Is the country about to be wrecked?
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Even more wrecked? 
anyone watch the panorama show about the banks, the other night?
that was an eye opener as to why we're in the shite right now.
that was an eye opener as to why we're in the shite right now.
I'm going to walk around with ear plugs in for the next five years, pity all these so called advisers on the economy didn't speak up before the election, now they're all crawling out of the woodwork saying it could possibly make the situation an whole lot worse. If I hear Cameron saying the words Benefit Scroungers once more I swear I'll go and scratch his new kitchen that Sam Cam is demanding wanting in No10, he want's to try getting his ar*se up here and finding a bloody job.
vince cable was a lone voice a few years back telling anyone who would listen, which was none of them, that it was all going to go horribly wrong. there are 3 million people claiming long term out of work benefits, 6 million people working for the state, it's madness, i tell you , madness, we're all doomed...
He's lying already. Labour's plan had been audited and passed as credible.
Looks like peoples jobs will be cut in the public sector which affects us all, I know we need cuts depending were they are made looks like there will be more people on benifits not less .. we will see
20% VAT! There goes the recovery!
Chuck everyone on the dole then moan there are too many people on the dole. I love Gideon's logic 
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gideon has no logic, along with his lack of humanity and ability to live and notice what the real world is about
Lack of humanity, I'm not even sure he's human 
I#m not there.
Have they really put VAT up to 20%?
Have they really put VAT up to 20%?
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Have they really put VAT up to 20%
Yes 
Thanks! I had better try to find the Beeb website. 
Danny Alexander (pratt) says that the alternative to the VAT rise was to cut departmental budgets by 14%. No, you barstool, it was to increase the higher rates of Income Tax, but the Tories would never do that!
bet the Lib Dems are chuffed, they fought the election on VAT 
Owt to be in power, makes you wonder why vote on a parties commitments when they get a whiff of power they go flying out the window.
Owt to be in power, makes you wonder why vote on a parties commitments when they get a whiff of power they go flying out the window.
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nick clegg was squirming when harriet harmen reminded him of his parties policies
Squirming isnt good enough, there should be a system in place where by 'false advertisement' during an election is illegal so politicians who make claims and dont back them up can be held accountable!
This is the main points in today's budget which I have taken from one of the accountancy websites:
âĒ Calling it an âunavoidable Budgetâ, George Osborne says Budget details will not be buried in the book.
âĒ Everyone will have to contribute to the recovery, but everyone will also share in the eventual prosperity.
âĒ Estimated growth in the UK economy should hit 1.2% this year, 2.3% next year, 2.8% in 2012, 2.9% in 2013 and 2.7% in both 2014 and 2015.
âĒ CPI rates will be 2.7% at the end of the year before returning to target âin the medium termâ, which remains at 2%.
âĒ The UKâs borrowing will fall to 1.1% of GDP within five years.
âĒ Public sector net debt to fall to 67% of GDP by 2015/2016, compared to increases proposed by the previous government.
âĒ Unemployment to peak at 8.1% this year before falling back to 6.15 by 2015.
âĒ Most of the deficit reduction will come from spending cuts. 77% of the reduction will come from savings, while 23% will come from tax rises.
âĒ George Osborne says the structural deficit will be plugged by 2015/16 and is set to be cleared one year early.
âĒ The Civil list will be subject to the same audit by the National Audit Office and will be frozen at ÂĢ7.9m annually.
âĒ An extra ÂĢ17bn in savings in public services has been found, equivalent to a 25% across the board cut. Final details will be in the spending review released on 20 October.
âĒ Public sector pay will be frozen for two years, but the 1.7m people earning up to ÂĢ21,000 will receive a pay rise of ÂĢ250 a year.
âĒ The small companies rate will be cut to 20%.
âĒ Housing Benefit to be reduced by ÂĢ1.8bn by the end of Parliament.
âĒ Corporation tax will fall to 24% by 2014, dropping 1% a year.
âĒ Tax relief for the video games industry has been repealed.
