Posts Tagged ‘tax’
Posted by michael on March 5, 2010
British people used to complain when such unreasonable price hikes were put onto essential products and services.
We seem to have stopped objecting to what our government does. Even the price increases on gas, electricity, water etc. are as a result of government policy even though they are applied by the service companies.
It would seem that almost everything in our society is designed, under this government, to take more and more money from us!
We were not well placed to withstand the recession.
We are not well placed to pay the huge increases in taxation needed to repay the UK debts that Brown has built up from the recession. We have many years of financial hardship ahead of us to clear the UK debts.
Thanks Gordon!
Posted in Blogroll, financial, recession, tax, UK Economy, Uncategorized, utility | Tagged: bankers, brown, cost of living, debt, economy, families, gordon brown, government, green tax, health, labour, mortgage, repossession, tax, tax increases, UK Economy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by michael on March 4, 2010
Not surprising that the financial markets cannot believe that the people who messed up the UK economy so badly would be the right people to fix the problems!!
Just changing the UK government (which means that this turgid bunch has gone) would go a long way to getting the UK back on a sound financial footing.
Gordon Brown and Blair started with the Golden Inheritance from the last Conservative government over thirteen years ago. Their term in power has been a financial and social disaster for the UK. The actions of Blair taking us to an unnecessary war has cost the country billions and, more importantly, cost the lives of many of our military, plus up to a million Iraquis and Afghanis, many of them civilians.
It is a shameful chapter in the history of the world. The UK needs to get rid of every vestige of this ‘New’ Labour thinking. It has been a disaster.
Posted in afghanistan, Blogroll, credit crunch, crime, economy, Euopean Union, immigration, iraq, labour, national health service, recession, UK Economy, Uncategorized, war | Tagged: afghanistan, banks, brown, credit crunch, david cameron, debt, economy, government, greedy, iraq war, recession, repossession, tax, UK Economy, war | Leave a Comment »
Posted by michael on January 26, 2010
The worst of the recession is not over. Apart from the less than expected growth figure, which will probably adjusted in the next few weeks, there is very little else going for the UK economy!
But in my view it is the way that this lame government has chosen to focus almost entirely on the banking system that is going to prove to be the most damaging of Brown and Darling’s policies!
Apart from a couple of relatively sensible policies that a number of governments around the world adopted, there has been very little from New Labour to help anyone through the recession.
The scrappage scheme was welcome but limited. What a shame the scheme was not restricted to green, environmentally friendly cars to begin the process of cleaning up the environment!
But the real issue is with the banks. This New Labour government forced the banks to increase their capital levels. The consequence of this was that many businesses had their existing loans withdrawn or were refused the new loans and overdraft facilities required to keep their businesses and cash flow going.
How many small businesses were forced out of business by Brown and Darling’s focus on keeping the banking system going at the expense of the smaller businesses? How many of their employees lost their jobs as a result?
When these smaller UK manufacturers and suppliers go bust then the employees and the management are forced to depend on the benefits system. This increases the UK debt. Families are often unable to pay their mortgages or rent. How many families were unable to pay their mortgage and ended up being housed at the expense of UK tax payers?
How is the UK economy now expected to grow when so many of the businesses that were present before the recession have now stopped trading simply because the UK banks would not support them?
The people of the UK have been allowed to suffer whilst the government put most of the money and most of their efforts into protecting the banks.
When will our government allow the banks to start lending money, at reasonable rates, to small businesses to encourage them to expand. The same question applies to new start up businesses being given the funding and credit facilities that they require.
For Brown and Darling to increase the banks capital and reserves at the cost of many businesses and jobs is inexcusable. Apart from anything else banks do not vote in general elections, people do!
Do we now have enough people who can afford to set up new businesses? Even if people want to get new businesses going, the banks will most probably refuse to support them.
This useless government has failed to support businesses who need finance and loans to stay in business . We cannot expect much help from our greedy bankers!
Brown and Darling have made a real mess of the UK economy. This is why they do not deserve to be in government again!
