tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post3905599792606971749..comments2024-03-04T17:54:32.559+00:00Comments on Iain Dale's Diary: Tories Should Shift the Debate to Spending & WasteIain Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03270146219458384372noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-76490349113432365592008-03-18T22:28:00.000+00:002008-03-18T22:28:00.000+00:00Given that the economy is about to go into meltdow...Given that the economy is about to go into meltdown, due almost entirely to the stupidity of (no doubt Tory voting) merchant bankers (never has the rhyming slang seemed more appropriate), it really is the case that public spending cuts are the last thing we need.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-40769508349660380872008-03-18T16:00:00.000+00:002008-03-18T16:00:00.000+00:00Anonymous 12.53 pmSince when are all records onlin...Anonymous 12.53 pm<BR/><BR/>Since when are all records online and accessible from the GP?<BR/><BR/>My GP has not uploaded his records to the Spine and does not think it will happen any time soon and is in no rush to do it. I have informed him that I do not wish my details to be accessed by 1m strangers. And don't kid yourself that you think it will not happen.Roger Thornhillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01153744692290896812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-35160808117834445162008-03-18T12:41:00.000+00:002008-03-18T12:41:00.000+00:00Anonymous 12:53 "The NHS IT project for your in...<I>Anonymous 12:53<BR/><BR/> "The NHS IT project for your information ( I work for it ) is nearly completed. And is a great success. "<BR/><BR/>Dave B said... The NHS IT project is a text book case of how not to plan/implement an IT project. If you work for it, you know that.</I><BR/><BR/>Having seen the general standard and quality of the staff on this project, it's much more likely, that he/she doesn't.!Pogohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10812765444160924585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-46297660601076348732008-03-17T21:31:00.000+00:002008-03-17T21:31:00.000+00:00Sorry for reposting this from yesterday but I thin...Sorry for reposting this from yesterday but I think its an important reaction shown by Labour voters. I would further suggest that all of the lab>con switchers would agree with this statement.<BR/><BR/>Question From the Poll:<BR/><BR/>The government wastes large amounts of taxpayers' money and is not trying seriously to reduce the level of waste.<BR/><BR/>Answers from those with Labour voting intentions:<BR/><BR/>53% agree with that statement<BR/>35% Disagree<BR/>13% Don't Know.<BR/><BR/>I suspect the large numbers of Labour voters working in the public sector have first hand knowledge of the mismanagement of public funds by the govt.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-77179884076171399182008-03-17T19:51:00.000+00:002008-03-17T19:51:00.000+00:00M.Hristov, if your suggestion would stop all the m...M.Hristov, if your suggestion would stop all the malingerers claiming, then I'm in favour, whatever the benefit currently happens to be called. But we really need a shift in culture away from the idea that if someone faces difficulties in their life of whatever kind, it's the role of the state to throw money at them. If that's what you do, then of course the numbers of people who need help will rise inexorably.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-18341902266349859642008-03-17T18:40:00.000+00:002008-03-17T18:40:00.000+00:00Dozzy, perhaps you need a little education. Invali...Dozzy, perhaps you need a little education. Invalidity Benefit does not exist. It is Incapacity Benefit. There might well be an argument for abolishing that and saying that all persons on it should apply for Disability Living Allowance, which could be increased in value. That would get rid of the malingerers, at a stroke.<BR/><BR/>We could be entering a very dark tunnel indeed, as far as the economy is concerned. Things are happening which have not happened since the 1930s. The next big event may be the unravelling of the carry trade, which propped up the U.S. economy in the nineties and noughties. This could be a major crisis for capitalism and no one seems to understand it because very few people who were functioning adults, in the 1930s, are still around. I am sure that the Great Bill Deedes would have had something cogent to say but, alas, he has gone the way of all flesh.