The UK had 6,584,661 pensioners between the ages of 65 and 74 but 3,812,058 above 75 which is a depressingly large drop but exactly why the Government are mulling over moving the retirement age to 75, less people to pay out the state pension to.
When i started out working, women qualified for their state pension at 60 and then it got pushed up to 65 the same as men, then 68 and now they are considering adding another seven years of working life onto us all saving the Government billions.
An economic policy of paying in for a state pension all your working life and then working until you drop and no retirement for a good proportion of us has not gone down well and even other Conservatives have spoken out against it and the Government have been quick to row back that it was only an idea.
The UK already has the highest retirement age along with The Netherlands and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that the average life expectancy in England for a male is 79.5 years while women on average live for 83.2 years.
My father was a bricklayer and by the time he retired at 65 his knees were shot and years of being outside in the cold, rain and snow did his body no favours and would dose himself on painkillers to get through the day so to expect someone in a nice office job deciding that people who work in far tougher environments with massive wear and tear on their bodies, to keep at it until they are 75 is a much tougher ask.
Maybe the retirement age should go down as this frees up jobs for the upcoming generation who will be locked out of these jobs for a further half a decade if the retirement age is raised.
Each year later is a year more of us paying in and a year less of them paying out but more importantly it's a year off your twilight pensioner years when you should be going on cruises around Scandinavia or shopping for cardigans.
Seems the Government austerity drive has cut all it can cut and they are now looking for other ways to plug the gap that strangely seems to be still growing despite all the slashing and cutting everything in sight like madmen for the past nine years.
Seeing as my retirement pension pot means that i will be living on tins of beans and whatever i can find behind the fridge when i stop work, if i ever stop work, i had better start saving.
Showing posts with label Austerity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austerity. Show all posts
Thursday, 19 September 2019
Sunday, 2 June 2019
Austerity Britain Report #2
Austerity reports are like buses, nothing for ages and then two come along at once so on the heels of the UN report that the Governments austerity drive had inflicted 'great misery on it's people with punitive, mean spirited and callous measures', on the desk of the Prime Minister now drops the report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) that those same austerity measures had resulted in over 130,000 deaths in the UK since 2012.
The IPPR found that, after two decades in which preventable diseases were reduced as a result of spending on better education and prevention, there has been a seven-year slump in which state provision has been pared back because of significant budget cuts to public health services.
The IPPR calls for a large increase in the budget to replace the 5,100 health visitors who have been cut and a reversal of the £700m reduction in public health funding and to plug a £3.6bn gap in funding for social care.
If you ever wondered what the UK would be like after 10 years of Conservative Government, have a look, and if you are still tempted to vote for them ever again, then you haven't look hard or long enough.
The IPPR found that, after two decades in which preventable diseases were reduced as a result of spending on better education and prevention, there has been a seven-year slump in which state provision has been pared back because of significant budget cuts to public health services.
The IPPR calls for a large increase in the budget to replace the 5,100 health visitors who have been cut and a reversal of the £700m reduction in public health funding and to plug a £3.6bn gap in funding for social care.
If you ever wondered what the UK would be like after 10 years of Conservative Government, have a look, and if you are still tempted to vote for them ever again, then you haven't look hard or long enough.
Sunday, 12 August 2018
Where Did It Go Wrong?
A decade after the 2008 financial crash, Britain's councils are once again having their budgets cut and Somerset, Norfolk and Lancashire county councils join the growing list of councils who are suffering 'financial stress' or in laymans terms, effectively bankrupt due to 'reducing levels of funding from central government'.
Northampton County Council have informed they can now only run a skeleton staff and do the bare minimum to keep functioning so why after ten years of austerity, is the UK bank account still in such a poor shape?
The massive bankers’ bailouts that were introduced following the collapse was paid for by ordinary taxpayers, who then saw their living standards plummet as governments imposed harsh austerity measures, which led to important public services being cut.
Following the 2010 General Election, the Conservatives held an emergency 'austerity budget' which we were told was going to 'rebuild the economy' and announced £17bn cuts in public spending, Royal Mail was privatised, a public sector wage freeze and a rise in the state pension age to 67.
Meanwhile, British workers suffered the biggest drop in real earnings since the Victorian age, 1.5 million people were pushed in poverty, 3.7 million to food banks and council spending on everyday necessities slashed.
Everywhere you look, we’re worse off than 10 years ago despite deep austerity and severe cuts so where has it gone so very, very wrong and why is it still getting worse?
Northampton County Council have informed they can now only run a skeleton staff and do the bare minimum to keep functioning so why after ten years of austerity, is the UK bank account still in such a poor shape?
The massive bankers’ bailouts that were introduced following the collapse was paid for by ordinary taxpayers, who then saw their living standards plummet as governments imposed harsh austerity measures, which led to important public services being cut.
Following the 2010 General Election, the Conservatives held an emergency 'austerity budget' which we were told was going to 'rebuild the economy' and announced £17bn cuts in public spending, Royal Mail was privatised, a public sector wage freeze and a rise in the state pension age to 67.
Meanwhile, British workers suffered the biggest drop in real earnings since the Victorian age, 1.5 million people were pushed in poverty, 3.7 million to food banks and council spending on everyday necessities slashed.
Everywhere you look, we’re worse off than 10 years ago despite deep austerity and severe cuts so where has it gone so very, very wrong and why is it still getting worse?
Saturday, 10 March 2018
The Pips Are Squeaking
It's the Spring statement next week, when the Government explains the current financial state of the nation and what it is going to do about it but the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) who scrutinise Government fiscal policy today came out and told us that already and used the phrase 'the pips are squeaking'.
