Poll: Which party will get your vote in the General Election?

[Dolph]

Having seen the inflation figures, does anyone else wish the letter from King to Darling had simply said.

Darling,

It's your fault, don't blame me, eggface.

-King

 

[Dolph]

Tories to be tougher than Thatcher on spending - Clarke

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8514697.stm

Problems and hard decisions ahead in clearing up from Labour's long period of incompetence shocker?

 

[Rich_L]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8523034.stm

Economists back delay on government spending cuts

More than 60 senior economists have signed two open letters that back the chancellor's decision to delay government spending cuts until 2011.

The letters in the Financial Times say that any measures to trim the budget deficit this year could risk dragging the country back into recession.

It's letter-tennis \o/

 

[Dolph]

Meanwhile, the country's finances continue to plummet into the abyss...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8521587.stm

The government borrowed another £4.3bn last month to plug the growing hole in the UK's finances, figures show.

It is the first time the government has borrowed money in January - usually a bumper month for income from tax receipts - since records began in 1993.

Andrew Goodwin, senior economic adviser to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club, called the figures "pretty ghastly".

The UK's total borrowing for the financial year now totals more than £122bn.

January's borrowing figure, released by the Office for National Statistics, came as surprise to many economists.

They had expected to see a surplus in January's budget, allowing it to repay around £2.8bn of its debts.

Tax raises aren't going to fix this, there is a finite amount of money available to be taken by taxation. We need to start addressing these issues, and we need to start as soon as possible, because Labour started their irresponsible spending long before the recession, the medicine has to start as soon as possible. Halving the overspend in 5 years is simply not enough.

 

[Rich_L]

Over 60 senior economists including two Nobel Laureates would disagree

 

[Dolph]

Over 60 senior economists including two Nobel Laureates would disagree

And there are plenty who do agree

I suppose if Greece is the economic model we want to embrace it might work...

 

[robgmun]

Over 60 senior economists including two Nobel Laureates would disagree

Of course they disagree, they don't want cuts so that people still have money to spend on businesses, the greedy ****s

It's entirely self-serving

 

[Naffa]

Another:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/18/spending-cuts-economists-deficit

More than 60 academics issue stinging rebuke to George Osborne's claim that consensus of economic experts supports his policies.


More than 60 academics have issued a rebuke to the claim by George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, that a consensus of economic experts supports his policies.

Hmmm... Who to believe, Nobel prize winning economists and various other esteemed individuals, or OcUK forums members?

 

[PermaBanned]

Seriously though - are those people putting down 'BNP' joking?

 

[meghatronic]

Withdrew from EU, tell NI/Wales/Scotland if they want their own governments they have to pay for them.

I just saved us £120bn a year.

 

[Dolph]

Another:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/18/spending-cuts-economists-deficit



Hmmm... Who to believe, Nobel prize winning economists and various other esteemed individuals, or OcUK forums members?

Or the other esteemed economists from last week who supported the other approach?

 

[weescott]

Withdrew from EU, tell NI/Wales/Scotland if they want their own governments they have to pay for them.

I just saved us £120bn a year.

Scotland takes oil reserves. England lose 240bazillion a year.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

Or the other esteemed economists from last week who supported the other approach?

And the IMF, and the OECD.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

David Cameron accuses Gordon Brown over expenses MPs


What took Brown four days to decide whether or not to suspend the Labour MPs?

More important things to do ? Running a country? Or perhaps hoping that the justice system could be given time to run it's course for once without political parties putting their oar in?

Don't get me wrong I think he's a right plonker, but he's got more important things to worry about than 3 pilfering MPs.

More important things like:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/12/gordon-brown-piers-morgan
and
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7033848.ece

Uh huh.

 

[meghatronic]

Scotland takes oil reserves. England lose 240bazillion a year.

I was hardly being serious.

But that be UK oil Scotland is not a sovereign state.

Anyway, the Barnett formula means Scotland already get far more than the Treasury receives - even taking into account oil taxation.

 

[Naffa]

Or the other esteemed economists from last week who supported the other approach?

It's not that I haven't looked, but I haven't seen or read anything showing anywhere near the same amount of opposition for Labour's economic policy. I'd love to be shown it, though.

 

[Dolph]

It's not that I haven't looked, but I haven't seen or read anything showing anywhere near the same amount of opposition for Labour's economic policy. I'd love to be shown it, though.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...mists-call-for-rapid-deficit-cut-1899229.html

A group of leading economists warned today that the Government was putting Britain's economic recovery at risk without a "credible" plan for cutting its massive budget deficit.


