a lot of private sector pay has already been frozen for a while
what are you gonna do?

they've got to save money somehow. pay freeze and increased VAT are small sacrifices for the country not going completely down the toilet.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:02, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

It could be a lot worse
but there is no need for such severe cuts. Also, it's the other things that go along with this budget, such as shelving all the NHS targets yesterday. It's exactly the same as last time the Tories were in power.
(Bazongaloid, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:15, Reply)

yeah, but
at least they aren't increasing duty on cider over inflation
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:17, Reply)

I quite liked that bit actually!

(Bazongaloid, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:22, Reply)

it was a silly little thing
most likely only proposed because of the increasing popularity of fancy cider.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:25, Reply)

I think severe cuts are needed to try and fix the mess
I think overall it's pretty good. The VAT increase on petrol is going to be a stinger unfortunately but they have to do something drastic to get us out of the debt.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:29, Reply)

No, this it the problem with the media
we don't have to do something drastic, we have to do something controlled and careful. Our debts are long term and without the government spending which created them the country would be truly fucked right now.

We do not need to bring the debt levels down in four years, we need to stimulate private sector to create more money. The public sector is the only thing that kept the economy afloat these last couple of years.
(Bazongaloid, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:35, Reply)

Ok I don't know enough about it to argue with you
my maths is rubbish anyway, I can't even balance my own business accounts.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:50, Reply)

What am I going to do?
Struggle I guess. Everything is a lot more expensive than it was two years ago, Childcare, Water, Electricity, Mortgage and now VAT. If we really can't manage I'll just try and find another job. I agree its a small sacrifice overall but it makes a big difference to some people. I could always try and get a job in the Private sector where the wage for my job is about 10-15k a year higher.
( Peej, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:32, Reply)

it does make a difference you are right
but something has to be done and making cuts or freezing pay is an easy way for the government not to spend so much money.

personally I think they should fuck the Olympics off, stop doing shit like the high speed rail link and Crossrail, at least until things are better.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:34, Reply)

Indeed
The Olympics can suck my sweaty ballsack
( Peej, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:35, Reply)

These are the kind of investment projects that an economy needs
I thought it seemed pretty fair all in all.

Aside from VAT which has been shown to hit the poorest hardest.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:55, Reply)

an economy does need some investment projects
but the high speed rail link is going to be far too fucking expensive, even before the costs and programme overrun by an insane amount, and it will be of fuck all benefit to most.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:57, Reply)

It's not even that much quicker than current rail.
It's half an hour faster from Manchester, that's nothing really.

They should invest more in standard rail, double tracks to allow high speed services to coexist with slower stopping services, longer stations etc. But that's never going to happen.
(Bazongaloid, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:59, Reply)

that's the stupid thing about it
if only people had listened to Brunel, we wouldn't have such a shit rail system.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 15:04, Reply)

Didn't he want a much wider gauge which made the trains much more stable?

(Bazongaloid, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 15:10, Reply)

he did
and no one went for it. stupid fucks.

"if the rest of the world is doing it, it's clearly a stupid idea"
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 15:12, Reply)

That was Napoleons rational for riding on the right rather than the left.
Or something like that.
(Bazongaloid, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 15:13, Reply)

he was an idiot as well
well, not really. quite a good commander really.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH THOUGH, EH FRENCHIE?
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 15:15, Reply)

I like the way you are mocking a dead corsican general

(Bazongaloid, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 15:18, Reply)

someone has to

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 15:20, Reply)

I was expecting a lot worse
I don't know if it's true but I'm choosing to believe that it's the influence of the Lib Dems that stopped them doing their typical scorched earth policy.

Still, the health and education systems are going to be properly fucked in a few years, so from that point of view it's business as usual.
(Bazongaloid, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:58, Reply)

labour screwed the health system by pumping in money without significantly increasing results
consequently leaving a system that has evoled to fill those budgets regardless of their worth. Any subsequent governemnt is going to be screwed trying to reign in the extra spending.

Labour bought votes with debt.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 15:03, Reply)

Oh bullshit
Labour brought waiting lists down from years to just a few months. No system will ever increase in direct correlation to the amount of money put into it so your argument in that respect is rubbish.

The health service had massive underinvestment prior to Labour getting in, they weren't perfect in many things, but the improvements in the health service under their term is one thing they ought to have really made a big noise about.
(Bazongaloid, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 15:08, Reply)

My current waiting time is 15 months...
non-life threatening but still.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 15:14, Reply)