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SystemSystem Posts: 12,599
edited March 2015 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » The last budget of the 2010-2015 parliament

Cabinet celebrates the Budget ‘in the traditional manner’ http://t.co/YuqJjv7bKf pic.twitter.com/cQrQMZGOdb

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Comments

  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,026
    edited March 2015
    I'm expecting the post shamelessly political budget of all time.

    Oh and first
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    edited March 2015
    First

    After the disqualified cheat TSE.

    :smiley:
  • david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 18,357
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I'm expecting the post shamelessly political budget of all time.

    Oh and first

    Shamelessly political budgets are usually disastrous for those delivering them; they usually fall apart within 48 hours and sometimes (see G Brown) within 48 minutes.
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    off to a good start...

    @IsabelHardman: Labour MP criticises a 'vacuous soundbite' at PMQs but unfortunately mis-quotes it
  • PolruanPolruan Posts: 2,083
    Pulpstar said:

    Whats Ed going to go on in PMQs ?

    I can't actually think of a decent topic for him - NHS maybe ?

    3 on debates, 3 attempting some kind of pre-emptive strike on predicted Budget announcement.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,026
    david_herdson said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I'm expecting the post shamelessly political budget of all time.

    Oh and first

    Shamelessly political budgets are usually disastrous for those delivering them; they usually fall apart within 48 hours and sometimes (see G Brown) within 48 minutes.
    That's my fear.

    I was looking at the polling throughout this parliament, and the 2012 budget was what really buggered the Tories.
  • PongPong Posts: 4,693
    edited March 2015
    FPT @tse


    I wouldn't bet on Michael Green's career prospects at any odds. Trading bet or otherwise.
  • david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 18,357
    Pulpstar said:

    Whats Ed going to go on in PMQs ?

    I can't actually think of a decent topic for him - NHS maybe ?

    It doesn't matter. No-one pays any attention to PMQs on Budget Day.

  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    david_herdson said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I'm expecting the post shamelessly political budget of all time.

    Oh and first

    Shamelessly political budgets are usually disastrous for those delivering them; they usually fall apart within 48 hours and sometimes (see G Brown) within 48 minutes.
    That's my fear.

    I was looking at the polling throughout this parliament, and the 2012 budget was what really buggered the Tories.
    What was the reaction to that budget like on here ?
  • PolruanPolruan Posts: 2,083
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    david_herdson said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I'm expecting the post shamelessly political budget of all time.

    Oh and first

    Shamelessly political budgets are usually disastrous for those delivering them; they usually fall apart within 48 hours and sometimes (see G Brown) within 48 minutes.
    That's my fear.

    I was looking at the polling throughout this parliament, and the 2012 budget was what really buggered the Tories.
    Well, many Tory supporters of this parish do keep confidently reminding us that Osborne's budgets can be gamechangers.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,026
    Pulpstar said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    david_herdson said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I'm expecting the post shamelessly political budget of all time.

    Oh and first

    Shamelessly political budgets are usually disastrous for those delivering them; they usually fall apart within 48 hours and sometimes (see G Brown) within 48 minutes.
    That's my fear.

    I was looking at the polling throughout this parliament, and the 2012 budget was what really buggered the Tories.
    What was the reaction to that budget like on here ?
    I think you can't say we're all in it together and cut the higher rate of tax.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,334
    NHS it is (though sidetracked by lots of very unfunny quips about kitchens)
  • GrandioseGrandiose Posts: 2,323
    Polruan said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    david_herdson said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I'm expecting the post shamelessly political budget of all time.

    Oh and first

    Shamelessly political budgets are usually disastrous for those delivering them; they usually fall apart within 48 hours and sometimes (see G Brown) within 48 minutes.
    That's my fear.

    I was looking at the polling throughout this parliament, and the 2012 budget was what really buggered the Tories.
    Well, many Tory supporters of this parish do keep confidently reminding us that Osborne's budgets can be gamechangers.
    As far as I'm concerned, the 2012 budget was the straw that broke the camel's back. At some point in the parliament, the emphasis was going to have to shift from Labour's problem to the Tories' (/the Coalition's) solution, about which the public were always going to be less favourable. It was simply the marker for that change.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,026
    Polruan said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    david_herdson said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I'm expecting the post shamelessly political budget of all time.

