Isn't it about time we started asking why the date of the budget hasn't been set? If there is a May 6th election, the last date for the budget would surely be March 24th. The week after is Easter and the week after that is the time the election would have to be called. It is normal practice to give a month's notice of the budget. It's difficult to see how that will happen this year.
Last year the budget date of April 22 was announced on 12 February. (see HERE)
In 2008 the budget date of March 12 was announced on 1 February. (see HERE)
What is Alistair Darling afraid of? Could it be that he will announce that the budget will be held after the election? If so, that would tell us all we need to know about what is likely to be in it.
I called the Treasury Press Office and was told that an announcement would be made "shortly". Whatever that means.
Oh, go on. Announce that it'll be after the election.
ReplyDeleteAfter the idiocy of the Tory campaign so far, it'll provide a welcome boost, showing that Darling and Brown can't even agree on the tractor statistics to pretend to the electorate with.
Shouldn't HM Opposition be asking?
ReplyDeleteIain, you seem to forget we're dealing with Neo-Labour. I'm sure we've plenty of time for unforeseen circumstances to emerge and we might not even have an election, let alone a budget, as it wouldn't be "the right thing to do".
ReplyDeleteIt seems that new political campaigning is not to say what good you will do for the country, but how bad everyone else will be for the country.
ReplyDeleteThe Tories and Labour seem to be setting up a lot of websites and investing in third parties to allow attacks on anyone who may stand a chance of taking any of their votes.
As for the budget, it is a shame it is being used as a political football, we all know labour will make promises they can't keep if they do, do the budget. They will also blame the tories if they stop any of the ideas labour put forward, saying "tories take away labour give."
It is punch and judy politics which only the British public suffer. Get rid of the lot of them and start again.
The date of the budget would help us work out when the election date will be by ruling out various other possibilities because Parliament needs to be sitting - I presume that may be part of the reason.
ReplyDeleteDissolution for 8th April election would need to be this Thursday, so the 'announcement shortly' maybe after just then.
Keeping the fiscal scissors sheathed till after polling day, eh?
ReplyDeleteThe Boiling Frog has hit the nail on the head. Budget Day will help fix election day so it is being kept under wraps along with the dates of the Easter Recess, as I mentioned here last week.
ReplyDeletehttp://theorangepartyblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/smoking-election-date-can-make-brown.html
Fitch announcement today was very negative as well as the Trade figures. his strategy of allowing the pound to find export markets is wrong, the EU is struggling and never buy British, so we are forced out of world markets.
ReplyDeleteFitch will downgrade us as growth targets must be slashed. Everyone talks about double dip recession. we are still in recession the +0.3 was accounting trick.
Brown will put off teh Budget untiol after the election on teh grounds of market turmoil. Yoiu ave seen ntg yet sterling is going to get well and truly whacked
Also Fitch and Moody will make a statement on the UK budget after it has been made, it will give them the opportunity to say they put the country on negative watch for possible downgrade of AAA status. This would cause maniac brown to have a fit, it might wake up the electorate, so no budget.
ReplyDeleteLabour do not want a budget before an election so they will wriggle every way they can to avoid having to show the electorate how bad things are.
ReplyDeleteWhy haven't the opposition been calling for the date? Could it be because they are clueless?
Darling hasn't got the budget back from no 10 yet.
ReplyDeleteOnce he's got it and read it and had a very long lie down in a dark room, a few tumblers of whiskey and a change of underwear, then he will announce the budget.
"A Future F***ed For All"
Sir George Young has been asking Mrs Dromey at business questions every week for the last couple of months. Funny old thing he gets a different version of the answer every week.
ReplyDeleteyou are wrong. The budget has to be held in march. There is some obscure law which states this. Was mentioned on radio 4 recently.
ReplyDeleteYou can bet your life, it will be held on the last possible legal date which it can be held (unless the election is called first!).
Obviously Brown can't make up his mind again - about when to hold the Budget and when to hold the election.
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to prize his fingers from the doorframe of No. 10 in the end...
Nuliebor are frit and ditherer brown's disability has affected them all. If he continues with his dithering then forget about a May election. He is the Duke of York's descendant, remember.
ReplyDeleteHopefully a constitutional expert will put me right, but doesn't a budget have to be held before the end of the tax year, so the government has the authority to continue levying taxes on us?
ReplyDeleteTwo options.
ReplyDelete1. A (Mc)Fall out between Darling and Brown
2. NeueArbeit are waiting for the Pound to tank, the EU to step in, declare the UK "under administration" and then permanently suspend those pesky "national" elections and await a new set of Regional ones. The Quislings will be rewarded with cosy sinecures and posts of Gauleiter.
A BBC reporter told me that they have been told 24th March.
ReplyDeleteI've said here and elsewhere many times, and for the past twelve months, that Brown will hang on to the last possible second to try and gain better economic news.
ReplyDeleteedf:
ReplyDelete"Why is there a Budget every year? Because certain taxes, such as income tax, are annual taxes (not permanent), so they must be renewed each year."
from http://www.parliament.uk/faq/budget.cfm
24th indeed confirmed apparently.
ReplyDeleteSo what's the next right wing conspiracy theory going to be?