The real story of this budget is the tight spending rounds that are on their way for our public services, the below inflation pay increases for public sector workers and the terrible lack of reform for schools and hospitals.
Yet brilliantly, the next few days will be dominated by Brown's greatest tax fiddle - the cutting of the basic rate by 2% to 20p in the pound whilst scrapping the 10% starter rate and raising the NI threshold. All these leads to ... absolutely no change whatsoever.
Of course, the budget is revenue neutral but will anybody notice? Some people will think its a tax cut but the media (and the opposition) aren't stupid and most people will therefore see this as the con it really is. This arguement will go on for days, and days, and days etc etc etc.
And nobody will notice what Labour - Blair and Brown - are doing to our precious public services.
8 comments:
Conservatives are stating foul play as Cameron had his Brown tax and spent Chancellor speech in front of him, but Browns parting 2p cut in income tax proposal threw this in a spin, and required a largely ad lib response.
At least Gordon announced workable Green and Pro Business initiates. Cameron's internal air duty might be high profile, but it only captures 5000Tpa of C02 per year, so a ineffective grimmick where internal air CO2 emissions account to less than 1% of all UK CO2. Cameron has no head on CO2 policies tackling CO2 emissions from Road Haulage, Cars, Construction, Service and Manufacturing and the Energy Sector, the major CO2 producers.
Well if you happen to be single, kidless and poor, this budget is not good news, as tax goes up 10% for those earning £5000 - 18,000. I creates a poverty trap for people of all ages, young and old, often hoping vainly to get onto the limited housing market as a first time buyer.
You shouldn't have a blog if you can't be bothered to keep it upto date. i am going to stop reading it now
Good. I do this free and in my own time. If you are that ungrateful there are plenty of other sites - 250,000 blogs that are never updated!
Bbbbyyyyeeeee!
Do you say that all to your constituents who try to find out what you think or are upto? Well thats my vote gone
I thought you were going to stop reading this now? And yet you came back? How nice.
Pull the other one "blah" ... no matter what Antony say to you he's have lost your vote. Mainly because you didn't vote Tory in the first place.
You are a troll of the highest order. The sad thing is how predictable this all is.
As Antony once said: "I have voted Conservative for a thousnad years until I read your reply to the last blog post and now I;m voting LibDem".
Sad, sad, very, very sad.
Goodbye Blah, you won't be missed.
Antony has been a great Bowthorpe councillor over the last 12 months. I don't agree with many old Tory views, but Antony has held the torch on accountability, taxing motorists, unjust revenue raising congression charging, anti-social behaviour and oh yes the incinerator in Norwich. Many Bowthorpe residents voted not for conservatives but for you Antony as a person on the above issues, and Labour being too complacent in Bowthorpe and the issue.
On the blog side I find the local issue blogging more interesting than anything that tries to mimmic Iain Dale or the national ingrique, as probably do other local people.
I would like to know in Norwich which less off communities are going to be hit by the the 10 -20 tax hike. Whilst Norwich property prices have risen and indeed many resident have equity, a lot of the city lags behind the national average on incomes, with more small businesses and service employees in the £5000- 18,000. The 10% tax abolition might even be seen as a "Regional" tax rise in Norfolk for agricultural workers and many deprived wards in Norwich such as Mile Cross, Wensum and Caton Grove etc
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