'Not only are we not out of austerity but we’re nowhere near coming out of austerity' Paul Johnson the IFS Director explained saying there was still big spending cuts and big social security cuts to come.
Not only are we £2 trillion in debt but running up extra debt at £40bn a year with only low interest rates saving us from further misery as the debt is twice as big as it was in 2008 despite a decade of severe austerity measures.
'The fact is that soon taxes are going to have to rise or public services will fall to pieces, the pips are already squeaking. There comes a point when you can no longer kick the can down the road because the road is no longer usable' said Johnson who thinks it is about time the politicians level with the public about the financial challenges facing the UK.
'It’s very hard to see what’s left to squeeze' he says. 'Where do you go next? We are going to have to increase spending as a fraction of national income and increase taxes over the next 10 or 20 years.'
This Government, in one of their very first acts, cut the top rate of tax for the richest from 50% to 45% so raising taxes will not be the first, second or third place they turn.
The poor pips will be squeaking much louder before they even think about possibly considering it because pips don't count as we have found out with their horrendous and spiteful austerity cuts which have done nothing to cut the debt.
'Not only are we not out of austerity but we’re nowhere near coming out of austerity' Paul Johnson the IFS Director explained saying there was still big spending cuts and big social security cuts to come.
Not only are we £2 trillion in debt but running up extra debt at £40bn a year with only low interest rates saving us from further misery as the debt is twice as big as it was in 2008 despite a decade of severe austerity measures.
'The fact is that soon taxes are going to have to rise or public services will fall to pieces, the pips are already squeaking. There comes a point when you can no longer kick the can down the road because the road is no longer usable' said Johnson who thinks it is about time the politicians level with the public about the financial challenges facing the UK.
'It’s very hard to see what’s left to squeeze' he says. 'Where do you go next? We are going to have to increase spending as a fraction of national income and increase taxes over the next 10 or 20 years.'
This Government, in one of their very first acts, cut the top rate of tax for the richest from 50% to 45% so raising taxes will not be the first, second or third place they turn.
The poor pips will be squeaking much louder before they even think about possibly considering it because pips don't count as we have found out with their horrendous and spiteful austerity cuts which have done nothing to cut the debt.
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
Austerity Hasn't Worked, So Why Persevere With It?
During the election campaign, the Conservatives often made the claim that austerity was working and was needed to bring down the debt.
The answer was they said that their strict measures would clear the debt by 2015 which was then pushed back to 2019 and has now been pushed back again to 2025.
Now austerity is back in the news because the Government are contemplating easing the measures after 7 years of cuts and closures so how much has the measures reduced the debt by?
In 2010, the Great British debt was £845 billion and after 7 years of cuts and austere measures, the debt now stands at £1.6 trillion at the end of July 2016.
So the question is in which way has the Government measures reduced the debt because whichever way you want to spin it, the debt has doubled.
The previous double act of David Cameron and George Osborne and then Theresa May made sure the debate was always about how only they could be trusted to balance the books, or live within our means as the phrase went, but now the cat is out the bag and the hardline austerity since 2010, where everything that could be cut was slashed to the bone, hasn't worked.
We found out the hard way that it was a terrible idea to cut police numbers during the terrorists attacks, the council cuts when the tower block went up in flames, devastating underfunding of the NHS when winter rolls around, closure of Homeless shelters when the city centres shop doorways fill up with the homeless and the 33% rise in suicides amongst benefit claimants who have had their benefits cut.
Austerity hasn't worked and it is hard to believe that the Government has only just worked that out now so we should be asking why was it persevered with and was the Government incompetent or just being ideologically malevolent?
The answer was they said that their strict measures would clear the debt by 2015 which was then pushed back to 2019 and has now been pushed back again to 2025.
Now austerity is back in the news because the Government are contemplating easing the measures after 7 years of cuts and closures so how much has the measures reduced the debt by?
In 2010, the Great British debt was £845 billion and after 7 years of cuts and austere measures, the debt now stands at £1.6 trillion at the end of July 2016.
So the question is in which way has the Government measures reduced the debt because whichever way you want to spin it, the debt has doubled.
The previous double act of David Cameron and George Osborne and then Theresa May made sure the debate was always about how only they could be trusted to balance the books, or live within our means as the phrase went, but now the cat is out the bag and the hardline austerity since 2010, where everything that could be cut was slashed to the bone, hasn't worked.
We found out the hard way that it was a terrible idea to cut police numbers during the terrorists attacks, the council cuts when the tower block went up in flames, devastating underfunding of the NHS when winter rolls around, closure of Homeless shelters when the city centres shop doorways fill up with the homeless and the 33% rise in suicides amongst benefit claimants who have had their benefits cut.
Austerity hasn't worked and it is hard to believe that the Government has only just worked that out now so we should be asking why was it persevered with and was the Government incompetent or just being ideologically malevolent?
Wednesday, 28 June 2017
Spending £1.5 Billion
Since 2008, the economic crash and resulting austerity measures has been a great cover for the Government to do what it wants and with an ideological right wing Conservative Government in power since 2010, they really have made hay while the austerity sun shined.
Every cut has been ushered in with the mantra that it is all about cutting the deficit and making sure that 'we live within our means' but that has all fallen apart as the Government shuffle £1.5 billion towards the DUP in order to guarantee their backing and the those crucial 10 seats in Parliament which gives them a wafer thin majority.
