tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post3592472819684338164..comments2024-03-04T17:54:32.559+00:00Comments on Iain Dale's Diary: Cameron Shows the WayIain Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03270146219458384372noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-90058971818984386202009-04-27T18:32:00.000+01:002009-04-27T18:32:00.000+01:00DesparingLiberal,
Most of your cuts will not make...DesparingLiberal,<br /><br />Most of your cuts will not make much and seem to be coming from the wrong direction.<br /><br />1. Trident - you mean Trident replacement? A very big decision and one that has international implications. One of the core roles of the State is to defend the nation, so Trident removal is not a budget issue, but outside of that (not that it should not be seriously considered, mind).<br /><br />2. "sponging IT companies". No, it is the "simple shopper" of the State that is the problem.<br /><br />3. NHS and foreigners. Yes it happens and needs to be sorted, but a small issue vs the grand scale of inefficiency and systemic dysfunction of having the NHS as a State run monopoly.<br /><br />4. Tax havens. I want the UK to BE a tax haven! All of it. Tax spending, not income. Rich people who are not spending are investing, so providing capital for growth. Always a whiff of envy politics around Tax Havens. Note: the State does not own us.<br /><br />5. Hedge fund windfall tax has a pungent aroma of envy politics IMHO ("legalised stealing" - please). This is private capital and they do tip off the market to duff investments. Short selling? To think the Hedge funds routinely kick over an otherwise solid company is a distortion. The banks crumbled because they were crock, not because of some hostile act.Roger Thornhillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03591327286533118901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-86880397617710544232009-04-27T17:32:00.000+01:002009-04-27T17:32:00.000+01:00I expect Cameron to be next PM. I don't fear him, ...I expect Cameron to be next PM. I don't fear him, but then I though G W Bush might be OK.<br /><br />As a Person with AIDS dependent on benefits, I expect the Tories to hurt me.<br /><br />I might be willing to go ahead with supporting that if DC committed to<br /><br />1. Stopping ID Cards<br />2. Stopping all universal electronic survelience (I don't care about what GCHQ does. I do mind locla coppers being able to look up my web browsing)<br />3. Agreed that Civil Partnerships can become Civil Marriages (I am too old and fat to find a husband, but I want that to be something imaginable to 14-18 year old kids, who I want never to have to go through the psychological torture I put myself though - even though I had the best, most supportive parents ever).Paul Halsallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01602075031268155220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-45471998917604362352009-04-27T09:51:00.000+01:002009-04-27T09:51:00.000+01:00More vacuous mediocrity from Dave. Some of it made...More vacuous mediocrity from Dave. Some of it made me cringe, much of it bored me to tears, but most of all I felt totally underwhelmed and uninspired. Very poor.Lord Snootynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-29049866255837069722009-04-27T08:16:00.000+01:002009-04-27T08:16:00.000+01:00I agree with Roger on the big cuts - reducing top ...I agree with Roger on the big cuts - reducing top people's salaries in the public sector, whilst popular, is just tinkering around the edges. Without major existing programme cuts and mass redundancies, there is no chance of getting back within limits, even in the medium term and with fairly good growth figures. Darling/Brown know this, which is why in despair they have shrugged their shoulders and washed their hands of the worry, if that's not mixing metaphors too much.<br /><br />A really convincing politician at the next election for me has to say where the deep cuts will be. My list would include<br /><br />* Trident<br /><br />* Sponging govt contractor companies, especially in IT sphere and particularly the ghastly bloated NHS intranet contract<br /><br />* Cost of providing healthcare to foreigners for free on NHS - loads of lip-service to this over the years from both Tories and NL but no real action - one of the alleged reasons of course for ID cards. Cost is serious and rapidly growing.<br /><br />* Amount lost by the EU to corruption - UK should refuse to cover EU costs of corruption and unaccounted expenditure - an independent body to be headed by Marta Andreasen could estimate this each year. Refuse to pay until EU takes accounting seriously.