So, even based on Darling's (by consensus wildly optimistic) growth assumption for next year and beyond the government's (hence our) debt will be £1.4 trillion by 2014/15. That's a lot of money - my calculator can't cope with that many noughts. Add to that the Towers Watson £1.2 trillion estimate of the unfunded liabilty for public sector pensions and you have a total debt of @ £90,000 for every income tax payer in the land.
Such staggering incompetence will no doubt be rewarded by a peerage in due course. The rest of us would have appeciated a little more honesty, such as that shown by the Irish Government. Without it, the pain may be a little less but it's likely to last a lot longer.
If Blair, Brown and Darling are worried about their place in history being remembered they should have no fear. The sad thing is that, despite their socialist pretensions, they are all far too rich to feel any pain at all - that's our job, apparently.
So, I would urge you to take whatever (legal) steps you can to reduce your own tax liability. I can help - it's now my favourite type of work!
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Monday, 1 March 2010
Election Madness
If the latest polls are to believed, then we are heading for a hung parliament, or perhaps even a Labour majority, at the forthcoming election.
It's important that people realise just what an absolute disaster this would be. Even the prospect of this happening has been very bad for our financial state - since last Wednesday the pound has already fallen by 3% against the euro (which is itself a basket-case currency just now) and by 2.5% against the dollar.
The Tories are wrong about plenty of things but they are right about the need to cut our country's debt urgently. If not, other countries will expect a higher rate of interest when lending us money, the pound will continue to fall, inflation will rise sharply (take a look at the price rises we've already had for cars and wine - e.g. the cheapest Ford Focus now retails at just under £18,000)! This will put interest rates up and more people will default on their mortgages as a result so property prices will fall futher and people will have less money to spend on non-essentials, resulting in more unemployment, which results in less tax coming in to the government and more going out in state benefits, requiring more debt, which will become more expensive, even if it can be found!
Mark my words, we are a LONG way from getting out of this mess and we need to take some pain soon, or the pain will be much greater later on and for far longer.
Labour's 'great idea' of spending yet more money we haven't got adding to the largest debts we've ever had (now expected to be at least £23,000 for every man, woman and child in the UK by 2014) is sheer madness.
If the voters don't realise this in time for the next election then it will be like turkeys voting to remove all holidays except Christmas and Easter.
It's important that people realise just what an absolute disaster this would be. Even the prospect of this happening has been very bad for our financial state - since last Wednesday the pound has already fallen by 3% against the euro (which is itself a basket-case currency just now) and by 2.5% against the dollar.
The Tories are wrong about plenty of things but they are right about the need to cut our country's debt urgently. If not, other countries will expect a higher rate of interest when lending us money, the pound will continue to fall, inflation will rise sharply (take a look at the price rises we've already had for cars and wine - e.g. the cheapest Ford Focus now retails at just under £18,000)! This will put interest rates up and more people will default on their mortgages as a result so property prices will fall futher and people will have less money to spend on non-essentials, resulting in more unemployment, which results in less tax coming in to the government and more going out in state benefits, requiring more debt, which will become more expensive, even if it can be found!
Mark my words, we are a LONG way from getting out of this mess and we need to take some pain soon, or the pain will be much greater later on and for far longer.
Labour's 'great idea' of spending yet more money we haven't got adding to the largest debts we've ever had (now expected to be at least £23,000 for every man, woman and child in the UK by 2014) is sheer madness.
If the voters don't realise this in time for the next election then it will be like turkeys voting to remove all holidays except Christmas and Easter.
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