Mixed reaction to the Coalition's cuts plans (From Swindon Advertiser)

I sincerely hope nobody, least of all the Council, takes 'business' advice from Rikki Hunt.
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The very last thing Swindon needs is yet more social housing. Quite the opposite, in fact.
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It's worrying that our so-called 'most influential' people don't seem to grasp what Osborne has set out. Those of us who do not receive vastly inflated salaries from the taxpayer specifically to do so can understand it, so why not the 'experts'?

Let's see how I can exploit an awful situation, in Swindon, says Rikki Hunt.

Is no one going to stop this man?

After WW1 and WW2, Britons made important social gains....
2010, is going to be the biggest welfare reduction and social regression in the entire 200 years of this country.
what saddens me most isn't that it is happening, but the fact that 68 millions britons have been totally brainwashed into believing that it was necessary.
Very sad.....but at least the french are fighting for their rights, we should take note!

Yeah, we can really learn lessons from the French.
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I thought you were all for the 'vulnerable' in society, Politicrat? You've clearly not seen the TV footage of thuggish mobs, oops, sorry, I meant 'protesters, beating up pensioners as their way of demonstrating against the rise in pension age?
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Any reduction in the bloated and unsustainable welfare state is to be welcomed with open arms. Maybe, just maybe, when that proves successful we can start work on improving the NHS.

Mr Blackwell wrote:
Yeah, we can really learn lessons from the French. . I thought you were all for the 'vulnerable' in society, Politicrat? You've clearly not seen the TV footage of thuggish mobs, oops, sorry, I meant 'protesters, beating up pensioners as their way of demonstrating against the rise in pension age? . Any reduction in the bloated and unsustainable welfare state is to be welcomed with open arms. Maybe, just maybe, when that proves successful we can start work on improving the NHS.

State vs People, I support the people and always will......
The Welfare State has to be reformed of course but these cuts are not a Reform but short destruction of the social legacy of previous generations.
This is quite simply the political suicide of the Tory party that will have to implode or disappear

Unfortunately politicrat has highlighted the real problem. It shouldnt be state vs people it should be state and people working together, this is why we have this mess. And the French will just go bust if they keep the retirement age at 60, sadly no one cares about anyone else but themselves. Whether we like it or not, we are all in this together and we will only get out of it if we all pull together rather than push against each other.

It is concerning that those who should know how to get us out of this admit that they dont, but then if they did we wouldnt be in this mess in the first place. This will be a new experience for many, lets hope we have the right people we need in the right places to get Swindon out of this mess.

How are the government cuts the "short destruction of the social legacy of previous generations"??

Even after the cuts the welfare bill is one of the single largest areas of goverment spending. Politicrat you are acting like they have abolished it altogether.

If you dont think that its possible to save a significant ammount of money from the welfare bill given that:
- There are 100's of thousands on disability who do not deserve it

- There are 10's of thousands of households nationwide where nobody works

- that people are better off on benifits than low paid jobs causing immigrants to step in and do the jobs the indegious population should be doing but cant be arsed / would be worse off doing

then you need your head looking at.

And as for Rikki hunt: yes, lets build 150,000 council houses in Swindon and double the size of the town with the addition of the UK's largest slum. f*****g great idea.

No, politicrat, in his usual inimitable style, has it completely the wrong way round. Yesterday's spending review is about the State relinquishing some of its power and about giving the power back to the individual.
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politicrat does NOT support 'the people' at all. He is a Marxist, whose only concern is for State control of our lives and everything we do. It's done under the pretence of being for 'the people' but it's anything but that.
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He also says:

This is quite simply the political suicide of the Tory party that will have to implode or disappear

which, again, is nonsense. Every government takes decisions with the economy that boil down to being educated (hopefully) guesses. The current cuts may not, of course, see the economy boom - although nobody has claimed they might. What they will do is ensure we actually have an economy in the next five years. Under Labour and Brown the nation would have been bankrupt by 2015.
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Even Angrier Monkey makes a very good point. Even after these cuts, State spending will be higher than it was in 2000 and there will still be 300,000 more State sector employees than there were 10 years ago. It's simply a slightly more sane realigning of Labour's 13 years of madness.
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As people who have studied the Spending Review will be aware, the disabled, elderly and children (via education spending) will not see a decline in their standards. All these faux-tears about this nebulous 'most vulnerable in society' is simply over-emotive drivel from the Left, mainly because they actually know the cuts are necessary but feel they have to oppose the government at all costs - mainly because the unions tell them to.

