Who does Gideon Osborne think he is kidding?

First topic message reminder :

This Tory-dominated government claims there is no alternative to austerity. Below, nine leading economists, including a Nobel Prizewinner and one of the Chancellor's own advisers, say that's wrong - and offer a different path:-

Cut VAT back to 17.5%
Christopher Pissarides
Agree financial transaction tax
Jeffrey Sachs
Reduce NI contributions
David Blanchflower
Print money for the public
Sushil Wadhwani
Start a national investment bank
Robert Skidelsky
Lift the cap on immigration
Jonathan Portes
Lend directly to small businesses
George Magnus
Launch a green new deal
Ann Pettifor
Set up a recovery fund
Christopher Allsopp

For the details of each of those suggestions, click on the links on this page:-
http://www.newstatesman.com/economy/2011/10/alternative-coalition

We're all dooooomed , Mr Mannering, sir

DO NOT WORRY,jonesey will help!!!

"Buy-to-let lending at highest level since 2008 crash"

Two points here OW. First this shows the shortage of living accommodation here in the UK. Second it shows how rents are so very high that renting out property is very lucrative. Once again we have a situation where the less well off are having to pay extortionate rents just to have a roof over their heads.

It's a lenders dream, buy to let is a safe bet. Even if interest rates rise, the landlord will simply increase the rent and "if you can't pay, then someone else will." Perhaps as in many cases certain ethnic groups are prepared to live as many as six to a room.

Where is the protection for tenants? Absolutely none whatsoever under a Tory administration. As with food prices, there is no price commission anymore and the rent act actually favours the landlords these days.

The whole thing is disgusting and favours the rich in every way as has been proven since the crash. Tory ideology, transfer wealth from the bottom to the top. Always has been so and always will be so.

Exactly, Mel, and if you wanted to make a third point, BTL serves to underpin the continuous rise of house prices generally.

Luckily we're not conspiracy theorists.

Shows why my council have bought in a rule that you cannot change your rented home once you are over 50years of age, unless it is a swap.
No homes to swap in the area that I would like as all privately owned.

"Luckily we're not conspiracy theorists."

Indeed Ow.
.

A new ‘Google tax’ on giant US firms shifting their profits abroad was ridiculed today after it emerged businesses will have to report THEMSELVES to the taxman.
The levy, which was introduced by George Osborne in last week’s Autumn Statement, is overwhelmingly backed by the public.
But it emerged today that under the new scheme companies will be asked to ‘self-report’ how much tax they have avoided.
(Part of MSN report today)

Initial headlines read and taken in by masses of the public. How many of them will realise the truth? Where are the headlines showing the con of it all???

It's a joke and it's not funny at all.

It's ridiculously easy to get finance for buy-to-let.

Recently, my elderly neighbours were in a bit of a panic and thought their landlord was about to sell up and retire.

I've lived next to them for several years and worried that new landlord might make them feel they wanted to move on, so looked into the possibility of buying their house so as to rent it out to them, rather than face the prospect of new, and possibly less congenial neighbours.

I'm a pensioner and don't have a huge income - just enough to run my own home and maintain a fairly comfortable lifestyle - but the first lender I approached was more than willing to let me have the money and the rent income including Housing Benefit would have comfortably covered the loan and a decent mount in reserve for repairs and the like - I might even have made a small profit.

In the event, the landlord decided not to retire, so I didn't need to take the step - but I was struck by how much easier it was getting the money for buy-to-let than it had been to raise the cash for my own mortgage.

boatlady wrote:It's ridiculously easy to get finance for buy-to-let.

.... I was struck by how much easier it was getting the money for buy-to-let than it had been to raise the cash for my own mortgage.

The interest payable on a buy-to-let mortgage is allowable as a Business Expense on your annual self-assessment Tax Return, and can accordingly reduce the tax payable upon rent received. Likewise agency fees, building insurance and maintenance bills. Add in the availability of housing benefit and the taxpayer is generously making BTL a no-brainer choice for an investor.

The best thing anyone can do then really OW, is to buy a property to let, and the government give you all the breaks tax wise.

I know just how he felt. It happens every time I pluck up the courage to listen to Cameron or any of his mouthpieces.

Mrs H has to revive me with a strong cup of tea and fan me with a copy of Cynics' Weekly...

He looks a though he is in drug heaven. Didn't I read something about Gidyman taking crack at sometime in the past?

He is saying to himself when are you going to shut up so I can have a go?

His pupils are extra large though are they not?