While the Labour Party plans before the election were ridiculed as unaffordable and would mean taxes having to go up to fund them, i wonder what Labour was proposing and the Conservatives dismissed which would have cost less than the £1.5 billion bribe to buy the DUP.
Nationalising the Royal Mail would have cost £0.8bn, but would mean tax rises to pay for it so said the Tories.
Nursery Access for all children came with a bill of £0.3 billion but was weaved away as unaffordable by Theresa May.
Those 10,000 extra police officers came with a price tag of £0.3 billion but the Conservatives said too expensive.
Restoring bursaries for nursing students would cost £0.6 billion but the coffers were bare so said the Treasury.
Increase State Pension for lowest earners, £0.3bn but waved away as not an option in thes times of austerity.
Any one of these policies, or a combination of some the smaller ones, could have been paid for rather than make a shabby deal with the DUP but i'm sure it won't stop the Conservatives repeating the same old line about reducing the deficit, living within our means or reducing the deficit, delete as applicable.
Seems there is always money available for wars and propping up a crumbling Government.
Every cut has been ushered in with the mantra that it is all about cutting the deficit and making sure that 'we live within our means' but that has all fallen apart as the Government shuffle £1.5 billion towards the DUP in order to guarantee their backing and the those crucial 10 seats in Parliament which gives them a wafer thin majority.
While the Labour Party plans before the election were ridiculed as unaffordable and would mean taxes having to go up to fund them, i wonder what Labour was proposing and the Conservatives dismissed which would have cost less than the £1.5 billion bribe to buy the DUP.
Nationalising the Royal Mail would have cost £0.8bn, but would mean tax rises to pay for it so said the Tories.
Nursery Access for all children came with a bill of £0.3 billion but was weaved away as unaffordable by Theresa May.
Those 10,000 extra police officers came with a price tag of £0.3 billion but the Conservatives said too expensive.
Restoring bursaries for nursing students would cost £0.6 billion but the coffers were bare so said the Treasury.
Increase State Pension for lowest earners, £0.3bn but waved away as not an option in thes times of austerity.
Any one of these policies, or a combination of some the smaller ones, could have been paid for rather than make a shabby deal with the DUP but i'm sure it won't stop the Conservatives repeating the same old line about reducing the deficit, living within our means or reducing the deficit, delete as applicable.
Seems there is always money available for wars and propping up a crumbling Government.
Saturday, 11 February 2017
UK: Sixth Richest But Second Largest Debtors Also
Normally, if you are in debt you get a couple of nasty letters and then either Big Larry comes around with a sledgehammer and eyeing your kneecaps or a man in a wig sends you to a big house with security guards for a few months, and then makes you pay
it back in installments.
Doesn't happen quite that way with countries who it seems just give handed more loans to cover the payments or print more money but still go around with the label of being one of the richest nations, something Britain is very good at with the Worlds 6th richest nation printed on their business cards.
According to the CIA World Factbook, Britain is second in the largest debt list with an eyewatering amount owing of £9.2 trillion so if we are in the black that much, how can we be one of the richest?
The top debtors are the United States who owe $18 trillion to others, then us Brits and then it's France (5.7 trillion), Germany (5.5trillion), Luxembourg (3.4 trillion)Japan (2.8 trillion) and Italy (2.6 trillion).
Looking at the list of those with the largest debts, all the G20 nations are there so with all these, if their outgoings exceed their incomings then how can they genuinely say they are 'the richest'?
Even basing it on percentage of GDP, America's debt is 96%, UK 569%, France 222%, Germany 145%, Luxembourg 3443%, Japan 60% and Italy 124%.
It is a long way down the bottom of the list that we find Macau, Brunei and Palau with no debt whatsoever so whatever income they receive, they get to keep and not pay out to others they owe to.
So it's the Emporers new clothes scenario when the G20 get together to work out how the Global Economy should be run but we are still waiting for someone to stand up, point a finger and say: 'But they are all broke' because they all are so instead of prancing about the World saying we are the 6th richest, how about being honest and saying we are also the second brokest and we still have Brexit to look forward to.
it back in installments.
Doesn't happen quite that way with countries who it seems just give handed more loans to cover the payments or print more money but still go around with the label of being one of the richest nations, something Britain is very good at with the Worlds 6th richest nation printed on their business cards.
According to the CIA World Factbook, Britain is second in the largest debt list with an eyewatering amount owing of £9.2 trillion so if we are in the black that much, how can we be one of the richest?
The top debtors are the United States who owe $18 trillion to others, then us Brits and then it's France (5.7 trillion), Germany (5.5trillion), Luxembourg (3.4 trillion)Japan (2.8 trillion) and Italy (2.6 trillion).
Looking at the list of those with the largest debts, all the G20 nations are there so with all these, if their outgoings exceed their incomings then how can they genuinely say they are 'the richest'?
Even basing it on percentage of GDP, America's debt is 96%, UK 569%, France 222%, Germany 145%, Luxembourg 3443%, Japan 60% and Italy 124%.
It is a long way down the bottom of the list that we find Macau, Brunei and Palau with no debt whatsoever so whatever income they receive, they get to keep and not pay out to others they owe to.
So it's the Emporers new clothes scenario when the G20 get together to work out how the Global Economy should be run but we are still waiting for someone to stand up, point a finger and say: 'But they are all broke' because they all are so instead of prancing about the World saying we are the 6th richest, how about being honest and saying we are also the second brokest and we still have Brexit to look forward to.