Mr Blackwell wrote:
No, politicrat, in his usual inimitable style, has it completely the wrong way round. Yesterday's spending review is about the State relinquishing some of its power and about giving the power back to the individual. . politicrat does NOT support 'the people' at all. He is a Marxist, whose only concern is for State control of our lives and everything we do. It's done under the pretence of being for 'the people' but it's anything but that. . He also says:

This is quite simply the political suicide of the Tory party that will have to implode or disappear

which, again, is nonsense. Every government takes decisions with the economy that boil down to being educated (hopefully) guesses. The current cuts may not, of course, see the economy boom - although nobody has claimed they might. What they will do is ensure we actually have an economy in the next five years. Under Labour and Brown the nation would have been bankrupt by 2015. . Even Angrier Monkey makes a very good point. Even after these cuts, State spending will be higher than it was in 2000 and there will still be 300,000 more State sector employees than there were 10 years ago. It's simply a slightly more sane realigning of Labour's 13 years of madness. . As people who have studied the Spending Review will be aware, the disabled, elderly and children (via education spending) will not see a decline in their standards. All these faux-tears about this nebulous 'most vulnerable in society' is simply over-emotive drivel from the Left, mainly because they actually know the cuts are necessary but feel they have to oppose the government at all costs - mainly because the unions tell them to.

your words:
-economy would go Bankrupt by 2015
-Labour's 13 years of madness
-disabled, elderly and children (via education spending) will not see a decline in their standards
-nebulous 'most vulnerable in society' is simply over-emotive drivel from the Left.
Do you believe in what you write Mr Blackwell?

Yes, I believe it, because it's all true.
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You do know that were it not for yesterday's spending review, the UK's debt interest repayments would have reached 100% of GDP by 2013? If that's not a definition of 'bankrupt' please explain what is.
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We wouldn't have even been able to have afforded the interest repayments on our debts, let alone make any State spending or, gasp, actually pay back some of the loans.
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Imagine having a credit card where your annual repayments were the same as your salary. Yep, doesn't really work, does it?
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You live in cloud cuckoo land, politicrat, that is why such truths illude you.

It is pretty clear Politiprat that the last regime was pushing us towards bankrupcy.
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It is also clear (after yesterday) that the cuts are LESS than Labour had said they were going to do (up to 3 days ago )
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If the elderly, the disabled, the NHS and the Education spending are not going to decline, but the WASTE is going to be rooted out of the Public Sector then good !
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The fact is that the Public Sector has got to a point where it is unsustainable - the ONLY way the Public Sector works is if it is being paid for by the Private Sector - and most sensible people in the Private Sector will tell you that the Public Sector is not sustainable!
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After all 490,000 job cuts we will still have MORE Public Sector workers than we had before Brown came into power by a significant number !
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That in itself should say a lot about how the country was being run !!

Even Angrier Monkey wrote:
How are the government cuts the "short destruction of the social legacy of previous generations"?? Even after the cuts the welfare bill is one of the single largest areas of goverment spending. Politicrat you are acting like they have abolished it altogether. If you dont think that its possible to save a significant ammount of money from the welfare bill given that: - There are 100's of thousands on disability who do not deserve it - There are 10's of thousands of households nationwide where nobody works - that people are better off on benifits than low paid jobs causing immigrants to step in and do the jobs the indegious population should be doing but cant be arsed / would be worse off doing then you need your head looking at. And as for Rikki hunt: yes, lets build 150,000 council houses in Swindon and double the size of the town with the addition of the UK's largest slum. f*****g great idea.

No Mr Angrier Monkey, the biggest expense of the nation are the pensions 18% (included in the welfare for obvious reason)
then come the NHS 18% , then social protection (benefits) 16%
Yes there is benefit fraud, in the same manner that there many escating taxation in Tax heavens and Trust funds, and we all know which ones the State is after......
I have no problem tackling benefit fraud, but cutting benefits to cut benefit fraud doesn't seem right.
Again this welfare "reform" is a political exercise rather than a budget or economic one
It is clear that this program of austerity is doomed to fail and it might well be that the coaltion will collapse this Parliament I suspect will be a short one.

