We Must Pay Off Debt And Cuts Are On The Way, Says Chancellor

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/poli...icle6822904.ece

Alistair Darling has promised to outline specific spending cuts this autumn in a move that dramatically recasts Labour’s political strategy.

In an interview with The Times, the Chancellor said that, as the economic crisis recedes, ministers must “level†with voters about what needs to be done to restore Britain’s public finances. He admitted that the burden of paying off government debt will be shared by “much tighter public spending†and tax revenue.

He acknowledged that Labour must declare which areas would be cut and which spared after the next election – and challenged David Cameron’s Conservatives to do the same.

In remarks that make it clear that Mr Darling has won a key battle over Labour’s political direction, he said: “You don’t fight the next election the way you fought the 2005 and the 2001 and the 1997 election, because the world has moved on.â€

The Times understands that Gordon Brown has accepted the need to recast his favoured “Labour investment versus Tory cuts†strategy as voters are faced with evidence that spending must fall whichever party wins the next election. Within days, the Prime Minister is expected to acknowledge publicly for the first time that Labour must ditch some spending programmes.

Mr Darling, who studiously avoided using the word “cutsâ€, which has become toxic for the Labour Government, said no final decisions have been taken about which programmes will be affected but conceded that returning stability means he can no longer defer outlining Labour’s spending plans.

“As there is less uncertainty you can decide what your priorities are,†he said. “This doesn’t mean you are going into some sort of Dark Age but we will have to decide, given what’s happened to the economy, how much we think we can afford to spend on services, how much we should be devoting to making sure we recover our fiscal position. That’s a judgment that I’m going to have to make at the Pre-Budget Report in the autumn.â€

The International Monetary Fund endorsed yesterday Mr Darling’s forecast that Britain’s economy would start growing at the turn of the year but the Chancellor is well aware that the upturn will bring political pressure over the national debt.

He said: “Once you start getting into recovery, then that is the time when you have to say ‘Now we need to start doing something about the deficit’. When you look at the burden of where the deficit reduction comes from, it is tax, yes, but it is also having much tighter public spending.â€

So they need to be more honest with the voters yet Darling yesterday insisted the OECD was wrong about it's projections!!

It will be quite interesting to see how honest the Labour liars will be over the cuts needed.

Clearly with that sort of talk people are going to become even more cautious in spending.

It's going to be the spendless recovery.

[CokeSnortingTory]

Oh well, at least Darling has some sort of connection with reality, fwiw.

[Abstra]

He might be mentally ill you know. They say bazarre things like this and they really believe it. Some even tell thier GP's they are the next Prime Minister.

[babesagainstmachines]

This is AD's leadership bid starting. Very John Major.

[Si1]

Oh well, at least Darling has some sort of connection with reality, fwiw.

I don't believe Darling's a bad bloke, but doubt he is PM-talent-level.

[Ash4781]

But Brown says

"It is clear in my view that too early a withdrawal of vital support could undermine the tentative signs of recovery we are now seeing and lead to a further downward lurch in business and consumer confidence, reducing growth and employment and worsening governments' debt problems over the longer term...

"The stakes are simply too high to get these judgments wrong, so to decide now that it is time to start withdrawing or reversing the exceptional measures we have taken would, in my judgment, be a serious mistake.

"On the contrary, with more than half of the 5 trillion fiscal expansion yet to start, I believe that the prudent course is for G20 countries to deliver those fiscal plans and the stimulus packages that have been put in place and make sure they are implemented in full both this year and next."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/polit...rs-1782228.html

He's right though the UK does need other countries to complete their stimulus packages because the UK doesn't really have one!

VAT from 17.5% to 15% was the main 'stimulus', and doesn't it get reversed at the end of the year ?

Maybe the UK can get their spending cuts in early replaced by the foreign stimulus (export orders?)

[Guest absolutezero]

What do we think they'll cut?

ID cards?

[Fortunate Son]

What do we think they'll cut?

ID cards?

crossrail

[CokeSnortingTory]

What do we think they'll cut?

ID cards?

No. They love ID cards more than life itself.

I reckon further education will be in the firing line.

[Laura]

We Must Pay Off Debt

"We"?

What the hell is this to do with me?

All my life I have heard this two-letter word spoken & seldom has it meant anything other than being arm-twisted into joining in with another's self-inflicted plight.

Edited September 5, 2009 by Laura

[winkie]

"We"?

What the hell is this to do with me?

All my life I have heard this two-letter word spoken & seldom has it meant anything other than being arm-twisted into joining in with another's self-inflicted plight.

Exactly, it has taken a lot of motivation hard work and action to pay off my own debt...I don't see why I should pay off the reckless and those with irresponsibility debt, they had the cake, ate it and chose to eat even more.

[Caramba]

We now have Darling contradicting Brown saying we need to make cuts.

We have Straw contradicting Brown on Libya by saying it was for economic and oil reasons that they agreed the prisoner transfer.

Interesting, is this part of a move against Brown?

[spivT]

Right, so as we've known for some time, this isn't going to be an election fought on labour spending vs tory cuts, but differentiation between where the two parties will implement 'tighter spending' and tax rises.

Have the tories made any firm commitment to abolish stamp duty ? If so, they'll need to revisit that if they are to outline where they will generate increased tax revenues. We know they'll probably stick to that inheritance tax pledge they made.

fwiw, i think this is a direction labour will have been forced into kicking and screaming. No way do they want to make any sort of admissions about tax rises and tightening of spending beyond the easy stuff of getting more money via the offshore tax stuff.