<br /><br />* Tax havens - at the present time, the Inland Revenue has signed many sweetheard deals with big corporations and wealthy individuals allowing them to pay no tax in the UK under very dubious circumstances. Beneficiaries include people you Tories all adore like Al Fayed. Attempts to get this corrected or publicized have resulted in NuLab placing former tax avoidance specialists and friends of NL politicians in charge, who have sat on their hands.<br /><br />* A windfall tax on hedge fund profits. Hedge funds have effectively made their money by cheating the little people (eg, most of us) out of our pension growth - because the better ones are simply too sophisticated for the ordinary fund managers. This legalised stealing has resulted in some individual hedge fund managers continuing to make many billions even as the full horror of the recession bites, in many cases paying no UK tax on those billions. At the same time, many pension funds are effectively withdrawing now from the stock markets as they realise they can no longer compete their, pulling the rug out from long-promised claims of shared Thatcher-style capitalism.DespairingLiberalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02903904463236135611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-79446050480428310592009-04-27T06:49:00.000+01:002009-04-27T06:49:00.000+01:00I'm a Call-Me-Dave sceptic. And I thought it was p...I'm a Call-Me-Dave sceptic. And I thought it was pretty good. And the BWB salaries was an eye-opener. FFS, 4 guys (in a pretty ordinary company with a statutory monopoly) pulling down £900k between them? They're having a laugh!<br /><br />It's encouraging that he's not afraid of using the word 'CUT'. Attaboy. Let's start with the foreign aid budget. It's outrageous that we are borrowing money and handing it out to foreign countries. Stop it, and close down the department.Rush-is-Righthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12860467341217977185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-80982312447477764672009-04-27T05:31:00.000+01:002009-04-27T05:31:00.000+01:00"What about closing down tax havens for example?"
..."What about closing down tax havens for example?"<br /><br />I suspect the Deputy Chairman may not be keen.Jimmyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01542633492362670045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-6750467971403687622009-04-27T01:14:00.000+01:002009-04-27T01:14:00.000+01:00Sorry, but although the content was there, Cameron...Sorry, but although the content was there, Cameron is generally an uninspiring speaker.<br /><br />A good speaker knows how to 'perform' a speech...Cameron just read his in a rather dull monotone.<br /><br />When you listen to someone like Dan Hannan, you can tell from his intensity that he would die in the last ditch for his beliefs. You never really get that sense with Cameron...rather you get the sense of a somewhat fey public school boy with a sense of entitlement.<br /><br />Like most Tory inclined people I know, I'll vote Tory at the next election to get Labour out, but there really isnt any great enthusiasm for the Conservatives out there, even amongst life long Tory voters. <br /><br />Dont be fooled by the polls. Its going to be a lot closer than people think.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13997546418164172397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-32406753528590585072009-04-27T00:49:00.000+01:002009-04-27T00:49:00.000+01:00We’re not frightened of their idiotic ritual chant...We’re not frightened of their idiotic ritual chants about “cuts.”<br /><br />Yes you areAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-92214286880892665182009-04-27T00:46:00.000+01:002009-04-27T00:46:00.000+01:00It was a perfectly good speech and contained some ...It was a perfectly good speech and contained some interesting and valuable points. It was somewhat inspirational. I thought it was on the right track and I was enthused by it.<br /><br />But it had the unfortunate circumstance of coming after Dan Hannan. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It's an impossible task.Steve Tierneyhttp://www.blog.stevetierney.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-88654717638679695782009-04-26T23:41:00.000+01:002009-04-26T23:41:00.000+01:00Cameron may have thought he had lots of degrees of...Cameron may have thought he had lots of degrees of freedom, like Blair. He may have worried what to do. <br /><br />He now knows his fate must be to reform the public sector in the same way Thatcher reformed the private sector. He has no choice if this country is to stay solvent.javelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04685858339910528013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-15083263917694694162009-04-26T23:39:00.000+01:002009-04-26T23:39:00.000+01:00I love that speech. It sets out a philosophy of g...I love that speech. It sets out a philosophy of government. This is exactly what we need at the moment.<br /><br />Before everyone asks about individual policies, exactly what legislative programme has Gordon Brown set out?ljuknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-3934605388922228332009-04-26T21:40:00.000+01:002009-04-26T21:40:00.000+01:00Briefly, three points