It's clear to me that Gideon was totally out of his box - I'd have been suspended on the spot if I turned up for work in that state - don't know why he was allowed to sit there - ON TELEVISION - they obviously think they are fireproof

Out of his box on the box eh boatlady.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 2.6% between the third quarter of 2013 and the same period this year, down from a previous estimate of 3%.


Growth for the first quarter of 2014 was revised down from 0.7% to 0.6% and for the second quarter it was 0.8%, down from
0.9%.

Third-quarter growth was unchanged at 0.7% as it saw the best growth in household spending for four years but business investment narrowed at its sharpest rate in five years.

Previous studies have pointed to companies being concerned by economic weakness abroad, particularly in the eurozone which is the UK's biggest trading partner.

The figures also showed the extent to which consumers dug into their savings.

Household disposable income, after tax and inflation, fell 0.1% on the quarter and was up only 1% on the year, reflecting weak pay growth that has raised questions about the durability of the economic recovery.

But the most recent data has suggested a widening of the gap between price rises and pay - with wage growth now outpacing inflation following a six-year squeeze on living standards.

The changes mean the recovery is not as far advanced as previously thought, with the economy now 2.9% bigger than it was before the recession, rather than 3.4%.

Extract from MSN (sky News)
So much for the bragging Gideon. And so much for those who say they will vote for the Tories as they have "created growth" and are the best to trust on the economy

Ahah You are posting well today Mel.

Osborne's narrative is a highly fraudulent one. Shortly before Lehman Brothers crashed, he had been boasting about how he would match Labour on spending commitments. So far from "giving keys back to the driver who crashed the car", Osborne was the co-driver. He also wrote in ebullient terms about Iceland, the deregulated economy which crashed big time.

Osborne just spouts a pack of lies, trying to justify austerity, which is his excuse for decimating public services. In the process, the Tory corporate backers have had their state handouts, such as from the privatisation of Royal Mail.

The hope is that with Osborne's announcement of yet more savage cuts to come, while simultaneously telling us that the economy is growing fast, the voting public might at last be waking up to what dreadful liars the Tories are.

We can only hope that they are Ivan, fingers crossed.

"the voting public might at last be waking up"

The operative word here is "might". I do not trust the Tories and the same could apply to the fickle electorate, It's their funeral!!

I see the SNP are again riding high in the polls. This could be the nail in the Labour coffin.

If the SNP WIN THEIR SEATS AS USUAL, then that will cut the result between the two main parties down to a close cut finish will it not Mel?

Gideon doesn't seem to mind when his figures are continually discredited. He still maintains the fiction that only Tories can be trusted with the economy. Flying in the face of all the evidence.

Is brass neck sufficient to win votes?

Well he certainly seems to think so does he not OW, He must have a lot of it.

Even the Daily Torygraph seems to have had enough of Gideon's smoke and mirrors pronouncements:


Pound drops as figures reveal 'unsustainable' current account deficit


http://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/pound-drops-as-figures-reveal-unsustainable-current-account-deficit/ar-BBhbaTz

I understand that perfectly Ivan, even though I am disabled, they have called me in to try and get me a job time after time.

I have sent that link to Ed Miliband along with Mervyn King (ex BOE Boss) statement in the Guardian--------

Labour not responsible for crash, says former Bank of England governor
29 Dec 2014: Mervyn King says there was shared intellectual responsibility across political parties for failing to foresee problems

The Guardian today. (politics)

You won't read this in the Tory rags, now will you?

Come on Ed and Ed, get this across to the public day after day until the election to counter the daily Tory blame for " Labours mess"
I hope he makes good use of this.

I trust this is ok Ivan and within the rules of the forum?

Speaking of Tory rags, not even The Spectator is convinced by Gideon's assertions about the Deficit.

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2014/12/is-george-osborne-telling-the-truth-about-halving-the-deficit/

"Is George Osborne being truthful when he says he has ‘halved’ the deficit?"
This is what the Spectator asked.

They might have gone the whole hog OW and said ---Gideon Osborne is NOT being truthful.

Perhaps that's asking a little too much eh?

And again from 'The Independent' OW.

"© Bloomberg Tories accused of lying in campaign poster that claims deficit has halved "

Perhaps at last they are all waking up to the fact that the Tories are lying con men.

Let us hope so Mel.

Why won’t Labour tell the truth?

From a blog by Michael Meacher:-

"Osborne began his time in office by repeating over and over that all the problems in the economy were the fault of the previous Labour government. Now the snake oil trickster says with the same inane repetitiveness that the government has a long-term economic plan and it’s working. Both parts of that statement are laughable, but as Goebbels knew, if you keep on saying something long enough and your opponents never refute it, a lot of people will come to believe it. So why doesn’t Labour tell the truth?  

