Tuesday 29 November 2011

George Osborne to announce re-hash of various failed labour policies in Autumn Statement

1. He'll mention his 'credit easing' scheme, which was "Named in a Tory party manifesto before the last election the National Loan Guarantee Scheme is similar to the previous Labour government's credit guarantee scheme set up by Alistair Darling in the wake of the credit crunch".

2. He might mention more quantitative easing as well, which was something which started under Labour. At the time, Osborne had this to say:

"The very fact that the Treasury is speculating about printing money shows that Gordon Brown has led Britain to the brink of bankruptcy. Printing money is the last resort of desperate governments when all other policies have failed. It can't be ruled out as a last resort in the fight against deflation, but in the end printing money risks losing control of inflation and all the economic problems that high inflation brings."

3. He announced a scheme to 'help first time buyers onto the property ladder' last week which was more or less word for word a re-hash of something Labour announced two years ago.

4. And then there's the £1 billion Youth Contract:

The decision to use wage subsidies to boost employment is something of a U-turn for the coalition, which quickly scrapped £1.3bn of similar payments, instigated by the Labour party, when it came to power.

5. The council tax freeze, paid for by hiking taxes on everything else seems to common ground between all the main parties as well (it's basic Home-Owner-Ism).

6. The only wizard wheeze which the Tories actually dreamed up for themselves seems to have failed most gloriously:

There could be a revision to a £5,000 per firm national insurance break for any business started outside London or the south-east. The Treasury predicted that 400,000 businesses would benefit, but it is understood only a handful gained.

14 comments:

Lola said...

To quote one of my heroes - Marvin the Paranoid Android - "I think that you ought to know that I am now feeling very depressed".

(Osborne really is totally witless isn't he?)

Nick Drew said...

and you've split an infinitive

*sighs*

Richard Allan said...

There's nothing wrong with split infinitives Nick, that's a myth.

Anonymous said...

Nigel Farage said we have 3 social democratic parties in UK and I think he is correct.

EBM

Mark Wadsworth said...

L, maybe he's not quite as bad as the other lot.

ND, well spotted, I have changed.

RA, yes there is.

EBM, yes, he is quite correct to say that the three big parties have terrifyingly similar policies. UKIP's policies are by and large better, but it's also fair to say that UKIP is even more Home-Owner-Ist than the big three.

A K Haart said...

I agree with Lola, although I'm not seriously depressed. I didn't expect much from him - not even as competent as Darling as far as I can see.

Lola said...

MW. Yep, that's my main issue with UKIP - rampant home-owner-ism. can't they (we?) be morphed into a more Whiggish party?

Bayard said...

"At the time, Osborne had this to say:..."

You should know by now that politicians in opposition have no connection with the same politicians in power except an embarrassing similarity of name....

Mind you even George Osborne (in opposition) was pretty witless, unlike Vince Cable (in opposition). I wonder what happened to that Vince Cable and where he is now.

Nick Drew said...

my mate Mark & I have our standards, Mr Allan

Lola said...

Bayard. Au contraire. Wince was always witless - he's a politician, which clouds his economics. Plus he's a lapsed communist. Worrying.

Anonymous said...

In office but not in power. Those are civil service policies, not Labour or Tory ones.

Mark Wadsworth said...

AKH, I don't dislike Darling, actually.

L, why? That's the eternal question.

B, L, Cable has not totally sold out, and he has kept the topic of LVT alive somehow. Got to be thankful for small mercies.

AC, yes, quite possibly, but why would the civil service want to keep flogging these dead horses, knowing they didn't work first time and won't work now? Is it just to create work for themselves?

Lola said...

MW. Yes, Cable is onto LVT, but since he's a communist he sees it as an extra tax, not an instead of tax. He is stuck in the mindset that all government spending good and all private spending bad. Therefore the more he can take in tax and spend the better.

Mark Wadsworth said...

L, that's not true. Cable is quite happy to see the 50p top rate go if he can have Mansion tax instead.