Suggestions for elGordo’s last budget speech

[Euro-commuter]

...
Does it finally occur to you in your little world of "non joined up" thinking that if there were to be a property crash that the economy would go into free fall and first time buyers would have even less money or income with which to buy your cheaper homes!

Few people in or out of government seem to grasp this: it's a market in operation.

Young first-time buyers can not afford houses, not because house prices are too high, or because they don't have enough money, but because there are not enough houses. Someone has to be at the bottom of the pile and not get a house. No monetary or taxation adjustment will fix this.

The worst of all things that might be done about this is to have a Key Worker house purchase scheme:
1. it lifts some on to the housing ladder simply by booting others off.
2. worse, it creates a sort of job apartheid by lifting the government's workers on while booting off those outside the patronage circle.
3. by effectively removing some houses from the market, it raises the price for others
4. it locks government workers with these houses into the patronage system.
5. it lets government, as employer, off the hook for simply not paying enough and taking the consequences.

In other words, it is an exercise in economics without price.

[BoredBloke]

"Of course the use of consultancies has rocketted under NL - tey have no other alternative! What else are they supposed to use? There's no in house skills anymore!!"

So ten years in is not long enough to redress this then? Utter rubbish.

[SallyAnne]

royal national institute for the blind

Very good EO, cheeky tw*t

[EqualOpportunities]

Very good EO, cheeky tw*t

[SallyAnne]

"Of course the use of consultancies has rocketted under NL - tey have no other alternative! What else are they supposed to use? There's no in house skills anymore!!"

So ten years in is not long enough to redress this then? Utter rubbish.

Redress it how? By forming another IT Agency? You lot would just be bitching and moaning about the cost of over paid civil servants, getting trained in the job whilst snuggling into their over inflated pension plans then!!

Basically, yous hate NL the same way a lot of blinkered people hate the tories. Yous are finding the negative in every little thing.

There have been some genuine points made in this thread (and others) abotu things which Labour have genuinely gotten wrong, but going on about stuff like IT systems, when both sides are equally bad, is just moaning for moanings sake.

[SallyAnne]

ha ha - when did you change your signature? Think you're a big boy now that your probation is over dont ya?

[EqualOpportunities]

ha ha - when did you change your signature? Think you're a big boy now that your probation is over dont ya?

Earlier on - just to see if anyone'd notice...

[wendigo100]

Hospital waiting lists down? Here's a sample of how Labour's targets are achieved:

* Patients are asked when they are going on holiday, then offered operations during that time, meaning that the patient cancels

* Patients are not put on a waiting list for an operation until they have got over all other ailments, such as hypertension, which could take several months.

* Many GPs have stopped making appointment for more than 48 hours in the future, so they can say they now see everyone within 48 hours.

* The quickest operations are given priority to get the numbers up - more difficult operations like cancer treatments are most likely to be cancelled.

* Waiting times on trolleys are reduced by removing wheels on the trolleys, reclassifying them as beds.

* Waiting times to be put in a ward are reduced by reclassifying corridors as wards.

* Waiting times to be seen at in-patients or A&E are reduced by sending someone around to meet and greet everyone who comes through the door - which is classified as having "seen" the patient.

All so that Tony Blair can stand up in parliament and say "waiting times are now lower than under any other government".

[DodgyAgent]

Few people in or out of government seem to grasp this: it's a market in operation.

Young first-time buyers can not afford houses, not because house prices are too high, or because they don't have enough money, but because there are not enough houses. Someone has to be at the bottom of the pile and not get a house. No monetary or taxation adjustment will fix this.

The worst of all things that might be done about this is to have a Key Worker house purchase scheme:
1. it lifts some on to the housing ladder simply by booting others off.
2. worse, it creates a sort of job apartheid by lifting the government's workers on while booting off those outside the patronage circle.
3. by effectively removing some houses from the market, it raises the price for others
4. it locks government workers with these houses into the patronage system.
5. it lets government, as employer, off the hook for simply not paying enough and taking the consequences.

In other words, it is an exercise in economics without price.

Really the only solution is to build more houses or create incentives for businesses to locate elsewhere. The other thing is why on earth are we spending such a fortune on keeping such large numbers of the population out of work and on welfare whilst at the same time bringing in large numbers of immigrants. Not only is this a ridiculous waste of money but it also has the knock on effect of making housing much more expenseive. I still believe that welfare dependents should be moved to the low cost parts of eastern europe (including east germany) where it costs much less to house them and free up housing for people who want to work in areas where there is work.

[wonderwaif]

I still believe that welfare dependents should be moved to the low cost parts of eastern europe (including east germany) where it costs much less to house them and free up housing for people who want to work in areas where there is work.

Edited on the grounds of good taste, (a first, I know)