On the day when GB's Women Footballers kicked off the sporting action in an Olympics that is supposed to lift our spirits, we got word from the Office of National Statistics that showed the UK suffered a 3rd quarter of economic contraction, down a worse than expected 0.7%.
When publications such as The Daily Telegraph, and The New Statesman have such damning stories about a "part-time"... "work experience" Chancellor of The Exchequer, in other words, George Osbourne, you know you're in trouble.
But also, if you were a shareholder of a company that had seen three consecutive quarters of losses, 4 quarters of losses in 5, and 5 quarters of losses in 7, you'd demand a change at the top level. Both the CEO and CFO would be unquestionably under threat. David Cameron and George Osbourne should be very seriously thinking about their positions, and George Osbourne should definitely resign.
Austerity Doesn't Work!
That should now be clear to every human being and your more discerning domesticated animals.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Osbourne: Part-Time, Work Experience, Chancellor
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The UK Budget 2012: Winners and Losers
What George Osborne has done today in Westminster, is akin to being a wolf in sheep's clothing.
On the one hand, he's helped everybody, especially the low paid, by raising the allowance, the starting point at which you earn tax, to £9,205 from April 2013, but he'spenalised the middle income earners, by lowering the point where they start paying 40% down to £41,450. And the rich get the bonus of having the over £150,000 tax rate lowered to 45%.
He's hurting pensioners by freezing their personal allowances until the personal allowance catches up to it.
Child Benefit will be kept by people earning up to £50,000, and there will be a sliding scale, so that when you reach £60,000, you get no child benefit. But that still means two people, earning £49,000 each could get the child benefit, whilst one earning £61,000 would not. That inherent unfairness has not been addressed.
Corporation Tax, will get reduced to 24% in April 2013 and down to 22% in April 2014.
Adding a 7% stamp duty for houses worth over £2,000,000 is one thing, and I do like the idea that any corporations paying for houses over £2,000,000 will pay 15%, that closes that little loophole.
Unfortunately, this is a budget that rewards the super rich, and penalises middle income earners, families and pensioners. It has been dressed up as fair, and it is clearly anything but.
