Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Official Treasury analysis: Labour would borrow £166bn more in the next parliament

Over the last few days, Ed Balls has been trying to claim that Labour ‘will not duck the hard choices ahead’. They said they were serious about the economy.

But now we know that isn’t true.

Analysis by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has shown that his plans would allow Labour to borrow and spend billions more.

The front page of yesterday’s Times put the cost of Labour’s secret spending spree at an extra £25bn a year.

And today, official Treasury numbers have shown the full impact of Labour’s plans: a borrowing bombshell adding an additional £166bn to the country’s debt in just one parliament.

pensions rather than benefits

Today Labour confirmed that they would rather cut pensions than benefits.

Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary, said Labour would include the Basic State Pension in their cap on ‘social security spending’.

In other words, Labour would choose to cut the pensions of those who have worked hard and done the right thing all their lives, rather than cut welfare benefits.

Labour have no clear plan to fix the welfare system, end the something for nothing culture and control spending on benefits. It’s the same old welfare party.

Today’s news follows last week’s announcement that UKIP would oppose the triple lock on pensions – putting pensioners’ livelihoods at risk.

But the Conservatives are on the side of Britain’s pensioners.

Since 2010, we’ve increased the Basic State Pension by £650.

What’s more, we’re capping benefits to reward work – to ensure that no out-of-work household can receive more than the average family earns in work.

While the Conservatives’ long-term plan helps pensioners, Labour’s policy hurts them.

George Osborne adviser to ‘independent’ think tank which claims no middle class squeeze
06
Sunday
Apr 2014

Posted by Tom Pride in hopeless naivety
Tagseconomy, open government, Osborne
(not satire – it’s the UK today)

A supposedly independent think tank called the Social Market Foundation has produced a report which is all over the press at the moment claiming the supposedly squeezed middle class does not exist and in fact most middle income households have done better during the recession.

But who exactly are the Social Market Foundation?

Well, a quick check shows that some of the Social Market Foundation’s corporate donors include Barclays Bank, BP, BUPA, the CBI, Shell and the Corporation of London amongst many more.

The Social Market Foundation was also apparently Tory Prime Minster John Major’s “favourite” think tank.

Oh ….. and George Osborne is on the Social Market Foundation’s policy advisory board.

Independent? Really?

I have just watched "Off Their Rockers" on ITV.

Could not help thinking of Manuel and some of the crew on Moneyam.


Hilarious.

Apolitical and one of the funniest programmes I have seen for a long time.

Nice to see the acceptance by participants. Don't know how much filming was cut.

Sometimes, being old is fun!!!

Which one was you Fred ? Turned it over half way through before I fell asleep.

When it comes down to the nitty, the only one of the big three who doesent speak with a "huge" forked tongue is Nick when it comes to €uropa.


Cameroon is Lying.

Millibandus is saying nowt, which is as good as lying.

Cleggy is the only one willing to stand up and state his case.


It deserves some respect imo.

Cameron is the only one telling the truth. Clegg is a wimp, Miliband is pretending that there might he a referendum under special circumstances, Farage can't deliver anything. Cameron is saying that there will definitely be a referendum after discussion about changes.

Miliband is pro-European and would be reluctant to exit from EU unless the price was too high.

That is what he has suggested.

Common sense.

Haystack.

Farage is going to decimate your party (and mine) in the €uro elections, you cannot keep dismissing peoples concerns as if they have no import.

He will do very well in the EU elections because it is proportional voting. It won't help him in the general election. I am not fussed what happens in the EU elections.

haven't you lot got anything else to ramble on about?

Yep looks like its going to be one hell of a sh-te start to the week on the market.

Batten down the hatches.

just wondering how many stocks IG Index will put on PHONE ONLY orders.

not many i should think .... it usually only applies when their specific book is overloaded in none direction
fingers x'ed that this is just a very short and sharp blip

Techs are getting hit bar my weekend chart one. just have a look cyners, up 18% from the off.

leaving on some travels later this morning so a bit short of time especially as have to complete a tender before i go ..... missing you already :-)

This will cheer you up...........

McVey and her underground TAX
Uncategorized April 6, 2014

How many times dear reader have you heard Esther McVey say the bedroom tax is NOT A TAX. TAX IS WHAT YOU PAY ON INCOME IT IS NOT A TAX IT IS A SPARE ROOM SUBSIDY. Yes that would be the same McVey in whose constituency we find that 94% of all new HB claims since the election have come from private tenants who get £3.2m more each year in LHA than social tenants would get in HB (Now that is what a real subsidy is!)

ITISNOTATAXITISNOTATAXITISNOTATAXITISNOTATAXITISNOTATAXITISNOTATAX – ok you get the picture.

In fact you should really get the picture below!!

You may well know that McVey is the MP for Wirral West which is separated from Liverpool by two road tunnels for which you have to pay a toll. The tunnel toll is supposedly going up again and so today at a protest we see McVey holding up a banner and posing for a photograph.

What do you think it says on her banner?

Yes it does say “Axe the Tunnel TAX “

You could have chosen to hold up a banner saying “Say No to Tunnel Tolls” and as you can see there are SEVEN such banners to hold up and pose for the picture; yet you, the very media savvy Esther McVey chose to hold up one of just two banners calling this a TAX!

Is the gentleman behind you is looking at your other face? Poor chap!

Feel quite strongly about this, to the point I felt sufficiently galvanised to email the PM's office re misappropriation of public funds, ie, theft. I'm pretty sick of the 'noses in the expenses trough, syndrome.