Cuts

[Wij]

What's it gonna be ? Ozzy will be on in 10...

The Daily Mash - GORDON BROWN TO HAVE A NICE, LAZY DAY

 

[Chilly]

watching it, should be interesting.

 

[FuzzyLogic]

Looked like a fucking pantomime in the house for the last half hour.

Working at an FE college meself and have little hope for keeping me job for long after these cuts, any ideas for a new career path? Heh.

 

[Tuthmes]

Looked like a fucking pantomime in the house for the last half hour.

Working at an FE college meself and have little hope for keeping me job for long after these cuts, any ideas for a new career path? Heh.

Go into politics?

 

[Wij]

Wage war on the Mitanni ?

 

[Furr]

Well, it's what we all expected really, the state is being rolled (off a cliff) back, which is a good thing in my opinion, obviously there is a massive gamble as to whether the private sector can generate the growth to compensate, there will have to be some massive changes to provide a much better environment for private enterprise, low taxes, weaker pound, much less red tape would be a start, but with the currency markets in flux due to the renminbi / dollar, government vs currency trader war that is not a certain.

Cross our fingers hey! Who's have thunk it, we've got a plan that's more radical than what Thatcher did.

 

[DaGaffer]

Well, it's what we all expected really, the state is being rolled (off a cliff) back, which is a good thing in my opinion, obviously there is a massive gamble as to whether the private sector can generate the growth to compensate, there will have to be some massive changes to provide a much better environment for private enterprise, low taxes, weaker pound, much less red tape would be a start, but with the currency markets in flux due to the renminbi / dollar, government vs currency trader war that is not a certain.

Cross our fingers hey! Who's have thunk it, we've got a plan that's more radical than what Thatcher did.

That's all very well but Britain structurally can't become some low-regulation entrepreneur's dream because its too embedded into the EU, which simply won't allow it.

Much as I hate to say it, there's no way on Earth the private sector is going to step in to offset the loss of public sector jobs; certainly not in the short-term because no-one can borrow any money to invest. The only plus side out of all this for me is house prices and rents are going to start rising in the south-east again because every poor bugger north of Watford is going to have to move south to find a job.

I struggle with this because I do think Labour expanded the public sector far too much and as much to protect votes in Labour areas as anything else, but a lot of the individual cuts are ill-conceived. I also think Cameron has completely fucked up the defence cuts (we've kept Tornado and killed Harrier, because those deep-interdiction bombers designed to fight the Soviet Union are soooo useful); but then every government for the last 70 years, tory or labour has managed to do that.

 

[dysfunction]

They are going to be reducing Corp Tax by 1% a year till it gets to 24%...

I do think they are just slashing costs everywhere just because they can with no real regard for the consequences...

 

[Chilly]

I'd have put the 40p tax rate to 45p TBH. Probably would have paid for everything. I do pay it, btw, so I'm not speaking as a NIMBY. I can quite easily afford 5% more tax a year, and so could most people paying a significant amount of their tax in the 40p band (remember even if you earn 50k you only pay 40p on the last 4-5k or so of that, the rest is 25p or whatever it is).

 

[ECA]

Meh, was have 6 million+ public sector workers, imo that's a pretty horrendous number.
~25million taxpayers, so 19m people paying for 6m jobs.

 

[Raven]

3 million* of them just exist to keep the other 3 million* in a job.

*may not be exact figures

 

[DaGaffer]

Meh, was have 6 million+ public sector workers, imo that's a pretty horrendous number.
~25million taxpayers, so 19m people paying for 6m jobs.

Not quite because those 6M pay taxes as well. I agree 6M is too high but cutting the number willy-nilly isn't as simple as that.

Great little Flash tool on the Guardian that allows you to play Chancellor and do your own cuts by department/project. I saved 5bn more than Osbourne and didn't cut Health or Education to do it. Of course Scotland and Wales had to go...

 

[Wij]

Of course Scotland and Wales had to go...

Could we sell them as homely sex-slaves to Chinese businessmen ?

 

[Gumbo]

We should send all Welsh males between the ages of 14 and 75 to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban whilst singing Men of Harlech. That'll teach 'em.

 

[DaGaffer]

Could we sell them as homely sex-slaves to Chinese businessmen ?

Well, I don't think the cuts were actually intended to improve the quality of life of the Scots, but if that's an unintended benefit so be it. Sound policies for a Better Britain.

We should send all Welsh males between the ages of 14 and 75 to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban whilst singing Men of Harlech. That'll teach 'em.

Who, the Welsh, or the Taliban?

 

[Gumbo]

I was being deliberately ambiguous

 

[Sparx]

Funny how last time i checked Scotlands budget was still in the black unlike England.

Granted we were hoarding it for a massive curry but thats besides the point, oh and to pay for such a beautiful building

 

[Tom]

Scotland's budget funded by a large subsidy from England, you mean?

 

[Sparx]

i was waiting for that hehe

 

[DaGaffer]

Funny how last time i checked Scotlands budget was still in the black unlike England.

Granted we were hoarding it for a massive curry but thats besides the point, oh and to pay for such a beautiful building

Over 80% of the 59 billion "devolved spending" for Scotland, Wales and NI comes from England, around 49 billion (and that doesn't include another few billion for the Scottish Office, Northern Ireland Office etc). Size of the cuts needed? 49 billion....