    Oh and first

    Shamelessly political budgets are usually disastrous for those delivering them; they usually fall apart within 48 hours and sometimes (see G Brown) within 48 minutes.
    That's my fear.

    I was looking at the polling throughout this parliament, and the 2012 budget was what really buggered the Tories.
    Well, many Tory supporters of this parish do keep confidently reminding us that Osborne's budgets can be gamechangers.
    George Osborne has been responsible for two out of the three major sustained polling shifts in the last decade. (one in favour of the Tories, one in favour of Labour)
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 62,776
    Science: Terminator 2-inspired 3D printing process is created:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31918215

    Looks rather cool.
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    A very combative PMQ's today.

    Is there a general election in the wind ?? ...
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,026
    Dave is really enjoying making jokes about Ed's kitchens.
  • DaemonBarberDaemonBarber Posts: 1,626
    listened to PMQs on radio.

    Ed really came across as poorly.
    Not that Dave came across much better mind.

  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Polruan said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    david_herdson said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I'm expecting the post shamelessly political budget of all time.

    Oh and first

    Shamelessly political budgets are usually disastrous for those delivering them; they usually fall apart within 48 hours and sometimes (see G Brown) within 48 minutes.
    That's my fear.

    I was looking at the polling throughout this parliament, and the 2012 budget was what really buggered the Tories.
    Well, many Tory supporters of this parish do keep confidently reminding us that Osborne's budgets can be gamechangers.
    George Osborne has been responsible for two out of the three major sustained polling shifts in the last decade. (one in favour of the Tories, one in favour of Labour)
    I note looking back at that that George Galloway won the Bradford by election at the very height of Labour's polling. I'm on George.
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @BBCAllegra: Angus Robertson, SNP leader in Commons grinning + pulling at suit pocket in ref to Miliband / Salmond pocket poster as PM raises SNP-Lab rel
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,026
    https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/578166928717553664
  • CD13CD13 Posts: 6,386
    Surely raising the tax allowance more than expected is must be odds-on?

    Labour will complain it's a political budget anyway, so what's to lose?
  • PolruanPolruan Posts: 2,083
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/578166928717553664

    Using that to fund abolition of IHT on primary residence would be a neat trick.
  • DairDair Posts: 6,108
    Second week in a row where they can't stop advertising the SNP as their greatest fear on both sides of the house.

    Lovely.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,736
    Interesting article, even if I don't agree with it all:

    http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2015/03/why-arent-the-tories-running-away-with-the-election/
  • stodgestodge Posts: 14,987
    Afternoon all :)

    Before this ludicrous pointless piece of political anachronism and theatre enthralls us all there was an interesting piece in yesterday's City AM from that well-known left-winger Ryan Bourne:

    http://www.cityam.com/211701/osborne-likes-think-unthinkable-now-he-should-abolish-budget
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    @ThescreamingEagles I have no sound so let me know if I'm going to need to call the bank manager when he mentions tax 500 times :)
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    Polruan said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/578166928717553664

    Using that to fund abolition of IHT on primary residence would be a neat trick.
    That or extra council bands on high value homes. IHT is makework for lawyers and tax accountants. Quite sure you could get a revenue neutral thing going quite easily.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,690


    FPT
    david_herdson said:

    Carnyx said:

    [snipped]

    Yes, but it is difficult to handle the capital risk at that sort of age (70s and up) when people ought to be moving out of shares and into more liquid assets anyway, so inflation/interest remains an issue. And those products can be difficult to sell quickly, especially for an elderly person without his own computer. I've just had to help out an elderly relative who held a non-trivial chunk of his savings in an asset trust's shares in an ISA - it turned out to be impossible to sell them immediately; one had to instruct the ISA company in writing and then wait till the following Monday for them to actually do it; and they wouldn't accept any other instructions such as 'do not sell if below xp'. We were lucky that the market didn't tank in the week or so we were waiting.

