Economic credibility in tatters

Alastair Darling's announcement yesterday about the new tax measures have only been able to do one thing, and that is destroy Labour's one and only argument against the Tories. The cost of the new tax measures are around £2.7 billion, and the government is covering that cost by borrowing it.

Yes, that's right at a time of a global credit crunch our government is taking on another £2.7 billion of credit. Also, the fact that they are borrowing the money means that this tax cut cannot be bu funded by the treasury. Or in layman's terms it is an "unfunded tax cut".

Never again will they be able to throw that line against the Tories with out showing pure hypocrisy.

Labour's only answer

You would think that after the row of the 10% tax band that Gordon Brown, and the rest of this incompetent government, would steer well clear of any potential taxing issues. But true to form they haven't.

The problem is that Labour have created a situation where elderly care is shockingly bad. Even though they have been in power for 11 years, I'm still waiting to hear the "it was the previous government's fault" line, but still back to the point. Caring for the elderly has become so expensive that most have to sell their homes and use their life savings, to to be able to afford the cost of staying in a care home. Basically leaving the vast majority penniless!

So instead of radical new thinking, the government's answer is.... yes you've guessed it, another compulsory new tax on every household in Britain. Who will be hardest hit by this new tax.... yes you've guessed it again, the same people that have been hardest hit by the scrapping of the 10% tax band.

It simply is further proof that this government has screwed this country so badly that it has no money, and their only answer is to tax us further. Labour's biggest arguement for attack on the tories is about "unfunded tax cuts", but this is a falacy. The questions that should be raised is about about Labour's "unfunded spending". At a time when we are all being warned about spending money that we don't have, and putting ourselves in further debt, it really is hypocritical that the government is doing exactly that with our economy. Prudence, my arse.

Now, it's no surprise that this consultation paper has been supported by Gordon Brown, and seven Cabinet ministers, but even less of a surprise that any decisions have been put back until next year. This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that the announcement of another tax, so soon after the row of the 10% banding, would finish this government off once and for all? Most likely I would guess. But does Gordon Brown really think that the electorate are that stupid and will simply forget about how they were screwed, and then simply allow themselves to be screwed again.

The want to improve elederly care is noble (or in this case repair the damage they caused), but to simply tax, tax, tax is not the answer, and will only serve one purpose a very long spell on the opposition benches.

Promises, promises

Gordon Brown has spent the last four days promising this and promising that. But, in an almost carbon copy of his allegations about David Cameron, these promises have no substance. In all of his TV interviews Gordon promised to listen and learn, even though Andrew Marr himself accused him of offering nothing new.

Now, that is the problem. Gordon and his cronies have promised to listen to the electorate, but these promises are hollow. Nobody wants an extension of the 28 day limit on terror detention, but Gordon is going to continue with that policy; the tax credit system is flawed, but he will continue with that; and finally your average family is struggling with car and fuel taxes, but we will still have to swallow these increases.

So much for listening. These are just three of many issues that the electorate have real problems with, and the government is offering nothing new.

That brings me nicely on to the 10p tax row. Here we have again a promise by the government to compensate everyone affected by the tax change, through tax credits. Yes that flawed system that wants you to beg the government for some money back. But, like I said this is another promise that so far appears to have no substance, no details, just an undertaking by the government to do it. It was only a couple of days ago that lead rebel Frank Field MP called Alastair Darling's plans as "clear as mud". Have the plans become clearer? Of course not, in fact we just got another promise from number 11 that it will happen. Personally, I'm not sure that this will buy Frank off, not that it should unless the Labour whip manages to pin him down.

So when Gordon Brown next accuses David Cameron of having no substance during PMQ's, not only does the saying about a pot and a kettle spring to mind, but you can hardly blame Cameron for holding his cards to his chest. After all, if the policy is good this tired and useless government will only pinch it, like they did with inheritance tax.

Weakness, back downs and rolling over.

The announcement earlier this morning, by the government about their compensation package for the scrapping of the 10% tax break, is one of the most humilating episodes in recent times. Gordon Brown's leadership credentials are in tatters, he has no credibility left.

This whole row of the budget was his making, and his alone. It was gordon that scrapped the 10p rate in his last budget as Chancellor. It was Gordon that stood firm and said that there would be no change in policy. It was Gordon who had to plead with the PLP not to vote against the Finance Bill. It was Gordon that was forced to announce a compensation package to help the people that HIS budget would have left worse off.

The last week has shown that he is truely weak. When faced with a vote that he would have lost he backed down, he capitulated, and now looks vulnerable. Tony Blair never faced anything of this nature, because he wasn't a stubborn old "clunking fist" that didn't listen.