Posted in Blogroll, council tax, credit crunch, crime, national health service, recession, UK Economy, Uncategorized | Tagged: banker, bankers, conservative, gordon brown, government, labour, mortgage, recession, repossession, tax, UK Economy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by michael on November 11, 2009
I don’t think that this government really understands what it is doing! The following quote from Mervyn King:
“The UK is set to rack up one of the biggest budget deficits in the world next year, measured against the size of the economy. ”
Brown and Darling seem to think that this ‘biggest budget deficit‘ is an answer to the recession.
But it is a problem which is just as big as the recession itself.
New Labour haven’t sorted out the recession problems. They have simply switched the problem with the UK economy to one of massive debt!!
And guess who has to pay that back!!
Posted in Blogroll, Conservatives, credit crunch, debt, financial, labour, recession, UK Economy | Tagged: bankers, conservative, david cameron, debt, gordon brown, government, labour, recession, tax, UK Economy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by michael on July 26, 2009
What are New Labour proposing?
The Mail on Sunday has details of a new tax on anyone who lives in a house, unless there are no redeeming features at all of the house or the view from the house!
William III introduced a window tax in 1696. That is why some of the windows in older houses are bricked up. Just to avoid the tax!
Charles Stuart II introduced a Hearth or Fireplace Tax in 1662. The tax had to be paid for each fireplace in a property.
The significance of this new New Labour tax is that it is not based on absolutes, At least the Kings of old actually taxed something that was useful to the householder!
You may not like the view from your house. You may be fed up with the bus stop outside your gate because of the noise at night and the mess left around your gate. But you will still have to pay this tax!
We already pay council tax on our properties, the amount paid depends upon the value of the property in question. But the factors that determine the value of a house include the size of the house, the area the house is in, the views from the house, the presence of patios and conservatories, garages and the availability of parking.
In fact the new envy tax from New Labour is based on many of the factors that establish the council tax band.
This is a second tax on top of the council. We are being taxed TWICE for the same property assets!
No wonder New Labour like this tax! Right down their street! They should be taxed fr the idea!
Posted in Blogroll, Conservatives, council tax, credit crunch, labour, Lib Dems, recession, UK Economy | Tagged: abuse, brown, conservative, cost of living, council tax, credit crunch, david cameron, debt, gordon brown, government, greedy, household, labour, more taxes, new tax, recession, stealth tax, tax, tax increases, UK Economy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by michael on June 14, 2009
The UK economy was already in a bad way when the recession started. It was caused by a worldwide recession caused by failures of many governments to regulate the financial industries properly.
Brown was in charge as chancellor and then prime minister and was responsible for ensuring that the financial regulation was done properly in the UK. He doesn’t seem to like accepting responsibility for his actions if it might cause him to look bad, but he was in charge. It was his responsibility and he failed!
Gordon Brown and New Labour have been in control of the UK for a long time. They cannot blame anyone else for the parlous state of the UK economy.
It is a bit rich for Brown to accuse Cameron of planning to cut services when so much of the money spent on them was borrowed in the first place!
The next government has to pay back these debts. The cupboard is bare. We don’t have the money to repay the debts let alone find the money for new services, schools and hospitals etc.
Whoever wins the next election will have to reign back on spending and increase taxes to pay back the debts that New Labour have accumulated during their time in power.
Brown has borrowed billions to get us out of the recession (that he is arguably responsible for!) . We now have to pay that money back from our taxes (don’t forget that we have to pay back the interest as well!)
It is obvious that something has to change in the way that the economy is being run. The UK cannot keep borrowing money!
We are going to have to have increased taxes just to repay the existing debt. That is unavoidable and it will take many years of high taxes to clear these debts.
So where will the money come from to maintain the cost of the public services (including the NHS) ? No government, including New Labour, can carry on spending money that they don’t have.
When I hear Brown attacking Cameron with accusations that the Conservatives will cut spending on public services, then I do wonder how desperate he is to cling onto power!
Can Brown really keep people from realising that the UK is saddled with so much debt that that it is too poor to keep spending money?
Can Brown really make enough people in the UK be more scared of what Cameron might do, than New Labour and Brown have already done to the UK economy?