Friday, 10 February 2017
Another Victim Of The Economic System
When NASA mothballed its space program due to costs everyone turned to Russia to get our astronauts into Space but now that the plant that makes the rockets has been temporarily shut down, we seem to have a bit of a problem getting off the ground.
The only way to get astronauts to the International Space Station is on the back of Russian rockets, but the plant where these launch vehicles are made has stopped production after an unmanned ISS supply ship called Progress MS-04 blew up six minutes after blast-off.
Roscosmos, the Russian state-owned corporation which made the Soyuz rockets that launched Progress MS-04, said the engines contained a number of defective components due to excessive cost-cutting at the company's plant forced engineers to select cheaper materials which offering less heat resistance over more expensive precious metals.
British astronaut, Tim Peake, may have to rethink his plans to return to the ISS in 2019 as one of the most important aspects of mankind becomes yet another victim of this rotten economic system we are lumbered with.
The only way to get astronauts to the International Space Station is on the back of Russian rockets, but the plant where these launch vehicles are made has stopped production after an unmanned ISS supply ship called Progress MS-04 blew up six minutes after blast-off.
Roscosmos, the Russian state-owned corporation which made the Soyuz rockets that launched Progress MS-04, said the engines contained a number of defective components due to excessive cost-cutting at the company's plant forced engineers to select cheaper materials which offering less heat resistance over more expensive precious metals.
British astronaut, Tim Peake, may have to rethink his plans to return to the ISS in 2019 as one of the most important aspects of mankind becomes yet another victim of this rotten economic system we are lumbered with.
Wednesday, 8 February 2017
Avoiding Ten More Years Of Austerity
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, if the Government carries on with its current plans, it will take until 2027/28 to reach a surplus on the public finances.
It doesn't explain if that factors in the potential £40bn black hole in the public finances when we step away from the EU but it does say that we face at least another decade of austerity.
The problem is this Government has cut back on almost everything it can cut since the great recession of 2008, including areas it had previously ring fenced as untouchable such as NHS and education, and still we are in the black so where is left to trim?
What they don't seem to have done, and actually cut back on, was tax. They have raised the personal allowance so less people are paying tax and cut the top rate of tax so the people who paid the most, are now paying less.
Rather than cutting which unfairly hits the people at the bottom, taxing is far more fairer as it hits those who can best afford it harder than the rest of the workforce who would miss it more.
The cuts are having dangerous knock-on effects and privatization is the worst possible option, recent adventures with the utility companies show how that turned came back to bite us so rather than Governmental hand wringing about not knowing where they can cut, don't cut anything and bring in more money by raising more in tax and not forcing us to face even more austerity pain for the next ten years.
It doesn't explain if that factors in the potential £40bn black hole in the public finances when we step away from the EU but it does say that we face at least another decade of austerity.
The problem is this Government has cut back on almost everything it can cut since the great recession of 2008, including areas it had previously ring fenced as untouchable such as NHS and education, and still we are in the black so where is left to trim?
What they don't seem to have done, and actually cut back on, was tax. They have raised the personal allowance so less people are paying tax and cut the top rate of tax so the people who paid the most, are now paying less.
Rather than cutting which unfairly hits the people at the bottom, taxing is far more fairer as it hits those who can best afford it harder than the rest of the workforce who would miss it more.
The cuts are having dangerous knock-on effects and privatization is the worst possible option, recent adventures with the utility companies show how that turned came back to bite us so rather than Governmental hand wringing about not knowing where they can cut, don't cut anything and bring in more money by raising more in tax and not forcing us to face even more austerity pain for the next ten years.
Friday, 16 December 2016
Christmas Of Discontent
With commuters on rail services facing yet another day of strikes, Post Office workers pushing ahead with walkouts and now airport staff going on strike and grounding planes, could be a bad time to travel or post a letter.
As the country continues to struggle after almost a decade of austerity, the level of industrial unrest is unsurprisingly on the rise.
The number of working days lost to strikes in the first 10 months of 2016 has already passed last year's total, with junior doctors, teachers and Government employees withholding their labour during the year.
While the public are mostly behind strikers, walkouts over Christmas could have a negative effect on any sympathy the strikers have, particularly in sectors like travel and mail delivery where people rely on them more than usual at this time of year.
Choosing to strike when demand is at its height is a very useful bargaining tool but it has to be played the right way to save it turning into a Public Relations disaster and both sides, the employees and employers, are relying on the other taking the blame for the disruption.
At the moment the public are backing the workers but overplay their hands and the mood can very quickly change.
As the country continues to struggle after almost a decade of austerity, the level of industrial unrest is unsurprisingly on the rise.
The number of working days lost to strikes in the first 10 months of 2016 has already passed last year's total, with junior doctors, teachers and Government employees withholding their labour during the year.
While the public are mostly behind strikers, walkouts over Christmas could have a negative effect on any sympathy the strikers have, particularly in sectors like travel and mail delivery where people rely on them more than usual at this time of year.
Choosing to strike when demand is at its height is a very useful bargaining tool but it has to be played the right way to save it turning into a Public Relations disaster and both sides, the employees and employers, are relying on the other taking the blame for the disruption.
At the moment the public are backing the workers but overplay their hands and the mood can very quickly change.
Friday, 27 May 2016
Austerity Still Not Working George
The UK chancellor, George Osborne, announced austerity plans when he took over at the Treasury in May 2010 and vowed to bring the UK into surplus by the end of the first Government, a plan that has slipped to him promising to do it now by the end of the second Government.
His view that what was needed was deep austerity cuts to pay off the debt accumulated during the deep slump of 2008-09 was vital for the economy’s long-term growth prospects which set up almost a decade of horrific cuts to everything he got his grubby little hands on.