I have no problem tackling benefit fraud, but cutting benefits to cut benefit fraud doesn't seem right.

The only direct cuts to benefits are being made to certain child benefit recipients who have one or more parents earning over double the national average salary.
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Most people realise that giving tax payers money to people who earn £44+k per annum and chose to have children makes very little sense. Indeed, child benefit was introduced 1944, after World War II, when bringing up several children was encouraged to restore the birth rate. The 1945 Family Allowance was introduced for that reason. There is no need for anyone to be paid child benefit if they, or their partner, commands a £44+k salary. It's their choice.
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No other benefits are being cut, although there are now measures in place to ensure that people can no longer claim benefits to which they're not actually entitled. This, unless you're engaged in benefit fraud, is a good thing for everyone - especially those who are genuinely benefit dependent as it potentially means more money becomes available for them.

It is clear that this program of austerity is doomed to fail

No, you just hope it will fail, there's a difference. All of the UK's top business leaders have been crying out for the cuts and believe they will stabilise the economy in the medium term. It's only you and your Marxist mates down at the GCSE Economics group (no doubt funded by the taxpayer) who are sitting there with your fingers crossed hoping it'll all fail.

and it might well be that the coaltion will collapse this Parliament I suspect will be a short one.

Do you think the LibDems are seriously going to give up their one chance of holding any form of office? Really?? No chance.
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See you in 2015 for the next general election... and if you think Ed Miliband's going to win it, you're even more daft than I suspected.

top business leaders have been crying out for the cuts and believe they will stabilise the economy in the medium term? well I very much would like to know how the businesses will profit from Budget cuts, job losses, increased taxation and lower consumer spending
Again that might be a Nobel Prize discovery.......

It's all very clear to anyone with half a brain:

35 leading businessmen, including Marks & Spencer chairman Sir Stuart Rose, BT chief executive Ian Livingston and Asda chairman Andy Bond, said there is "no reason to believe" that the chancellor's plans to wipe the £109bn structural deficit within four years will undermine recovery.
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The letter also warned that Labour's plan to spread the deficit reduction programme over more than one parliament would be a "mistake" which would leave the UK almost £100bn worse off by 2014/15 and increase the risk of interest rate increases.
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The letter gives George Osborne much needed support just two days ahead of his crucial CSR, in which he is expected to outline plans to cut £83bn of public spending over four years.
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The 35 businessmen wrote in the letter that "the private sector should be more than capable of generating additional jobs to replace those lost in the public sector, and the redeployment of people to more productive activities will improve economic performance, so generating more employment opportunities.
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"It has been suggested that the deficit reduction programme set out by George Osborne in his emergency budget should be watered down and spread over more than one Parliament.
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"We believe that this would be a mistake.
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"Addressing the debt problem in a decisive way will improve business and consumer confidence. Reducing the deficit more slowly would mean additional borrowing every year, higher national debt, and therefore higher spending on interest payments."
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Other signatories to the letter include Next Chief Executive Simon Wolfson, GlaxoSmithKline Chairman Sir Christopher Gent and Microsoft Managing Director Gordon Frazer.
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The businessmen claimed delaying the deficit reduction would leave national debt £92bn higher by the end of parliament. It said: "In the end the result of delay would be deeper cuts, or further tax rises, in order to pay for the extra debt interest.
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"The cost of delay could be even greater than this. As recent events in some European countries have demonstrated, if the markets lose faith in the UK, interest rates will rise for all of us."

Hmm, now, who to believe... 35 of the UK's top businessmen, or Politicrat and his Marxist GSCE economics group? Tough call.

They realise that the UK economy is dangerously reliant on the public sector. In the medium term the public sector needs to be smaller (less govt spending) and the private sector needs to be bigger (more tax revenues)

You dont need a Nobel prize, just basic common sense.

"No Mr Angrier Monkey, the biggest expense of the nation are the pensions 18% (included in the welfare for obvious reason)
then come the NHS 18% , then social protection (benefits) 16%"

Yeah thats pretty much what I said. Cuts or no cuts welfare is one of the UKs biggest area of spending. but thaks for repeating it anyway.