An array of eminent academics and policy-makers put their names to an open letter urging that borrowing had to be reduced more quickly than Chancellor Alistair Darling set out.

They urged whoever won the forthcoming general election to present a "detailed" strategy to wipe out the underlying, structural deficit within five years.

There was a "compelling case" for cuts in 2010/11, they added.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne cited the intervention as proof that Prime Minister Gordon Brown's argument for dealing with the deficit had "collapsed".

The Tories promised to go "further and faster" in dealing with the £178 billion deficit than Labour's plans to halve it within four years. They want to start cutting in 2010.

The letter, to The Sunday Times, is signed by four former members of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...nding-or-face-hardship-for-years-to-come.html

In its annual survey of the British economy, the Paris-based institution told the Government to slash the size of its deficit far more than it currently intends or face major problems in the coming years. It came as the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) warned that cutting the record deficits caused by the crisis will be "the main task of policymakers for years to come".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/20/imf-uk-forecast

The International Monetary Fund today urged tougher action in the next parliament to cut Britain's record budget deficit as it warned that recovery from the recession would be subdued and gradual.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...ichard-branson-backs-tories-on-deficit-cut.do

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson today gave a huge boost to David Cameron's election campaign with a call to slash the nation's record borrowing.

In his first comments yet on the subject, he told the Evening Standard that the £178 billion deficit was “a serious risk” to economic recovery.

His words will be greeted as a major coup by the Tories, coming days after 20 economists backed their call to cut borrowing faster than Labour.

Borrowing and cuts have become the central issue in the looming election campaign and Sir Richard met the Tory leader and shadow chancellor George Osborne last week to discuss the situation. Sir Richard said today: “I believe the UK's record budget deficit does pose a serious risk to our recovery.

“It would be damaging if we lost the confidence of the markets through delayed action and saw interest rates have to go up steeply.”

He added: “We are going to have to cut our spending and I agree with the 20 leading economists who said we need to start this year. The next government, whatever party that is, must set out a plan to reduce the bulk of the deficit over a Parliament by cutting wasteful spending and must not put off those tough decisions to next year.

By contrast, Gordon Brown, the architect of the country's problems, spouted this crap today.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...inister-says-need-to-cut-spending-a-myth.html

He said: "The great myth the right are spreading through their friends in the press is that government caused this crisis and that government spending is prolonging it."

He added: "They seek to frighten us with the present level of the deficit but mention neither the automatic reduction that would be achieved as and when growth is resumed, nor the effects of growth on investor confidence for the good of the British people.

Which absolutely goes against everything every economist is saying. But then, this is Brown, who has so much skill in this area he has done the same thing every labour government does, completely screwed the company's finances for no real gain...

This also comes from the same article and is relevant to the '60 economists support Brown' letter...

Labour hailed the economists' backing. However, it emerged that seven of the economists who signed the pro-Labour letters were among the 364 who famously claimed that Baroness Thatcher’s 1981 budget had “no basis in economic theory”.

They included Lord Peston, a Labour peer and Emeritus Professor of Economics at Queen Mary, University of London.

In the 1981 Budget, Lady Thatcher and her chancellor, Geoffrey Howe, raised taxes dramatically in order to cut government borrowing. Hundreds of economic academics signed a letter at the time insisting that the move would “deepen the depression” and threaten “social and political stability”.

However, the economy soon began to improve, defying the traditional economic principles of the time and embarrassing the academics.

Do we trust the same people who were wrong before? Do we go with historical evidence that shows that the Conservatives have much better economic records than Labour do, or do we fall for the same crap and resign ourselves to the country being in the doldrums (well, I suppose socialism is about a race to the bottom) by continuing to allow the people who caused the deficit problem to remain anywhere near power?

 

[ripperOFflesh]

The Pirate Party

 

[jbloggs]

I was just reading Labour's new party slogan for the next general election:

"A future fair for all"

And the old joke of "when does a politician lie...every time they open their mouth" sprang to mind...

 

[Dolph]

I was just reading Labour's new party slogan for the next general election:



And the old joke of "when does a politician lie...every time they open their mouth" sprang to mind...

This from the party that has punished the low paid like no other, reduced opportunity and generally made everyone's lives top to bottom crap...