The International Monetary Fund have now stepped forward to say that austerity policies do more harm than good as it creates inequality which is bad for growth and causes instability.
When your policies are too right wing for the IMF then perhaps you need to have another think but if the ideological reasoning behind austerity was just an excuse for the rich to get richer and make the poor poorer, mission accomplished because it is exactly the effect austerity has had.
His view that what was needed was deep austerity cuts to pay off the debt accumulated during the deep slump of 2008-09 was vital for the economy’s long-term growth prospects which set up almost a decade of horrific cuts to everything he got his grubby little hands on.
The International Monetary Fund have now stepped forward to say that austerity policies do more harm than good as it creates inequality which is bad for growth and causes instability.
When your policies are too right wing for the IMF then perhaps you need to have another think but if the ideological reasoning behind austerity was just an excuse for the rich to get richer and make the poor poorer, mission accomplished because it is exactly the effect austerity has had.
Saturday, 19 March 2016
Ian Duncan Smith Still Tory Scum
The Conservative Party have lived up to their nickname of the nasty party by keeping up the austerity for the worst off by and tax cuts for high earners and claiming we are still all in together.
George Osbourne announced in his budget £4bn of cuts to disability payments but a raise in the personal allowances so anyone earning above £42,500 gets a tax nice bonus.
Step forward Ian Duncan Smith, the minister for Work and Pensions Secretary and whom would oversee the disability cuts who has resigned as he finds the cuts as 'morally indefensible'.
The resignation letter stated that: 'They are not defensible in the way they were placed within a budget that benefits higher-earning taxpayers' to which the Prime Minister relied that he was 'puzzled and disapointed' as the cuts had been agreed with Mr Smith before they were announced.
While Duncan Smith is being applauded for his moral outrage at the cuts, it should be remembered that he had no such outrage previously when he oversaw £30bn worth of welfare cuts including introducing the Universal Credit System which meant everyone on benefits lost money.
It has also been revealed that his frustration grew from the Treasury refusing to consider cuts to State Pensions which is where he wanted to see the axe fall, on Old Age Pensioners.
It is hard to believe that the man who introduced the bedroom tax, disability and tax credit cuts and a ten fold increase in food banks which he described as a 'lifestyle choice' has suddenly found a conscience over further tax cuts and by resigning all he has done is seen one odious right wing scum replaced by another one who will be just as eager to implement the cuts to the nations poorest as Duncan Smith was over the past few years.
George Osbourne announced in his budget £4bn of cuts to disability payments but a raise in the personal allowances so anyone earning above £42,500 gets a tax nice bonus.
Step forward Ian Duncan Smith, the minister for Work and Pensions Secretary and whom would oversee the disability cuts who has resigned as he finds the cuts as 'morally indefensible'.
The resignation letter stated that: 'They are not defensible in the way they were placed within a budget that benefits higher-earning taxpayers' to which the Prime Minister relied that he was 'puzzled and disapointed' as the cuts had been agreed with Mr Smith before they were announced.
While Duncan Smith is being applauded for his moral outrage at the cuts, it should be remembered that he had no such outrage previously when he oversaw £30bn worth of welfare cuts including introducing the Universal Credit System which meant everyone on benefits lost money.
It has also been revealed that his frustration grew from the Treasury refusing to consider cuts to State Pensions which is where he wanted to see the axe fall, on Old Age Pensioners.
It is hard to believe that the man who introduced the bedroom tax, disability and tax credit cuts and a ten fold increase in food banks which he described as a 'lifestyle choice' has suddenly found a conscience over further tax cuts and by resigning all he has done is seen one odious right wing scum replaced by another one who will be just as eager to implement the cuts to the nations poorest as Duncan Smith was over the past few years.
Sunday, 13 March 2016
More Austerity Heading Our Way
The saying used to be jam tomorrow which means the Government will hand you bread and water today so they make the harsh decisions now to ensure better things tomorrow but the Government are not even promising that anymore, just further austerity cuts so it's bread and water tomorrow as well.
George Osborne is to announce a further £4bn of spending cuts in this weeks Budget, saying that they are necessary to keep his fiscal plan on course, and enable him to continue to hit a Budget surplus in the final year of this Parliament.
As we have faced austerity cuts across the board since 2010, austerity cuts that were said to be a necessary measure to clear the debt by 2015, we are justified in saying how come we are STILL having austerity foisted upon us six years later?
How can we still be in the red after losing 5,870 NHS nurses, 7,968 hospital beds, a third of ambulance stations, 5,362 firefighters, 6,800 police officers, 350 youth centers, 2,000 youth workers, 200,000 civil servants, 4 prisons, 57 hospitals, 66 Accident & Emergency wards, 100 swimming pools and 5,000 teachers.
VAT has been raised from 17.5% to 20%, child benefit has been stopped for higher earners, £82m cut from children’s centers, Education Maintenance Allowance has been ceased for students, disability allowance reduced, train tickets increased by 20% and over 500 library closed.
For all those 'savings', 300,000 more children in poverty year on year, 48% working of 20 to 34 year old live with their parents as they can’t afford to rent or buy their own home, pay freeze for civil and public servants, the largest fall in wages in the EU since the 2008 recession, 2 million on zero hours contracts, six million families in fuel poverty, 400,000 more working people claiming housing benefit every year, the lowest health care spending of the G7 nations and record breaking number
of food banks and food bank customers.
All that and not counting the continued attempts to reduce Tax Credits which top up the wages of those on low wages.