<BR/><BR/>Never mind, you can all go and take advantage of the E.U. by going and living in France. You can then have the benefit of all those things that have been abolished in this country e.g. functioning public transport; middle class professionals who haven’t been impoverished by greedy corporations, jealous governments and moronic newspapers and their readers and sensible planning laws. Remember, however, that you must constantly attack the E.U. and worship right wing capitalism in your posts on this blog. Isn’t that right, Verity? It is unwise to bite the hand that feeds you in any circumstances. Particularly if that hand is French. What happens if M. Sarkozy decides to follow you ideas and send you home? You can hardly complain if he does, after your postings about immigrants in this country.M. Hristovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13916257985347991350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-45677404546878801742008-03-17T18:14:00.000+00:002008-03-17T18:14:00.000+00:00Anonymous 2.56My doctor tried to book a hearing te...Anonymous 2.56<BR/><BR/>My doctor tried to book a hearing test for me and gave up in frustration. He could not get into the system and said that this was a regular occurence!<BR/>A friend of mine was offered the opportunity to work on the development of the NHS system and declined because it was poorly conceived and specified. He used to work for IBM and should know what he is talking about.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-71228680061456407572008-03-17T17:52:00.000+00:002008-03-17T17:52:00.000+00:00cancel the olympicscancel the olympicsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-40816554061216344422008-03-17T15:58:00.000+00:002008-03-17T15:58:00.000+00:00My point is simple.You ALL quote the NHS IT Projec...My point is simple.<BR/><BR/>You ALL quote the NHS IT Project as an opportunity to save money, and base bonkers tax cut arithmetic on the scrapping of the project.<BR/><BR/>The project is near its end and the cash is spent, so how can you base tax cuts on 10bn that actually doesn’t exist.<BR/><BR/>The IT project has it problems, but has been a great success, It cannot be undone, or scrapped, so stop making daft tax pledges on none existent money. You will need the 10bn from elsewhere, good luck selling cuts to the publicAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-2303734194400170592008-03-17T15:56:00.000+00:002008-03-17T15:56:00.000+00:00They should get more personal with this message, t...They should get more personal with this message, they need to accuse the Labour Government of mis-spending all this tax money on quangoes and schemes and non-jobs staffed by party activists.<BR/><BR/>It is jerrymandering, nothing less.<BR/><BR/>Actually mention the figures raised, not just the tax rates. All this expenditure on nonsense. That is what really annoys people, seeing a bunch of middle class lefties thinking they should be earning over 50 grand a year to monitor someone's race or sex.Julian the Wonderhorsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13549466750020561144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-60501872833472105002008-03-17T15:26:00.000+00:002008-03-17T15:26:00.000+00:00Anonymous 12:53"The NHS IT project for your inform...Anonymous 12:53<BR/><BR/>"The NHS IT project for your information ( I work for it ) is nearly completed. And is a great success. "<BR/><BR/>The NHS IT project is a text book case of how not to plan/implement an IT project. If you work for it, you know that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-61914874631308364852008-03-17T15:25:00.000+00:002008-03-17T15:25:00.000+00:00"Could we have more details, ie which pulic servan..."Could we have more details, ie which pulic servants in schools hospitals etc etc you intend to put on the dole"<BR/><BR/>The whole of the civil service doesn't work in schools and hospitals. The DWP has about 115,000 staff. I expect a fair few of them can be cut as the DWP is over-manned.<BR/><BR/>As has been mentioned before, the DTI (or whatever it's called now) could probably be wound up entirely. Raise the personal allowance on Income tax and scrap the Tax Credits System. Re-merge Justice with the Home Office and reduce its remit. Scrap the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Combine the Department for Children, Schools and Families with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.<BR/><BR/>The Government Departments seem to have been splintered just for the sake of it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-48560984826434961512008-03-17T14:56:00.000+00:002008-03-17T14:56:00.000+00:00Anonymous 12.53 pmThe new NHS computer system soun...Anonymous 12.53 pm<BR/><BR/>The new NHS computer system sounds fantastic....unless you're a GP who is trying to use it to "choose and book" hospital appointments, since it crashes all the time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-13333897087858332582008-03-17T14:37:00.000+00:002008-03-17T14:37:00.000+00:00Excellent and it'd have the added benefit of getti...Excellent and it'd have the added benefit of getting the government out of its ever increasing intrusion into day to day life.