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So we have one minister bringing a mate round for arms deals or something, another putting government documents in a park bin like some sort of KGB mole and a Prime Minister who has previously employed an alleged criminal who may have had knowledge of hacking into the mobile phone of a teenage girl who was murdered. The last Tory government just stuck to banging their secretaries or prossies.

 

I wonder what CT thinks of this?

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So we have one minister bringing a mate round for arms deals or something, another putting government documents in a park bin like some sort of KGB mole and a Prime Minister who has previously employed an alleged criminal who may have had knowledge of hacking into the mobile phone of a teenage girl who was murdered. The last Tory government just stuck to banging their secretaries or prossies.

 

I wonder what CT thinks of this?

I fucking well don't :razz:

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  • 1 month later...

Autumn Statement: At-a-glance summary of key points

 

Chancellor George Osborne has updated MPs on the state of the economy and the government's future plans in his Autumn Statement as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) publishes its latest growth and borrowing forecasts.

ECONOMIC GROWTH

 

2011 forecast revised down to 0.9% from 1.7%

2012 forecast revised down to 0.7% from 2.5%

In 2013, 2014 and 2015, forecast growth will be 2.1%, 2.7% and 3%

GOVERNMENT BORROWING

 

Extra £100bn in borrowing over four years

Borrowing forecast to be £127bn in 2011-2, falling to £120bn, £100bn, £79bn and £53bn in following years

Debt to GDP ratio to peak at 78% in 2014-5, falling afterwards

PUBLIC SECTOR PAY AND PENSIONS

 

1% cap on public sector pay rises for two years after the end of current freeze next year

Review into regional pay adjustments

Rise in state pension to 67 to be brought forward to 2026 from 2034

TRANSPORT COSTS

 

The average rise in regulated rail fares to be capped at 6% - 1% above inflation - in January, rather than the 8% cap expected

Planned 3p fuel duty rise in January to be scrapped. But duty will go up by 3p in August.

BENEFITS

Continue reading the main story

 

 

Working age benefits to be uprated by 5.2% next year, in line with inflation

Basic state pension to rise by £5.30 next year to £107.45

Inflation-linked rise in disability element of tax credits but below-inflation increase in other tax credits

£110 rise above inflation in the child element of the child tax credit scrapped

BUSINESS AND JOBS

 

OBR forecast of total public sector job losses up from 400,000 to 710,000

Credit easing programme to underwrite up to £40bn in low-interest loans to small and medium-sized firms

£1bn business finance partnership to raise money for medium-sized firms

Regional Growth regeneration fund to get £1bn in extra funding

£250m support package for energy-intensive firms, £500m for science

Business rate holiday relief for small firms extended to April 2013

New time limits for planning applications

£1bn "youth contract" to subsidise six-month work placements for 410,000 young people

Bank levy to be increased in January

EDUCATION AND FAMILIES

 

£1.2bn extra spending on schools in England

Half to go to councils for more school places and half for 100 additional free schools

£50 cut in water bills for families in the south-west of England

Childcare places for most deprived two-year-olds in England doubled to 260,000

HOUSING

 

Mortgage indemnity scheme to help up to 100,000 people buy homes with 5% deposit

£400m scheme to kick-start stalled construction projects in England

50% discount for social tenants wanting to buy their own homes in England

INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING

 

£5bn new spending over three years, including £1bn for the rail network

Go-ahead for 35 road and rail projects across England

Aim to unlock a further £20bn in investment from pension funds.

OVERSEAS AID

 

Funding will not exceed 0.7% of total GDP

2011 BUDGET PREDICTIONS

 

In March, the OBR predicted the economy would grow 1.7% in 2011 and 2.5% in 2012

It forecast government borrowing of £146bn in 2010-11, falling to £122bn in 2011-12, £101bn in 2012-3, £70bn in 2013-4, £46bn in 2014-5 and £29bn by 2015-16.

 

So all going swimmingly then.

 

Is the public sector payrise cap going to be 1% in total or 1% above inflation? If it's not above inflation then I'd be very pissed off that the rise in benefits could be 5.2%

 

And Ant, sort out the fucking formatting issues!

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Autumn Statement: At-a-glance summary of key points

Chancellor George Osborne has updated MPs on the state of the economy and the government's future plans in his Autumn Statement as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) publishes its latest growth and borrowing forecasts.

ECONOMIC GROWTH

2011 forecast revised down to 0.9% from 1.7%

2012 forecast revised down to 0.7% from 2.5%

In 2013, 2014 and 2015, forecast growth will be 2.1%, 2.7% and 3%

GOVERNMENT BORROWING

Extra £100bn in borrowing over four years

Borrowing forecast to be £127bn in 2011-2, falling to £120bn, £100bn, £79bn and £53bn in following years

Debt to GDP ratio to peak at 78% in 2014-5, falling afterwards

PUBLIC SECTOR PAY AND PENSIONS

1% cap on public sector pay rises for two years after the end of current freeze next year

Review into regional pay adjustments

Rise in state pension to 67 to be brought forward to 2026 from 2034

TRANSPORT COSTS

The average rise in regulated rail fares to be capped at 6% - 1% above inflation - in January, rather than the 8% cap expected

Planned 3p fuel duty rise in January to be scrapped. But duty will go up by 3p in August.