âĒ Plans to increase broadband access across the country will be funded by the private sector and not through a broadband levy
âĒ The threshold for employers National Insurance Contributions will be increased.
âĒ Employers outside of London and the South East will be exempt from National Insurance Contributions for the first ÂĢ5,000 up to ten employees.
âĒ About ÂĢ2bn will be raised via a new banking levy charged to large banks.
âĒ The standard rate of VAT will rise to 20% from 17.5% on 4 January 2011, bringing in ÂĢ13bn a year of extra revenue.
âĒ The increase in cider duty will be reversed at the end of the month
âĒ Duties on alcohol, tobacco and petrol will remain the same.
âĒ There will be a review of oil prices in time for the next Budget aimed at stabilising pump prices. A further announcement on aviation tax by the next Budget is also expected to change a tax structure which charges each passenger to a per flight tax.
âĒ Personal tax allowance to rise to ÂĢ7,475 in April, making 23 million taxpayers an extra ÂĢ170 a year better off and taking nearly a million people out of income tax.
âĒ Capital Gains Tax stays at 18% for standard rate taxpayers but from midnight, those paying the higher rate will see CGT rise to 28%
âĒ The chancellor has announced that while the CGT rate for entrepreneursâ relief will remain at 10%, the limit is to increase from ÂĢ2m to ÂĢ5m.
âĒ Capital allowances are cut to mitigate more a generous corporation tax regime.
âĒ Allowances for plant and machinery operations are reduced from 20%-18% and from 10%-8% for longer lived assets.
âĒ Pensions will be re-linked to earnings, the state pension will increase in line with the consumer price index or 2.5% whichever is greater.
The above doesn't cover the proposed changes to benefits and these will be of importance to many - this is taken from the BBC coverage:
Child benefit will be frozen for the next three years.
Tax credits will be reduced for families earning over ÂĢ40,000 next year.
Low income families will get more Child Tax Credit - the amount per child will rise by ÂĢ150 above the rate of inflation next year.
New maximum limit of ÂĢ400 a week will be applied to Housing Benefit, to save ÂĢ1.8bn a year by the end of the Parliament.
Health in pregnancy grant to be abolished from April 2011, the Sure Start maternity grant will be restricted to the first child.
Lone parents will be expected to look for work when their youngest child goes to school.
From 2011 - except for the state pension and pension credit - benefits, tax credits and public service pensions will rise in line with the Consumer Price Index, rather than the, generally higher, Retail Price Index, saving over ÂĢ6 billion a year by the end of the Parliament.
The government will introduce a medical assessment for Disability Living Allowance from 2013 for new and existing claimants.
The welfare shake-up will save ÂĢ11bn by 2014/15.
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âĒ The standard rate of VAT will rise to 20% from 17.5% on 4 January 2011, bringing in ÂĢ13bn a year of extra revenue.
This should be interesting to see....when they put VAT down to 15%, some shops took the extra off at the til, some didn't...River Island definitely didn't....you can bet they'll be charging the higher rate as soon as they can...surely they should get in trouble for not passing the extra 2.5% on to the consumer....????
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The government will introduce a medical assessment for Disability Living Allowance from 2013 for new and existing claimants
how does that work then for those with mental 'invisible' disabilities like autism? 
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how does that work then for those with mental 'invisible' disabilities like autism?
Or variable conditions like MS, ME/CFS or other chronic pain conditions.It'll be a shambles just like the ESA ones are, terminally ill cancer patients being assessed as fit for work and dying weeks later
This is a link to what I assume are the existing rules for when a disability living allowance medical examination is required.
It does say that a medical examination is very unlikely to be required where it is reasonable to expect life expectancy is less than 6 months.
It does say that a medical examination is very unlikely to be required where it is reasonable to expect life expectancy is less than 6 months.
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New maximum limit of ÂĢ400 a week will be applied to Housing Benefit
still a bit excessive
ÂĢs shillings and threepence. I'd vote for the Shabby budget.
