What could you say....

[Numptycorner]

Yeah, we don't like IR35, outsourcing, or Blair's smirk. So the country's going to hell in a handbasket....

That pretty much sums the grim view on here. I see it like this, if you look on the dark side of everything every day you soon become constantly miserable. Labour are not doing a great job however they are not doing a dismal job (the soothsayers of doom have been proved wrong), there are many things people would like to see changed, but it is not beyond the inteligence of most to navigate around the tax issues and enjoy a lucrative existence.

So you have two options, be constantly derpressed or get on with enjoying life until the dream scenario of a conservative governement happens and there ceases to be anything to moan about ever again!

[sasguru]

until the dream scenario of a conservative governement happens and there ceases to be anything to moan about ever again!

Very good, Numpty

Speaking personally, I've had fewer economic shocks under Labour than the Tories, although obviously paid more tax. Labour has been better at "smoothing" the economy. Let's see if they can continue the balancing act.

[bfg]

Can we see that? What can we see?

Unemployment is low, inflation is low, public debt is low, the UK is an attractive destination for investment. The economy is booming, the housing market is all too healthy, exports are increasing, the balance of payments os more positive than it has been for years, and both the cost of living and the costs to business are being kept low by European integration, in which the UK fully participates without giving up our sovereignty. Aside from the narrow economy, targets are being met in public services, more investment is being made without borrowing for current expenditure, and the road and air networks are being expanded while our commitment to reducing pollution and global warming is second to none.

I'm sure that's what Blair sees. Is it not actually true?

Unemployment is low but the economically inactive count is the highest ever, we don't count most of those out of work as unemployed.

Inflation is low, yet the cost of living increases, we don't count anything that is increasing in price in inflation any more.

Public debt is low, yet much more is being spent, we don't count PFI projects as debt.

The UK is an attractive destination for investment, so why does the government have to offer tax haven based companies the chance to 'invest' in HMRC's buildings.

I'll be back later with more if you like.

[threaded]

And that is why the smirk is so annoying.

[BoredBloke]

"Labour are not doing a great job however they are not doing a dismal job"

No, they are just good at hiding the facts. We have a press who are in bed with NL, so bad news gets buried and doesn't see the light of day.

[hyperD]

Unemployment is low but the economically inactive count is the highest ever, we don't count most of those out of work as unemployed.

Inflation is low, yet the cost of living increases, we don't count anything that is increasing in price in inflation any more.

Public debt is low, yet much more is being spent, we don't count PFI projects as debt.

The UK is an attractive destination for investment, so why does the government have to offer tax haven based companies the chance to 'invest' in HMRC's buildings.

I'll be back later with more if you like.

This is exactly the problem with the perception of the economy - the layers of government spin with their catchy tabloid soundbites say to the punters that all is good with UK plc and Gordon is the best chancellor ever.

The reality is that we're not "doomed" but have been successfully misdirected.

Take inflation for example: it's not 1.9% when compared with the 90's (more like 4-5%), the "basket" has been engineered by successive governments to show the most favourable value by including things such as cheap clothes and hi-tech goods. It doesn't reflect the increase in council tax, NI and other taxes, cost of housing, inheritance etc

So to use the fact that inflation "is the lowest ever thanks to labour" as a means to placate an electorate is a complete misdirection.

Most employed persons simply look at their bank balances at the end of the month and say "where the fuck did all that go?"

Remember the NIC increase? How many times did you hear "oh well, it's only a 1% rise, it's not much"...

Oh, and as mentioned earlier by BFG, it's over £20 billion that has been taken off Gordo's accounts because despite being an expenditure, Gordon has declared it "an investment". So take that with a pinch of salt. Wish I could claim that on my own company accounts.

[Jabberwocky]

But politicians are just reflecting society at large. Noone tells the truth, noone even knows what the truth is. In fact, there is no truth unless you believe in a God. It's all relative. New Labour just tell you their version of the world and it is up to you to make sense of it. If you tell yourself it is true for long enough then it becomes true and the moaning will stop.

[hyperD]

New Labour just tell you their version of the world and it is up to you to make sense of it. If you tell yourself it is true for long enough then it becomes true and the moaning will stop.

Closer to the truth than you realised it JW. It's a fundamental law of advertising: keep repeating the same phrase over and over again until people start to subconsciously accept it as fact.

Why do advertising companies keep sending you the same offer time and time again?

Because it has been shown that after the (7th) letter, people get curious and start to read the offer details and there's a chance of some business.

[xoggoth]

Not what you'd say but how one would say it. I'd like to say it with a

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

[Fungus]

But you don't understand Expat. We're all doomed, I tell yer ...

A lot of what you say is true - but this statement is patently false:
targets are being met in public services

You obviously have not visited an NHS hospital recently

No he's right. Targets are being met. At the expense of other services. Doctors know that to get money they must meet targets. So they divert resources to achieve targets. What I saw when my mother was seriously ill in hospital shocked me. It was dirty, the visitor toilets were worse than in any train station, most staff seemed rushed off their feet, and a minority of staff were rude.

The problem is that our health service simply is not providing the service that it should given the financial resources. I suspect this is due to the management and bureacracy. I also suspect that New Lier are trying to sort it out, but they have never been good at that sort of thing since they are all politicians and lawyers and have never had a real job.