The Truth Behind The Deficit.?

I am indeed old enough to remember the Thatcher era, and her policies. To answer a couple of postings, Britain will never be bankrupt whilst we can afford to get involved in middle east wars, and send billions to uphold third world countries.

Secondly, those people who openly talk about milking the system as somehow a justification for the Tory right wing to take the entire country back to pre- WW2 days has to be some kind of joke.

When people talk like this about so-called welfare State abusers, it reminds me this was how Hitler started in a mass discrimination against the Jews and other ethnic minorities, and we all know how this mindset manifested itself.

We have not had a "Labour" Government running Britain since the 1970's. Tony Blair's New Labour Government embraced Margaret Thatcher's free market policies, but he did bring in a minimum wage, and he did bring in Pensions Credit for pensioners, and Tax Credits for workers, but the top still had their income taxes cut, and Council tax took over from the Poll Tax.

nigglynellie, The State pension takes 46 per cent of the welfare cake. Other benefits are minimal.

I believe the vast majority of welfare recipients are law biding citizens, and I certainly dont lose sleep at night worrying about the few whom you clearly get stressed up about.

Yes our country, and society has changed, but we still need long term secure jobs and decent minimum wages to pay mortgages and extortionate rents in the private sector because Margaret Thatcher stopped building council houses over 30 years ago during her right to buy. Not to mention the above inflation Utilities need paying, they were privatized by Margaret Thatcher.

Taking the country back to pre WW2?!!! There is honestly no answer to that except that it is blatantly absurd and not worth discussing. You cannot possibly compare the Nazi's attitudes towards their Jewish/minority population with the present government's attempts to rein in our ever burgeoning welfare bill, and to liken any government in this country in such a way is shameful. The success of any country relies on a healthy economy which the Labour government in the 1970's lamentably failed to deliver. The country simply couldn't go on like that heading as it was for disaster exactly like Greece, with presumably someone else picking up the bill, again and again!
In 2006 this country finally finished paying the Americans reparation for loans connected to WW2. I suppose we could have pleaded poverty and over the difficult years post WW2, refused to pay but battered as we were, to our credit we took neither of these options. Money borrowed has to be repaid, finances have to be kept in check particularly the national debt otherwise it the slippery slope to ruin as has been proved again and again over the centuries worldwide.

nigglynellie, Yes , this is precisely what the Tory's are doing for ideological reasons. Nothing to do with costs or saving tax payers money, those are just red herrings to get voters on board.

In my life, I never ever would have believed that the deliberate creation of over a million food banks would be attributed to a successful economy ????????

And the State pension takes 46 per cent of our welfare bill.

We need council housing built at low rents so people can save up to buy their own house if they so wish, we need fair taxation, and decent minimum wages....

The Tory's are indeed taking us back to pre- WW2, and they are using cutting the deficit to do it.

There aren't a million food banks in the UK. More like a thousand.

I value all this social changes that came in after WW2. I value the NHS, the Tory's are privatizing it. I value a decent old age pension, Margaret Thatcher reduced its value in 1980. I value low rented council houses for people who cant afford to buy. Thatcher sold them off and didnt build anymore.

I value income tax because this provides us with community based vital services, such as the NHS.

The Tory's wish to destroy everything brought in after WW2, because they are ideologically opposed to them.

There aren't a million food banks in the UK. More like a thousand.

Get your facts right, at least!

There seems to be a rather callous attitude about the predicament of the Greek people. There is nothing amusing about the Greek situation - seeing distraught elderly people having to manage on pensions that have been significantly reduced. Imagine how distraught you would feel if a great chunk of your own pension were to be taken away from you. And that is just one example of the catastrophic effect that austerity policies are having on Greece - and they are expected to agree to even harsher measures being taken.

I think other countries, and particularly the UK, ought to be careful about feeling too smug about their own position. We rely very heavily on the City for our economic wellbeing and position in the world. It has become increasingly obvious that a fair number of people in the financial sector are unusually greedy and unprincipled. To base our economy on such a volatile and, it seems, ungovernable sector is risky.

Ana , There are over a million. Google The Trussell Trust and find out for yourself.

