FlightMan

Don't want this to turn into a NuLabia vs Con-Dem argument as they're as bad as each in my book.

Shocking economic and employment news for the UK today. We can't have austerity and growth, your policies aren't working Dave.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15755835

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15747103

Lee247

They are all useless and need replacing with people who have a real grasp on reality.But, whilst they are living the high life and swindling their expenses etc, why should they give a stuff about the state of the Country. After all, it's not their problem, is it

jasey

Careful Lee - with talk like that the last lot would have you arrested under the terrorism laws.

The current lot would have you shot !!!!

Lee247

It's true though

jasey

I wasn't arguing

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

To think during the last main election, we had a choice of three main parties.

Brown would have just carried on as before and by now we'd be asking the IMF for bailouts.

Clegg would make a hash of it and still break all his promises.

Cameron at the very least realised we had a big problem and cuts were needed. the problem is its too little too late and in teh wrong areas. So its really easy to moan about the current lot (which have plenty of shortcommings). but fact is you don't have a better solution and they are the lesser of the three evils as none of the other candidates would have done any better in this global/EU economic situation, and likely would have made things much worse!

And its not just teh govenment to blame....I mean for example we're facing probably an extra £2K in energy bills next year (amongst other things), some may say, oh its only a couple of grand, wrong! We're a small business so that amount of rise does have an impact. As a business we're going to have to charge the consumer more as margins are tighter. Seeing our energy supplier is a private venture not public, it is out of govenment control (offgem can't curb capitalism) whose profits continue to stay high and healthy. And every penny we pay them is less trickle down money for local economy - as our customers will have less money to spend elsewhere in the local economy, jepodising local jobs and industry. We're going to have to forget about planned equipment upgrades, problem is the cost of this equpiment is a gamble on if it'll earn enough business to pay off the investment - the higher energy bills means we can't make this investment.

Basicaly talking - not enough pie and the fatties at the top of the table are taking too much of it. Thats not just government/taxman, its the local council, the banks, energy suppliers, telecoms (another big cost issue we have ), ongoing software supscriptions, equipment support contracts (without which it'll stop working due to the software ), equipment maintanence (health and safety), waste collection, landlord etc etc.

Leslie

I agree with both Lee and Ali-B.

We have been "blessed" with a new breed of politician for quite some years now. Like bankers they are greedy and have only their own interests at heart over the top of any other part of the job which is to run this country for the good of its people.

They are prepared to take any steps to remain in power which includes overborrowing and overspending to make the economy look strong when it is really failing in order to buy votes, or to make promises in order to get elected which they then break immediately. The other ploy is to keep coming out with wonderful sounding government initiatives but which don't come to fruition for some years ahead by which time they will be conveniently forgotten. The coalition is a failure from our point of view because the leader is too frightened to stand firm against the Libs in case they bring the government down, so we have to go along with the Libs' rubbishy PC and Euro loving policies as well!

A really strong leader with honest ambitions for this country would dare the Libs to bring the coalition down and then go to a general election in an attempt to get a proper government. The Libs would disappear out of sight!

Being a Europhile also he will defend our membership of the Eu failure in spite of the wishes of the people who have got that lot sussed and are fed up with them and their hunger for complete power.

I wonder if we will ever get some real politicians again who will govern for us rather then thinking of the chance of future sinecures for themselves!

Les

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Too much too soon and in the wrong areas actually.

Labour's idea was to keep borrowing and grow our way out of recession.... was not working!

The Tories idea was to cut spending/borrowing and save our way out of recession, but that only works if the economy keeps growing and it hasn't ... it's been stagnant bar 0.1% over the last 12 months.

What was needed was something in between, same cuts but implemented over a longer period of time and the VAT rise should have been left alone as I very much doubt the government has seen much of a rise in revenues becusue of it if at all (especially as it would have seen a rise if the economy had kept growing). For instance we are using 15% less petrol than 3 years ago... do the math as our American cousins would say.

It's a tightrope and one created by the global downturn and Labour, but it is where we are and they needed to walk it very carefully, but IMO they have got it wrong.

Sadly the impact of the cuts and the rise in VAT coupled to rising fuel prices has shattered any confidence abiout the future for businesses and indivdiuals alike. It has made the average man on the street not only wary of spending but in many cases unable to afford to take the family out for a day... hence less retail spending, less eating out etc.etc. hence less busines and so on and so forth. Businesses have no idea what the future holds and even if they are doing well they are reluctant to implement expansion plans as they have no idea where they will be in 12 months time. It's a big mess!!!

The other thing that annoys me is the way the Tories are starting to conveniently blame our current ills on the Eurozone. True that we may now be affected now, but our economy stagnated 12 months ago long before the Eurozone crisis reached critical level and that has little to do wth anyone but ourselves.

Well you can blame Thatcher for most of that! As I said all those years ago when she plundered the country's nationalised service industries for votes we would one day be sitting here paying through the nose for our energy while the privatised firms made huge profits and the government could do nothing about it! Oh and here we are!!!!

scud8

iTrader: (1)

I'm sorry, but you are totally wrong - you can have public sector austerity and strong growth, but it takes a bit longer to recover from the kind of mess we are in. While public sector prolifagacy can create short-term growth, Labour both in the 70s and in 97-2009 provided conclusively that rampant public sector spending and long-term growth do not go hand in hand.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I blame the unions AND Thatcher (as well as her incompetent predecessors). Neither were compromising both to all of our detriment and no prior leader was able to sort out what was a public service mess. But past is the past.

Just think though - If our energy companies were still public owned...they'd be out striking along with the bin men/teachers/firemen/health workers/council desk jockeys demanding untennable wages along with their pensions and perks. Wouldn't it be nice if non-public sector taxpayers could have the ability to have a counter-strike aginast the striking of public sector strikers?


In other news - Labour bailed out bank Northern rock sold at a £400m (estimated) loss. Thanks for that Gordon Brown (the 'saviour' of the world economy)

Sincerely,

A. Tax payer

FlightMan

I see Northern Rock has just been sold to Virgin, at a £1.5 billion loss for the taxpayer.

And Osborne is all over the news lauding the sale. Moron.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

From Beeb website:

"... in addition to the immediate £747m the government would get back following the completion of the sale, there was the potential for the Treasury to receive a further £280m over the next few years.

"So on paper, taxpayers end up with a loss of somewhere between £400m and £650m," said our business editor.

The size of the potential losses contained in the bad bank part of Northern Rock is still uncertain and it still owes the Treasury £21bn."

TX.

jasey

.

You're not helping

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Who purchased the sodding bank anyway? (rhetorical)

The global banking/investments industry should have bailed it out - inparticular the ones based in tax havens.



I think we need to declare war on Switzerland, Luxembourg, Cayman Islands and erm, Jersey

I think war on Delaware maybe pushing it a tad though

FlightMan

It's my thread.