The figures from HM Treasury shows The UK Nation Debt in 2010 was £0.76 trillion and today we owe £1.36 trillion.
Now i don't make any claims to be an economist but to me that seems that we owe almost twice as much as we did after Dave and George got their grubby little hands on the economy.
Whatever the Conservatives are doing, it isn't working but as we will find out this week, the massive austerity cuts have not worked so far so the Conservatives seem to think that the obvious answer must be to cut even deeper and harder.
It is going to get messy especially as the Conservatives have at least another 4 years in office to push their punishing, horrific right wing agenda but with nowhere left to cut, it will be interesting to see where they feel they can force deeper cuts.
George Osborne is to announce a further £4bn of spending cuts in this weeks Budget, saying that they are necessary to keep his fiscal plan on course, and enable him to continue to hit a Budget surplus in the final year of this Parliament.
As we have faced austerity cuts across the board since 2010, austerity cuts that were said to be a necessary measure to clear the debt by 2015, we are justified in saying how come we are STILL having austerity foisted upon us six years later?
How can we still be in the red after losing 5,870 NHS nurses, 7,968 hospital beds, a third of ambulance stations, 5,362 firefighters, 6,800 police officers, 350 youth centers, 2,000 youth workers, 200,000 civil servants, 4 prisons, 57 hospitals, 66 Accident & Emergency wards, 100 swimming pools and 5,000 teachers.
VAT has been raised from 17.5% to 20%, child benefit has been stopped for higher earners, £82m cut from children’s centers, Education Maintenance Allowance has been ceased for students, disability allowance reduced, train tickets increased by 20% and over 500 library closed.
For all those 'savings', 300,000 more children in poverty year on year, 48% working of 20 to 34 year old live with their parents as they can’t afford to rent or buy their own home, pay freeze for civil and public servants, the largest fall in wages in the EU since the 2008 recession, 2 million on zero hours contracts, six million families in fuel poverty, 400,000 more working people claiming housing benefit every year, the lowest health care spending of the G7 nations and record breaking number
of food banks and food bank customers.
All that and not counting the continued attempts to reduce Tax Credits which top up the wages of those on low wages.
The figures from HM Treasury shows The UK Nation Debt in 2010 was £0.76 trillion and today we owe £1.36 trillion.
Now i don't make any claims to be an economist but to me that seems that we owe almost twice as much as we did after Dave and George got their grubby little hands on the economy.
Whatever the Conservatives are doing, it isn't working but as we will find out this week, the massive austerity cuts have not worked so far so the Conservatives seem to think that the obvious answer must be to cut even deeper and harder.
It is going to get messy especially as the Conservatives have at least another 4 years in office to push their punishing, horrific right wing agenda but with nowhere left to cut, it will be interesting to see where they feel they can force deeper cuts.
Wednesday, 2 March 2016
Pension Age Increased
The State pension age is being raised to 68 and then 70 in a move which the Government say will save billions but i have never really been able to decide if the pension age should go up or down.
If it goes down and people retire earlier then it frees up jobs for the upcoming generation who will lock up these jobs for a further half a decade if the retirement age is raised from 65 to 70.
The plus side for the Government is that they will save 5 years of paying pensions and being cynical, more deaths which means less pensioners to pay when they hit 70 so more savings.
Working to 70 is far easier if you have a nice office job but asking people who work in far tougher environments, bricklayers for example who suffer massive wear and tear on their bodies, to keep at it for another 5 years is a much tougher ask.
Each year later is a year more of us paying in and a year less of them paying out but more importantly it's a year off your twilight pensioner years when you should be going on cruises around Scandinavia or shopping for cardigans.
Seems the Government austerity drive has cut all it can cut and they have began looking for other ways to plug the gap that strangely seems to be still growing despite Cameron and Osborne slashing and cutting everything in sight like madmen for the past eight years.
If it goes down and people retire earlier then it frees up jobs for the upcoming generation who will lock up these jobs for a further half a decade if the retirement age is raised from 65 to 70.
The plus side for the Government is that they will save 5 years of paying pensions and being cynical, more deaths which means less pensioners to pay when they hit 70 so more savings.
Working to 70 is far easier if you have a nice office job but asking people who work in far tougher environments, bricklayers for example who suffer massive wear and tear on their bodies, to keep at it for another 5 years is a much tougher ask.
Each year later is a year more of us paying in and a year less of them paying out but more importantly it's a year off your twilight pensioner years when you should be going on cruises around Scandinavia or shopping for cardigans.
Seems the Government austerity drive has cut all it can cut and they have began looking for other ways to plug the gap that strangely seems to be still growing despite Cameron and Osborne slashing and cutting everything in sight like madmen for the past eight years.
Thursday, 25 February 2016
Money, Money, Money
You would have thought after the austerity fad that has swept the globe since the 2008 crash, we would finally have a handle on debt but a look at the list of countries debts shows that nations owe over £60 Trillion to each other and just one nation owes almost a third of that.
The United States is the worst offender and in the hole to the tune of $18,772,300,000,000 ($18.7 Trillion) or 103% of what the country brings in.
Second worst off is France which owes £5.7 Trillion then Germany £5.5 Trillion, Japan £2.8T, Italy £2.6T, Netherlands £2.5T, Spain £2.3T, China £1.6T, Switzerland £1.6T and the UK £1.5T.
Such is the state of the global finances that there are only 5 countries who have been able to avoid this economic insanity of debt and live within their means.
Macoa, the British Virgin Islands, Bruniei, Lichenstein and Palau are the only countries that bring in more than they spend.