BENEFITS

Continue reading the main story

 

Working age benefits to be uprated by 5.2% next year, in line with inflation

Basic state pension to rise by £5.30 next year to £107.45

Inflation-linked rise in disability element of tax credits but below-inflation increase in other tax credits

£110 rise above inflation in the child element of the child tax credit scrapped

BUSINESS AND JOBS

OBR forecast of total public sector job losses up from 400,000 to 710,000

Credit easing programme to underwrite up to £40bn in low-interest loans to small and medium-sized firms

£1bn business finance partnership to raise money for medium-sized firms

Regional Growth regeneration fund to get £1bn in extra funding

£250m support package for energy-intensive firms, £500m for science

Business rate holiday relief for small firms extended to April 2013

New time limits for planning applications

£1bn "youth contract" to subsidise six-month work placements for 410,000 young people

Bank levy to be increased in January

EDUCATION AND FAMILIES

£1.2bn extra spending on schools in England

Half to go to councils for more school places and half for 100 additional free schools

£50 cut in water bills for families in the south-west of England

Childcare places for most deprived two-year-olds in England doubled to 260,000

HOUSING

Mortgage indemnity scheme to help up to 100,000 people buy homes with 5% deposit

£400m scheme to kick-start stalled construction projects in England

50% discount for social tenants wanting to buy their own homes in England

INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING

£5bn new spending over three years, including £1bn for the rail network

Go-ahead for 35 road and rail projects across England

Aim to unlock a further £20bn in investment from pension funds.

OVERSEAS AID

Funding will not exceed 0.7% of total GDP

2011 BUDGET PREDICTIONS

In March, the OBR predicted the economy would grow 1.7% in 2011 and 2.5% in 2012

It forecast government borrowing of £146bn in 2010-11, falling to £122bn in 2011-12, £101bn in 2012-3, £70bn in 2013-4, £46bn in 2014-5 and £29bn by 2015-16.

 

So all going swimmingly then.

 

Is the public sector payrise cap going to be 1% in total or 1% above inflation? If it's not above inflation then I'd be very pissed off that the rise in benefits could be 5.2%

 

And Ant, sort out the fucking formatting issues!

 

The middle clipboard in your posting box is 'paste as plain text'.

Edited by trophyshy
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Very easy for people insistant on scrouging to forget which muppets got the country in this state in the first place. The cuts are harsh (I'm public sector so I'll be getting gubbed again), but to be honest £400m to the housing is a waste of money. This country is way over-crowded and the only way that will ever balance out is if we stop letting all and sundry in on a half-arsed excuse. The benefits are a joke as well, people that save or work for a living are penalised while dossers and people that live outside of their means get bailed out every time, but hey, whichever government is in power won't risk their votes by making unpopular decisions. The way this country is run makes me sick, no matter who is in charge.

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These deep, fast and aggressive cuts aren't working Georgey boy. A decade of austerity beckons and no surprise that under the Tories, the poor will be hurt most.

 

To be honest the people making the cuts can't be held to blame, they're not the ones who spent all the country's money and let things get out of hand in the first place, they're just having to play the bad nastard and clean up the mess.

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These deep, fast and aggressive cuts aren't working Georgey boy. A decade of austerity beckons and no surprise that under the Tories, the poor will be hurt most.

 

Which poor are you referring too btw?

 

The pensioners who have been guaranteed better pensions than under labour, the pensioners who today received a pension credit rise?

 

Or is it the poorest million that have just been taken out of paying tax all together?

 

Maybe it's the poor on benefits who have just had an inflation busting 5% rise?

 

Or those on disability who have received increased tax credits today?

 

Maybe it's the poor with young children who have just been guaranteed free nursery places?

 

It's a tricky one. ;-)

Edited by Christmas Tree
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These deep, fast and aggressive cuts aren't working Georgey boy. A decade of austerity beckons and no surprise that under the Tories, the poor will be hurt most.

Just as they were actually hurt the most under the last Labour government.

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Aye but it's easy to get into the old "Conservatives hate the poor" generalisations without realising Labour themselves had a mare with the poor themselves. We needed cuts but Conservatives have maybe gone too far. Easy to say that Labour would have done a better job without knowing how they'd have done though.

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The 1% cap has followed a two year pay freeze. With pension contributions going up, and inflation at close to 5%, this means that public sector pay will have gone down by some 15% in real terms. That is painful, especially for the millions of part time female staff. Yet the Tories still continue to divide and conquer, whilst their austerity policies have led to MORE public borrowing.

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No one disputes that the something had to be done about the public finances but these cuts are too fast. They are too agressive. We are heading for many more years of austerity. Higher taxes and budget cuts are now set to continue long into the next parliament. Gordon Brown was right about the double dip.

 

The rise in benefits was a concession to the lib dems. The 1% freeze on public sector pay (a real terms pay cut) is almost thatcherite - a very agressive move by the public school boy chancellor the day before national strikes.

 

Shouldn't the bankers that got us into this mess be forced to do more to bail us out. It seems more than a little unfair that public sector workers, mostly on modest wages, are the ones set to feel the pain. What have they done to deserve it?

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Discussing politics with CT is akin to discussing football with CT.

 

In that I'm usually correct on both counts.

 

Either you've fucked off or you haven't. There's no room for part-time dickheads on here.

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