What would you like to see in the budget.

Norah

growstuff But do you know how much the country was paying? Were you personally aware of the payments and how much your contribution was?

Yes and no.

I knew payments, at the time, it wasn't secret. It was a burden.

I have no idea to cost per person.

So you have no idea how much of a "burden" it was to individuals?

Norah

growstuff

And how do you think the Allies would have won WW2, if the US hadn't supplied equipment? Did you expect them to provide it for free?

I'm aware LL is unrelated to fiscal quandary of today.

I was stating my opinion.

I knew of "large deficit after the war, large LL sums being repaid"

It's also my opinion the equipment should have been supplied free - they kept yet another war off their shores, didn't they?

I doubt if the Axis would have invaded the US and won.

And no more foreign aid - including Ukraine.

I would like to see MP's expenses reduced and perks removed - absolutely no more subsidised bars or restaurants for them. Until they give up these benefits, they are in no moral position to impose cuts on the rest of us

This!

I would like to see the covid fraud investigated. Maybe we should put as much effort into this as we did into "partygate" and other distractions. The individuals who awarded duff contracts to their mates should be made criminally bankrupt.

Remember than the bankers have never been punished for the 2008/9 crash.

I wonder how much tax is going up to and why they wont close tax loopholes at the same time?

growstuff

And how do you think the Allies would have won WW2, if the US hadn't supplied equipment? Did you expect them to provide it for free?

I'm aware LL is unrelated to fiscal quandary of today.

I was stating my opinion.

I knew of "large deficit after the war, large LL sums being repaid"

It's also my opinion the equipment should have been supplied free - they kept yet another war off their shores, didn't they?

Have one less child, pay more tax, travel less, have less meat, stay at home, and protect the NHS" - is that the message?

Gawd it’s depressing.
I can’t bring myself to listen on Thursday.

Mind you, Hunt irritates he hell out of me so that doesn’t help.

High tax coupled with increasingly appalling public services. No-one will accept this Jeremy.

And I’m not sure that his use of the word 'sacrifice' for political reasons on Remembrance Sunday was necessarily the wisest choice.

But there we go, this government and wise choices don't go together very often.

growstuff But do you know how much the country was paying? Were you personally aware of the payments and how much your contribution was?

Yes and no.

I knew payments, at the time, it wasn't secret. It was a burden.

I have no idea to cost per person.

would like to see the annual payments made to ex prime ministers either significantly reduced or removed after a period of 3 years. I would like to see the allowances given for attendances at the House of Lords to be reduced ,also perks in the house for meals and drinks they earn enough.

I’m thick sorry. Who do we and all the other countries owe the money too??

And how do you think the Allies would have won WW2, if the US hadn't supplied equipment? Did you expect them to provide it for free?

Norah

Dinahmo, Given the large deficit after the war, can anyone actually remember being aware that large sums were being repaid? Unless you held War stocks that is.

Yes I remember. It wasn't until quite recently that the debt of lend lease was cleared (2006?). I thought, perhaps wrongly, it was too large a burden and was very hard on the country and economy. However, I suppose, that was mostly from lessons in school and attitude of my parents.

But do you know how much the country was paying? Were you personally aware of the payments and how much your contribution was?

Incidentally, a deficit and debt aren't the same things.

Dinahmo, Given the large deficit after the war, can anyone actually remember being aware that large sums were being repaid? Unless you held War stocks that is.

Yes I remember. It wasn't until quite recently that the debt of lend lease was cleared (2006?). I thought, perhaps wrongly, it was too large a burden and was very hard on the country and economy. However, I suppose, that was mostly from lessons in school and attitude of my parents.

Grantanow

I would like Labour and the Tories to commit to rejoining the EU and the single market. Hunt admits Brexit imposes costs so why not change that?

I would like to see that happen too.

Realistically though, I would also like to see a commitment to the NHS, backed up with a recognition that older people can't be expected to start paying medical insurance now, after a lifetime of paying NI and tax. Similarly, as older people are far less likely to be able to supplement their pensions with earned income, I would like to see a firm commitment to keeping the state pension. The constant politicising of it, and using it to set generations against one another is wearing. I don't even have my pension yet and I feel like a pawn.

I like the idea of a separately-funded NHS, but I guess that is as unlikely as rejoining the EU, as it would leave fewer opportunities for unscrupulous money making.

Back in 2010 in the run up to the GE the Tories were banging on about the National Debt and telling people that their children and grandchildren would be paying for it in later years. Prior to that I don't recall the Debt being a GE topic.