With such huge levels of debt i can't see how countries are ever going to get out of the red and into the black, Iceland's debt is equal to £282,930 per head of population while each person in The Netherlands would need to find £226,503 each to clear the nations debts which is a lot of daffodils and tulips so i can't see these debts being cleared anytime soon.
As for the UK, we each would need to find £23,240 each and that is after the Conservative Government have hacked and slashed whatever is hackable and slashable and still we need to find another £1.5 Trillion in savings so i don't know what the answer is but surely at some point nations will begin thinking how we do things at the moment isn't working and look for other ways of doing things.
The United States is the worst offender and in the hole to the tune of $18,772,300,000,000 ($18.7 Trillion) or 103% of what the country brings in.
Second worst off is France which owes £5.7 Trillion then Germany £5.5 Trillion, Japan £2.8T, Italy £2.6T, Netherlands £2.5T, Spain £2.3T, China £1.6T, Switzerland £1.6T and the UK £1.5T.
Such is the state of the global finances that there are only 5 countries who have been able to avoid this economic insanity of debt and live within their means.
Macoa, the British Virgin Islands, Bruniei, Lichenstein and Palau are the only countries that bring in more than they spend.
With such huge levels of debt i can't see how countries are ever going to get out of the red and into the black, Iceland's debt is equal to £282,930 per head of population while each person in The Netherlands would need to find £226,503 each to clear the nations debts which is a lot of daffodils and tulips so i can't see these debts being cleared anytime soon.
As for the UK, we each would need to find £23,240 each and that is after the Conservative Government have hacked and slashed whatever is hackable and slashable and still we need to find another £1.5 Trillion in savings so i don't know what the answer is but surely at some point nations will begin thinking how we do things at the moment isn't working and look for other ways of doing things.
Wednesday, 20 January 2016
No Economic Crisis Here This Time
Another day, another warning that the whole financial system is going to come crashing down around our ears in a repeat of the 2008 crash.
From where i am sitting it seems that this is just a continuation of 2008 as we are still suffering cuts and austerity to get us out of the hole 2008 left in our finances so hardly anything new.
On the stock markets today in London, New York, Shanghai and Frankfurt shares were dumped and the oil price crashed to its lowest level since 2003 on fears that China is heading into a recession that will drag the rest of the world economy down with it.
I can't honestly say that i understand any of it but it appears that those screaming that the wheels are about to come off are a bit previous but the ingredients for another plunge are there.
I don't think there is anything to worry about for us Brits. The Tories have made good use of all the years since the last crash, the painful austerity measures they have been continually introducing since 2010 and cuts to funding must place us in an excellent financial position and the massive reduction in our deficit according to George Osborne means that they have sufficient funds in place along with rigorous regulation of the finance houses along with prudent safeguards in place to prevent another meltdown.
Haven't they?
From where i am sitting it seems that this is just a continuation of 2008 as we are still suffering cuts and austerity to get us out of the hole 2008 left in our finances so hardly anything new.
On the stock markets today in London, New York, Shanghai and Frankfurt shares were dumped and the oil price crashed to its lowest level since 2003 on fears that China is heading into a recession that will drag the rest of the world economy down with it.
I can't honestly say that i understand any of it but it appears that those screaming that the wheels are about to come off are a bit previous but the ingredients for another plunge are there.
I don't think there is anything to worry about for us Brits. The Tories have made good use of all the years since the last crash, the painful austerity measures they have been continually introducing since 2010 and cuts to funding must place us in an excellent financial position and the massive reduction in our deficit according to George Osborne means that they have sufficient funds in place along with rigorous regulation of the finance houses along with prudent safeguards in place to prevent another meltdown.
Haven't they?
Saturday, 1 August 2015
Puerto Rico The New Greece
Orange is the new black, Pluto is the new Mars and Puerto Rica is the new Greece as it defaults on its debt repayments.
The island paid just $628,000 toward a $58m debt due to creditors which total $72bn and wheeled out a a poor minion to explain that: 'This was a decision that reflects the serious concerns about the Commonwealth’s liquidity in combination with the balance of obligations to our creditors and the equally important obligations to the people of Puerto Rico' which echoes the Greek argument that they can either pay their own people or their creditors but not both.
The Governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, explained last month that Puerto Rico was in a 'death spiral' and it just could not pay back what it owes.
Just as in Greece, the creditors are calling on Puerto Rico to cut spending on education and in other areas in order to meet their obligations and the island has already closed down almost 100 schools so far this year.
As Greece ended up being totally screwed over the by people it owed money to, forcing privatisation and raising tax rates in return for another loan to cover the last one, Puerto Rico's population can expect the same amount of compassion as it's testicles are metaphorically placed in the vice of Capitalism and the handle slowly turned.
The island paid just $628,000 toward a $58m debt due to creditors which total $72bn and wheeled out a a poor minion to explain that: 'This was a decision that reflects the serious concerns about the Commonwealth’s liquidity in combination with the balance of obligations to our creditors and the equally important obligations to the people of Puerto Rico' which echoes the Greek argument that they can either pay their own people or their creditors but not both.
The Governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, explained last month that Puerto Rico was in a 'death spiral' and it just could not pay back what it owes.
Just as in Greece, the creditors are calling on Puerto Rico to cut spending on education and in other areas in order to meet their obligations and the island has already closed down almost 100 schools so far this year.
As Greece ended up being totally screwed over the by people it owed money to, forcing privatisation and raising tax rates in return for another loan to cover the last one, Puerto Rico's population can expect the same amount of compassion as it's testicles are metaphorically placed in the vice of Capitalism and the handle slowly turned.