1. "We’re not frightened o...Briefly, three points<br /><br /><br />1. "We’re not frightened of their idiotic ritual chants about “cuts.”<br /><br />I am not sure I believe that. Anyone facing a £175bln deficit would be really re-thinking things. I see tinkering.<br /><br />2. Tax Credits. I cannot believe we see the "fairer" line trotted out. Why should single poor get taxed while others get tax credits? The fair thing to do is to abolish tax credits and raise personal allowances. No forms. No bias. No cap-in-hand. Dave still wants the government to have the final word, to be the one doling out the largesse.<br /><br />3. "doing more with less". And he is posturing about cuts? Dave needs to be "doing less with significantly less". Government has to shrink and spending shrink even more if any real inroads can be made in our debt<br /><br /><br />Lets everyone wake up here- Britain is NOT a rich country. Rich is not about piles of cash or houses, but is having significantly lower outgoings compared to incomes. If it does not realise this, it has no hope of regaining its wealth.Roger Thornhillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03591327286533118901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-12018488270475305692009-04-26T21:27:00.000+01:002009-04-26T21:27:00.000+01:00@ Cato said...
"I stand to be corrected but I sen...<B>@ Cato said...<br /><br />"I stand to be corrected but I sense a steel fist under a velvet glove."</B>If not then we are well f***ed.Jabba the Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08378736389976858775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-86477982854260613252009-04-26T21:18:00.000+01:002009-04-26T21:18:00.000+01:00Yes an excellent speech but Cameron needs to be ca...Yes an excellent speech but Cameron needs to be careful. The media only really reported his comments about austerity. He is certainly correct but this is not what the public want to hear.<br />He must maintain an upbeat message.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06810788783886456639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-54518637398785552682009-04-26T20:40:00.000+01:002009-04-26T20:40:00.000+01:00Interesting to note that the majority of the knock...Interesting to note that the majority of the knockers are using unregistered ids (anonymous or "name"). Can we presume that both the ZaNu labour supporters are out in force and posting under several different IDs? Probably.<br /><br />As a speech it wasn't Churchill, but it did contain a solid reason for not setting out their stall too early - they don't want to make a promise that changed circumstances have made impossible to keep.<br /><br />This is a responsible attitude to take - one that Labour seem to despise. Knee jerk reactions (that turn into major disasters, for lack of thought) are their stock in trade. <br /><br />The speech is a shot across the bows of the fat cats. They either perform or go - with Labour it's cock it up and get promoted.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-79521091757240151152009-04-26T20:37:00.000+01:002009-04-26T20:37:00.000+01:00Cameron's speech was OK - but Dan Hannan's was ele...Cameron's speech was OK - but Dan Hannan's was electrifying. He spoke, seemingly without autocue, straight into the hearts of Middle England. <br /><br />Watch his blog for a promised video of it.Raedwaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11699610899843349594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-36790024426593891942009-04-26T20:31:00.000+01:002009-04-26T20:31:00.000+01:00I'm liking this guy more and more.I'm liking this guy more and more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-9032091020115040472009-04-26T20:07:00.000+01:002009-04-26T20:07:00.000+01:00He could give the Gettysburg address and still be ...He could give the Gettysburg address and still be left floundering at the polls by the antics of these two;<br />Eric Pickles (Question Time)<br />and<br />Alan Duncan (HIGNFY)<br />Both of them must have known the question of second homes was going to be peppered at them yet, both gave a fair impersonation of a beached fish gasping for air in their incoherent and panic stricken answers.