How happy are people going to be with New Labour if they have to pay extra taxes and suffer reduced services for many years just to clear the debts incurred by Gordon Brown and New Labour?
And it is not inconceivable that Labour will again end up having to seek help from the International Monetary Fund as it did in 1976.
Posted in UK Economy | Tagged: borrowing, borrowings, brown, conservative, cost of living, credit crunch, david cameron, debt, gordon brown, government, imf, recession, tax, tax increases, UK Economy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by michael on April 1, 2009
A disappointing G20 for the PM so far.
France and Germany have called for tougher regulation for the world’s financial system at the G20 summit. Which is absolutely necessary to do BUT it highlights the failure of Brown to regulate the UK’s financial system over the whole time he was the chancellor and the prime minister.
Brown won’t accept any failings but the rest of the world are saying that he was to blame!
Posted in benefits, Blogroll, Conservatives, credit crunch, debt, economy, labour, Lib Dems, recession, tax, UK Economy | Tagged: abuse, banker, bankers, borrowing, brown, conservative, credit crunch, debt, economy, government, labour, recession, repossession, tax, tax increases, UK Economy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by michael on February 25, 2009
According to the chairman of the Financial Services Authority, the failure to spot the banking crisis in advance was partly due to the style of regulation.
Lord Turner said that a “light touch approach” at the City watchdog had been seen as politically preferred.
Speaking to the Treasury Committee, he said that this ‘had led to the regulator not asking enough questions about the strategies of certain banks’. Some of these banks then had financial problems.
Lord Turner also said that ‘regulatory changes were needed which amount to a revolution‘.
MPs accused the FSA of “being responsible for supervising 10 big banks and allowing five to collapse”.
Lord Turner said that the FSA would be “fit for purpose” but only after changes were made – which he would be recommending in a report next month.
Can this government continue to claim that they were not responsible for the economic difficulties affecting so many people in the UK (let alone the rest of the world)?
Posted in Blogroll, Conservatives, credit crunch, debt, economy, labour, Lib Dems, UK Economy | Tagged: bank, bankers, banking, banks, borrowing, brown, conservative, credit crunch, debt, economy, government, greedy, mortgage, recession, repossession, tax, UK Economy, whistleblower | Leave a Comment »
Posted by michael on February 15, 2009
The head of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has admitted that the watchdog did not focus enough on the excessive risks being taken by banks.
“We didn’t focus enough on that,” Lord Turner said on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, referring to the fact that by 2004 “the whole system was risky”.
He also stressed that:
other regulators around the world had also failed to notice the problem.
But this is no excuse. None of us can justify our failings on the fact that other people also failed! There is evidence in the press that people did speak out about the excessive risks being taken and the lack of control by the FSA.
And this is the failing of New Labour, in particular Gordon Brown, in governing the UK over the last 10 years.
Gordon Brown has been the chancellor and then the PM over the entire period that New Labour has been in power. He seems to have a lot of excuses for it not being his fault, but there is actually no one else to blame!
Oh, the minions are culpable but the boss is responsible!
Posted in Blogroll, Conservatives, credit crunch, debt, economy, financial, labour, recession, tax, UK Economy | Tagged: abuse, bank, banker, bankers, banking, banks, borrowing, brown, credit crunch, debt, economy, government, greedy, recession, tax, UK Economy, whistleblower | 1 Comment »
Posted by michael on February 9, 2009
Does anyone remember the fuss that Gordon Brown made about Cameron ‘talking down’ the economy when all he was doing was saying what New Labour policies were going to do the economy?
Wonder how Brown is going to take the comments from Ed Balls ? Apparantly Ed Balls is reported as saying that
the financial crisis will be “more extreme and more serious than that of the 1930s”
According to reports in the Yorkshire Post, Cabinet minister Ed Balls has predicted that the global recession would be the most serious for “over 100 years”.
I think that Gordon Brown will be surprised by these comments, after all he didn’t see the recession coming!
Posted in Blogroll, credit crunch, debt, economy, labour, recession, UK Economy | Tagged: bank, bankers, banks, borrowing, brown, conservative, cost of living, credit, debt, economy, recession, tax, UK Economy | Leave a Comment »
