George Osborne can't do this job.

[aerospacemango]

Nope, we're going to go all "Hunger games" on each other.

 

Excellent! Looking forward to it alrea.....oh wait a minute.... What is Hunger Games? Does it mean we can race through supermarkets stealing food and drink with gay abandon?

 

Damn....wish I paid more attention to popular culture........Err...wait a minute... No, I don't!!

[X-13]

What is Hunger Games? Does it mean we can race through supermarkets stealing food and drink with gay abandon?

 

You're thinking of Supermarket Sweep [with Dale Winton]

[HaleStorm]

Nope, we're going to go all "Hunger games" on each other.

 

Dibs on the bow and arrows...and Jennifer Lawrence for that matter

[sparkeh]

So I watched the statement and thought I would provide a summary for those who were not able to:

 

[Flatpackhamster]

Just like George's then.

 

Osborne is following the Brown government's plan for deficit reduction.

 

 

Way to miss the point though.

[mattx]

Osborne is following the Brown government's plan for deficit reduction.

 

 

Way to miss the point though.

 

So ? Can't he think for himself then ? Brown didn't have a clue, and now this pratt of a Tory Toff does not have a clue. Look at his experience - 1992 he was a data entry clerk. And he also worked for a week at Selfridges, folding towels !! Not exactly a numbers man.

He also tried to get a job in journalism and failed.

And just think this man is running the UKs economy - very VERY frightening.

 

Way to miss the point though.....

 

This man also flipped his second home and claimed £47 for two copies of a DVD of his own speech on value for taxpayers money when he has a personal fortune of 4 million.

 

Way to miss the point though.....

Edited December 5, 2012 by mattx

[localzuk]

Osborne is an idiot, plain and simple. However, he is just a tool of a typical Tory government. My view has changes significantly in the last 2 years about this government. I remember posting saying I supported cutting back on spending, as it was getting out of hand, but the government have taken that cutting back to mean 'slashing anything that helps the poor and helping all their mates in big business'. I had hoped that the Lib Dems would be able to temper this behaviour, but they obviously don't have the stones to do it.

 

The sooner this government is out, the better I think now. I have no idea who I'm going to vote for at the next election though - the Lib Dems have really let me down.

[tech_guy]

Osborne is an idiot, plain and simple. However, he is just a tool of a typical Tory government. My view has changes significantly in the last 2 years about this government. I remember posting saying I supported cutting back on spending, as it was getting out of hand, but the government have taken that cutting back to mean 'slashing anything that helps the poor and helping all their mates in big business'. I had hoped that the Lib Dems would be able to temper this behaviour, but they obviously don't have the stones to do it.

 

The sooner this government is out, the better I think now. I have no idea who I'm going to vote for at the next election though - the Lib Dems have really let me down.

 

You should have ended your post after the word tool....

 

[mattx]

Osborne is an idiot, plain and simple. However, he is just a tool of a typical Tory government. My view has changes significantly in the last 2 years about this government. I remember posting saying I supported cutting back on spending, as it was getting out of hand, but the government have taken that cutting back to mean 'slashing anything that helps the poor and helping all their mates in big business'. I had hoped that the Lib Dems would be able to temper this behaviour, but they obviously don't have the stones to do it.

 

The sooner this government is out, the better I think now. I have no idea who I'm going to vote for at the next election though - the Lib Dems have really let me down.

 

I'll end up doing something like the person who spoilt their paper during the police commissioner elections did. Crossing everyone else off and writing 'Batman' or 'Officer Crabtree'

 

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/865900/thumbs/o-A7XVFPACUAA9ZCS-570.jpg?4

[sonofsanta]

At this point, spoiling my paper is the only way I can go. Lib Dems have completely sold their souls for a shot at an AV referendum that they then forgot to campaign for. One of the recent by-elections, their candidate came eighth, so I think they're down and out for a generation now tbh.

 

Unless they make Vince Cable leader of the party, I'd be tempted then.

 

Other than that, I can't even implement my usual system of "which of these is the least evil/incompetent/offensive". Our current political class, the real fifty shades of grey: uninspiring, depressing, indistinguishable

[rich_tech]

amusing watching George on bbc news this morning before I left the house, people putting it to him how the recession is affecting him directly, response of "hes taken a pay cut in his role" sums a lot of it up about this multi millionaire government, no other struggling for him during this time.

 

Agree on the Liberals though, they have sold their souls here and endorsed and propped up a conservative government

 

I still like the saying that was banded about in the US elections though,

 

"The lesser of two evils when voting, is still an evil choice overall"

 

I honestly think that the political system in this country is knackered though

Edited December 6, 2012 by rich_tech

[localzuk]

amusing watching George on bbc news this morning before I left the house, people putting it to him how the recession is affecting him directly, response of "hes taken a pay cut in his role" sums a lot of it up about this multi millionaire government, no other struggling for him during this time

 

He doesn't seem to understand the concept of being affected. That video earlier shows this - asked how it will change his way of life, he replies that he's losing his child benefit.

 

Does a £300 reduction affect someone earning £100k like it affects a family earning £20k? No. They don't seem to understand or care about this.

[rich_tech]

He doesn't seem to understand the concept of being affected. That video earlier shows this - asked how it will change his way of life, he replies that he's losing his child benefit.