    The sort of products I was meaning were more like capital-protected bonds, which have a variable return based on the stock market but which guarantee the investment back (presumably the risk to the seller is sold on through market instruments somehow), such as these:

    http://www.moneysupermarket.com/savings/structured-products/

    Now, I grant you that you're locking your capital up for a fairly serious period of time in many of these, which won't be right for everyone and even for those who it is right in part, they'll no doubt want to keep some savings more liquid, but the basic premise stands that they can form part of a balanced savings portfolio for those with money put aside.

    Ultimately, the whole question of savings usually comes back to the point that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. People complaining about the lack of high returns need to recognise that they will only *ever* exist if they come with high risk because there is simply nothing that can reliably produce them otherwise.
    Many thanks for that. I entirely agree with the conclusion!
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    edited March 2015
    Danny must be enjoying his time on those green benches. Tic toc !
  • richardDoddrichardDodd Posts: 5,472
    We should rename PMQ,S ..Milibashing...
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    This PMQs is interesting. There doesn't seem to be any issue that Labour can land punches on right now. The Tories have peaked at just the right time on all their deliverables - apart from polling results!
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,534
    The youth unemployment stats really have changed massively under this Government. It makes it difficult for Labour MPs to gain any traction on unemployment - one of the areas they would once have expected to really be hammering the Government in the election campaign.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    Wolverhampton SW is a very very vulnerable marginal iirc.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    I've only listened half the time - but I can't think of a moment when Labour seemed on the front foot.
    Patrick said:

    This PMQs is interesting. There doesn't seem to be any issue that Labour can land punches on right now. The Tories have peaked at just the right time on all their deliverables - apart from polling results!

  • PolruanPolruan Posts: 2,083
    Pulpstar said:

    Polruan said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/578166928717553664

    Using that to fund abolition of IHT on primary residence would be a neat trick.
    That or extra council bands on high value homes. IHT is makework for lawyers and tax accountants. Quite sure you could get a revenue neutral thing going quite easily.
    You could see a consultation on new council tax bands, but given the lead time of getting it done, it's hard to see even a chancellor with Osborne's taste for unfunded tax cuts claiming it could be quantified and implemented quickly enough to fund a cut in IHT before about 2020. Mechanically there are also issues as you'd have an increase in council revenues and a decrease in central government revenues, so would then have to adjust funding models to match the two up - not trivial. So CGT makes more sense.

    That said, a consultation on council tax revaluation would be a high-quality trap for Labour, as it'll almost certainly end up being seen as too difficult/unpopular and have to be scrapped - wouldn't look good for a Labour government to abandon a project designed to tax the rich.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    What's Watson asking a question on :innocent face: ?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,534
    Pulpstar said:

    Wolverhampton SW is a very very vulnerable marginal iirc.

    Pulpstar said:

    Wolverhampton SW is a very very vulnerable marginal iirc.

    I really can't see any circumstances that the Tories hold that seat. 6,500 LibDems for Labour to steal. Would need a massive UKIP bite into Labour's vote here.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,965
    No mentions of tax in first minute

    Its a disaster for Pulpstar
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    Here we go !
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    Xlibris1 @Xlibris1
    UK has seen the largest rise in employment of any G7 country; more young people have got into work than rest of the EU put together
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,534
    "Britain is walking tall again" seems to be the tagline for this Budget.

    Just to piss off John Bercow...
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    bigjohnowls said:

    No mentions of tax in first minute

    Its a disaster for Pulpstar

    Marathon not a sprint though :O
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,965
    richardDodd said:

    We should rename PMQ,S ..Milibashing...

    I think it should be

    Any Answers?
  • SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    Plato said:

    Xlibris1 @Xlibris1
    UK has seen the largest rise in employment of any G7 country; more young people have got into work than rest of the EU put together

    If so, that is an astonishing statistic.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,534
    from austerity to prosperity....
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    LOL
    MarqueeMark said:

    "Britain is walking tall again" seems to be the tagline for this Budget.

    Just to piss off John Bercow...

  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    What a racket - who is in the chair ? Let the chap speak .

