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[malvolio]

Interesting insight, thanks.

But as you say the problem is further up the chain of command. Ultimately it will rest with the Minister and how effectively they challenge HMT for money across their Departmental remit. Given we seem to have given up having any kind of expertise at Ministerial*...

[malvolio]

But this is equally likely a case of costing the direct research done by Jodrell Bank in radio astronomy and disregarding the positive impact the presence of such a famous facility has in attracting generations of scientists working in the field.

And the monetary savings from this cancellation...

[malvolio]

Unbelievable. Another quango forgetting its raison d'etre.....

[malvolio]

OK, fair enough.

So now we know the state pension is seen as a benefit. Wonder why it's not tax exempt then......

[malvolio]

No, that implies that 45% of welfare expenditure goes to pensioners. Does that include the pension itself...? After all, a lot of pensioners get additional welfare payments....

[malvolio]

Define "Right Wing"... I'm a shade to the right of centre, in that I prefer a capitalist-based society (mainly 'cos it works), provided it doesn't leave the disadvantaged behind. Which Thatcher did to an extent and was one of her main failures

Ditto "socialist", which...

[malvolio]

Probably true. The "issue" was that the 70s were a disaster, the 80s got us out of it, the 90s went quite well until socialism reasserted itself and the 2000s have been a story of continual decline. given that, any attempt to take us back before the 80s would be a disaster. That, sadly, appears...

[malvolio]

I do know who the various people involved are, what they did, and what their names are.

So in your expert opinion Reeves and Starmer have noting to do with the decisions over UK finances following the 2024 election? The ones that now put us in a worse position that we were following Truss's...

[malvolio]

Let me help. Starmer and Reeves. Both now elsewhere.

HTH. BIDI....

[malvolio]

Let me quote the OBR analysis:


For comparison it's around 36-40% now....

[malvolio]

It makes more sense than your comment. Where did I say "increases in tax"? Or can you not differentiate between tax rates and tax revenue? Or between borrowing and income?...

[malvolio]

Correct. But his immediate predecessors (hint: plural, surnames start with S and R) outperformed Truss several times over. Plus her ideas were sound, but she was too inept to enact them properly. S and R didn't even have ideas, only dogma....

[malvolio]

So you think HMG buys stuff from some international Tesco?

Mostly it went on reducing taxation in several areas, creating more revenue by freeing up money for you and me to spend and for others to invest. Mostly it went on reducing borrowing to fund routine expenditure; armies and welfare...

[malvolio]

Oh yes. We kept it in the dining room and very nice it was......

[malvolio]

You still don't understand the 0s, do you. The govenment wasn't spending taxes on "stuff".

We went from high interest to low interest rates (meaning people could buy houses), inflation from double figures to 2.5%, national debt (the gap between government income and borrowing)...

[malvolio]

Except that's the sad SM phrase that everyone uses when they want to prove they don't understand economics. People get rich by growing businesses, growing businesses employ more people, all those people are spending money and paying taxes. he people that started that cycle get the most because they...

[malvolio]

Totally agree. Putin is failing in Ukraine because he is meeting strong (and apparently totally unexpected) resistance.

Defence is not a strategy, it is a basic necessity if you are to stand up to aggressors of any kind. Sun Tzu had it right - the best defence is to win without needing...

[malvolio]

Agreed

Also quite pleased at how many deadheads have been binned from key places in Starmer's cabinet...

[malvolio]

I didn't, but it's nice to see your alternative view...

So what you are saying is that the capitalism that created Britain is wrong and we should have stuck with feudalism?

The failures of the various denationalised industries and services are down to a lack of effective enforceable...

[malvolio]

Yes, taxes went up. They were spent in useful directions though, unlike today.

Housing is a whole other mess though, with multiple causes. Right to Buy is only one element of that.

But enough of the theory. What did Thatcher destroy?...