The welfare state isnt being dimantled you melodramatic fool, its being scaled back to something that might actually be affordable.

Not worth arguing, politicrat ... these people who decry everything you write, and much of it is perfectly correct, will learn as time goes by, that this over the top knee-jerk reaction by the ant-private ownership brigade, so say running the shop, will destroy the UK economy as never before.

Time will tell, the Tories have always been the party of cuts and they will never change. Their poodles are just setting about losing the majority of the support they once had.

It's like buying a season ticket for STFC in July, only to find they have sold half the team by August! Mind you that's been done!

Is Rikki Hunt going into the housing business?
That will add to his portfolio! How's Wi-fi? - now that will soak up some unemployed if there is any money left! Or will the Council use the unemployed to take it down again?

Donkey of Langton wrote:
Not worth arguing, politicrat ... these people who decry everything you write, and much of it is perfectly correct, will learn as time goes by, that this over the top knee-jerk reaction by the ant-private ownership brigade, so say running the shop, will destroy the UK economy as never before. Time will tell, the Tories have always been the party of cuts and they will never change. Their poodles are just setting about losing the majority of the support they once had. It's like buying a season ticket for STFC in July, only to find they have sold half the team by August! Mind you that's been done!

You do realise that the vast majority (c.80%) of the 'cuts' in public sector staff are due to come from natural wastage over the next FOUR years... don't you?
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Or do you also swallow the union lies that half a million people are going to be chucked on the unemployment scrapheap by Monday morning?
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I notice you didn't read the comments from 35 of the UK's top businessmen? They're wrong and you're right? Don't make me laugh.
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You deluded old Lefties are looking ever more like retarded dinosaurs, stuck back in an era where your leaders pretended that money grew on trees and that everyone could have whatever they wanted and who cares if it means we end up bankrupt.
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Thankfully, the entire population has witnessed exactly what becomes of the economy under a lengthy spell of Labour government. I hope we never see such a disaster again during my lifetime. As I've said before, Donkey, I can see why you cling to your socialist ideals (life-long public sector employee, lovely big pension paid for by the rest of us - aren't you selfless? - and an almost hard to believe low retirement age, based on the standard, and unproveable, 'ill health' excuse). Oh, yes, you've certainly taken the benevolent State for a nice little ride - which is presumably why you prefer not to accept that it's actually other taxpayers that you've ripped off. You're actually a shining example of why these cuts are LONG overdue.
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Isn't it ironic? The most selfish people of all are almost exclusively left-wing, so-called 'socialists'. Talk about 'I'm all right, Jack', you virtually define the cliche.

If you agree with individual cuts or not is beside the point we growing level of debt must be cut.
As a nation we have been spending more than we earn for more than a decade.
The total external debt of the UK is now more than,
£9,000,000,000,000.

If there is anyone who thinks that we can carry on this way may I suggest that they kindly grow a brian.

Mr Blackwell wrote:
It's all very clear to anyone with half a brain:

35 leading businessmen, including Marks & Spencer chairman Sir Stuart Rose, BT chief executive Ian Livingston and Asda chairman Andy Bond, said there is "no reason to believe" that the chancellor's plans to wipe the £109bn structural deficit within four years will undermine recovery. . The letter also warned that Labour's plan to spread the deficit reduction programme over more than one parliament would be a "mistake" which would leave the UK almost £100bn worse off by 2014/15 and increase the risk of interest rate increases. . The letter gives George Osborne much needed support just two days ahead of his crucial CSR, in which he is expected to outline plans to cut £83bn of public spending over four years. . The 35 businessmen wrote in the letter that "the private sector should be more than capable of generating additional jobs to replace those lost in the public sector, and the redeployment of people to more productive activities will improve economic performance, so generating more employment opportunities. . "It has been suggested that the deficit reduction programme set out by George Osborne in his emergency budget should be watered down and spread over more than one Parliament. . "We believe that this would be a mistake. . "Addressing the debt problem in a decisive way will improve business and consumer confidence. Reducing the deficit more slowly would mean additional borrowing every year, higher national debt, and therefore higher spending on interest payments." . Other signatories to the letter include Next Chief Executive Simon Wolfson, GlaxoSmithKline Chairman Sir Christopher Gent and Microsoft Managing Director Gordon Frazer. . The businessmen claimed delaying the deficit reduction would leave national debt £92bn higher by the end of parliament. It said: "In the end the result of delay would be deeper cuts, or further tax rises, in order to pay for the extra debt interest. . "The cost of delay could be even greater than this. As recent events in some European countries have demonstrated, if the markets lose faith in the UK, interest rates will rise for all of us."