    "Northern Powerhouse" - ching.
  • currystarcurrystar Posts: 1,171
    SimonStClare said:

    Plato said:

    Xlibris1 @Xlibris1
    UK has seen the largest rise in employment of any G7 country; more young people have got into work than rest of the EU put together

    If so, that is an astonishing statistic.
    vote Labour and ruin it!!
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    Was that an "Order, order" ?
  • DaemonBarberDaemonBarber Posts: 1,626
    choose life...
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    edited March 2015
    Carnyx said:



    FPT

    david_herdson said:

    Carnyx said:

    [snipped]

    Yes, but it is difficult to handle the capital risk at that sort of age (70s and up) when people ought to be moving out of shares and into more liquid assets anyway, so inflation/interest remains an issue. And those products can be difficult to sell quickly, especially for an elderly person without his own computer. I've just had to help out an elderly relative who held a non-trivial chunk of his savings in an asset trust's shares in an ISA - it turned out to be impossible to sell them immediately; one had to instruct the ISA company in writing and then wait till the following Monday for them to actually do it; and they wouldn't accept any other instructions such as 'do not sell if below xp'. We were lucky that the market didn't tank in the week or so we were waiting.

    The sort of products I was meaning were more like capital-protected bonds, which have a variable return based on the stock market but which guarantee the investment back (presumably the risk to the seller is sold on through market instruments somehow), such as these:

    http://www.moneysupermarket.com/savings/structured-products/

    Now, I grant you that you're locking your capital up for a fairly serious period of time in many of these, which won't be right for everyone and even for those who it is right in part, they'll no doubt want to keep some savings more liquid, but the basic premise stands that they can form part of a balanced savings portfolio for those with money put aside.

    Ultimately, the whole question of savings usually comes back to the point that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. People complaining about the lack of high returns need to recognise that they will only *ever* exist if they come with high risk because there is simply nothing that can reliably produce them otherwise.
    Many thanks for that. I entirely agree with the conclusion!
    It is almost never worth purchasing a structured "capital protected" product from a bank or financial adviser. It is much better rolling your own by investing in a regular bank fixed term bond and adding on a index tracker on the side - that way you capture any and all rise in the market rather than being guillotined by the terms of a capital-protected product.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,839
    Plato said:

    Xlibris1 @Xlibris1
    UK has seen the largest rise in employment of any G7 country; more young people have got into work than rest of the EU put together

    I think you need to choose your start and end dates carefully for that to work. Spain's employment has risen by 1.2m in the last two years for example.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,316
    edited March 2015
    Still awaiting ICM data tables, but the part-ELBOW for polls so far this week excluding ICM puts Labour 0.8% ahead, compared with "0.0% growth" for week-ending 15th March!
  • SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @SimonStClare
    "If so, that is an astonishing statistic."

    For a given definition of "employment" it probably has some validity.
    The definition, and the differences, are part of the Tories problem.
    But few on here are capable of noticing.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,316
    When is the Budget being announced?
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 63,871
    Strange the ST didn't poll support for inheritance tax cuts.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    I'm feeling Leftie Pain right now. Lots of it.
    Smarmeron said:

    @SimonStClare
    "If so, that is an astonishing statistic."

    For a given definition of "employment" it probably has some validity.
    The definition, and the differences, are part of the Tories problem.
    But few on here are capable of noticing.

  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,822
    rcs1000 said:

    Plato said:

    Xlibris1 @Xlibris1
    UK has seen the largest rise in employment of any G7 country; more young people have got into work than rest of the EU put together

    I think you need to choose your start and end dates carefully for that to work. Spain's employment has risen by 1.2m in the last two years for example.
    Spain isn't in the G7!
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    Still think whilst this is spiky rhetoric the budget is going to be a bit dull.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    When is the Budget being announced?

    Peak waffle ?
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    Well spotted!
    Richard_Nabavi said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Plato said:

    Xlibris1 @Xlibris1
    UK has seen the largest rise in employment of any G7 country; more young people have got into work than rest of the EU put together

    I think you need to choose your start and end dates carefully for that to work. Spain's employment has risen by 1.2m in the last two years for example.
    Spain isn't in the G7!
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,940
    Pulpstar said:

    Wolverhampton SW is a very very vulnerable marginal iirc.

