1. Iain Martin "disgraceful"2. Toby Helm "it was a political budget"
3. Conor Ryan "is tax rise good politics?"
4. John Redwood "the Damian McBride Memorial Budget"
5. Lobby Dog "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit"
6. Tim Montgomerie "new labour is D.E.A.D"
7. James Forsyth "tories should laugh at the 50p rate"
8. Matthew Sinclair "it will punish the poor"
9. Tom Harris "I have nothing to say on the budget
Correction. He now has. HERE. Tepid praise.
10. Nick Clegg "it's a pick n mix budget"
11. David Cameron "Labour's economic competence has died"
12. Caroline Lucas "it's a missed opportunity"
13. Andrew Neil "worse than we feared?"
14. Paul Waugh "hot to soak the rich"
15. Danvers Baillieu "the top rate of tax is 60p, not 50p"
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I'll be doing two hours of radio tonight...
11-12 Radio 5 Live on the Richard Bacon programme
12-1 TalkSport with Ian Collins
11-12 Radio 5 Live on the Richard Bacon programme
12-1 TalkSport with Ian Collins
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29 comments:
Old Holborn - Send Gordon the shirt off your back
Hardley a mixed set of opinions, is it Iain?
Looks like the single mothers episode was just a blip for the sarcastic git that is Tom Harris.
Iain, Iain, Iain, don't be so impatient. I've been busy doing other things. However, I have no posted on the Budget and I'm sure you'll agree with every word.
Fags, booze and petrol. About as fair as putting Brown's dirty nappies in the Queen's washing.
The tory site has the party's alternative budget proposals:
* Freezing council tax for two years, worth over £200 for the typical family
* Abolishing income tax on savings for all basic rate taxpayers, worth up to £7,200 a year
* Raising the income tax threshold for pensioners, worth up to £400 a year
* Help for the unemployed to upskill and reskill during the recession - and tax breaks for companies who create new jobs
That, apparently, is it. They're not even pretending they know what they're doing anymore.
Check out The Dance Of The Comedian by Crown Blogspot.
http://thecrownblogspot.blogspot.com/2009/04/gordon-brown-dance-of-comedian.html
Sheer Class!
The Penguin
It's a shame the MPs aren't more interested Interest dwindles.
Can anybody explain why Andrew Neil wasn't doing the Budget today?
Tom Harris
Don't worry, my post on Star Trek Transportation never made it to the Daley Dozen. It's obviously a conspiracy to shut me up.
How amusing that you should have been in the Guardian and Mary Riddle in the Telegraph.
What is it about that woman that is so exasperating?
The car scrappage scheme is a joke. All it will do is help the likes of Audi, BMW and Mercedes. I could see the point of it in Germany, but not here...Iain
It really only helps the few European and all Asian manufacturers of small cars as the ones scrapping a Mercedes don't have the money or finance to buy a new one. That is why BMW, Mercedes, etc. have been fighting against the issue over the last months; they sell dramatically less while the profile of new cars on German roads is now more akin to that of the Italian market: small, smaller, smallest - much to the aggravation of the Audis and Mercs... which gain market shares in China and Arabia.
It will be interesting and probably very frightening to watch what will happen to any car market once those scrappage schemes are running (out of funding)!? And then, why not set up a scrapping scheme on houses?
Christian
Paul Halsall -
1) There aren't many positive responses to the budget, even from socialist blogs / left-wing media (even the BBC!)
2) This is a Conservative blog
Jimmy is desperate. Again. And once again grossly misrepresents the Tory position.
Darling has just run a budget which he washes his hands of the UK economy. Letting it slowly sink so that someone else can pick up the pieces. Well actually he is spending some money to fiddle the unemployment figures - but that will not help tax revenues.
Tories have in fact said that the painful decisions which Darling has put off for 2 years should be taken now.
What he and others are forgetting in this shambles is that there is another raid on pensions which will affect the stock market and hence all our pensions. Unless you are lucky to get the taxpayer paying for yours.
In all the talk about everyone sharing the pain Darling conveniently forgets the gold plated public sector pensions.
Far from helping the recovery everything Darling is doing is going to stunt any recovery. He is undewrestimating debt, doing his best to add to it and doing nothing to show how we can pay it back in future.
