Gordon is a Moron: The Definitive and Objective Analysis of Gordon Brown's Decade as Chancellor of the Exchequer
Barnacle Bill (Free subscription) | 13 hours ago
I was intrigued this morning to see the name of Spencer Perceval in one of the comments left on the TimesOnlIne article about OGUL's political chicanery over the appointment of Baroness Who? by the European Commission. Whilst I did do English History at good old Wellington College up to the Corn Laws, along with the American Civil War, the name was not immediately familiar but I had that troubling...
The Grumpy Spindoctor (Free subscription) | yesterday
'Praised by judges for his handling of the economic crisis.' No disrespect intended but.. the Herald Scottish Politician of the Year awards are a bit of a joke. Well, the judges must be having a laugh if they can give John Swinney the Scottish Politician of the year award for his 'handling of the economic recession. Have they forgotten the dogs breakfast that was the Local Income Tax or the SFT? Or...
BLANKNEY JOURNAL (Free subscription) | yesterday
On the 20 January 2009, I published, in the Journal, a poem entitled Blankney Masquerade. It recounts an evening in January 1749 when a masquerade ball was held in Blankney Hall to mark a family wedding. One of the principal guests was Sir Francis Dashwood, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer. Today's leading article, Hellfire Club, features among others the same Sir Francis Dashwood, hence the Blankney...
Reflections (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Dear Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, We call on you to draw up a plan for a windfall tax on banks The tax-payer spent billions saving the banks, placing a major strain on public finances If banks can now make billions in profit and award huge bonuses they can afford to start paying back the money spent to save the sector The entire banking sector benefited from the Government propping...
The Telegraph (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Alistair Darling is losing the argument over how to deal with Britain's terrifying public debt almost as quickly as the deficit itself is widening. The fact that our public finances deteriorated nearly twice as fast as expected last month means we can't wait any longer for the Government to take action.
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Richard Lambert says even the Conservatives are not ambitious enough about cutting the Britain's deficit Richard Lambert can see for himself the hole into which public money is being poured. Outside the CBI's offices in London's Centre Point, excavation work is under way on the £16bn Crossrail project to link Heathrow to the City and Canary Wharf. The leader of Britain's premier employers' organisation...
Devon and Cornwall Viewpoint (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
I had no real interest in watching the Queen's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament; as most commentators are pointing out it is nakedly political and, no doubt, the Tories would similarly play politics if they were in Labour's position and close to a General Election. What particularly made me write the headline above though was the inclusion in the Government's new programme of a 'Fiscal Responsibility...
Paul Owen (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
By and large the media has given a resounding thumbs down to the Queen's Speech yesterday. Most have seen it for what it is: a desperate last gamble by a cynical and hapless Prime Minister who is out of ideas and nearly out of time. And its getting worse for Brown. Labour's own peers are savaging one of the key policies on care home provision. Watch while the government slowly and not very imperceptibly...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
As budget deficit hits £11.4bn, economic thinktank expects a weaker upturn for Britain over next two years The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development today warned Alistair Darling that he has no scope to afford pre-election giveaways, as official figures revealed that last month was the worst October on record for the public finances. With the chancellor putting the finishing...
The Economist (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
An exercise in bank-bashing which may just please consumers CRACKING down on financial services was always likely to be a highlight of the Queen’s Speech, which sets out the government’s legislative priorities until the general election next year. With the cost of bailing out banks approaching GBP90 billion so far, lending to businesses still anaemic and bonuses once more rising, bank-bashing...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
National debt soars to 59.2% of GDP, the highest since records began in the 1970s Britain's budget deficit blew out to the worst ever reading for an October last month, suffering a much bigger than expected shortfall of £11.4bn, official data showed today. The Office for National Statistics also said that the national debt soared to 59.2% of gross domestic product in October, the highest since...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Voluntary compliance will not work, City grandee tells chancellor Banks will be forced to reveal more details about the pay of their "high end" staff under legislation to be unveiled in the new financial services bill which will be published tomorrow. Sir David Walker, the City grandee conducting a review of corporate governance in the banking sector, warned the chancellor that his attempts...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Provides statutory basis for reining in government's spiralling deficit and debt The government's new fiscal responsibility bill will provide a "firm and binding statutory basis" for reining in the government's spiralling deficit and debt in the wake of the credit crunch and recession, the Queen said. The bill will commit the government to halving the deficit – which is heading for...
Scotsman.com (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
HOLD fire on the recovery celebrations. Chancellor Alistair Darling may be blowing up balloons in preparation for a new year party to mark the end of the recession, but the Sc
Denverstrope (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Stating the bleedin' obvious is something that must be intensely admired in these days of psychologically disturbed political denial. Edmund Conway, an economics journalist who has, it seems to me, flip-flopped over the foolhardy, potentially disastrous response by this Labour government to Brown's bust and subsequent recession, as much as virtually every other economics journalist, has actually flagged-up...
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