 

Does a £300 reduction affect someone earning £100k like it affects a family earning £20k? No. They don't seem to understand or care about this.

 

Thats the sad thing, your never going to get any sort of realism with the people in government for the majority I think, they seem to live in such a microcosm, detached from the working/under classes as its long since they have been at that level of living/ some have never lived at that level and below of income.

[Roberto]

It amuses me to see people standing up for one party or another as if that would actually make much of a difference.

 

When you vote, you're not voting to determine whether you're going to be screwed by the next govt. or not, you're just picking the brand of lube.

[Pyroman]

YOU'RE ALL MISSING THE POINT!

 

It's about divide and conquer, while you lot are on about benefit scroungers and fuel duty they are free to give massive bailouts to their friends in the banks with no strings attached, they are free to continue cyber warfare and ACTUAL warfare spending billions of pounds. The cuts are harsh becuase the govt. wants them to be. Do yourselves a favour and google what Iceland have done to sort out this problem, arrest the politicians and bankers and hold them to account rather than what we have allowed OUR govt to get away with. and it's not a party thing, you don't think labour owe massive favours and money to rich doners?

 

At this point it's time for revolution

[featured_spectre]

In doing what Iceland has done, they have made things worse in the long run, nobody will lend them money should they need it and financial aid in times of disaster has been cut by 95% or so (If another volcano goes off, they'll be up a creek). I agree we should fix the issue from the top down but no government has the stones and anyone that starts will face a "human rights" issue in some form or another.

[Grey-gear]

Maybe it's time to move away from party politics, all they seem to do is pass blame and every Wednesday get in a massive shouting match with each other, I have seen primary school students have a more civil argument than half of the time you see the prime minister questions and other times they are sitting down shouting at each other.

[broc]

Party politics is too deeply in-grained now, it has become almost tribal...... Parliament is like football derby day, every day .......

 

It is a shame they cannot agree that what we 'the people' need now is for our political leaders to set aside their petty squabbles & blinkered dogma and unite in tackling the issues that face everyone. Having said that, they are so far removed from 'the people' they probably cannot grasp the impact of their actions.........

 

You have to be well heeled to become a career politician; even those from humble beginnings soon forget the hardships they faced & many of them have never experienced the worry & anxiety about losing their jobs, being able to feed their family, or stay warm during the winter.

[Pyroman]

In doing what Iceland has done, they have made things worse in the long run, nobody will lend them money should they need it and financial aid in times of disaster has been cut by 95% or so (If another volcano goes off, they'll be up a creek). I agree we should fix the issue from the top down but no government has the stones and anyone that starts will face a "human rights" issue in some form or another.

 

They won't get money lent to them by BENT bankers because they stood up to them. They have a true peoples government, they put the question to a referendum and the people said no way are we paying back £21,000 each to sort out the mess the bankers caused.

[Flatpackhamster]

So ? Can't he think for himself then ?

 

If you were capable of thinking beyond soundbites, you'd probably be asking the same question I was, which is "Why is it that the coalition and the Brown government's economic management are identical?"

 

Brown didn't have a clue, and now this pratt of a Tory Toff does not have a clue. Look at his experience - 1992 he was a data entry clerk. And he also worked for a week at Selfridges, folding towels !! Not exactly a numbers man.

He also tried to get a job in journalism and failed.

And just think this man is running the UKs economy - very VERY frightening.

 

Chancellors don't run the economy.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Flatpackhamster
I decided not to enter a battle of wits with someone so poorly armed.

[mattx]

If you were capable of thinking beyond soundbites,

Flatpackhamster, why do you even get up in the morning ?

Edited December 6, 2012 by mattx

[localzuk]

Chancellors don't run the economy.

 

Huh? 'The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters'... So, in a way, they do... That is their job, to make sure the economy works.

 

(Yes, that is from Wikipedia, but its as good a source as any for a definition of this job).

[Flatpackhamster]

Flatpackhamster, why do you even get up in the morning ?

 

Oh look. A soundbite.

[Flatpackhamster]

Huh? 'The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters'... So, in a way, they do... That is their job, to make sure the economy works.

 

(Yes, that is from Wikipedia, but its as good a source as any for a definition of this job).

 

The civil service runs the economy, in the same way that they run the whole country.

 

Look, your average minister is in place for 18 months, tops. He or she barely has time to get to know the ropes before there's an election or a reshuffle. Whereas your mandarin - he's had 30+ years of learning the system. He knows how everything works and how to get what he wants.

 

A chancellor is often in place for longer. Clever chancellors, like Kenneth Clarke or Geoffrey Howe, bend the civil service to their will. Other chancellors - such as Gordon Brown - stuff the civil service with their cronies, which achieves a similar thing but also means that the Treasury is currently full of Labour staffers doing their damndest to shaft the Tories.

 

Ministers sign what's put in front of them. They either have to be very forthright, devious or intelligent to get around doing what the civil service thinks is in the best interest of the country. A few manage it - Gove is a rare example in this parliament of a minister putting his stamp on a department (regardless of whether you agree with what he's doing, or, like MattX, have read in the Guardian that he's a bad man).

[Gibbo]

At last some common sense instead of tabloid-induced rage.