the evidence. 'It was in a book I read'

Is the same right wing establishment Prof from Cambridge who presents 'What If' on radio 4. You do know this man actually works for MI5 as their 'official historian'. Quite a controversial role I heard. You can find 'traitors' everywhere you look if you are thinking that way. We have our own little Joseph McCarthy right here on money advice forums lol!

BobQ

Moby wrote: »

Ah I see is this the quality of the evidence. 'It was in a book I read'

Is the same right wing establishment Prof from Cambridge who presents 'What If' on radio 4. You do know this man actually works for MI5 as their 'official historian'. Quite a controversial role I heard. You can find 'traitors' everywhere you look if you are thinking that way. We have our own little Joseph McCarthy right here on money advice forums lol!

Badger's source also volunteers the following:

Although Professor Andrew was given access to all 400,000 files created by MI5 since it was founded in 1909, the agency did limit what he could publish.
Prof Andrew said documents also showed MI5 was under pressure from Margaret Thatcher to help her in industrial disputes, such as the miners' strike.
According to the book, the prime minister wanted agents to identify all union "wreckers" who were stirring up industrial action.

Mrs Thatcher's demand was resisted because they were not genuine subversives, Prof Andrew said.
The authorised history reveals the Ministry of Defence pressed for information it could use against peace groups like CND, which were being monitored in the 1980s.
Thousands of files were opened on left-wing activists during the Cold War.
The book also details MI5's failure over many years to break the Cambridge spy ring that worked for the Soviet Union.
MI5 did not realise until 1982 that John Cairncross was the fifth member of the ring, even though he had confessed to being a spy in 1964.

Zinoviev letter thinking was still rife then I see.

DecentLivingWage

The risks of Britain losing its triple-A status are "clearly increasing," rating firm Fitch said on Tuesday, warning it could pull the trigger if the country's budget in March shows debt levels continue to rise says the Rconomic Times :

All three major rating firms currently class Britain a top-rated triple-A, but Tony Stringer, one of Fitch's top sovereign experts, said the country's debt levels had reached crucially high levels.

Worrying for the Cons coalition, the paper goes on to discuss Britain's failing economy :

'The country's Conservative-led coalition government had originally staked its reputation on plans to virtually eliminate a budget deficit that was at a record 11.2 percent of gross domestic product when it came to power in mid-2010.

However, progress has been slow due to a faltering domestic economy and weak demand in the euro zone'

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-01-15/news/36353231_1_triple-a-ratings-debt-levels-ratings-agencies

A._Badger

Moby wrote: »

Ah I see is this the quality of the evidence. 'It was in a book I read'

Is the same right wing establishment Prof from Cambridge who presents 'What If' on radio 4. You do know this man actually works for MI5 as their 'official historian'. Quite a controversial role I heard. You can find 'traitors' everywhere you look if you are thinking that way. We have our own little Joseph McCarthy right here on money advice forums lol!

You know, Moby, being a foaming Left wing radical is one thing. Being a traitor is something else. Defending the latter in the face of the evidence just edges you closer to that camp.

Incidentally, and just FYI, Cambridge is not (how shall I put this?) exactly famed for its Right wing academics. Come to that, the alleged 'Right wing' status of MI5 since the 1990s sets you at a tangent to reality, too.

A._Badger

BobQ wrote: »

Badger's source also volunteers the following:


Zinoviev letter thinking was still rife then I see.

Dopey, even by your standards, BobQ. Just try actually reading what you quote, next time. Nothing in it challenges the points I was making.

You might note inter alia the following http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/6653340/Baroness-Ashton-questioned-over-CND-and-Soviet-money.html

Oh, but of course, it's not from the Guardian, so it can't be true, can it?

DecentLivingWage

A._Badger wrote: »

Dopey, even by your standards, BobQ. Just try actually reading what you quote, next time. Nothing in it challenges the points I was making.

You might note inter alia the following http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/6653340/Baroness-Ashton-questioned-over-CND-and-Soviet-money.html

Oh, but of course, it's not from the Guardian, so it can't be true, can it?

Not the Guardian? Try the Northern Echo! It says that
speculation on Britain going into a tripledip recession at the end of the first financial quarter of 2013 has been rife from financial analysts nationwide since the recent Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey for the services sector, which makes up 75 per cent of the UK economy, showed a reading of 48.9 – its first decline in two years, together with mixed reporting from chain stores and supermarkets on Christmas trading and the first retail casualty of 2013 Jessops diving into administration less than a fortnight into the new year has led to renewed fears A triple dip recession and the UK losing its triple A rating:

'The atmosphere certainly has analysts jumpy, with many predicting the final quarter of 2012 will show the economy as a whole has shrunk by as much as 0.4 per cent, and some even going so far as predicting the first quarter of this year will also see a consecutive decline, putting the country into recession for the third time in four years.' The article goes on to try to be as positive as it can, but 'stagnation' and 'recession' is the mood that prevails.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/spotlighton/10164780.Is_it_a_triple_dip_______or_just_a_blip_/