Can we really Trust Teresa May with a blank cheque?

There is some discussion of the IFS view of the Labour manifesto on the Labour thread but they also looked at the Tory one.

The first thing about the Conservatives the Deputy Director of the IFS commented on was that they will cut £11bn from benefits reducing the lowest income working-age households significantly. This is a continuation of current government policy. This would roll through the system whoever is Chancellor if they did nothing so will be part of the cost for the Conservatives if they were the government. He did say the fact that this was not in the manifesto was the Conservative government not being fully honest about what the implication would be.

He said that Mrs May's plan to reduce immigration to the tens of thousands will hit both the economy and the public finances. He said that with the Conservatives manifesto their biggest risk was, when you look at their NHS spending plans, when you look at their schools spending plans, they are really not that generous and what we don't know is, if it is the case that this leads to a deterioration in the public services, would they end up having to top those plans up or would we just live with public services that were less good. This was based on the governments own forecasts for the next five years from the Office of Budget Responsibility, produced in March so it is the governments own estimates.

I think that many of the Tories chickens are coming home to roost now. And the cuts are having a real and detrimental affect.

Armed police are down on the 2010 numbers, and that after the dreadful terrorist incidents since 2010.

As long as they do and are in the papers before the election whitewave. At least the Labour Party Team (although some don't want to join in it is still bigger than the Theresa May Team of ... 1) has recognised that they will be getting a broken economy if they take over - perhaps all those papers backing May will catch up.

Erme is the economy actually broken?

Pound at a two week low, today.

and Footsie reaches a new high! Not a bad economic position to be in.

I wonder why people who want to leave the EU mention the FTSE? Only half of them are based in the UK at the moment.
Some of those will be leaving if we have a hard Brexit.
Shouldn't how the pound fares be more important to Brexiteers?

If the pound sterling is lower it is better for exports, making them more competitive.

dj I do not want to leave the EU. I voted remain as I've said frequently on GN. As Jalima said the lower pound makes our products more attractive which leads to better prospects for the manufacturers and providers of UK goods and services.

The fall in the value of the pound should not be underestimated. In 2015 the British spent £39 bn on holidays or foreign travel.

Price of imported goods is rising and salaries are not keeping up.

The confidence of foreign investors in the British economy is draining away. Due in part to the political instability and the anti- foreigner rhetoric of Brexit ministers.But most of all a fear of a hard Brexit.

Britain is throwing away one of its most valuable assets - its reputation.

(Dunt2016)

jalima exports? So it has been suggested that a weak pound will invigorate exports as British products fall in price abroad. In fact this is not happening. The reason that many are made from imported raw materials. Few manufacturers are completely insulated from sterlings slide

I've just signed a letter asking for election candidates to support foreign aid.
It is being organised by Global Citizen.
Mayhem thinks that being a global citizen is being a citizen of nowhere. However she wants there to be a global Britain.
Something wrong there.

The Footsie is a good indicator of economic health. If business confidence was so low then why are people rushing to invest in UK stocks and shares?
The low pound makes us attractive to tourists too- a major industry in itself.
You really won't convince me that 'the economy is broken'!

The footsie represents companies largely based outside the U.K.

The economy is not broken Jane it's just that some seem to want to view it that way.

I would think to make a quick buck Jane.

Cars which are assembled in UK are made from parts all manufactured in the EU - 6,000 of them per car. These parts cross to and from the EU several times during the construction of a car - the higher price of these parts renders the finished cars non competitive. This is just one example.

I have to be honest and say that, watching the presentation of the IFS report in full, I do not feel very cheerful about the future as part of the growing older cohort which is frequently mentioned in the address.

The summary of the Conservative manifesto was:

The Conservative manifesto appears to be selling a 'steady as she goes' prospectus but that does not mean no change from today because the Conservatives, in government, have already laid down big policy plans. It means big cuts in welfare; it means another parliament of austerity for the public services including an incredibly challenging period for the NHS, and real cuts to per pupil funding in schools and it is not clear that these plans would be deliverable. Barely two months after the 2015 General Election the Conservatives announced spending plans that were less tight than the ones that were set out in their manifesto – maybe they would do that again. I (Deputy IFS) would also not bet against a Conservative government finding some additional tax raising measures.

The Footsie is so not an indicator of our economic health - whoever told you that?

Perhaps the reason why it's not an indicator of our economic health needs spelling out, Fitzy

Sorry, Rigby

(I don't know why I get you two muddled. I do apologise)

The Economist thinks that Mayhem is being given a blank cheque.

"The social-care proposal is not the only part of the manifesto which looks a bit half-baked. There is no detail on the extent of the proposed cuts to winter-fuel allowance, which are supposed to fund social care. The manifesto is silent on plans for income tax (most people suspect that increases are on the way). And there is no acknowledgment that the pledge to cut net migration by nearly two-thirds would have big fiscal costs. It is a blank cheque from a party in little doubt that the public will sign it."

Hopefully the public know better than to sign it now.

The Tories cant be trusted with the economy or Brexit.

Britain is at the bottom if the G7 in the growth table

Price rises post Brexit are beginni g to bite.

Consummer spending is becoming more cautious and signs of slowing.

We are back in UK at the moment having last visited nine months ago - we have noticed how the shops and supermarkets are much emptier than before and also how in some places the range of goods for sale has greatly decreased. More empty premises leaving some town centres looking sad.

Apparently - and the journalists may have got it wrong - May will spend the next week attacking Corbyn personally. Perhaps we need to look at the past for the reason why.