    Oooh

    I'm hoping to buy a factory there next month. I shall instruct the workforce accordingly :-)
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    What was that 1975 statistic??
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,026
    edited March 2015
    YORKSHIRE!
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,839
    Richard_Nabavi said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Plato said:

    Xlibris1 @Xlibris1
    UK has seen the largest rise in employment of any G7 country; more young people have got into work than rest of the EU put together

    I think you need to choose your start and end dates carefully for that to work. Spain's employment has risen by 1.2m in the last two years for example.
    Spain isn't in the G7!
    You're right: I was conflating the first half of the claim with the second.
  • DaemonBarberDaemonBarber Posts: 1,626
    Smarmeron said:

    @SimonStClare
    "If so, that is an astonishing statistic."

    For a given definition of "employment" it probably has some validity.
    The definition, and the differences, are part of the Tories problem.
    But few on here are capable of noticing.

    being answered by GO just now

    Yorkshire rules apparently
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    More than the WHOLE OF FRANCE just in Yorkshire. Blimey.
    DaemonBarber said:

    Smarmeron said:

    @SimonStClare
    "If so, that is an astonishing statistic."

    For a given definition of "employment" it probably has some validity.
    The definition, and the differences, are part of the Tories problem.
    But few on here are capable of noticing.

    being answered by GO just now

    Yorkshire rules apparently
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,026
    Alanbrooke said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Wolverhampton SW is a very very vulnerable marginal iirc.

    Oooh

    I'm hoping to buy a factory there next month. I shall instruct the workforce accordingly :-)
    Well a former MP for Wolverhampton South West ended up sitting as an MP for the Ulster Unionists.

    Just saying.
  • SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @Plato
    You feel no ones pain but your own Plato.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    YORKSHIRE!

    I'm telling you now, the election will be decided by Pudsey.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    Your pain is my pleasure. It really is. Along with your total lack of humour. :^ )
    Smarmeron said:

    @Plato
    You feel no ones pain but your own Plato.

  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,822
    Pulpstar said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    YORKSHIRE!

    I'm telling you now, the election will be decided by Pudsey.
    What, this little chap?

    http://www.bbcchildreninneedshop.co.uk/pudsey-bear.html
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,026
    Pulpstar said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    YORKSHIRE!

    I'm telling you now, the election will be decided by Pudsey.
    I shall be campaigning in a slew of West Yorkshire seats.

    Mark my words, a world of pain awaits Labour in West Yorkshire.
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I'm expecting the post shamelessly political budget of all time.

    Oh and first

    More so than the last Labour one with all its traps ?
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,940
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Wolverhampton SW is a very very vulnerable marginal iirc.

    Oooh

    I'm hoping to buy a factory there next month. I shall instruct the workforce accordingly :-)
    Well a former MP for Wolverhampton South West ended up sitting as an MP for the Ulster Unionists.

    Just saying.
    Now you've jinxed the tread.

    Isam will be posting Enoch Powell for the next 4 hours, thereby undermining my 24hr sponsored sledgeathon on Osborne.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    Oliver Cooper @OliverCooper
    80% of jobs created since 2010 have been full-time and just 20% part-time. Under Labour, 46% of net new jobs were part-time. #Budget2015
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    I'm looking at http://www.sportingindex.com/spread-betting/politics/british/mm4.uk.meeting.5077288/the-2015-budget can't quite believe they are all "0" so far, especially "minutes"
  • DaemonBarberDaemonBarber Posts: 1,626
    Floater said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I'm expecting the post shamelessly political budget of all time.

    Oh and first

    More so than the last Labour one with all its traps ?
    ooh, that's gotta hurt...
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,316
    Pulpstar said:

    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    When is the Budget being announced?

    Peak waffle ?
    No access to TV right now!
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,534
    Every metric really is moving in George's favour....
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,965
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britains-divided-decade-the-rich-are-64-richer-than-before-the-recessionwhile-the-poor-are-57-poorer-10097038.html

    People are better off
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,026
    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Wolverhampton SW is a very very vulnerable marginal iirc.

    Oooh

    I'm hoping to buy a factory there next month. I shall instruct the workforce accordingly :-)
    Well a former MP for Wolverhampton South West ended up sitting as an MP for the Ulster Unionists.

    Just saying.
    Now you've jinxed the tread.

