Chancellor's autumn statement 2015

The idea of taxing second homes and buy to lets was one of Ed Miliband's before the last election.

No, I don't think it's time to stop blaming Labour, five years is no time at all!
the fact is, they were in power for yonks, the economy was booming and they did nothing to expand the stock of council houses or affordable housing, and as Ana says, they carried on with the policy of selling off the right to buy houses.In order to understand the present we need to understand the history, and Labour could have done so much to help the housing crisis and did not.

"George Osborne’s first act as Chancellor in 2010 was to slash housing investment by 60%, and his plans today could still mean 40% less to build the homes we need compared to the investment programme he inherited from Labour."
Just to save you looking back a page.

Yes, Ana, nearly lived there once myself. Footballers do need people to clean for them, etc.

So why didn't Blair discontinue the 'right to buy' policy, durhamjen?

Knutsford's a very posh town. Only rich people (such as footballers) live there!

Don't you think it's time to stop blaming Labour for everything now, roses, and move on? Osborne has been chancellor for over five years now.
During those five years Labour councils have had to carry on selling council houses at discounts, but not be allowed to spend the money on new houses.

And why they carried on with the 'right to buy' policy when they were in power is a mystery to me when they'd been decrying it ever since it was introduced.

I guess you do not live in Knutsford, roses, or anywhere near there. None of the houses for sale in Knutsford will be affordable, even with a 20% discount, which, by the way, tax payers will pay.
Anyway, the houses announced are new houses, not the ones being built in your village.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2015/11/25/georges-fatal-flaws/

I do think there has been a problem with housing for the low paid, especially around the South East where all housing,( even a small terraced house can cost a fortune) I think there has been a problem for a long time, it certainly is not a recent thing.I have to wonder why, when Labour were in power for so long, and it was the 'good times' they did not build a great deal of council houses.That would have helped.

Then you think there is no problem for housing for the low paid rosesarered?

Call it a living wage but doesn't make it so, call an ant a horse, doesn't turn the ant into a horse

Eight hundred planned for my village, half of which are already built!

Toss a coin. Good basis for economic policies, I don't think.
I thought the Tories could be trusted on the economy.

When watching the BBC news, I noticed they were in Knutsford watching builders build new houses, so I looked on Rightmove. There's only one new house on there in Knutsford. Its a Passivhaus, for over three and as half million pounds.

OBR spokesman said there was a 50% chance of it being right!

Oh, come on GracesGran unravelling already indeed!
Nobody in the Labour Party expected the double whammy of no tax cuts and no police cuts!

IT ISN'T A LIVING WAGE.

OBR spokesman said there was a 50% chance of it being wrong!

I fully realise that some of you will never, ever be happy as long as Conservatives are running the country, and that even when they do announce good things( no police cuts) and no cuts to tax credits for three years, when the living wage will be much more than now anyway, they will be damned.I expected that, but don't understand it at all, as I will either damn a policy or applaud it, by ANY party.It seems to be a head in the sand way to carry on, to defend a party to the death ( as some were doing over Ken Livingstone) and at the same time damn another political party even when their policies and budget speeches are good.

This budget was better than anyone, from any party could ever have expected.

Sadly, I am sure you actually believe that roses. It's is unravelling already. I will be interesting to know how far this has gone by the weekend. As far as I can see most economists would trust relying on Mystic Meg about as much as they trust relying on the OBR predictions.

Yes, and so did Hunt who believes in TCM and has a Chinese wife.

Those who praise the statement today, will you share your views on housing for the low paid ?

Robert Peston - "The OBR has just found £27 billion down the back of the sofa."

Yes Jen, it was funny and true, did not Osbourne say we here should work like Chinese.

Roses, the cuts to welfare are still happening - just not next year. Did you not realise that?

I agree, Annie. You have to listen to it in context. He was right about the railways. Any other government can run them, but not this one. That's where the Chinese quote came in. The quote itself was apt.

www.resolutionfoundation.org/media/press-releases/very-welcome-relief-on-tax-credits-but-most-losses-have-been-delayed-rather-than-reversed/

Not everybody thinks so, roses.

Osborne does it all the time. He says really bad things, leaking to the press, then backs off in his budget speeches, so people think it's better than it could have been.