A real long-term economic plan needs export drives, investment and a new model of growth that does not depend on consumer debt. The opposite has happened. The balance of payments deficit is going through the roof, investment has still not recovered to pre-crash levels, and the government’s only hope of growth is by pushing consumer debt close to £3 trillions!

Everything Osborne promised in 2010 has turned to dust. He promised the deficit would be cut by this year to £40bn; it’s now £100bn and rising. Investment in the non-financial private sector has been a disaster area: less than 1% of GDP in 2013. As for the Tories having nothing to do with failed debt-sodden splurges of unsustainable growth, they are now actually glorying in just that.

The government does have an economic plan, though not one that they would ever breathe a word about to the public. It’s a short-term plan to keep the economy going by any means possible till election day, after which the shutters come down hard. Do you buy that?"

http://www.michaelmeacher.info/weblog/2014/12/wont-labour-tell-truth/

They would never breathe a word about the economic plan that they have ( the Tories ), or you would see what bad salesmen/con men they really are, would you not Ivan?

"Goebbels knew, if you keep on saying something long enough and your opponents never refute it, a lot of people will come to believe it."

This is about right. The fickle electorate will buy it I'm afraid.

Who does one of Osborne's supporters think he's kidding?  

patakace wrote (on another thread):-
Will George Osborne go down as the greatest Chancellor since 1945?
Increasingly likely .

Hmm....I'm wondering if I should discuss with the other staff whether we need a separate board where deluded souls could write fiction and share their fantasies?  

Seumas Milne has written:-

As living standards continue to fall for the majority in the slowest and shallowest economic recovery for over a century, it's hard to see that being accepted as a "win" across most of country. Even by their own yardsticks, Osborne and Cameron have failed abysmally. Whether it's the debt and the deficit, borrowing, growth, or the "rebalancing" of the economy away from finance, personal credit and the south-east, they have not even come close to meeting their own targets. This is a "long-term plan" that has already flopped.

Real earnings have fallen continuously for four years, the longest decline in living standards since the 1870s. Behind that lies the slump in British productivity. While the productivity of other advanced economies has bounced back since the crash, Britain's has stagnated as employers have switched to low-wage, low-skilled labour, rather than invest to raise output and efficiency. Osborne is banking on increased household borrowing and pumped-up house prices – as well as tying the crash round Labour's neck – to get the Tories through the election.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/19/budget-2014-osborne-record-dismal-failure

Larry Elliott had this to say:-

Judged by the targets he set himself, Osborne has been a failure as chancellor. He has missed his growth targets. He has missed his deficit targets. He has failed to rebalance the economy. He has dragged two million potential Tory voters into the 40% income tax bracket. He has ensured that some of the poorest people in Britain pay for economic mistakes for which they were not responsible.

It was seen as a key moment in the 1980 US presidential election when Reagan asked voters during his televised debate with Carter whether they were better off than they were four years earlier. Labour’s best hope of winning the 2015 election is that the British public asks itself the same question, because the past five years have seen the biggest drop in living standards since Gladstone and Disraeli were slugging it out.

Things have gone nowhere as well as Osborne expected and this is partly due to his own blunders. Increasing VAT to 20% slowed consumer spending. The cuts in capital spending were too deep. He underestimated the impact of the eurozone crisis. There was a period in 2011 and 2012 when it seemed the economy would never stop moving sideways. And it's a bit rich of the chancellor to claim he is rebalancing the economy when he is feeding the beast that is the UK housing market.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2014/sep/28/george-osborne-austerity-debate-failures

When he became chancellor in 2010, Osborne said that the UK’s AAA status was “the benchmark on which he wanted to be judged”. We lost that for the first time ever in February 2013.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/feb/23/george-osborne-britain-aaa

Every week at CAB I am seeing evidence of falling living standards - whether it's people who can't afford to pay their rent, people being taken to court for debt, including Council Tax debt, or people coming for a food parcel because the weekly income just won't stretch to buying groceries as well as paying all the other important bills.

I do believe if people do ask themselves the question about whether they are better off (or even as well off) as they were 4 years ago, there will be a landslide at the next election - no-one on less than £50000 a year would be voting Tory

Now that the Greek elections reveal a left wing party in power, and the media/press full of suggesting this will be damaging to the members of the EU. I fully expect Gideon to come out and say that this could affect the UK badly. Yet another ready made excuse for him to hide his failings.

This election has taken precedence over Ed Miliband's pledge to cut tuition fees by a third, in both media and press. What a surprise!!!

Anything rather than highlight anything Labour are promoting.