Send in the clowns...

[Pete]

Made me chuckle... 

[therealjr]

and yet a survey on News at Ten tonight reckons the public trust Osbourne and Cameron more than they do Milliband and Balls to run the economy.

Which unless they took the survey on the streets of Kensington is a sobering thought

[Big Dave]

and yet a survey on News at Ten tonight reckons the public trust Osbourne and Cameron more than they do Milliband and Balls to run the economy.

Which unless they took the survey on the streets of Kensington is a sobering thought

Why should anyone trust Milliband and Balls? Because they happen to hold office in Party L instead of Party C? I haven't heard how they intend to deal with the current financial situation so until I do, there's as big a '?' over their capability as over anyone else.

[therealjr]

and there in lies the issue because if you go back to the general election EVERY party was saying we have to deal with the national DEBT but NO party was saying how they were going to do it. It will be exactly the same next time.

[Big Dave]

Both the Labour and Tory 2010 manifestos included details of how they intended to deal with the economy.

[Pete]

Steady on gents, I only posted it for a laugh... 

[therealjr]

Sorry Pete!!

Both the Labour and Tory 2010 manifestos included details of how they intended to deal with the economy.

I think we've had this one before. The Labour manifesto mentioned the timescale (ie later rather than sooner) but no real plans as to how.
The Tory manifesto included broad brush statements like 'we intend to cut public spending' but gave no specifics of what how and when.

[Big Dave]

Sorry Pete!!

I think we've had this one before. The Labour manifesto mentioned the timescale (ie later rather than sooner) but no real plans as to how.
The Tory manifesto included broad brush statements like 'we intend to cut public spending' but gave no specifics of what how and when.

Is this specific enough? It's from the 2010 Tory manifesto:

We will start by cutting a net £6 billion of
wasteful departmental spending in the financial
year 2010/11. In addition, we will make the
following savings:
• freeze public sector pay for one year in
2011, excluding the one million lowest paid
workers;
• hold a review to bring forward the date at
which the state pension age starts to rise to
66, although it will not be sooner than 2016
for men and 2020 for women;
• stop paying tax credits to better-off families
with incomes over £50,000;
• cut government contributions to Child Trust
Funds for all but the poorest third of families
and families with disabled children;
• cap public sector pensions above £50,000;
• cut Ministers’ pay by 5 per cent, followed by
a five year freeze; and,
• reduce the number of MPs by 10 per cent.
Over the course of a Parliament, we will cut
Whitehall policy, funding and regulation
costs by a third, saving £2 billion a year, and
save a further £1 billion a year from quango
bureaucracy.

[Pete]

Dave, how does that list compare with what they actually did/are doing?

[Big Dave]

No idea, I've become very disillusioned with party politics in recent years. I just posted it to show the 'broad Tory brush' was actually quite detailed.

[Pete]

Gotcha.

In a world run first and foremost by the super-rich - most of whom have tax avoidance down to a fine art - and the complete disregard for people, their lives and their living conditions, I have to agree with you - I too am more than a little disillusioned with party politics...

 

[therealjr]

on Dave's list
Point 1 has no specific detail
Point 3 doesn't save money indeed holding a review costs extra money
the last point has no specific detail

There's no detail in the 'specific points' of how much will actually be saved. For all we know the entire list might only add up to £1m

[Big Dave]

There's 20 more pages in the 2010 Tory manifesto about how they would tackle the economy. The Labour manifesto just talks in general terms about Tough Choices, Rebuilding our Banking System, Restoring full Employment with little or no information about how these will be achieved and it's all lumped together under 'Growth'.

For example:"But if we make the right decisions as a country in the coming years – through a new industrial policy, stronger infrastructure and a renewed  partnership between business and government –  we can be leaders in the emerging industries of the future."

That's all very vague and wouldn't compel me to support the party in whose manifesto it appeared. Much as a I loathe the Tories, I wasn't encouraged by the Labour or Lib Dem manifestos either.

To me, those Laurel and Hardy hats sit equally well on the heads of the leader and (shadow) chancellor from any party at the moment, none give me confidence in their abilities to govern the country.