Wot no Budget Thread

[agricola]

I think they may regret it as well.

But you know, Cable is old and bald, he couldn't possibly make a good leader

Indeed, the Lib Dems have a habit of painting themselves into corners like that, loudly complaining that the negative coverage of Ming was because of the media hating old people, and not because large parts of the parliamentary party had been bitching because he was useless; then finding they had a much better leader who was also old.

 

[Jografer]

You have previous

I've got previous....

 

[bluestreak]

Yes. It impacts people lives day to day much more than a lot of the pointless theorising about what happened in 1974 or left wing factions of factions infighting that passes for discussion in the Politics forum.

(I do like reading those threads though)

Close the internet lads, we've been rumbled

 

[Dan U]

Close the internet lads, we've been rumbled

Agricola - I agree, it's a shame for them really. The new guy just seems to be a clone of a clone to me.

 

[Haller]

Clearly a preparatory budget for the 2009 general election.

Doesn't look like anything that to me. Sounds more like the election's still scheduled for 2010.

 

[agricola]

clegg vs huhne

Agricola - I agree, it's a shame for them really. The new guy just seems to be a clone of a clone to me.

 

[Teaboy]

What a crock of shit this budget actually is. Loads of tax hikes on things which are already soaring in price, that should drive inflation nicely. I even feel slightly sorry for the bank of england trying to control inflation with this bunch of greedy twats at the helm.

I particuarly enjoyed the £26M 'to help make homes greener'. What a pathetically small amount that actually is, so small it won't make a jot of difference and is essentially wasted. Still at least he managed to find £2 billion to fight pointless wars, I would hate to think we'd have to cut back on invading countries that are no threat to us.

 

[treelover]

I notice this gets no mention on the BBC coverage, etc, Purnell is a vicious little shit, it is a race to the bottom, by NL and the Tories, who blinks first.


what are the HB changes?


From October 2009, rules for housing and council tax benefit will mean families on benefit are better off in work.


• From April 2010, all long-term recipients of incapacity benefit will attend work capacity programmes.

 

[The Black Hand]

I've got previous....

Yup.

 

[The Black Hand]

A) From October 2009, rules for housing and council tax benefit will mean families on benefit are better off in work.


B) • From April 2010, all long-term recipients of incapacity benefit will attend work capacity programmes.

A is bad enough.

But B is shit beyond belief.

 

[DotCommunist]

isn't it just. and people think this shit is a good idea.

 

[SpookyFrank]

-From April, key workers, such as teachers and nurses, will be able to borrow money from shared equity schemes.

Well I'll be buggered, that actually sounds like an good idea

The rest of the stuff seems pretty bog standard neoliberal crap though, and if there's any mention of sorting out the ridiculous mess the NHS is in thanks to the privatisation-lite system of competing health trusts then I didn't spot it

 

[_angel_]

I notice this gets no mention on the BBC coverage, etc, Purnell is a vicious little shit, it is a race to the bottom, by NL and the Tories, who blinks first.


what are the HB changes?


From October 2009, rules for housing and council tax benefit will mean families on benefit are better off in work.


• From April 2010, all long-term recipients of incapacity benefit will attend work capacity programmes.

At the same time as announcing there are likely to be job losses and greater unemployment.. why are they doing this now? Surely they're setting themselves up for a massive fail?

 

[Badgers]

bodger painted badger into a corner

Call out...

Bin / Ban/ Etc...

 

[agricola]

Well I'll be buggered, that actually sounds like an good idea

Its a bit odd the way this was worded, but it appears that this just means they will be eligible for a loan under shared ownership if they can afford 50% of the cost (the current is to be able to afford 75%).

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

I notice this gets no mention on the BBC coverage, etc, Purnell is a vicious little shit, it is a race to the bottom, by NL and the Tories, who blinks first.

what are the HB changes?

From October 2009, rules for housing and council tax benefit will mean families on benefit are better off in work.

• From April 2010, all long-term recipients of incapacity benefit will attend work capacity programmes.

The first one is a proposal to allow child benefit to be ignored for housing benefit purposes, which i think is a good idea.

The second is that all existing IB claimants will be subject to the new Work Capability Assessment (WCA), that will be used to assess entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA). As far as i can tell, provided people pass the new test, they won't have to undergo any of the other work-related aspects of ESA, unless they volunteer to do a Pathways to Work programme.

However, the new WCA is demonstrably more difficult to pass than the current PCA, so i think that it is inevitable that IB claimant numbers will fall as more people are shoved onto jsa. That's how they aim to achieve the ambition of reducing the numbers on IB by 1million, quite simply.

 

[_angel_]

The first one is a proposal to allow child benefit to be ignored for housing benefit purposes, which i think is a good idea.

The second is that all existing IB claimants will be subject to the new Work Capability Assessment (WCA), that will be used to assess entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA). As far as i can tell, provided people pass the new test, they won't have to undergo any of the other work-related aspects of ESA, unless they volunteer to do a Pathways to Work programme.

However, the new WCA is demonstrably more difficult to pass than the current PCA, so i think that it is inevitable that IB claimant numbers will fall as more people are shoved onto jsa. That's how they aim to achieve the ambition of reducing the numbers on IB by 1million, quite simply.

Then the unemployment rate goes up: they said themselves conditions in job market are going to be hard. Why make things harder for a) a group of people probably too sick to work and whom aren't in the whole going to be an employers first choice and b) make themselves look back when the ranks of the 'official' unemployed (ie JSA claimants) is swelled?

 

[jiggajagga]

Then the unemployment rate goes up: they said themselves conditions in job market are going to be hard. Why make things harder for a) a group of people probably too sick to work and whom aren't in the whole going to be an employers first choice and b) make themselves look back when the ranks of the 'official' unemployed (ie JSA claimants) is swelled?

I've been saying for years on these boards that the Welfare State is under attack like never before and we are just letting it happen. Keep the pressure on your MP. Let him/her know you think he/she is a cunt if they back Freudians slipup on this evil reform.
When its all gone and youv'e broke a leg at work and you are left to starve you will all say " How did that happen then?"

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

Then the unemployment rate goes up: they said themselves conditions in job market are going to be hard. Why make things harder for a) a group of people probably too sick to work and whom aren't in the whole going to be an employers first choice and b) make themselves look back when the ranks of the 'official' unemployed (ie JSA claimants) is swelled?

the government acknowledged that ib reforms will increase the unemployment count in their last green paper in december, i think it was. fuck knows what they're up to tbf, i need some time to think about it all. one clear aim is to reduce benefit spending cos jsa claimants get less than ib claimants.