Eloethan, well said. As it happens, the UK's State pension is virtually the lowest in Europe, more money is spent on means testing UK pensioners for subservient State handouts, that it would cost to provide a universal State pension increase.

The UK's 12 million pensioners have no solidarity what so ever, richer pensioners with other income just dont give a damn about their poorer counterparts.

The Greek State pension is worth 80 per cent of average earnings, the UK's State pension is worth just 15 per cent.

Parliament100. Presumably you get all your information first hand, as you seem so well informed as to exactly how and what each and every Tory MP thinks and believes in! How on earth do you know how all wealthier pensioners feel about other pensioners on the basic state pension? Not all people who vote Conservative are greedy, grasping and wicked. No society is perfect, not even Communist ones, hence people struggling to escape from them to the point of bringing them down. We have to sort out people who rightly need help from one's who are clearly laughing at the rest of us. Deliberately having umpteen children just in order to get more benefits is not in my book classified as need. Being given a helping hand while trying to get your life on track most certainly is.

The Greek State pension is worth 80 per cent of average earnings, the UK's State pension is worth just 15 per cent.

If that is true, then if pensioners have had their pension cut by 50% or whatever, they are getting the equivalent of roughly 3 times what the UK pensioner currently gets.

Do we know what constitutes average earnings in Greece? Or indeed the cost of living?

Ah. Good points. I think.

www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Greece&city1=Athens&country2=United+Kingdom&city2=London

I'll leave you to do the Maths Alea!

"""""Deliberately having umpteen children just in order to get more benefits is not in my book classified as need.""""

nigglynellie, im sorry, but this just about the most pathetic and tiny minded way of seeing things.

And the truly sad thing is you just dont see it.

I feel sorry for every single parent, mother or father, with people like you around ready to judge.

If there were over a million food banks, Parliament, that would be one each for the alleged number of people using them...

Perhaps you'd better google the Russell Trust yourself!

Well, that makes two of us, as I truly feel sorry for you as you come over so bigoted and, dare I say it bitter. Anyone who can compare any government in this country to the actions of Nazi Germany is, quite frankly over reacting. Maybe you are unaware of exactly how tyrannical that regime was. I would think this must be the case as otherwise you would never had made such a dreadful comparison.

I agree with everything you say parliament100.

This government said it would cut the benefit cap to £23000 from £26000. That is bad enough.
Osborne now says he only meant in London, and is now going to cut it to £20000 for those living outside London.
For those just living on benefits, that's a cut of the whole of their housing benefit over the year. And that's a cheap rent.
It's quite appalling that any government can do that, particularly one that says it's a government for all the people.

Could you lose over £100 per week and not have problems, because I know I could not. That extra £6000 a year is what keeps me going.

Trussell Trust, Ana. A million people using food banks is probably what he meant.

Or even the Trussell Trust. Over a million people using food banks is bad enough, but inflating that to over a million foodbanks and mis-spelling the source of your ?information? is not giving a lot of back-up to your arguments.

"All told, there may be around 800 food banks across the UK. And there are other providers of emergency food assistance too, for example soup kitchens or ‘Meals on Wheels‘. In total, there are estimated to be about 1,500 emergency food assistance providers in Britain. [In 2014/15] the 450 Trussell Trust food banks, with their 1.1 million uses, account for almost a third of that provision."

https://fullfact.org/factcheck/economy/food_bank_number-40853

Makes me pleased I do not live in London, soon. Cost of living just behind New York which is the base of 100 used. The cost of living in Athens is just more than half what it is in London. I'd quite like Greek transport costs. Might make me use public transport more.

Although you make some valid points Parliament100 you do rather spoil the effect by getting your facts wrong. There are not a million food banks, there have been a million visits to food banks, still shameful in a civilised and wealthy society but throwing inaccurate sweeping statements around riles people. For what it is worth, I think you are right about the Tories using the excuse of austerity to push through their programme of small government and welfare. I wish that you, and everyone else who does so, would stop referring to the retirement pension as 'welfare' or a 'benefit'. We all contribute to this all our working lives, as do our employers, and as far as I am aware, the treasury/government does not contribute to this fund, and some people do not even live to collect theirs. This is not a benefit, not a hand out it is my money. Now, if you wish to have some credibility on here, get your facts straight.

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