Whether they need to actually pursue this tactic is debatable. What isn't up for debate is whether it will make any difference. They are toast at the next GE, the only question is one of how badly they lose.

btw, this talk of reducing the deficit is optimistic. while recovery would naturally reduce the size of the deficit, they will be forced to run a deficit for far longer if recovery isn't as strong as they'd hope. The govt. sector crutch will be there for a while.

Edited September 5, 2009 by spivtastic

[spivT]

But Brown says

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/polit...rs-1782228.html

He's right though the UK does need other countries to complete their stimulus packages because the UK doesn't really have one!

VAT from 17.5% to 15% was the main 'stimulus', and doesn't it get reversed at the end of the year ?

Maybe the UK can get their spending cuts in early replaced by the foreign stimulus (export orders?)

i'm pretty sure they also brought forward some spending projects, that would also have counted as stimlus. There's also increased welfare payments i think plus stuff like cash for clunkers for auto sector specifically.

[crash2006]

No. They love ID cards more than life itself.

I reckon further education will be in the firing line.

What can you cut for FE, adult HE has been cut so much that there isnt that many adult HE classes about.

[Kurt Barlow]

Talking to my Uncle last night. He is a Director at a London Local Authority. The have been told to expect 15-20% cuts in revenue support from central Govt next year.

[Bloo Loo]

cuts=wealth

[oracle]

We now have Darling contradicting Brown saying we need to make cuts.

We have Straw contradicting Brown on Libya by saying it was for economic and oil reasons that they agreed the prisoner transfer.

Interesting, is this part of a move against Brown?

No,I think there are a few people in NuLabb that are seriously rattled that their quasi-commie pet project is about to get completely blown out of the water.

These guys have had the best part of a decade to come up with some honest,decent policies for the benefit of the indigenous brit,and they've been just kept shafting...they have overcooked it and they know it.Now they are employing damage-limitation tactics.

when this blows up there are literally going to be MP's bodies swinging from lampposts.The quasi-elect and quangoes are going to be jeopardised in such fashion also.

...we have a game of good-cop,bad-cop going on....too little too late.

joe public just ain't buying it any more....bullying and bribery are spent forces..

even the random terror attack is becoming rather transparent.

once upon a time this was a fair and just country,until the banking mafia(and I also include the jesuits in this) decided to abuse the workforce.

As the media like to tell us,you reap what you sow.

.........and that goes DOUBLE for the priesthoods involved in incitement of the public to stampede for whatever asset class they have pumped.

[interestrateripoff]

Talking to my Uncle last night. He is a Director at a London Local Authority. The have been told to expect 15-20% cuts in revenue support from central Govt next year.

Savage.

The boom is well and truly over, it will be interesting to see how the geniuses that have managed during a boom cope with have to manage in a recession.

It's a whole new ball game and many are going to have to adapt quickly.

[Bloo Loo]

Talking to my Uncle last night. He is a Director at a London Local Authority. The have been told to expect 15-20% cuts in revenue support from central Govt next year.

no problem, they can raise council tax to compensate...and car parks, and other services.....

[juvenal]

. We know they'll probably stick to that inheritance tax pledge they made.

This could be a central election issue. If Cameron reiterates a commitment to the promised £1m threshold, the poorer majority will really kick off. If he reneges, his Middle England support will shout 'betrayal'.

Will he stick to it?

NB: A single man or woman dying worth 1m (and with no avoidance measures in place) is currently worth £270K to the Treasury in Inheritance Tax

Edited September 5, 2009 by juvenal

[Laura]

Cuts are not necessary.

This is the next-to-final solution

An NCP think tank has suggested the govt. impose taxes on those with driveways, garages & free street parking as they consider others who have to pay to park on their own streets are at present at a financial disadvantage.

Yes I know it deserves a thread of its own, but I can't be ars ......... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[nobody777]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/poli...icle6822904.ece

So they need to be more honest with the voters yet Darling yesterday insisted the OECD was wrong about it's projections!!

It will be quite interesting to see how honest the Labour liars will be over the cuts needed.

Clearly with that sort of talk people are going to become even more cautious in spending.

It's going to be the spendless recovery.

In the business world the rear view mirror is clearer than the windshield Warren Buffet

Labour or Liebour fo me lied over the Lisbon Treaty lie to me and I will never trust you again

British jobs for British workers Gordon Brown

Fact British jobs for European workers on the ground

labour have a past solid track record of spend spend spend and borrow and tax called redistribution

labour may say they will cut this or that no way will they follow through looking in the rear view mirror but they have a solid track record of stealf tax rises be certain they will follow through on these pledges and even go into direct taxes income tax up to 25 or 30% NI up vat up to 20 or more

[better-than-expected]

It always makes me laugh when u see the ads on the telly for further/adult education when in fact there is none.The adult community college near me has been sold off for development. The facts are that If you are claiming unemployment benefit you can do 12 hours a week of education but more than that and you are considered to be unavailable for work so your benefits are stopped. However, if you want to sit about all day and do nothing to improve your future prospects then you will be un-hassled by the staff at JC+.

[234SALE]

Strange how history repeats itself.. 100 years ago Supertax introduced / Surtax

In 1929, Supertax (which had been introduced in the Finance Act 1909 at the rate of 6 old pence in the pound (2.5%) on incomes over 5000 per year) was renamed Sur-tax. By 1934, the rate was variable from 1 shilling to 7 shillings and sixpence in the pound (5% to 37.5%).

http://richard-wilson.blogspot.com/2009/03...urtax-bill.html

As you may have already read a new bill sets a 90% surtax on those who earn more than $250,000 a received a bonus from a firm which took in over $5B in federal aide. Here are some quotes from Dealbreaker, Fintag and Obama on the issue.

(90% Tax on incomes above 150K a year, here we come)