Re: Budget U-Turn : Thu May 31, 2012 7:21 am  

sanjunien wrote:

I refer the honourable Mintball to the answer I gave earlier...

Mercee bowcoop, Monsewer.

Re: Budget U-Turn : Thu May 31, 2012 7:28 am  

It's very easy to say things in hindsight, but I don't think anyone had a clue what a government under Margaret Thatcher would bring. They didn't widely advertise that they were going to take the neo-liberal path and dump entire communities on the scrap heap, for instance.

Which, indeed, brings us back to spin: for instance, think of how privatisation of utilities was spun to the public: 'more choice'.

Something that seemed comparatively minor at the time – the changes to Sunday trading laws – were spun as removing silly things such as being able to buy porn on a Sunday but not a Bible; not that big retail wanted to be able to open more and more, as we moved from a manufacturing base to an economy based primarily on the service sectors (including retail). Think of how the cult of home ownership was spun too.

[DaveO]

Re: Budget U-Turn : Thu May 31, 2012 9:11 am  

rover49 wrote:

Being 55, I lived through it. I found Thatchers era a damn site worse.

I am of a similar vintage and also remember living through the 3 day week with regular power cuts under Ted Heath's Conservatives government. Tory governments never been immune from incompetence.

Having lived through several Tory terms of office I would say when they are finally booted out it is down to some monumental screw ups with people saying "never again" only to forget just how bad they were after a few years. Well Cameron and Co are doing a damn fine job of reminding everyone just why the Tories were booted out with a Labour landslide in 1997.

Re: Budget U-Turn : Thu May 31, 2012 9:58 am  

DaveO wrote:

I am of a similar vintage and also remember living through the 3 day week with regular power cuts under Ted Heath's Conservatives government. Tory governments never been immune from incompetence.

Having lived through several Tory terms of office I would say when they are finally booted out it is down to some monumental screw ups with people saying "never again" only to forget just how bad they were after a few years. Well Cameron and Co are doing a damn fine job of reminding everyone just why the Tories were booted out with a Labour landslide in 1997.

Quite.
It is my belief that the electorate is largely of a negative frame of mind and tend to vote against something rather than for the alternative.
So, a government gets kicked out because people are fed up with it rather than because they approve of the other party.
This allows the "other party" to exploit this and get into office by criticising the previous lot rather than spelling out what they will really do.

Re: Budget U-Turn : Thu May 31, 2012 11:32 am  

Anyone see Newsnight last night? Paul Krugman was brilliant. Why can't we have people of hisw calibre in Briitish politics. The calm, polite way that he dealt with the idiot Tory and the vested interest venture capitalist was marvellous. No one in this country's public life has the wit to intellectuallise and express arguments to counteract the dogmatic Tory / vested interest arguments. PK for PM.

Re: Budget U-Turn : Thu May 31, 2012 11:39 am  

As predicted: Osborne drops plans for charity donation cap Trying to divert attention away from Hunt at Leveson perhaps?

As predicted: Osborne drops plans for charity donation cap Trying to divert attention away from Hunt at Leveson perhaps?

[John_D]

Re: Budget U-Turn : Thu May 31, 2012 12:26 pm  

So when do we get the u-turns on the things that really matter - 50p tax rate, rebuilding schools, closing libraries, recouping the vast quantities of money hosed on a financial system that hasn't been reformed in any way at all? I mean, I like a pasty as much as the next man, but really...

Re: Budget U-Turn : Thu May 31, 2012 12:38 pm  

John_D wrote:

So when do we get the u-turns on the things that really matter - 50p tax rate, rebuilding schools, closing libraries, recouping the vast quantities of money hosed on a financial system that hasn't been reformed in any way at all? I mean, I like a pasty as much as the next man, but really...

If you like eating your pasty hot and in your static home, you will still get shafted

Re: Budget U-Turn : Thu May 31, 2012 1:39 pm  

cod'ead wrote: As predicted: Osborne drops plans for charity donation cap Trying to divert attention away from Hunt at Leveson perhaps? I don't think Osborne getting his testicles out in front of pap cameras will save Hunt. As some others have said Hunt is so full of holes that the bullets are passing right through him. The lastest one is a text from Michal to Hunt saying when it all over we must go for coffee like in the old days.

cod'ead wrote: As predicted: Osborne drops plans for charity donation cap Trying to divert attention away from Hunt at Leveson perhaps? I don't think Osborne getting his testicles out in front of pap cameras will save Hunt. As some others have said Hunt is so full of holes that the bullets are passing right through him. The lastest one is a text from Michal to Hunt saying when it all over we must go for coffee like in the old days.

[John_D]

Re: Budget U-Turn : Thu May 31, 2012 2:13 pm  

rover49 wrote:

If you like eating your pasty hot and in your static home, you will still get shafted

What if I eat a cold pasty in a hot static caravan? Is that deductible against my charitable giving or not?