On budget day I would normally spend all morning reading all the media speculation and gossip, waiting nervously for the speech to start. I would be poring over the minutiae of Darling’s penultimate budget speech as he delivered it, perhaps sneakily watching it live at my desk with the occasional emergency mouse-scramble to mute and minimise when the boss came in to check on my productivity. When the speech finally ended I would mostly be reading up on the “instant reaction” reports on the BBC and other sites. I would await Peston’s and Robinson’s blog first thoughts.
This year, as the economy slides back towards the 1970s, as unemployment soars, the economy shrinks, money becomes tighter and the Chancellor’s room for manoeuvre becomes smaller I cannot bring myself to give a monkey’s.
Here is the reality: taxes have to go up, spending has to come down, the economy will hurt for several years to come, there are no easy fixes. Whether you call cuts TORY CUTS! or LABOUR EFFICIENCY SAVINGS! the fact is that we have – as a society – lived it up too much for too long. There were millions employed in unsustainable industries and non-jobs, the splurge of public cash has not made our economy or state services more efficient and productive. The perceived wealth of the last decade was largely borrowed from overseas rather than earned at home. No matter what Daling says or has said (I don’t even know if he’s started or finished) we – as a country – have to cut back and re-group. Robbing Peter to salve Paul or borrowing from Jeannette to keep on Susanne only soothes the symptoms rather than curing the disease.
Basically we have to grin and bear it, make do and mend, get over it.
taxes have to go up, spending has to come down, the economy will hurt for several years to come, there are no easy fixes.
Add in enough waffle, spin and misleading comparisons to pad that out to 45 minutes and yes, that’s pretty well Darling’s speech.
You didn’t miss much.
“…I cannot bring myself to give a monkey’s.”
Me neither.
We knew we had to tighten our belts but instead of a stringent budget we had disaster. What we needed was a tough parent patiently guiding us out of the mire. What we got was a bunch of teenagers barely past puberty pissing our country up the wall.
did I hear you say basically we have to bend over ? no ? well you almost did
They don’t like it up ‘em you know.
Blue.
In my mum’s house in the 70’s if my brothers and sisters caused wear to our shoes, used the telephone, broke anything, damage or dirtied our clothes, we caused my single parent mum untold anguish. There was no money to replace anything.We had food.. those crap 70’s clothes and a crap car. We were living like our grand parents, but without the quality of items. Cheap MFI wardrobes, that had to last as long as an antique heavy pine.
Cars that didn’t start, patched knee school trousers etc
When I started work in the 80’s I paid 33% tax on 90% of measly £2,500 salary. I can’t remember what NI was. guess about 6%. That was the legacy of the bust 70’s.
Let us hope the poverty of austerity is not too long lasting over the next few years.
Patently – make me Chancellor when you are PM!
Julia – great minds…
P – yes now I have watched the analysis all I can think (politely) is “how irresponsible”.
ND/P – that’s for that image…
BQ – I am a bit younger than you by the sound of it. We had that austerity as well in our house. It was pretty galling for us youngsters because some of the kids at school were very rich indeed.
“The perceived wealth of the last decade was largely borrowed from overseas rather than earned at home.”
Spot on – built on a mountain of government, corporate and personal debt. Troube is, people forget the basic law of market economics – supply and demand. We’re paying ourselves too much in a global market place. When there are 6 billion people on this planet who are willing to do the same job as you for a tenth of the pay, don’t be surprised when you either no longer have a job or are earning a damn sight less. In a globalised world we can not continue to pay ourselves £30,000 a year for doing something that someone in India will willingly do just as well for £3000 a year. The service industry? The service industry relies on having a producer industry to serve (and thus pay for the service) – it is a supporting industry to manufacturing, not a bloody substitute for it! Comparative advantage? Relies on having something that gives you an advantage – name it.
No nation can remain a consumer nation for long and maintain its living standards. The debt grows and grows until, finally, the credit bubble bursts and the depression strikes. Depression ALWAYS follows globalisation – as it did in the late 19th century and again in the 1930’s (the only two previous attempts at “globalisation”). Yep – on both occasions it also produced a prolonged period of boom – but now as then, that boom was built on debt.
Does this budget address the problems – nope. Would the Tories address the problems – nope – they haven’t got a clue.
Troubled times ahead.
What Stan said.
Well said that man.