<BR/><BR/>Ideally we need "Tolpuddle part deux", transport (in the old meaning) the entire PLP, with a few exceptions, to a 21st century Van Diemen's Land ! Hmm, Mars is the "Red Planet" .. at a decent distance too.Yak40https://www.blogger.com/profile/10391635243252561168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-59555765807485269242008-03-17T14:35:00.000+00:002008-03-17T14:35:00.000+00:00The taxPayers Alliance should be running the count...The taxPayers Alliance should be running the country. Sad thing is most Brits are instinctively State Dependent. The government would not dare improve the education system as otherwise who would vote for socialism? The only thing the pigs at the political trough give a damn about is their own fat pensions and money. Your figure of 20 billion is nothing. You could cut 100 billion within a month and no one would notice. Cameron is a socialist and has zero business experience. He wouldn't know where to begin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-37400704253389426062008-03-17T14:30:00.000+00:002008-03-17T14:30:00.000+00:00This is much more like it. The Conservative faith...This is much more like it. The Conservative faithful should stop going on and on about tax cuts that we can't afford and start talking about cutting government waste instead.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-49739496258534168302008-03-17T14:05:00.000+00:002008-03-17T14:05:00.000+00:00Abolish invalidity benefit. The economy will neve...Abolish invalidity benefit. The economy will never be really successful until we stop giving millions of people financial incentives to do nothing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-51670161245079250092008-03-17T14:03:00.000+00:002008-03-17T14:03:00.000+00:00the Conservatives are ever to reduce the tax burde...<B>the Conservatives are ever to reduce the tax burden, they must first of all reduce the amount of public spending</B><BR/><BR/><BR/>Iain, that works for you and I at a business level or in the household budget but not really on the macro scale .If you tax initiative employment and risk talking you are inhibiting growth and that if you do this you will increase the thinly disguised unemployment for which we pay handsomely as well as radically reducing the receipts from existing levels of taxation. A disaster which dwarfs any notional cost savings. <BR/>As we approach recession tax cuts become more and more essential not less and less practical. I think if you speak anyone with any sort of background in economics they would admit the truth at this to some extent and our level of borrowing only makes the necessity more urgent . <BR/>Nick Boles and others of the Cameron tendency have produced the level of borrowing like a white rabbit to explain what is really a political necessity and you have bought the white lie .This is a political calculation about retaining support and not being dumped in the first term with all the pain only for Brown to spend the pot again.<BR/>The waste argumentis propoganda with little reality either for Conservatives or Liberals like Norman Baker unless it is allied to reducing the size of the state itself.If you make "savings " a condition precedent to tax cuts you have the cart before the horse. One Party is not better than the other at running the same wasteful system. One Party must replace that system with a smaller state reduce taxes and thereby keep receipts and expenditure healthy.<BR/><BR/>Cameron knows this full well so while I sympathise with what he is actually up to it does insult your intelligence somewhat to be told tax cuts cannot be afforded. They can and they must be ..... With 8000,000 in the public sector however the potlics are tricky. Approaching the subject is a bit like approaching a bra strap on your first date ........ your hand must appear aimless , your intentions opaque , and Mr. Trouser snake will just have to be a little patient until the right climate has been produced .......<BR/><BR/><BR/>“ Another double vodka Miss Public sector .......(heh heh) ?”Newmaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-27748332636129049122008-03-17T13:48:00.000+00:002008-03-17T13:48:00.000+00:00What makes my blood boil is when you hear of local...What makes my blood boil is when you hear of local tax spending taking place on totally useless projects because the money has been allocated and if they don't spend this year it then their budget will get reduced next year.<BR/>I bet that this similar type of mentality exists further up the political chain and who gets lumbered with higher taxes as a result?<BR/><B>You and Me</B><BR/>I know this might sound a bit too radical but why are budgets done on a yearly basis?<BR/>Why not on an ongoing project to project basis?<BR/>OK so the cash flow can continue to be monitered on an annual basis but the end result should be that we only start projects as and when the cash is there or we can afford it.<BR/>That should get rid of ID cards for a start.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-29849514768037588522008-03-17T13:06:00.000+00:002008-03-17T13:06:00.000+00:00Yes it’s a good idea to dust of The James Review b...Yes it’s a good idea to dust of The James Review but the whole thing originally was mishandled – like most areas of finance and politics.