Hmm, now, who to believe... 35 of the UK's top businessmen, or Politicrat and his Marxist GSCE economics group? Tough call.

Business leaders are good at making money, it is not the Governement purpose to create UK plc......
This early and deep cuts will make the recovery low and long lasting
Italy and Japan have already debts of 100 and 194% GDP, I as far as I am aware they are not bankrupt!!!
By the way I am not a Marxist but I believe in a mixed Economy.

Even Angrier Monkey wrote:
They realise that the UK economy is dangerously reliant on the public sector. In the medium term the public sector needs to be smaller (less govt spending) and the private sector needs to be bigger (more tax revenues) You dont need a Nobel prize, just basic common sense.

Nobel Prize, common sense, then read this:
"private sector decisions sometimes lead to inefficient macroeconomic outcomes and therefore advocates active policy responses by the public sector, including monetary policy actions by the central bank and fiscal policy actions by the government to stabilize output over the business cycle"
Again in simplier terms: "Keynesian economics advocates a mixed economy—predominan
tly private sector, but with a large role of government and public sector"
Now the best for the end---->
"The advent of the global financial crisis in 2007 has caused a resurgence in Keynesian thought. The former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former President of the United States George W. Bush, President of the United States Barack Obama, and other world leaders have used Keynesian economics through government stimulus programs to attempt to assist the economic state of their countries"
Time will tell who was right: you and your daily mail sponsored ideas, or me :-)
Patience......

Mr Blackwell wrote:
Yes, I believe it, because it's all true. . You do know that were it not for yesterday's spending review, the UK's debt interest repayments would have reached 100% of GDP by 2013? If that's not a definition of 'bankrupt' please explain what is. . We wouldn't have even been able to have afforded the interest repayments on our debts, let alone make any State spending or, gasp, actually pay back some of the loans. . Imagine having a credit card where your annual repayments were the same as your salary. Yep, doesn't really work, does it? . You live in cloud cuckoo land, politicrat, that is why such truths illude you.

No Mr Blackwell I do not live in cuckoo Land, I am just educated.......
Time Magazine 1999, most important and influential people of the 20th century: John Maynard Keynes
I quote "His radical idea that governments should spend money they don't have may have saved capitalism"
Keynes wasn't a Marxist (nor me) but a director of the BoE!

The Keynesian model is geared towards the State dealing with recession and depression.
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The UK is neither in depression or even recession, hasn't been for almost a year now.
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You are trying to fit an ideologically prefered square peg into a non-existant round hole.
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You are not 'educated', you have merely picked up a few buzz-word and basic concepts from your GCSE economics group and are highlighting that you're unable to correctly apply the theory to reality. It's not impressive.

I'm fully aware of Keynesian economic theory thanks. **** me you act like you're the only person who's ever been to college. Yes he has some interesting ideas. But as with all economic theory no-one is every proved right. Its all opinion, and at varoius times during the last century the same theories and policies that worked during one era do not neccessarily work in another.

politicrat wrote:

Mr Blackwell wrote:
Yes, I believe it, because it's all true. . You do know that were it not for yesterday's spending review, the UK's debt interest repayments would have reached 100% of GDP by 2013? If that's not a definition of 'bankrupt' please explain what is. . We wouldn't have even been able to have afforded the interest repayments on our debts, let alone make any State spending or, gasp, actually pay back some of the loans. . Imagine having a credit card where your annual repayments were the same as your salary. Yep, doesn't really work, does it? . You live in cloud cuckoo land, politicrat, that is why such truths illude you.

No Mr Blackwell I do not live in cuckoo Land, I am just educated.......
Time Magazine 1999, most important and influential people of the 20th century: John Maynard Keynes
I quote "His radical idea that governments should spend money they don't have may have saved capitalism"
Keynes wasn't a Marxist (nor me) but a director of the BoE!

If you are educated then I firmly believe that Mohammed is a **** guzzling homo!