    Isam will be posting Enoch Powell for the next 4 hours, thereby undermining my 24hr sponsored sledgeathon on Osborne.
    As someone once said "Imagine my shock, that someone obsessed with race and religion moved to Northern Ireland to be happy"
  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    When is the Budget being announced?

    Peak waffle ?
    No access to TV right now!
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/business-31874987
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,197
    Growth forecasts aren't stellar.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,965
    Steve Fisher retweeted
    Fraser Nelson ‏@FraserNelson 2m2 minutes ago
    Growth was good last year, will be okay in years to come. But overall? The slowest recovery in history #Budget2015

    Prof Fisher says slowest recovery in history
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    Told you - dullsville.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,316
    DecrepitJohnL said:

    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    When is the Budget being announced?

    Peak waffle ?
    No access to TV right now!
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/business-31874987
    Didn't realise it was right after PMQs, thanks!
  • PolruanPolruan Posts: 2,083
    MarqueeMark said:

    Every metric really is moving in George's favour....

    Every metric George has chosen to highlight is moving in George's favour....
  • JWisemannJWisemann Posts: 1,082
    Smarmeron said:

    @Plato
    You feel no ones pain but your own Plato.

    I'm not sure she's even self-aware enough for that to be honest.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    Robert Peston @Peston
    Debt as share of GDP to start falling in 2015/16, a year earlier than expected #Budget2015
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 63,871
    A new unionist pound coin. Nice, but unexpected!
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,026
    Casino_Royale said:

    A new unionist pound coin. Nice, but unexpected!

    Should have been based on the Battle of Waterloo
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    A new unionist pound coin. Nice, but unexpected!

    Should have been based on the Battle of Waterloo
    Sounds like a ploy to up the SNP vote to me

    OH WAIT
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,965
    National Debt was soaring in 2010

    Now it has .......

    Gone up significantly
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,718

    From Previous Thread (with apologies);-
    Charles said:

    Roger said:

    After the last slew of polls I'm getting the distinct impression that there are just too many who share the left wing values of concern for the disadvantaged for the Tories to win however competently they run the economy.

    There is nothing left wing about "concern for the disadvantaged"

    I'm a Tory & take some fairly practical steps to help in the limited way that I can.
    Well said. The idea that the Left has a monopoly over concern for the disadvantaged is nonsense on stilts and not borne out by evidence from history.
    Polruan said:

    Charles said:

    Roger said:

    After the last slew of polls I'm getting the distinct impression that there are just too many who share the left wing values of concern for the disadvantaged for the Tories to win however competently they run the economy.

    There is nothing left wing about "concern for the disadvantaged"

    I'm a Tory & take some fairly practical steps to help in the limited way that I can.
    Charles, I don't think the point here is about individual actions and I hope that it would be an isolated view on the left that anyone more right wing is by definition a selfish bastard (though I suppose in this forum it's likely the extremes are over-represented, meaning that there could be more lefties holding that extreme view and more of the right who actually are selfish bastards).

    It's more that left-wing politics can be characterised as responding to human suffering by trying to intervene directly and immediately to relieve it, whereas right-wing responses often focus more on "incentivising" those who are suffering to take steps themselves to address the problem, and managing the overall economy in a way that is intended to benefit all, including the disadvantaged, in the longer term.

    ....
    The difference it seems to me is that the Left (or some of them) seem to think that the only way to respond to human suffering is by state intervention . And (a) that's simply not true; and (b) can rapidly lead to a belief in a large state as a value in itself irrespective of whether it achieves its intended purpose. It seems to me that that is the cul de sac into which the Left has got itself. It sees a large powerful state as an end in itself. The equivalent on the right is to want a small state almost regardless of what the effects might be.

    Surely the better view is to have a state do those things which cannot be effectively done by people either indiviidually or collectively and do them really well, rather than do lots of things not very well or badly?

  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,718
    Also - a thank you to Fat Steve for organising the PB drinks last night. A nice venue and nice to chat with some PB'ers I had not met and see again others.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,874
    Will George commend the budget to the house though ?

    That's the big unanswered question.

    Perhaps he'll have second thoughts.
  • PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    A surplus for first time in 18yrs?
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    Spending crashing to the days of penury and squalor of 2000.

This discussion has been closed.

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