But it does stop there his leadership example of capitulation to try and avoid losing vote is followed by his subordinates. Gordon promised compensation to prevent a vote going against him, and Ken Livingstone this week handed a compensation package with little compensation to Metronet employees to prevent a tube strike costing him votes. The trend is there, and that is how Labour is governing under Brown's leadership.

What does worry me is that this show of weakness could be repeated yet again, this time in Europe. Remember those red lines in the Lisbon Treaty? Well, he said he would not back down over those, but then he also said he would not back down on the scrapping of the 10% tax rate.

However, it was Brown's PMQ's performance that was really telling. He tried to come out on the attack and make a back track sound like leadership. But David Cameron tore him to shreads, with Brown only being able to respond with claims of successes, all of which where in Blair's era. Gordon accused of not sticking to the central issues, but this is a major issue. Whether you support the government, or not, the one thing you want from a PM is strong leadership. I didn't like Blair, but even I will admit that he controlled a tight ship, Gordon's ship leak more than the Titanic.

So for now, the rebels have been bought off, but does anybody make out of that? Well, no. Yet again the only way the people affected by the tax increases will be able to see any money will be to beg for the money back through tax credits! What is it with this government and tax credits. they make the system so bueraucratic that the people affected don't apply, or by some technicality, get less than they deserve. How demeaning, instead of lower paid people instantly getting the money in their pay packets they will now have to go cap in hand, and beg for the money back.

Party of the people, my arse.

The cost of Brown's last tax!

As the new tax year begins the Conservatives have come up with this poster to highlight just how Gordon Brown's last budget as Chancellor is now going to cost us.


However, in the usual spin laden way that we have got used to under Labour, they are claiming that the majority of us would be better off thanks to tax credits. Yes, the very same tax credits that are so confusing to apply for that they are more of a deterrant.

It's nice to know that the party of the working man is still thinking about them. Well, thinking how much more they can screw out of them at least.

Déjà Vu

I have the strangest feeling of Déjà Vu. I'm sure Alistair Darling has just rehashed most of George Osbourne's conference speech. Inheritance tax reviews, changes to non-domicial taxes, and climate change levies.

Further proof the Labour haven't got any new ides of their own.

Shameless

In a vain attempt to try and justify his election speculation cock up to his own MPs, Gordon Brown last night told them that he had manipulated the situation in order to flush out tory polices. Well, that bit was successful, if it is true. The tories announced key policies on health, taxation, crime, and education. The biggest headline grabber as we know as that of the issue of inheritance tax.

Now, some time ago when the knives were out for David Cameron for not showing his policies I backed him for that stance, saying that if he came up with anything good, Labour would try and pinch it, and dress it up as their own idea. I would also admit that this was while I was in a major conspiract theory, paranoia type of mood. Little did I think that our government would actually stoop that low.

However, from the looks of today's headlines it appears that I was right. Later today Chancellor Darling, it set to annouce his pre-budget report, and quelle surprise there is a piece about.... you guessed it.....a review of inheritance tax. The blazen way that this government is now blatantly stealing policy ideas from the tories is a clear indication that they have run out of ideas themselves.

But it doesn't stop there. The government's handling of the economy as a whole should also come quite a bit of scrutiny, as the pre-budget report is due to show for the eleventh budget running, that the treasury's forecast for growth was too ambitious, resulting in a squeeze on health and education spending.

It is this lack of realistic planning, and reform that is causing growth to slow. This is a perfect opportunity for George Osbourne to really attack Labour, and their lack of "vision", and blatant theft of ideas. Only he can take that opportunity.

Brown broke the law

One of the most humiliating experiences for me as a parent, in having to apply for the government's tax credits for working families. To top the off you also have the constant worry that as you have to use a "government computer" to calculator your "award", that you will be paid too much money and will end up oweing the tax man more than you can afford.

So it was with great delight to read in this morning's Times, that Gordon Brown now has to face the humiliating prospect of having to return hundreds of millions of pounds that has been reclaimed by HMRC, in overpaid tax credits.

His over complicated system scares people off. The forms are a nightmare, the helpdesk always seems to have someone that has no grasp of reality working on it when I phone up. Which leaves you with that nagging feeling, have they ballsed it up. But it's the system’s complexity explains why so many families fall foul of means-testing rules and frequently face repayment demands. Familes are supposed to tell HMRC when their circumstances change and hand back any overpayments. Although, in reality as I have found out the person you tell at the end of the phone doesn't seem to listen, so when you do receive your revised award it already wrong. Which I why I always query it. The problem is thousands of families don't as they simply assume that the taxman has listened and worked it out correctly.

