Budget day and no one is taking the blind bit of notice.

[DimPrawn]

I don't know but there wasn't any sign of stuttering in that flurry of punches, he's gone up a little in my estimation.

I still have no idea what his plans are?

Why would you?

The left control the BBC, so unless you read something that's not state controlled, you never will know.

[TimberWolf]

As Nick Glegg (Liberal Dem leader) stood to give his response to the budget, most of the House made their exit, Brown included. How rude.

[minestrone]

As Nick Glegg (Liberal Dem leader) stood to give his response to the budget, most of the House made their exit, Brown included. How rude.

Give it 6 weeks and he will be licking the peanuts out his...

[PAH]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8584608.stm

Reading through the BBC's summary page (above) the following jumps out:


Borrowing to fall from £163bn in 2010-11 to £74bn by 2014-15

Public sector net debt to reach 54% of gross domestic product this year, increasing to 75% in 2014/15.



75%, despite borrowing to become less than half it currently is. Does that mean they expect GDP to fall dramatically over the next few years and we're heading for more hard times?

Looks scary to me, should it?

[minestrone]

I seen some figures that it could get to over 100% in 2 or 3 years.

Of course if the conservatives actually do win the election they are stuffed and will be right back out again

[Money Money Money]

Well, the experts reckon there's going to be a lot of changes made in this budget, including removal of all stamp duty on property under £250K in an attempt to reinflate the housing market bubble.

Lots of fiddling with tax bands to make the middle classes cough up a lot more tax whilst leaving the rich and the chav classes alone.

Usual class war stuff to hit those that work hard.

Glad I bought a house last month!!!!

[Gonzo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8584608.stm

Reading through the BBC's summary page (above) the following jumps out:


Borrowing to fall from £163bn in 2010-11 to £74bn by 2014-15

Public sector net debt to reach 54% of gross domestic product this year, increasing to 75% in 2014/15.



75%, despite borrowing to become less than half it currently is. Does that mean they expect GDP to fall dramatically over the next few years and we're heading for more hard times?

Looks scary to me, should it?

No. You are confusing borrowing and debt.

The amount that the country needs to borrow every year to keep itself going is forecast to reduce but that borrowing will still increase the total amount of debt that the country owes.

There is no projection of when the country might be in a position to stop borrowing and start to repay the debt. The borrowing and the debt are not the biggest problem today but there is no room for complacency and they could become the biggest problem tomorrow.

[Doggy Styles]

The borrowing and the debt are not the biggest problem at the moment but there is no room for complacency.

Are you sure? We have to pay interest on that debt, and even if it is only 5% (some hope, now that markets are jittery about our ability to pay it back), that's nearly £50 billion this year (10% of our entire resource budget) we've got to pay instead of spending it on something useful.

At 75% of GDP that's over £60 billion in interest, nearly twice our Defence budget.

[Gonzo]

Are you sure? We have to pay interest on that debt, and even if it is only 5% (some hope, now that markets are jittery about our ability to pay it back), that's nearly £50 billion this year (10% of our entire resource budget) we've got to pay instead of spending it on something useful.

At 75% of GDP that's over £60 billion in interest, nearly twice our Defence budget.

I edited my post to make it a bit clearer what I meant after you started quoting it. The debt is not so much a problem today but it may well soon be.

This morning, before the budget, an article was put on the Adam Smith Institute's website making that point.
http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/tax-an...phoney-budget/

Britain is a mature economy, its debts are long-term, and the bailiffs aren't going to demand that everything is repaid tomorrow. So talk of us having to go cap in hand to the IMF may be exaggerated. But the interest and repayment burden is going to be with us for years – indeed, for decades. We face the awful – 1970s revisited – prospect of our own debt-laden economy lying stagnant as China and others race ahead of us. Things won't get worse, they just won't get better. We probably won't even notice it happening, but we will slip down the league of economic powers.

[vetran]

Vetran's budget.

Seize all assets fraudulently claimed by previous MPs under proceeds of crime dispose of to raise a few hundred million.

Hand all middle managers in NHS a mop & bucket plus a pay cut, sack third party cleaning firms.

Flog all works of art in government departments.

Make BBC executives pay for their own taxi or catch the bus / tube like the rest of us.

Make all work permit holders pay full uk tax regardless of length of stay.

Investigate artificial methods of avoiding tax such as placing service centres offshore and artificially inflating transfer prices / costs.

Up university fees so they are no longer subsidised, if subsidy is needed make it available to UK taxpayers only.

Flat rate tax system. Raise allowances to take poorest out of tax system. remove tax credits.

Change international aid so that it becomes a tax reduction for UK firms providing tangible humanitarian aid to eligible countries. Build water plants not buy princes BMWs. Help british business establish outposts in third world countries and let capitalism do its thing.

Tax imports according to welfare standards and green effects of producing country. Level the playing field for UK manufacturing whilst stopping 7 year olds making trainers.