Autumn statement

I know whitewave, but why isn't Labour a more effective opposition do you think? The cuts are beyond awful

Jeremy Corbyn, in two words Iam64 in answer to your question.

Not Jeremy Corbyn. The right wing press is the problem, and their spin on everything that happens.

Please not another discussion about Jeremy Corbyn. It has been done to death on other threads.

durhamjen - the right wing press will always be with us. An effective opposition wouldn't be making quite so many own goals. Last week's favourite for me was Ken Livingstone being parachuted in to ensure Maria Eagle didn't get defence all her own way. That was bad enough, for her to find out about this on twitter one evening but Ken's outrageous comments and behaviour the following day put the icing on that particular cake. You don't need a right wing press to make merry with that episode. I could go on but I'm sure others who aren't actually Labour voters will be happy to take over.

MOnica - x posted with you

Reading today that Osborne has no intention of taking his foot off the brake even if we get to that glorious goal of surplus.
His aim is a permanent 36% of GDP - apparently the UK will be changed beyond recognition, although my mother might recognise it. Everything that generation fought for. So very sad.

Iam, the Livingstone problem was one of the right wing press.
Livingstone was attacked for what he said about Kevan Jones, but Jones himself said something similar a couple of years ago. It was the press that stirred it up.
The press also said that Corbyn gave Livingstone the job, but he didn't. It was a Labour party committee, not Corbyn.

"Osborne provoked a storm of consternation in July when he announced plans to reduce Corporation Tax from 20% to 18% by 2020, whilst simultaneously slashing welfare spending. Osborne argued that the cuts to corporation tax, which he’d already reduced during the previous Parliament, would encourage investment and create jobs.

The Resolution Foundation points out that a reversal of this policy, as well as dropping the planned increase in the Inheritance Tax threshold would save £3.4bn by the end of the Parliament and would mean Osborne could drop his plans to raid the pockets of some of the UK’s poorest households.

Interestingly, the cuts to corporation tax directly benefit Osborne’s family business, Osborne and Little, in which the Chancellor holds shares. That is, it would be of benefit if the company actually paid corporation tax. According to Private Eye, the corporation has managed to avoid the tax for the last seven years, despite profits of nearly £200million. The corporation even received a tax credit of £12,000 of public money in 2010.

Sadly, draft legislation to tackle aggressive tax avoidance has been pushed back due to ‘complexity’, and won’t feature in the Autumn Statement."
From Real Media, the News You do Not See.

Doesn't look like he will keep Corporation Tax at 20%, or tackle tax avoidance. Why should he when he will benefit in the long run. Hadn't realised that the family business had paid no corporation tax for seven years.

The executive committee appointed Livingstone, but the press has to drag Corbyn into every thing.

How much more can the vulnerable take, Osbourne knows they are at breaking point, suicides, increase in homeless numbers, mentally ill being tormented as if they were not suffering enough torment with their illness he is adding to it. The man is brutal

Livingstone was the problem. I won't re hash the discussion but I listened to the various interviews he gave that day and was shocked by his attitude and the comments he made. He couldn't claim to have been misquoted. He was a disgrace.

I agree Iam, and I can't believe that some seem to be defending him.

The right-wing press can't be blamed in this case, the man's a liability.

"Ken Livingstone has said the owners of the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Sun and Times will “do anything” to stop Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister because they fear he would make it more difficult for them to avoid tax.

The former London mayor described Mail proprietor Lord Rothermere, Telegraph owners the Barclay Brothers and Rupert Murdoch, who controls Times and Sun publisher News UK, as “tax dodgers” in a pre-recorded interview to be broadcast on RT’s Going Underground on Saturday.

Asked whether he was worried about threats to Corbyn from internal opposition within the party, Livingstone said: “The smearing of Jeremy is exactly what happened to me back in the 1980s and to Tony Benn.

“The key part of that is not just the smearing by some MPs, it’s the fact that four billionaires own three quarters of the papers that the British people read. I mean Murdoch, Lord Rothermere and the Barclay brothers. They will do anything to prevent a Labour prime minister who’s going to make them start paying their fair share of tax, because they’re all tax dodgers.”

Corbyn has said he would raise taxes on the rich and clamp down on corporate tax avoidance if elected.
Jeremy Corbyn vows to raise taxes for the rich if elected prime minister
Read more

Lord Rothermere has non-dom status, meaning he avoids tax on foreign earnings, while Rupert Murdoch is a US citizen and the Barclay brothers do not live in the UK despite holding many of their interests in the country. The Mail, Sun, Times and Telegraph have all run overwhelmingly negative stories about Corbyn since he became Labour leader.

Livingstone also told RT that “smears” from the rightwing media would be “unremitting”, but that Corbyn “won’t change his policies because of these smears. He’ll dig in there and fight on through, and I think that’s beginning to come across to people.”"

Last month in the Guardian. Can't understand why the right wing media is after him.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/22/tories-autumn-statement-george-osborne

Have you read this, whitewave? It makes me feel so angry.

I am fearful , waiting to hear Osbourne. It is being said he is going to back off from reducing tax credits because MP's in his party are concerned for their seats .

I thought this was a thread about the autumn statement. That fiction will be delivered by Slippery George and no one else. We should not need to rely on the opposition in the first instance we should expect people not to be so blind that they believe the lies that have been told to them. There never was a chance that his "long term turn workers into paupers" plan would do any good for the economy. Cuts without growth was never going to work. I never see anything positive said about the Cons., on here, just a long tirade against the opposition. Look to your own for heavens sake.

Anniebach, like you I am fearful - especially for the care budget.

An excellent Autumn Statement! the care budget will be helped by local councils being able to charge a bit more ,so no need to worry. No tax credit cuts, hoooray! No police cuts, hooray.

Councils charging- re slightly raised council tax.

This Statement rather took the wind out of Labou's sails.

*the Livingstone problem was one of the right wing press.
Livingstone was attacked for what he said about Kevan Jones, but Jones himself said something similar a couple of years ago. It was the press that stirred it up.*

Agree with Iam64 and Ana.

The Livingstone problem was Livingstone. Two wrongs[if there were two] dont make a right. They make two wrongs.

I've only heard snippets of news on the radio this afternoon (busy busy with grandchildren, lucky me).
I plan to watch channel 4 news, usually excellent. I'm relieved that Osborne appears to have listened to the public and the opposition parties about tax credits. The radio commentators were suggesting people will still suffer but not to the £1300 level if he'd gone ahead
i'm delighted he isn't going ahead with further cuts to the police and don't see how he could have done,in the face of what happened in Paris.

My jury is still out on Jeremy but it does seem that the groundswell of public opinion has influenced Osborne at this time.
I don't know enough about the impact on business so far. I suspect the area I live in will be targeted by developers who respond to the plans for more affordable housing. That means we may lose some spaces (part of our park is a golf course waiting to be re-developed as affordable housing). On a more positive note, our area has an ageing demographic and we may begin to attract some younger families.

Where will those on minimum wage and zero hours contracts live? They cannot buy, what we have as social housing is now to be sold , perhaps someone has the answer , I don't .

Annie, no disagreement from me about the housing crisis. I heard a brief snippet where a landlord in the buy to rent market complained the proposed changes will discourage buy to rent.
I wasn't giving Osborne my full support at all, just an immediate response to the bits I've heard so far.

I am concerned that the bedroom tax remains

I am concerned that housing associations are expected to sell their stock. I need more information on that.

speye.wordpress.com/2015/11/25/bedroom-tax-single-people-mass-evictions-for-disability-csr2-closure-of-all-womens-refuges/

I think this man has the answers about social housing. A long article, and he swears a bit.