However, the amount of times that the taxman causes problems, or the wrong box has been filled in on the extremely complicated forms result in the overpayments, and a subsequent investigaion by the the taxman. But according to the report HMRC Officials actually broke the law by failing to tell claimants that their tax credit awards were under investigation in the first place.

So as a result of breaking the law, HMRC now face the prospect of having to pay back the overpayments to the families that they took them off.

Now, why they couldn't have kept the old system of using you tax code, and letting you have the money as you got paid is beyond me. But thanks to Gordon wanting to take the money off you and letting you beg for it back, he has created a whole lot of issues. An inquiry into this whole fiasco is the least that the opposition parties should demand.

Britain leads the way, no chance.

According to Government press release yesterday, about the new "shock"images that will soon appear on cigarette packets, Britain is leading the way with such visual warnings.

However, we are not leading the way. Quite the contrary even, we are lagging behind. A number of countries around the world have been using these images for years. Which as a result of the government's tax tax tax view to smoking, I have reguarly seen these images every time a friend goes on holiday.

At least they're catching up though, shame about the use of spin.

At last some honesty.

It takes a brave man to show real honesty, especially when it involves criticising your employers. But last night, at the Edinburgh TV festival, Jeremy Paxman did just that.

In an open appraisal of broadcasting in general, he criticised the licence fee as a tax on the ownership of a television which he said was 50 years out of date, and even called the recent deceptions uncovered across the industry as being handled in a "preposterous" way.

What truth, and what honesty. It's something needed to be said, and at last one of the BBC's big name, and widely respected presenters has finally broken ranks and put his cards on the table. His points have been raised before by just about every form of media, so it was refreshing to hear it come straight out of the BBC. Will it change anything though? I very much doubt it.

One point that Paxo did make also hit home, how can an organisation with an assured income of £3.5bn, find itself in a budget crisis. The sooner that question can be answered, the sooner the quality of programming can improve.

One-sided coverage

Over the weekend I got a tad annoyed with the rather one-sided coverage about John Redwood's tax proposals. But it wasn't in the way you may think. Now there are lot of proposals, to come out of that policy review group, some of which I agree with and others I don't. However, I'm not an economist, so I'll leave that to the experts.

Anyway, I digress. Throughout the Sunday papers the Labour attacks were revolving around "cuts in services", and the "lurch the right". But, what seemed to be glossed over in yesterday's dead tree press, was Gordon Brown's new election fighting kitty, provided by the Trade Unions. A kitty, I hasten to add, that the unions refused to give to Blair.

So with the influx of millions of pounds of union money, doesn't that show that Labour is "lurching to the left"?

Why wasn't this golden opportunity picked up on or reported about? Instead of constantly defending against Labour spin, the opposition parties should be highlighting the shift in Labour's policies, as it has been shown time and time again in this country that left wing policies are far more damaging.

Massaging Statistics - part two.

When will the government learn that the old cloak and dagger covering up of bad news, by the manipulation of statistics will always come back and haunt you. After all, on Sunday it was revealed that Gordon Brown had his knuckles rapped over tax credit stats.

However, today the Daily Mail (in a desperate attempt to appear impartial) have accused the goverment of covering up the numbers of unemployed in this country as being "nearly ten million people in Britain are out of work - more than six times the official unemployment rate".

Now, I may be cynical but even I don;t think that this is the real figure, I believe it to be much higher. But it does show at how good this governmenr is of spinning its way out of trouble with its massaged numbers.

Has a protest ever succeeded?

Call me an old cynic, but that's how I feel about this. Yet again we see a group of unwashed decend into a field set up camp, and hope to change the world.

However, what these people never seem to want to do is to do it in a democratic way ie stand for election as a protest - like Wyre Forest MP Richard Taylor, who famously won his seat on the back of a protest against a hospital closure. Instead these people will break the law to further their cause.

The protestors against the Heathrow expansion have already stated that they will not guarentee that they will protest legally. So if that is the case why are being allowed to stay there. Everyone has the right to free speech, but in turn we all have the responsibility to obey the law.

I also think that protests like these, that do seem to attract the most wierdest looking people, are always destined to fail. After all let us looks at their track records. Firstly Greenham Common, a "peace camp" protest which lasted 20 years against the storage of nuclear weapons at a US air base, the effect of which was never noticed. In fact, we are still storing nuclear weapons, and just put a new order for Trident's replacement.

Secondly, the poll tax protest/riots. The protest and subsequent riot did not succeed in stopping the poll tax from being implemented, it was actually political pressure that caused the tax to be scrapped.