At the same time journalists, economists and academics were pointing out that other countries had higher debt ratios than the UK. These were:

UK 69%
France 70%
US 78%
Italy 112%
Japan 166%

Germany, of course, had a lower percentage at 52%

This is a little off topic but still relevant because many people are still scared by it and I don't think that they need to be. Given the large deficit after the war, can anyone actually remember being aware that large sums were being repaid? Unless you held War stocks that is.

Riverwalk my sentiment too...had to switch over ..and don't know why but his face annoys me and of course, what comes out of his mouth!

I would like Labour and the Tories to commit to rejoining the EU and the single market. Hunt admits Brexit imposes costs so why not change that?

MerylStreep

Here’s another good piece.

morningporridge.com/blog/blains-morning-porridge/the-uk-out-the-unfunded-spending-fire-and-into-the-austerity-frying-pan/

Thanks for that link, MerylStreep. A good article.

This is, I think, a key paragraph:

Blyth goes on to show how Austerity doesn’t work, it increases inequality, and that it can’t work in a competitive global economy where prices and currencies are volatile. He asks: Is everybody supposed to run current account surpluses? If so, with whom—Martians? And if everybody does indeed try to run a savings surplus, what else can be the outcome but a permanent global depression?

This long, but worth a read, article provides a detailed explanation of that statement:

fromtone.com/why-running-a-budget-surplus-is-a-bad-idea/

The author starts with this analogy:
To understand how something like savings can be so different at the level of an entire economy compared to a single household consider this imaginary scenario. You want to save up some money and so you decide to reduce your spending for several months and stuff the money under your mattress. As your stash of saved money gets bigger you get wealthier. That may make a lot of sense at an individual level but consider what happens if everybody were to do this at once. Everybody simultaneously decides to stop spending a big chunk of their income and instead saves it by stuffing it under their mattress. Suddenly because people everywhere are spending less and saving more the sales of goods across the entire economy drops. As a result businesses start to contract or go bust. This means workers are sacked, causing their spending to drop, causing more businesses to go bust. The economy starts to get smaller. As you can see at the level of the entire economy increasing savings can actually cause a lot of problems. Too much savings can reduce economic activity and reduce wealth.

Then extrapolates it to 'what if countries all did the same?'

So why cannot everybody be like Germany and run a trade surplus and run a budget surplus? The problems is that not everyone can run a trade surplus at the same time because every trade surplus has to be matched by a matching deficit somewhere in the global economy. And deficit countries are not just importing another countries exports but they are also importing unemployment as their domestic demand is used to buy goods from abroad instead of keeping its own workers employed.

While this is covering the topic of countries running budget surpluses it applies to a great extent to countries 'balancing the books^ (which is the story that the government will be feeding us, we have to 'balance the books'). Balancing the books will just cause stagnation in the economy because it will inhibit both the public and private investment needed to 'grow' the economy.

It would also seem to me that the more that cutting spending slows growth, and leads to failed businesses and unemployment, the worse our GDP will be and the bigger the deficit figure, as a percentage of GDP, will become. Which is not the stated aim of 'austerity! Austerity falsely promises quite the opposite...

Gawd, it's depressing watching Hunt being interviewed.

Here’s another good piece.

morningporridge.com/blog/blains-morning-porridge/the-uk-out-the-unfunded-spending-fire-and-into-the-austerity-frying-pan/

It almost certainly won’t be listened to by Sunak, but the message is definitely spreading, and people are beginning to understand how a recession should be dealt with in order to encourage growth.

The Tories myth of “black holes” etc will be recognised as just that - a myth.

The choice is entirely political, although why they wish to deepen the recession is beyond me.

Cameron’s austerity achieved absolutely nothing except underfunding of our public services which has resulted in their rundown, leaving us now with a colossal bill and crappy services.

He does Maizie. But then he is an economist and not an accountant. Sometimes I feel the treasury is full of accountants for whom balancing the books day to day is their life's work.

This guy knows what he's talking about:

twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1591203593335738368

I would like to see the annual payments made to ex prime ministers either significantly reduced or removed after a period of 3 years. I would like to see the allowances given for attendances at the House of Lords to be reduced and for removal of the subsidies for food and drink in the Houses of Parliament.

I would like to see a firm commitment to the abolition of off-shore tax havens (which I believe was agreed to but which has not materialised)..

I would like to see the top income tax level increased for people earning over £150,000 p.a., a review of the various loopholes that exist in our tax sytem which are supposed to encourage investment and entrepreneurship but which often provide neither.