Budget 2011

[Sysman]

I'm sure Maggie tried that, there was uproar.

I was sure she was going to try it at a time she was promoting private health insurance, but I didn't hear anything about it.

[TheFaQQer]

It won't happen - political suicide.

The best is that he'll create some commission to waste taxpayer money for many years in order to examine different options for next Parliament.

HTH

OTS have already recommended it, but I don't think Boy George is man enough to do it.

Of course, they could do it anyway and blame it on Danny Alexander, like the Tories do with all the bad news.

[Platypus]

I was sure she was going to try it at a time she was promoting private health insurance, but I didn't hear anything about it.

It was done for people over 60.

Found this while Googling,
Tories were wrong to weaken NHS, says Cameron - Telegraph

In his biggest speech since becoming leader, Mr Cameron tore up the policy he helped to promote under Michael Howard - which offered subsidies to patients who go private - and rejected Margaret Thatcher's commitment to tax breaks for private medical insurance.


So Cameron is dead against it.

[AtW]

OTS have already recommended it, but I don't think Boy George is man enough to do it. Of course, they could do it anyway and blame it on Danny Alexander, like the Tories do with all the bad news.

OTS can say what they want - they don't have to make the decision and don't have to suffer political consequences of it.

Personally I think it should be done ASAP and back it up by law that any politician that tries to split them up goes to jail for life.

[SueEllen]

With public borrowing out of control isn't the govermin just pissing in the wind with all these austerity measures and cuts?

If they are borrowing over 10bln per month, why bother putting the squeeze on the nation for a few bln saving? Because they know we're a nation of whingers not rioters?

BBC News - Public borrowing hits record high for month of February

"Net debt, which is the sum of all borrowing, was £875.8bn, the ONS said. That is equivalent to 58% of GDP or total economic output. This time last year, the total was £729.9bn, or 50.8% of GDP"

Isn't a devaluing of the pound (via inflation or 'quantitive easing') the only solution the govermin is really relying on to avoid bankruptcy, and all these cuts and measures are just a smoke screen? That or never intend paying it back and just hand the debt down the generations.

You obviously don't remember the Poll Tax riots.

Cameron and every PM we had since then knows there is a step where they will have pushed the British public too far.

So the cuts have to be done carefully so by the time of the next GE the Tories can win.

[doodab]

You obviously don't remember the Poll Tax riots.

Cameron and every PM we had since then knows there is a step where they will have pushed the British public too far.

So the cuts have to be done carefully so by the time of the next GE the Tories can win.

Or they can just press on and take the trouble on the chin, as they did with the Miners, Newspapers, Poll Tax and Criminal Justice Bill. The Tories do have a certain amount of form when it comes to ramming unpopular measures up the arse of the British public. Arguably, we need to be made to take our medicine, so this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[SueEllen]

Or they can just press on and take the trouble on the chin, as they did with the Miners, Newspapers, Poll Tax and Criminal Justice Bill. The Tories do have a certain amount of form when it comes to ramming unpopular measures up the arse of the British public. Arguably, we need to be made to take our medicine, so this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Poll Tax riots helped get rid of Maggie though not the Tories. Maggie had forgotten to get the police and media on her side like with the miners.

At the moment the Tories are restricting the police forces budgets and changing their overtime payments. Plus now anyone can take pictures/videos of things and post them on the internet.

[TheFaQQer]

So Cameron is dead against it.

Nick Clegg is dead against raising tuition fees.

[BoredBloke]

I fail to see why it would be political suicide to merge the two - it would make it harder for future governments to promise not to raise income tax and then raise NI. People already know they are paying a lot of tax. There is no reason why the NI and Tax numbers could not be shown as a single tax number and be known as the post Labour tax rate. If they can work on bringing that number down, then surely its easier for all plebs to understand. Knocking a couple of pence off NI might simply be missed by the great unwashed!

[TheFaQQer]

OTS can say what they want - they don't have to make the decision and don't have to suffer political consequences of it.

Personally I think it should be done ASAP and back it up by law that any politician that tries to split them up goes to jail for life.

The point is that Osbourne has already put in place a commission to examine what should happen. To ignore that advice and then appoint another commission to examine what should happen might just open him up to some scrutiny about wasting money.