<BR/><BR/>Politicos, Journos and the public just do not speak the same language as each other when it comes to spending.<BR/><BR/>The Tories should frame the debate by announcing a ‘Public Benefit’ test for every pound of taxpayers money spent – from local councils, the NHS to Whitehall. A simple standard 3 page template attached to all spending plans (like a basic balance sheet) breaking down the proportion of the cash that goes on frontline staff & costs, administration, IT, consultants and capital infrastructure. With strict rules as to how items are catagorised and reported.<BR/><BR/>A simple standard test like that will make clear to the public, and journalists who report events, where the money really goes – and lay bare the Labour lie that a £100 Million NHS ‘investment’ in a project is really only a £10M front line investment, £25M capital infrastructure and the rest is wasted on massive inter departmental charges, consultants and administration.<BR/><BR/>Once real people –including front line pubic sector workers – understand how little gets through to them and how much is waste on every project THEN you can offer a choice: The latest NHS Drugs were told we cannot afford or 10 ‘Enabling Change Capacity Building Outreach Teams’ etc. No tax until you earn £10,000 or Tax from £5,000 and pay hundreds of millions in admin to nanny state, who will decide if your worthy of having some of your money back as tax credits.<BR/><BR/>It will kill the link that the British media have that all ‘cuts’ are bad; all ‘cuts’ will affect frontline services and all expenditure is an ‘investment’<BR/><BR/>Once everybody can understand the extent of the waste, selling reform would be easier. Then cut the more complex Quango fat and IT projectsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-91428555426997977502008-03-17T12:53:00.000+00:002008-03-17T12:53:00.000+00:00Trumpeter Lanfried said... Jettison the NHS comput...Trumpeter Lanfried said...<BR/><BR/> <BR/>Jettison the NHS computer project. There's at least £20 billion for a start. Fortune favours the bold.<BR/>*****<BR/><BR/>The NHS IT project for your information ( I work for it ) is nearly completed. And is a great success. So you will need to find this cash elsewhere.<BR/><BR/>GPs can now book hospital appointments instantly over the NHS network ( no paper chain ) Your X-rays are all now digital, all gps and hospitals are linked to national database, all GPs admin is online, all prescriptions are digital and bar coded to avoid errors. If you have an accident while away from home you records can be seen by the clinician treating you instantly.<BR/><BR/>So Trumpeter Lanfried you should be praising the project not slagging it offAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-8691822553897970152008-03-17T12:37:00.000+00:002008-03-17T12:37:00.000+00:00This is mostly fantasy island stuff put about larg...This is mostly fantasy island stuff put about largely by people who've never worked for (and certainly never run) large organisations and who don't really understand complexity.<BR/><BR/>We hear it from the Tories all the time when they’re in opposition. But when they get into power they find it’s not that simple. So Tory run local authorities end up cutting marginal services (the effects of which they hope don’t show up too obviously) and claiming the amounts saved as “efficiency savings”.<BR/><BR/>Of course there's bound to be some waste in any organisation but to imply that every administrator is an unnecessary overhead or that every public servant is an idle malingerer is nonsense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-29896736818228930172008-03-17T12:26:00.001+00:002008-03-17T12:26:00.001+00:00There needs to be a complete review of public sect...There needs to be a complete review of public sector purchasing and the current tendering regulations. Supply2Gov should go.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-54846052308801304412008-03-17T12:26:00.000+00:002008-03-17T12:26:00.000+00:00David Cameron is to salvage a Tory plan to cut gov...David Cameron is to salvage a Tory plan to cut government spending by £12bn that formed the centrepiece of Michael Howard's 2005 general election campaign<BR/><BR/>BRILLIANT<BR/><BR/>YOU HAVE JUST LOST THE NEXT ELECTION.<BR/><BR/>Could we have more details, ie which pulic servants in schools hospitals etc etc you intend to put on the doleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-30381755801815452632008-03-17T12:10:00.000+00:002008-03-17T12:10:00.000+00:00I thought there was going to be a bonfire of the Q...I thought there was going to be a bonfire of the Quangos, with their responsibilities be passed to local governement? Surely that would be a whopper of a saving. <BR/><BR/>Mr Brown's tax credits scheme was reported to cost 1.5 Billion GBP a year to administer. Surely binning the whole thing, and raising the personal allowance to make it revenue neutral, would liberate most of that administration cost?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com