Have the cuts been worth it?

I dont get your point.

Katie Hopkins was invited to speak about the cuts at Brunel University.
After she had started to speak, many of the students stood up and turned their backs on her. Then they walked out.

Does that make the cuts worth it?

Just read that Four Seasons has closed seven care homes in Ireland.

This is also interesting.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2015/11/26/a-spot-of-bother-for-kpmg/

Four directors at KPMG have been arrested for tax evasion questioning in Belfast.

Something else to add to your list, Eloethan.

Osborne is going to cut the amount of money given to opposition parties to enable them to carry out their opposition duties.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2015/11/26/george-osborne-undermining-democracy/

The comments at the end are worth reading, too.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/iain-duncan-smith-suffers-court-6905551

Good news for carers about the benefit cap, though, although nothing to do with Osborne or IDS.

I agree that the Labour Party, the SNP, etc are all so weak that the Tories can get away with all sorts.
You seem to be agreeing with yourself on this one Soon

I think the police will be OK, more or less, but I am horrified about what they seem to be prepared to do to Care. They really are quite wicked people in my opinion. There never was a feasible "long term economic plan".

Poor old Osborne. Not even Sky news likes him. Who owns Sky?

news.sky.com/story/1593729/spending-review-welfare-cap-breach-likely

I would love this to happen. The article says that the welfare cap idea was set as a trap for labour.

No.

Yes, you are right, biker. That's what is so appalling about it. Not everyone has five weeks money to fall back on, particularly if they move onto UC from other benefits.

if I am right..I think you have to wait 4 or 5 weeks to receive UC once you have claimed.

" PEOPLE claiming the new universal credit have been left unable to pay their rent or afford food or electricity, according to a report co-authored by Citizens Advice Bolton.
Bosses from the advisory organisation presented their report at the Houses of Parliament, which aims to highlight problems with the new benefits system.

The report claims four out of five people surveyed by Bolton and 15 other Citizens Advice offices were unable to pay for such basic items while waiting for their first payment."

This is from the Bolton news. How on earth can the government think this is acceptable?

Looks like America is developing a heart, too, and thinking of the poor.

theconversation.com/socialism-is-not-a-dirty-word-bernie-sanders-really-is-changing-us-democracy-49245

Just hope Bernie Sanders does not back down now.
Sanders and Corbyn would make a good partnership. Actually, so would Sanders and McDonnell.

I agree that the Labour Party, the SNP, etc are all so weak that the Tories can get away with all sorts.

dj. I was answering Ab's post of 12.51pm

Osborne's headline that he likes to give out is that there is no alternative to austerity. In truth the poor and not so poor, public services that we rely on etc are being sacrificed so that Osborne can give tax cuts before the next election. He will spin it that we all gain from the tax cuts but of course anyone with half a brain will understand the lie in this and the fact that there has been untold suffering to achieve these tax breaks.

How can we possibly contemplate cutting back on police in the current climate? It makes no sense whatsoever.

No, the cuts have not been worth it. I despair that we don't have an effective opposition to challenge Osborne and co. The government majority is small, the majority of people in the country either didn't vote, or didn't vote tory. When I listen to Question Time, Any Questions, radio phone ins etc, my impression is that people disapprove of the way our public services are being slashed and the impact its having on society.
I will try and find out how to do links (maybe I can ask durhamjen ) but yesterday's Observer's articles from Barbara Ellen, Andrew Rawnsley and the editor reflect my own despair about the Labour Party as an effective opposition or future government.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/nov/22/police-cuts-deal-made-despite-terror-threat-says-george-osborne

Osborne still wants to cut the police numbers.

Don't mind me asking, soon, but why did you give money to the wealthy?
That sounds quite silly to me.

Ab. I agree about the wealthy getting wealthier.
Around our way, houses in remote areas worth about £500k are either getting huge revamps[we are talking about £3 mill and upwards], or knocked down altogether and restarted, again money seemingly no object.

No Ab I give them money.

Eloethan. Poor Greece got so downladen with debt, it might never get out.

Here we are suffering from the austerity plan yet the wealthy have become wealthier

durhamjen Thanks for the link to John Mcdonnell's speech. What he said seems eminently sensible to me.

He didn't say community policing will be privatised, contract going to the Home Secretary's husbands company

soon You say we needed austerity in order to avoid the fate of Greece. Greece has undergone the most draconian cuts and, if such measures are an effective way of dealing with debt, surely we should see the Greek economy improving, even if slowly?

In June 2013 the Mail Online headlined:

"We DID make Greece's debt crisis worse with cuts and tax hikes, IMF admits, as Greeks say they "can't forgive" officials for making recession worse".

"... the [IMF] report said the catalogue of errors - including harsh austerity measures - plunged Greece into deeper crisis..."

The IMF referred to the "dramatic contraction" in the Greek economy.

In June 2015 the Huffington post reported:

"As Greece heads towards another crisis, this is what the country has already been through:

"An economy shrunk by one quarter.

"Gross domestic product has dropped nearly 30%, according to the World Bank.

"The loss of 1 million jobs, primarily in construction, manufacturing and retail."

Doesn't sound to me like the Greek economy has benefited in any way from austerity.

An interesting factcheck about police numbers here, mollie.

fullfact.org/factcheck/crime/police_numbers_1970s-47636

Cameron in the last PMQs said that community policing had risen, but he was talking about community police officers only, and did not say that the number of regular police officers had fallen dramatically.