<br />The horns of the dilemma for David Cameron is; to ban any further appearances by any of his MPs on shows such as this between now and the General Election or, does he risk any more of his team showing up as stupid as these two.Flemingcragnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-67503560312559389622009-04-26T20:03:00.000+01:002009-04-26T20:03:00.000+01:00For me, it was a good speech with good intent and ...For me, it was a good speech with good intent and perfect at this stage of the game. I liked the targets he mentioned such as scrapping the ID Card scheme and Regional Assemblies. <br /><br />We all know that there have to be cuts, but that doesn't mean cuts in front-line services. For example, if Cameron reduces the number of useless managers and hangers-on in the NHS, then spends half the money he saves on additional doctors and nurses, that will be a step in the right direction.<br /><br />Clearly, he isn't going to offer up the Conservative election manifesto so that Brown can steal the best ideas and shamelessly say they are New Labour ideas. Remember IHT?Eric Cantonanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-20521455898802922692009-04-26T19:44:00.000+01:002009-04-26T19:44:00.000+01:00Does seem like an important speech, which makes me...Does seem like an important speech, which makes me wonder why, as of 7.44pm,it trails behind the BAFTA TV awards on bbc.co.uk's list of headlines...<br />.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-60259373712473645652009-04-26T19:32:00.000+01:002009-04-26T19:32:00.000+01:00Great speech, he needn't have carried on, he 'had ...Great speech, he needn't have carried on, he 'had me at this':<br /><br /><br /><I>"With a Conservative government, if ministers want to impress the boss, they’ll have to make their budgets smaller, not bigger. On my watch it will be simple: if you do more for less you get promoted if you do less for more, you get sacked. If we’d had this approach over the last twelve years, I don’t suppose there’d be a single Labour Minister left"</I>Trend Shedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04817609330878848716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-38077452794144901882009-04-26T19:31:00.000+01:002009-04-26T19:31:00.000+01:00First things first. What about the EU Referendum?...First things first. What about the EU Referendum?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-17132775508696109112009-04-26T19:28:00.000+01:002009-04-26T19:28:00.000+01:00Not a bad speech, as “tell ‘em like it is” ones go...Not a bad speech, as “tell ‘em like it is” ones go. But that’s the problem, the electorate, the mass of the electorate, rarely like to be told things are going to be tough, and there will be cuts – you are all going to have to pay for this. I’m reminded of the Lib Dems and their 1p on income tax to pay for the NHS etc. At the time, perfectly sensible, even went down well in polling. But when it actually came to the vote?<br /><br />I just question the strategy, not the sentiment.<br /><br />He’s on safer ground when talking of ‘cuts’ is centred on the quango’s. Too right. As a start, anything beginning with ‘Of’ should be binned straight away, and oversight brought back to be the responsibility of ministers, and we can hold *them* to account properly.<br /><br />(Loved the Hannan speech – thanks for the link TB.)I Squigglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03977761412580015662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-82160692293975272412009-04-26T19:23:00.000+01:002009-04-26T19:23:00.000+01:00Even though im not a Conservative supporter, i can...Even though im not a Conservative supporter, i cant help but agree with the conservative person who said "Labour has led a scorched earth policy"..<br /><br />Yip any change of government will have to work very hard to clear up the incompetency of Labour, not an easy task considering unpopular decisions will have to be made.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-27179626292821972262009-04-26T19:12:00.000+01:002009-04-26T19:12:00.000+01:00Anon 5:33 - what has NuLab offered on Pakistan? A ...Anon 5:33 - what has NuLab offered on Pakistan? A call centre in Abu Dhabi to vet people who want to come to Britain. I'm sure that makes all the difference.<br /><br />I agree though that someone will actually need to face down the inevitable screams of outrage from the Pakistanis in Britain and ban further travel from Pakistan to Britain at some point in the not too distant future - it's only a matter of when, since that "country" is rapidly collapsing.DespairingLiberalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02903904463236135611noreply@blogger.com