"Brown to create 100,000 new jobs"

[Cyberman]

I agree. And actually the Tories would have revelled in booming house prices and may have fanned the flames even more than NL, but the UK wouldn't have anywhere near the current level of debt and spending commitments so we might have been better able to climb out of the hole.

We would have had a lot of money in the kitty under the Tories, plus our pensions would not have been raided and our gold would not have been sold. The waste under New Lie has been absolutely criminal and it is still going on.

[TimberWolf]

We would have had a lot of money in the kitty under the Tories, plus our pensions would not have been raided and our gold would not have been sold. The waste under New Lie has been absolutely criminal and it is still going on.

Surely the pensions crisis isn't something that occured just under NL? They perhaps made a situation worse that was going to explode at some point anyway.

NL's answer was to import people like there is tomorrow IMO, and that was perhaps their most unforgiveable and damaging act. Who knows what the Tories thought about any of it, since they appeared to be mute or in agreement with NL for most of the Blair years.

[PM-Junkie]

Surely the pensions crisis isn't something that occured just under NL?....

You have clearly missed the fact that the snot-goblin's removal of the tax-credit on share dividends in 1997 not only acted as a raid (theft?) of pensions funds to the tune of £5 billion a year, but that coupled with forcing through a change in accounting practices (which arguably may not have been a bad thing) massively undermined confidence in pension funds and led us to where we are today.

I am no fan of any political party, but to say the pensions crisis isn't something that occurred under NL is nonsense. Pension funds were in surplus when NL came to power.

[Doggy Styles]

Surely the pensions crisis isn't something that occured just under NL?

Yes it is. Private pension funds were solvent and growing in 1997.

What's more, there was a savings culture at that time, encouraged by the invention of PEPs and TESSAs.

Both have reversed under NL.

[TykeMerc]

Yes it is. Private pension funds were solvent and growing in 1997.

What's more, there was a savings culture at that time, encouraged by the invention of PEPs and TESSAs.

Both have reversed under NL.

That's largely true, while I wouldn't say there was a full blown culture of saving it was certainly rising steeply due to the tax efficient vehicles you mentioned. Pension funds that hadn't been burgled ala Maxwell were coping even with market wobbles too.

[TimberWolf]

You have clearly missed the fact that the snot-goblin's removal of the tax-credit on share dividends in 1997 not only acted as a raid (theft?) of pensions funds to the tune of £5 billion a year, but that coupled with forcing through a change in accounting practices (which arguably may not have been a bad thing) massively undermined confidence in pension funds and led us to where we are today.

I am no fan of any political party, but to say the pensions crisis isn't something that occurred under NL is nonsense. Pension funds were in surplus when NL came to power.

I put the pensions grab in the peanuts in comparison to the real problem category.

Pensions were never going to work long-term IMO. Do you not recall pensions being a big concern decades ago? Optomists assume money invested in a pension today means something of it will exist in the future, as if money is some kind of physical entity that can be stored away. It's not, IMO, it's just numbers and pensions were never going to work for the baby-boomer generation. More pensioners, older pensioners, fewer younger people (and longer in education), more generous pensions... Pensions can't and could never add up for the baby boomers and beyond, something has and will yet have to give towards 2020. I thought this had been widely appreciated decades ago.

[Board Game Geek]

Logan's Run.

I rest my case.

[MPwannadecentincome]

"green projects" - here is an idea - employ people to fit solar panels on as much rooftop space as can be found and funded. This has the double benefit of:
1) on sunny days reducing CO2 emissions and electricity bills
2) keeping employment up until the recession is over

[PM-Junkie]

I put the pensions grab in the peanuts in comparison to the real problem category.

Pensions were never going to work long-term IMO. Do you not recall pensions being a big concern decades ago? Optomists assume money invested in a pension today means something of it will exist in the future, as if money is some kind of physical entity that can be stored away. It's not, IMO, it's just numbers and pensions were never going to work for the baby-boomer generation. More pensioners, older pensioners, fewer younger people (and longer in education), more generous pensions... Pensions can't and could never add up for the baby boomers and beyond, something has and will yet have to give towards 2020. I thought this had been widely appreciated decades ago.

You are confusing public pensions with private ones. Yes, public pensions were always going to collapse as the number of coffin-dodgers grows, but private pensions were undeniably screwed by the snot-goblin. And that is something everyone except those who thing the sun shines out of the snot-goblin's butt accepted long ago...

[DieScum]

Optomists assume money invested in a pension today means something of it will exist in the future, as if money is some kind of physical entity that can be stored away. It's not, IMO, it's just numbers

Damn, that's true when you think about it. Scary.

If you live in a stable society and economy it shouldn't really be a problem though, should it?

I get the point about an ageing population but that is a non-issue in a growing world. Just allow more immigration.