In a speech on 18 May, David Cameron said this (as reported in the Daily Mail)...
Mr Cameron hopes his offer of a return to what Lady Thatcher called "live within your means" will chime with disillusioned voters.
Five months later, at today's Labour conference session, Chancellor Alistair Darling the BBC reports...
Mr Darling said the government would be "disciplined" in its attitude to the public finances and would have "to live within its means".
Funny how at the time of Cameron's speech, he was accused by Labour of returning to rampant Thatcherism...
EXAMPLE TWO
Today the BBC reports ...
When asked earlier by the BBC if income tax would go up Mr Darling declined to answer "yes" or "no", instead saying "it is not the time to take money out of the economy".Yet a year ago, he seemed to think that cutting tax, rather than raising it, would take money out of the economy. This is from John Redwood's blog...
It was even stranger to hear him revealing his economic ignorance, when he told the nation of the damage that taking £21 billion (his assessment of the costs of all the tax proposals in the Report) out of the economy would do. What ever does he mean by that? The £21 billion stays firmly in the economy it is just that the government does not get its hands on it. The whole point of reductions in tax rates is to stimulate more growth and jobs, as the private sector is usually more creative and successful at spending such money well.
Isn't it rather worrying to have a Chancellor who believes that money is taken out of the economy by cutting tax, and also believes it is taken out by raising tax?
10 comments:
Iain your rules prevent the simple descriptive explanation of the reason Darling is like this. The word begins with f, uses kcu in a different order and ends with 'wit'.
...and by the way my personal posting rules are that I only submit stuff I would be prepared to say to someone's face, and framed in the form of a question (as in 'why do you persist in be such.....'), I would be more than prepared to ask Darling or Brown why they persisted in acting as described when all the evidence as to what they are maintaining about any of this fisacal meltdown is completely to the contrary of what they are saying.
I admit that such an approach would be inflammatory. Maybe that's the point?
I think his point was that raising taxed would be deflationary and inappropriate at this time, which is actually right. I've just been watching him on C4 news and squaring up to Jon Snow. I never thought I'd ever say this, but he actually wasn't bad.
Its surely become clear now that Darling is a complete idiot and only in his job because he was just a cronie of Brown. It is of course said he is a 'friend' of Brown - but in fact he is just a doormat, the fat ugly one the pretty girl always takes round with her.
It will be interesting to see who will be Chancellor next week - it is surely going to be Ed Balls, it is indeed a fate he richly deserves because the problems we face now are all down to what he thinks of as his cleverness. Despite veil being drawn over events in Manchester it seems to me that the worst is yet to come.
My dictionary by the way says that 'endogenous' means something "originated or produced from within" which surely sums up our coming recession
Labour is a busted Flush.David Cameron has a fantastic opportunity to drive this home. Until now Dave's success is mostly Gordon's failure but Dave does deserve credit.
As Dave is the last party leader to get a speech that will go nation wide he can poo poo all that has come out from New labour and decide whether to ignore the Cleggs or not.
This is not about Gordon making the speech of his life, this is about Dave trashing Gordon's speech and Dave making the speech of his life.
Dave has the upper hand and Dave has the final say. He who laughs last laughs loudest. Dave has proved that he can unite the Tory party, it is now time that Dave can prove what he offers is so much better than what New Labour has on sale.
PS your Blog today is excellent, may you remember that footwork and effort reap great dividends.
S.O.S.....Help! Help! ZANU LABOUR...SINKING RAPIDLY!!....S.O.S.........
WORKING TAX CREDITS AND ALL OTHER SCHEMES OVER THE SIDE FIRST LOL.........
SOMEWHERE ON THE DEBT LIFEBOAT "GORDON!" GORDON!"...."I`M HERE DARLING!!" HOW COULD WE HAVE SUNK WITH SUCH A BOUYANT ECONOMY?"....IT`S THAT DREADED CAMERON!! DRILLING HOLES IN MY TAX PLANS...
Cos like all the nulab imbeciles they think all money is theirs to spend.
Actually Iain - isn't this showing Darling becoming less clueless with time? The Redwood article ( http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2007/08/18/alastair-darling-does-and-says-the-wrong-thing/ ) was on 18/Aug/2007.
So a year ago he thought that reducing taxes "took money out of the economy", now he understands that increasing taxes takes money out of the economy.
Alternatively - a year ago our Chancellor thought that "the economy" = "the public sector", now he realises that it's what's out there in the real world.
Surely this is progress?
Obviously it's a shame that he's having to learn Economics 101 on a day release scheme from the most important economics job in the land, but I suppose we've all got to start somewhere.
PS Anyone heard the word "prudent" in Manchester this week?
Iain, not a word on the credit crisis? The past ten days have been for neo-liberalism what the fall of the Berlin Wall was for Marxism. No, that's not hyperbole; a Republican Treasury Secretary, former head of an investment bank, has spent around $1 trillion nationalising the banking industry. This is a political nightmare for the Chancellor, but an ideological catastrophe for the Republicans and the Conservatives. Only Kenneth Clarke seems to have a clue that there's a problem. It's over, I tell you. It's over. The myth that Thatcherism/Friedmanite neo-liberal nonsense is good for business and the economy is no more convincing than Soviet five-year plans. Even though I will be paying too much in tax and in mortgages for years, and Mr Paulson is still a billionaire, I cannot help this feeling of euphoria.
By implication Darling presumably believes there is a great big bloody hole in the economy made up of people's take home pay and so will shortly be asking us to accept 100% tax rates so as to fill that hole up. Excellent idea ....
Post a Comment