Sunday, 5 July 2015
Greece Says No
The evil that is the British Government are lining up further austerity cuts in the Wednesday budget although the justification for their pay rise was that the economy is now picking up so the question is why such scathing austerity if we are on the up?
One country that has said enough austerity is Greece as they have said a big fat No to the EU and their demands for further austerity in return for a big bundle of Euro's.
The count puts 61% of Greeks have told Angela Merkel to go do one in a referendum that many talking heads are now predicting will be followed by Greece leaving the Eurozone and the re-introduction of the Greek Drachma.
It's a resounding victory for Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who was voted into office on a promise of no more austerity and he had gambled his job on the outcome, stating he would he would step down if the Greek people voted in favour of budget cuts and tax increases in return for more financial aid.
The deputy Prime Minister has been on television celebrating but with the banks closed and cash machines limiting customers to to €60 per day, without another injection of emergency funds from the European Central Bank, the celebrations to not be blackmailed by the money lenders to slash pensions and sell off part so the country in a privatisation blitz may mean things will be tough for a while.
The Eurozone's warnings have been strong but the Greek government has put their demands to a democratic test and they were rejected so seems a stalemate all around and they will have to get out the negotiating table once again.
One country that has said enough austerity is Greece as they have said a big fat No to the EU and their demands for further austerity in return for a big bundle of Euro's.
The count puts 61% of Greeks have told Angela Merkel to go do one in a referendum that many talking heads are now predicting will be followed by Greece leaving the Eurozone and the re-introduction of the Greek Drachma.
It's a resounding victory for Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who was voted into office on a promise of no more austerity and he had gambled his job on the outcome, stating he would he would step down if the Greek people voted in favour of budget cuts and tax increases in return for more financial aid.
The deputy Prime Minister has been on television celebrating but with the banks closed and cash machines limiting customers to to €60 per day, without another injection of emergency funds from the European Central Bank, the celebrations to not be blackmailed by the money lenders to slash pensions and sell off part so the country in a privatisation blitz may mean things will be tough for a while.
The Eurozone's warnings have been strong but the Greek government has put their demands to a democratic test and they were rejected so seems a stalemate all around and they will have to get out the negotiating table once again.
Saturday, 23 May 2015
Greece Broke
Greece have said that they will not be able to make next €300 million repayment to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), as 'the country has no money to pay', the Interior Minister announced today.
'The four instalments for the IMF in June are €1.6 billion, this money will not be given and is not there to be given' he explained.
Rather cheekily Greece have their hand out for another €7.2 billion bailout but talks between Athens and its international lenders have stalled over the refusal of the Greek authorities to carry out labour and pension reforms.
My question is, if Greece does fail to make the payment, what is anybody going to do about it?
The lenders can't fine them or ratchet up the interest, they got no money to pay so financial punishments would be fruitless and sanctions would only reduce the little amount they have anyway so someone, somewhere, is going to have to either stump up the money for them knowing they have little chance of seeing that €300 million ever again, write off the debt which they will never do or renegotiate the repayments over a longer period of time.
However it turns out, Greece seem to have had their cake, eaten it and gone back for another slice.
Monetary Fund (IMF), as 'the country has no money to pay', the Interior Minister announced today.
'The four instalments for the IMF in June are €1.6 billion, this money will not be given and is not there to be given' he explained.
Rather cheekily Greece have their hand out for another €7.2 billion bailout but talks between Athens and its international lenders have stalled over the refusal of the Greek authorities to carry out labour and pension reforms.
My question is, if Greece does fail to make the payment, what is anybody going to do about it?
The lenders can't fine them or ratchet up the interest, they got no money to pay so financial punishments would be fruitless and sanctions would only reduce the little amount they have anyway so someone, somewhere, is going to have to either stump up the money for them knowing they have little chance of seeing that €300 million ever again, write off the debt which they will never do or renegotiate the repayments over a longer period of time.
However it turns out, Greece seem to have had their cake, eaten it and gone back for another slice.
Thursday, 4 December 2014
More Cuts Yet To Come
So how's this austerity working out for you? Not very good is it and tucked away in the small print of yesterdays Autumn summary was the announcement that we have not even seen the worst of it yet with only 40% of the cuts announced so far being actioned, there is still another 60% waiting in the wings for us.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said Osborne has a duty to spell out his deficit reduction plans and warned of cuts on a 'colossal” scale' as the scale of cuts to departmental budgets and local government would reduce the role of the state to a point where it would have 'changed beyond recognition'.
The Office for Budget Responsibility joined in and said that the cuts set out in Treasury assumptions would see the state reduced to its smallest size relative to GDP for 80 years.
Obviously after 4 years of Conservative Party cuts, we are still no better of then we were when Gideon and Dave took over the reins of Government and with the majority of cuts kicked into the long grass ready for whoever makes up the next Government, it's all very depressing.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said Osborne has a duty to spell out his deficit reduction plans and warned of cuts on a 'colossal” scale' as the scale of cuts to departmental budgets and local government would reduce the role of the state to a point where it would have 'changed beyond recognition'.
The Office for Budget Responsibility joined in and said that the cuts set out in Treasury assumptions would see the state reduced to its smallest size relative to GDP for 80 years.
Obviously after 4 years of Conservative Party cuts, we are still no better of then we were when Gideon and Dave took over the reins of Government and with the majority of cuts kicked into the long grass ready for whoever makes up the next Government, it's all very depressing.
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