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The government will introduce a medical assessment for Disability Living Allowance from 2013 for new and existing claimants
there has always been a medical assessment for Disbaility Living Allowance!
Why do I hear a violin? Oh yes, this reminds me of Nero fiddling while Rome is burning. Regardless of the wishes of the electorate, the so called coalition (i.e Tories) steam ahead with their same old, same old.
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there has always been a medical assessment for Disbaility Living Allowance!
I think they will up the points, it will be far more difficult to claim or appeal.
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there has always been a medical assessment for Disbaility Living Allowance!
Not necessarily, they don't call everyone in. Anyway the new plan is to do away with the forms, so they are going to ignore the advice of Specialists and leave it up to some 'erbert who may not have a clue.Welcomed to the cuddly face of the Tories
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Welcomed to the cuddly face of the Tories
They make my face do this 
I swear I had steam coming out of my ears yesterday at that budget
when vat was reduced to 15% from 17.5% every commentator i heard, be it the 'man in the street' or tv types, said it was a waste of of time and hardly noticeable, now the horror that it has gone 2.5% the other way?
3million higher rate tax payers will be worse off after the hike in capital gains tax.
low income families get an extra ÂĢ150 in tax credits, sounds ok to me.
caps on sky high public sector pay, is excellent as is reining in the pensions gravy train of the public sector.
old age pensioners will have their pension increase linked to pay and not rpr,and have an extra ÂĢ1000 allowance so removing many of them from tax, the same for the poorest earners in the country.
a ÂĢ400 per week cap on housing benefit is good as hb and rents have been driving each other up.( not so good if you happen to live some where very expensive tho)
3million higher rate tax payers will be worse off after the hike in capital gains tax.
low income families get an extra ÂĢ150 in tax credits, sounds ok to me.
caps on sky high public sector pay, is excellent as is reining in the pensions gravy train of the public sector.
old age pensioners will have their pension increase linked to pay and not rpr,and have an extra ÂĢ1000 allowance so removing many of them from tax, the same for the poorest earners in the country.
a ÂĢ400 per week cap on housing benefit is good as hb and rents have been driving each other up.( not so good if you happen to live some where very expensive tho)
I'm doing typos all over the place today.
Gideon makes steam come out of my ears every time I see him
Gideon makes steam come out of my ears every time I see him
mind you, only a ÂĢ2 billoin smack on the wrist for the banks, is a bit disappointing.
Reference: The idiot Chancellor (not the fm who posted it)
Lone parents will be expected to look for work when their youngest child goes to school
Well that will work then!Oh wait, no it won't. Those that have lots of kids and don't work will just keep on having more. I see it all around me on my estate.
And as for letting the banks get away with it..........
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Lone parents will be expected to look for work when their youngest child goes to school
It also won't work cos how many jobs are there that fit in with school hours/holidays?These parents, if they get work will then have to pay childminders etc for pre and aer school care...where will the money come from for that?
Tax Credits will pay it and the amount they'll have to pay out will probably be on a par with the amounts of benefits they are getting now..pretty pointless.
be interesting to see the stats on how many jobs are now part time or reduced hours comapred to say 10 years ago, im guessing it's a fairly high percentage.
There are 15 people chasing every 1 job, I read yesterday...so that's 14 people, through no fault of their own still claiming.
My friend recently split with her husband, within weeks of her claiming as a single parent she was sent on an admin course (pointless as she has relevant qualifications anyway) and then she got a job through the Future Jobs Fund.
She went into work last week and was told she's losing her job in August coz the new government have axed the Future Jobs Fund.
But no doubt she's feckless and workshy and an evil scrounger who never should have had kids anyway
My friend recently split with her husband, within weeks of her claiming as a single parent she was sent on an admin course (pointless as she has relevant qualifications anyway) and then she got a job through the Future Jobs Fund.
She went into work last week and was told she's losing her job in August coz the new government have axed the Future Jobs Fund.
But no doubt she's feckless and workshy and an evil scrounger who never should have had kids anyway