The Newbury By-pass protest. Do you remember Swampy? Buried himself in a tunnel to try and prevent the by-pass from being built. The result, a lovely new by-pass around Newbury. Not exactly successful.

However, if you look at the East London River Crossing, this road building project was stopped by legal means. There was petition after petition, questions raised in the House of Commons, court case after court case, ending with the European Court preventing the building of the road.

So you see, simply protesting will not succeed, if you want to get anything done you have to do it by political and legal means. When will the great unwashed of these camps ever realise.

The numbers game.

The phrase about an arse and an elbow springs to mind this morning after reading these two stories.

Firstly, Gordon Brown has been rapped by an independent watchdog for misleading parliament by using incorrect statistics. The Statistics Commission, part of whose task is to oversee the government’s use of figures, has upheld a complaint from a Tory MP, over the statements that he made about the numbers of people taking up tax credits.

The second is that Gordon Brown has pushed Labour into a 10-point lead, the biggest since he took over as prime minister.

Massaging statistics again? Or was the poll taken in his constituancy perhaps.

Change the record.

Being holed up in a tent for three weeks just makes me realise how blissful it was being away from the spin machine that is our government. However, as soon as I get back the reality comes crashing back.

As predicted by commentators, bloggers, and next door's cat, Labour have yet again decided to turn their spin on tory proposals. The much awaited review by John Redwood policy group, calling for up to £21billion of tax cuts funded by slashing the sheer weight of bureaucracy, was swiftly followed up in this morning's Mail on Sunday with the entirely predictable "Tory's would cut services" line.

Please, change the record. Why is it that Labour cannot grasp freeing up businesses and allow them to prosper even more. Surely that would be a good thing.

But, no not according to the government who love top down, overbearing rules that make us all suffer.

Oh, to be back in my tent.

The wastage of London tax payers money.

I made a worrying discovery on the way home from work thanks to free-sheet London Lite.

According to the paper, TfL has absolutely no record whatsoever of what, former chief, Bob Kiley has done to earn his £750,000 salary. Now, that doesn't sound like very good accounting to me to simply pay a consultant without checking, and keeping a record, of what they have consulted on.

Or is it, like I personally believe, that TfL may have actually kept a very good record of how much he has done, i.e. no records = no work. Mind you, isn't it coincedental that the salary Bob Kiley is drawing, is the same amount of money Metronet are demanding from Mayor Ken? A bit of a double whammy for Londoners.

New logo, but still no village

You would think that with only five years left, the Olympic Organising Committee for the London games would be a little busy with, say, building the venues. But no, it seems that instead of sorting out the problems of its spiralling budget, and getting the Olympics actually built the organiser seem more concerned with the games' branding.

Tomorrow the olympic organisers will launch their new look brand. In an email press release the organisers stated:

"Monday, 4 June will be a big day, as we introduce the new London 2012 brand to the world. We want you to be among the first to see it. It's energetic. It's bright. We hope you'll be inspired to join in."

Surely building the bloody venues will instill a bit more inspiration in tax payers. At least then we can see something for a tax returns, instead a flipping logo.

Besides how much of the olympic budget has been wasted on this new logo anyway?

At last Blair is.......

Going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, .....gone.

This has been the longest and most drawn out farewell in history. We're finally getting rid of a spin doctor, and getting a tax man instead. Deep joy!

True cost to pension funds has been uderestimated

Whilst i'm on the subject of destroying Blair's legacy, one thing that won't go away is Gordon Brown and his handling of our pensions.

According to a couple of tiny snippets, on page 34 on today's Times, Gordon's tax grab on pension schemes has "cost Britain's 200 largest schemes £20billion". A staggering four times the estimated annual cost to the pensions industry as a whole. The result of this that the average UK household can now expect to see it's income fall by 50 percent upon retirement.

Cheers, Gordon!

More frivilous usage of the EDM system.

There has been a few occasions recently where I found myself getting increasingly annoyed at the waste of tax payers money that comes with the frivilous use of Early Day Motions by some back bench MPs.

The latest in a serious of EDM's that, quite frankly, take the piss comes from Jeff Ennis, the Labour MP from Barnsley East and Mexborough.

His EDM, no 1261 states "That this House congratulates the Irish cricket team for its outstanding performance in reaching the SuperEights stage of the Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean and wishes it every success in further establishing itself as a world-class cricketing nation."

Sorry, but why the hell should we praise another country's cricket team? Especially when you consider that our own did so dismally in the very same tournament.

Although in saying that, if I was an MP I would by writing an EDM calling for Duncan Fletcher to be sacked.