Well, I wasn't wrong in my predictions in the previous post, was I? John Pienaar called this a very political PBR and he was right. Darling tried to hide the bad while making the most of what little good news he had to offer. Come to think of it, I can't think what that was. He had a cheek in his reply to Osborne on two counts. First of all he accused Osborne of not mentioning growth, when that was clearly wrong. Secondly he accused Osborne of ignoring unemployment - this from a Chancellor who has now twice put up national insurance - a sure fire way of destroying new jobs if ever there was one. As Maggie Craig, the ABI’s acting Director General, said:
While we welcome the commitment to the role of the financial services industry in restoring growth and employment, as an employer of over 300,000 people the insurance industry is disappointed at the increase in national insurance rates which is a tax on employment.
It will be interesting to see what the voters make of this PBR. I suspect they will see through it and view it as a typical bit of pre-election chicanery.
And they will treat with derision the Chancellor's assertion that he was operating "from a position of strength".
18 comments:
Have they got Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf employed as a Treasury SpAD? Because only he could have written anything as dishonest and cynical as that speech.
D
I can categorically tell you having visited nearly every news website i can find that this is going down like a lead balloon.
People think is a complete sham and blatant throw to Labour supporters, People are rightly angry that this addresses nothing about the deficit or fixing the economy and are furious.
Presumably that knight in Monty Python's Holy Grail was also operating from a "position of strength".
Alistair Darling: the Comical Ali of Gordon Brown's, ahem, "government".
Whatever positions these idiots adopt, strength aint one of `em..
So Iain what do you reckon, i'm banking on March 25th now for the GE, they are not going to present another budget.
I've had a look at what else we could buy with the money we're borrowing. Not least, we could buy enough 747s to let the whole country emmigrate in 20 trips!
http://bit.ly/4A3aSP
He was a useless Transport Commissioner in Edinburgh.
He's unfit to be a Chancellor, far less a ticket collector.
It's a joke. A rather serious joke, at the expense of the poor and getting poorer UK taxpayer.
Today really shows up the con that the Nu Liebour project always was.
Iain, for what it is worth to your readers, I have advised this afternoon for all my HNW clients to sell sterling. Current rate is 1.6220.
I am calling a Sterling Crises and for the credit agencies to put the UK on negative credit watch for a downgrade of our AAA status.
This will result in further sterling weakness and once past 1.5910 supt we willl see 1.3500 and further down grade to A- in 2011.
Fyg my HNW contacts are all foriegn Chinese, Russian and Middle East they will punish Draling and Brown.
If any reader has a trading account then I suggest you watch sterling move lower
seems i am right.
over at Conhome.......
Tories accelerate planning for end-March election
Senior Tories including David Cameron himself now think an end-March election is likelier than not.
I'm not so sure. I don't think today's PBR will play well with voters and I can't see Brown going to see The Queen early if Labour still trails in the polls.
Nonetheless it's probably sensible for all Conservative candidates to plan for a 25th March polling day.
"We take these decisions from a position of strength" Adolf Hitler, choosing between a Bourbon Cream and a Jammy Dodger, before, eventually, deciding on both, April 30th 1945.
"We take these decisions from a position of strength". Chief Secretary of King Cnut's board of Coastal Management Advisors circa February 1028.
"We take these decisions from a position of strength". General Haig, ordering the infantry to walk towards the German guns, July 1st 1916.
Mind you not much time, thats why they delayed the PBr deliberately as parliament goes off in a weeks time, comes back for 1 month, then breaks up for recess in Feb for 2 weeks, then a writ probably issued by March 1st totally deliberate, it will be march 25th.
Leaves no time to be questioned or attacked
Christmas recess
16 December 2009 to
5 January 2010
Half Term
10 February 2010
22 February 2010
Also i notice that they have not put any recess date in for easter, unusual, which kind of proves my point.
That "position of strength line" was almost unbelievable in terms of cheek. I blogged it at the time and then actually switched off listening as I felt slightly nauseous that anyone could talk such crap and expect people to listen or in the BBC's case parrot how brave decisions were being taken.
'dishonest'?' cynical'?
this has been a lying deceitful govt right from the start. lies seep out of every pore.
It is institutionally incapable of telling the truth.
Darlings growth forecasts are utterly Alice in wonderland - as probably is his prediction of the final deficit out-turn for 09-10.
SKY is reporting that there are a mass of exemptions from the 'super tax' on bankers. So just one more lie.
I agree with sunomars. Can Darling face another budget? Just how long can Brown dodge the need to say where the cuts will fall?
The longer the waits the more chance there is for something to go wrong - for predictions of growth to unravel for jobs to go.
The only reason the wait is to bugger up the country more to hope the situation rebounds on the Tories.
Oh and that should read
"We take these decisions from a position of strength" Adolf Hitler, choosing between a Bourbon Cream and a Jammy Dodger, before, eventually, deciding shoot himself ..."
What an utterly feeble response from Osborne. Please spare me any nonsense about his having no time to devise his reply - he read a prepared statement. Loyalty to ones friends is an attractive quality but Cameron needs to drop Osborne in favour of a heavy hitter as soon as possible....
As I frequently say Mr Dale, you are far too kind to your political opponents.
Having just watched Jeff Randall on SKY I would like to know what the Welsh is for 'big fat ignorant bastard'.
"It will be interesting to see what the voters make of this PBR. I suspect they will see through it and view it as a typical bit of pre-election chicanery."
you think? personally what I saw was a lot of facts and figures being bandied about to lull the very people that labour say they are protecting into a coma before anouncing 2.5% rise on their shopping and possibly another 3%, that a single man or woman earning 21k can wave goodbye to in inflation and the predicted growth in the economy resulting in a rent and counci tax increase...put it together and we are talking approximately an 8% loss, but good news if the gambling companies decide to pass on that decrease in Bingo tax - I mean these people are their core demographic aren't they? Not the mums who get an increase on their child benefit or the pensioners!
Viva the gambling!
Pre-election chicanery it may be but I feel that it will work as, and as sunomars indicates, its to appeal to their core vote.
Having just visited my mother in Scotland, the disaffected voters that briefly flirted with the SNP are now returning mainly as a result of their (SNP's) failure to deliver, couple that with parts of Scotland (and England & Wales) that will vote Labour no matter what, you have in theory a telling advantage over the Conservatives.
Adding in the English votes and it isn't difficult to see that unless there's a huge swing, much more that a simple majority of constituencies in England, there's enough there for Labour to stay in power in Westminster.
I don't know what you're all complaining about! There's a man with the cojones to reduce Bingo Tax by 2%...
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