Verdict on the budget after the dust has settled

This is a graph which shows just how cynical the government is.

https://fullfact.org/economy/rollercoaster_public_spending-40632

They say that public spending will not go back to the level of the 30s, but it's only because they will put it up in 2019-20.

I dislike intensely the fact that they think the general public are idiots.

Agreed, Gracesgran.
Just seen on the news that Alex Salmond has said if the Tories get in he will not agree to the Queen's speech and if Labour go along with him there will have to be another election.
Good.

No mollie65 I am no fan of the Labour but I feel the Conservative policies are far worse with a disregard for the poor and vulnerable. I would be quite happy if the major parties never held sway again.

gracesgran you do realise that those figures are from 2005 to 2012/13 - who was in power from 2005 to 2010 - the rot had set in.
I dread the thought of Labour and Milliband in power wrecking the economy and making more people reliant on government largesse - as they did in 13 years in power.
no fan of many Conservative policies myself but do you not see that Labour are far far worse (champagne socialists)

I felt it was under-reported on the news though jen. I do appreciate there are is some awful news at the moment but the report on the Age UK conference gave more time to DC saying he wouldn't serve as leader for a third parliament.

Well done the Guardian for reporting it and I hope it is well covered in tomorrows papers.

I am very pleased with AgeUK.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/24/pensioners-mock-david-cameron-at-age-uk-conference-nhs

Shows the Tories cannot rely on pensioners as they thought.

Why do you fear them Mollie65? The rich are 64% richer than before the recession, while the poor are 57% poorer so I think the poorer part of this nation have a lot to fear from a continued Conservative government and the rich a lot to fear from the possible consequential breakdown of society.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britains-divided-decade-the-rich-are-64-richer-than-before-the-recessionwhile-the-poor-are-57-poorer-10097038.html

Have you forgotten Ed Milliband stabbed his brother in the back, not to be trusted (of course in my opinion only!!!!!)

Indeed it is just an opinion magpie123. I feel shades of some of the red top newspapers here. If he his brother had won would you be voting for the Labour party?

What actually happened was that two people, who happened to be brothers, both stood in completion in exactly the same way any other two MPs might have done. He did nothing untoward but he won. So what did he do wrong? Should he have stood down in favour of his brother. If so why should his brother not have stood down in favour of him? I find the idea that he stabbed him in the back quite puerile.

I fear another Labour Government - no matter who they are in cahoots with.

Have you forgotten Ed Milliband stabbed his brother in the back, not to be trusted (of course in my opinion only!!!!!)

Have to agree with that view (11:05:25) whitewave. I don't want the union split up either but do think that any improvement that has been made since the international crash and depression has been both London centric and rich centric so I can sympathise with them wishing for a government that considers them.

The Yorkshire Post seems to be running a "Minister for Yorkshire" campaign and I do think you could reduce the parliament and increase the role of the councils in order to make it a government of all the people.

GillT57 with your experience, what would help small businesses most and also is there any way they could be helped to pay the living wage by exempting them from other costs in some way?

The really weird thing is that during the Scottish referendum I couldn't stand Sturgeon or Salmond but now giving them more time and listening to what they have to say my opinion is changing a lot. Not that I agree with splitting up the union but the other stuff they chunter on about make a lot of sense.

Going back to the point of the OP, as a small business owner, the budget did nothing for me at all. I am now spending hours trying to sort out the new Employees Pensions Scheme, all at my own cost. I am supportive of the principle of occupational pensions for all, but the costs of administering it are going to be proportionally high for small businesses without a HR department. So, not the budget did nothing for me, just facing up to more and more administration of government schemes at my expense.

If Labour get more seats than the Conservatives they will form a coalition with the SNP

You state that as a fact magpie123 but it is actually only your opinion and, to note, it is not Ed Miliband's; he has already ruled it out. I do appreciate the right wing press likes to make out this is a threat but then they like to scare people don't they?

To be honest, living in Yorkshire and wanting a social democratic party in power, I envy the Scots having the SNP.

If Labour get more seats than the Conservatives they will form a coalition with the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond will lord it over us, I suppose if you are scottish you might want this, but I certainly don't they already get more money per head than us on this side of the border.

GO thinks that he is too clever for his own good but in fact I think he is too dim for the country's good. He has with the help of the press talked the talk, but in fact has frequently cocked up, and shown extremely poor judgement.
A little man with a big head.

I think we have chaos under a conservative government.

We will have the dying years of DC's career as PM which will no doubt create much infighting; the insecurity of the referendum on the EU which will have companies holding back on the decisions they make or just deciding to go elsewhere and, while most areas of government has coped with the cuts so far, the pressure of new and greater ones may move them from creaking under the strain to continual breaks under the additional strain. We may also, sadly, be counting the bodies of those who are left outside the safety net system that was so carefully set up by our grandparents.

Basically - I fear another conservative government

Well not embarking on expensive escapades in foreign countries, costing huge amounts of money – as well as immense suffering – would certainly help balance the books.

This hasnt really got anything to do with the op, but never mind.

I meant the war stuff, not your link.

You mentioned the war first, soon. Just saying that if there is one, it will not matter how much we owe.

Anyway, this is from the Full Fact report, as you obviously haven't bothered to read the link. It definitely has something to do with the op.

“The original debt target I set out in my first Budget has been met. We will end this Parliament with Britain’s national debt share falling”—George Osborne, 2015 Budget

For the first time since 2012, the government is forecast to meet its original debt target.

It had aimed to get public sector net debt falling as a share of GDP in 2015/16.

The December forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said this wasn’t going to happen. Yesterday’s forecast predicts that it will.

A few things have changed since December, but the main driver of this apparent success is the government’s decision to sell £20 billion worth of assets in 2015-16.

This means selling things like some of the government’s shares in Lloyds Banking Group.

But the OBR makes clear: “Financial asset sales bring forward cash that would otherwise have been received in the future in the shape of mortgage repayments and dividends, so they only temporarily reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio. In broad terms, they leave the public sector’s net worth unchanged.”

The Institute for Fiscal Studies agrees, saying this is “not a genuine reduction in government indebtedness”.

The debt is forecast to fall anyway from 2016/17, but the Chancellor’s announcement isn’t as exciting as it might seem.

Carry on! Don't mind me.

Sorry. All this calm talk back and forth about about getting "nuked" is getting a bit surreal.

This hasnt really got anything to do with the op, but never mind.

They would know that the UK would nuke them back, so very pointless if you are trying to win a war.

This is interesting.

https://fullfact.org/economy/budget_2015_net_debt_asset-40592

The debt is coming down because the government is selling off any assets we have left.