UK faces decades of pain

[bigfootedfred]

The UK is facing "two parliaments of pain" following the "breathtaking" damage to the economy, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned.
The government must close a £90bn hole to bring the budget into balance, the independent think-tank said.
That would cost every UK family £2,840 per year by 2017-18 in higher taxes or public spending cuts, it added.
The news comes after Chancellor Alistair Darling forecast the biggest budget deficit in UK post-war history.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne said the IFS calculations showed that the country was facing a "secret tax bombshell"

...

"The Treasury's assessment of the fiscal damage wrought by the current economic and financial crisis is breathtaking," said IFS director Robert Chote.
"It will require two full parliaments of mounting austerity to repair."


...


The IFS pointed out that the government is planning a huge cut in public investment, reducing it by more than half, and reversing its previous approach that aimed at preserving capital investment.
This would mean much less money available was to build new schools, roads, and hospitals after 2011.
In addition, it pointed out that all of the very modest increase planned in current spending (on wages and running costs) would be taken up with the higher cost of debt interest and paying out more social security benefits.
This meant that departmental spending (including areas such as health, education, and policing) would need to fall by 2.3% annually.



...




Despite the headline increases in taxes on the rich, the IFS said these will raise relatively little money in comparison with the size of the budget gap.
Only 10% of the gap will be raised by new taxes, while 40% will be accounted for by spending cuts up to 2014, it added. The remainder (50%) is scheduled for the parliament after next.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8015063.stm






hmm... i hear canada is nice, my mother was born there, mayb its time to return...

[justicar5]

it was always going to hurt for along time, the only thing we can do is try to make it hurt less than the great depression.

[Exarch]

UK, my sympathise
we australians just disovered we're officially in recession

[bigfootedfred]

tthe papers

"Shock" is the word that probably best sums up the reaction in the City to yesterday's Budget. Shock and disbelief. Shock that the Chancellor could have got his sums so spectacularly wrong

Sean O'Grady in the Independent isn't convinced Darling has dealt with the mounting national debt.

In true Mr Bean fashion, yesterday's Budget saved the economies of Switzerland, Luxembourg, Jersey, Hong Kong and other low-tax jurisdictions (polite society no longer describes them as tax havens)
The introduction of a 50% top rate of tax for people earning more than £150,000 a year will drive high earners out of the UK, Anatole Kaletsky claims in the Times.

If, yesterday, we were hoping for some wartime spirit, what we got instead was a declaration of class war.

The new tax will divide the country predicts The Daily Telegraph

Imagine yourself on the surgeon's slab, just pushed towards oblivion by a soft-palmed anaesthetist. That is what it is like to endure a 40-minute Budget speech by Snoozer Darling. His eyebrows had fallen asleep on his face, or so it seemed. And who could blame them?
Daily Mail sketch writer Quentin Letts agreed with the Financial Times.

The Figures ive been reading over the last few days sound like they come from some fictional work about the total collapse of society, perhaps it is a prelude to the, 'Summer of Rage' they were anticipating.

[Musthavename]

It's that our stupid Goverment believes that the economy we'll have a crap 2009 and then bounce back to pre-recession levels, which is just plain lunacy. The goverment borrowing big and throwing money at the recession is just going to make the aftereffects of the recession worse while doing virtually nothing to get us out of it.

Also, I love how their standpoint of "It's a Global Recession so it's not our fault", but seem to think that if they do the right things we'll get out. If it's a world issue, it'll be remedied when the whole world starts growing again.

Point is, no matter how much extra money people have in their pockets, they'll save it, because they're frightened. If you're frightened of losing your job, you'll save the majority of any extra income from things like your mortgage payments going down. Until confidence is back, which is something that's fairly out of control of the Goverment, nothing will change. All the goverment can do is try to keep people in their jobs and keep businesses from going under. Anything else is pointless.

[Markas]

As long as it's metaphorical pain. I've heard and read so many conflicting reports on the state of future recovery I hardly know what to believe.

[Ketchup]

Man, us Brits are doomed. No-one else is being affected by the recession at all. Nope, it's just us. It's not like the US is $11 trillion in debt is it? Oh wait...they are.

[Exarch]

hey look on the bright side
at least ur not bankrupt like iceland is

[King Edward III]

Yet.

What I can't believe is that our national debt will rise to 80% of GDP.. its just ing shocking.

Although I suppose this is what you get for having an economy disportionally based on financial services.

[Ketchup]

Yet.

What I can't believe is that our national debt is 80% of GDP.. its just ing shocking.

Although I suppose this is what you get for having an economy disportionally based on financial services.

It's not...yet. At the moment it is 41.7% of GDP. A lot of this is the media's scare-mongering as per usual. Though there is no doubt that this is a crisis.

[King Edward III]

It's not...yet. At the moment it is 41.7% of GDP. A lot of this is the media's scare-mongering as per usual. Though there is no doubt that this is a crisis.

Will, you get what I mean.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...09-Budget.html

[bigfootedfred]

bbc video

UK debt hits record
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8013738.stm

Hell il vote tory just to get him out!

can a mod merge with this http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...=1#post5025246

my bad.

[The Devil's Sergeant]

And yet I'll bet you can't get ten brits to all agree on what has to cut from the budget.

[Каие]

And yet I'll bet you can't get ten brits to all agree on what has to cut from the budget.

Yes you could.

What you couldn't find is ten Brits who agree on what the American wants them to cut to please his own fantasy.

(In other news I was offered a job interview with the Tories today)

Congrats mate.

(I may be less impartial in future)

About time.

Does Labour even have a chance in the election next year?

Absolutely. If they can narrow the Tory win to less than 9% they will force a hung parliament where they will team with the Liberals and continue.

[Exarch]

1.4 trillion
me
who the heck even has that kind of
$$$ lying around

[Phier]

You know, when I don't have enough money to pay for things I stop buying. I wonder when governments will try that radical theory.

[Exarch]

You know, when I don't have enough money to pay for things I stop buying. I wonder when governments will try that radical theory.

they cant not buy
it's like an unemployed single mum using the credit card just to support herself and the kids

[Phier]

they cant not buy
it's like an unemployed single mum using the credit card just to support herself and the kids

Some day I want to read about massive government lay offs

[Arkhan]

Same as over here... No one agrees on what needs to be cut to get us out of theis mess. At least you Brits seem willing to at least talk about raising revenues as well as cut spending. Over here the battle cry is cut taxes, cut spending, cutcutcut!!. Reminds me of the Republicans and their stupid drill-baby-drill slogan.

You guys think yall are screwed.... yall got it easy. ( you dont really... we are all screwed )

[shadyrome]

The only big nation that is not in debt are china, Lets all move there!!!