Confidence must be threadbare in the people/ institutions that have to fund this debt. Add to this there are still more toxic bank debts out there. This crisis still has legs.
BTW - what about the level of losses of these debts we have taken on - I do not remember Darling quantifying it as we were led to expect.
Iain, stick to the studios. They have much better sound equipment.
I suppose you are trying to gain street cred, by er recording a piece in the street.
I thought Cameron played a blinder today, articulate, thinking on his feet, scoring all round the wicket, knocking them for six.
Pity he didn't present a cogent alternative.
RE: your video reaction to the right...
Huh? Say What? It looks like you are saying something interesting, but I couldn't hear a word of it!
Don't you have a radio mic stored away somewhere?
@ Jimmy
"The tory site has the party's alternative budget proposals.....
That, apparently, is it. They're not even pretending they know what they're doing anymore."
Not like NuLab do, eh? It's all getting a bit like Hitler's last days in the bunker. The only difference is that Hitler did win an election (of sorts). Not like unelected Gordon.
@ Wrinkled Weasel
Shocking! I shall read your Star Trek post forthwith!
Penguin,
Thanks for posting Crownblogspot's video - that cheered me up after listening to that shocker of a cynical budget.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS37nnFYzZ0
@cinna,
Your precis of the tory proposals was excellent.
Iain,
Please do not forget the story that Ed Balls has (seemingly successfully) tried to bury under the budget.
Developments at todays Select Committee hearing here:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23679198-details/Balls+sexed+up+evidence+to+discredit+me,+says+Sats+head/article.do
Think of it this way: the government knows that it will in all probability be voted out by the middle of next year.
In these circumstances, a 'soak the rich' budget makes sense in that it may ('may' being a very big 'may) stop the loss of lower middle-class and working-class voters (who may switch or not vote). A long shot, but still a credible political calculation.
If it doesnt, the Conservative Party will either reverse it or be forced to continue with some, most or all of the decisions announced today. Think of the headlines (Tory tax reductions leading to cuts in public services) that would ensue if Cameron announced a change.
The gov. is probably working on a maybe 33% chance they can still win the next election. Thus they are pushing the short-term, bugger the consequences option (which is conveniently the position of Labour activists as well- more door-knocking fodder for the next election).
Its their only hope left. Meltdown leading to class war (class war was always going to be their election strategy anyway)
There is a God after all, Orwell never mind you'll get over it. Meanwhile, I'll put the flags out...
Budget 2009: even the Caribbean finds reason to despise it. Budget speech in full, plus comments and reactionYes, even the Caribbean are not beyond the malign impact of the "Broondling" portmanteau creature's budget
First time I have heard you on the radio, Iain.
You are making some very good points.
My one man campaign to ensure that Ed Balls doesn't succeed in burying his accusations of smears under the budget - part 2:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-mr-balls-loses-his-bearings-1672577.html
Oh please Mr Dale could you give my new blog a mention please ? Yours truly, a Labour chanter.
Tom Harris MP said "Iain, Iain, Iain, don't be so impatient. I've been busy doing other things."
Well, those expenses claims won't fill themselves in, will they?
80% Marginal Tax Rate?
OK so you loose £1 of personal allowance for every £1 you earn over £100,000.
If you earn £100,000 your tax is 100k less £6475 allowance = £93,525 taxable income. 20% on the first £37,400 + 40% on the amount above 37,400 = total tax of £29,930.
If you earn £100,001 you still receive the full allowance (you loose £1 of personal allowance for every £2 over £100,000). Your tax is 100,001 less £6475 allowance = £93,528 taxable income. 20% on the first £37,400 + 40% on the amount above 37,400 = total tax of £29,930.40. Earn an extra £1 pay and extra 40p in tax = 60% marginal rate.
If you earn £100,002 you loose £1 of personal allowance. Your tax is 100,002 less £6474 allowance = £93,528 taxable income. 20% on the first £37,400 + 40% on the amount above 37,400 = total tax of £29,931.20. Earn an extra £1 pay and extra 80p in tax = 80% marginal rate.
Alternatively if you assume you kept the personal allowance and calculate the top tax rate based on the new amount of tax payable then the top rate tax rises from 40% to 43.7% between earnings of 100k to £114k per annum, then reduces to 42.4% at earnings of £150k.
Dull but crazy
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