ill be interested to see how osborne comes accross, personally i cant stand the man, he does seem like a real life dim nice but dim

vince cable hes a financial guru apparently but again gets my working class hackles up hes just too posh

darling, he came accross very well in the budget but, eyebrows aside, he seems a bit odd

financial policy will matter more than ever in this election

will this debate
a) make a difference to how people vote
b) be anything other than a staged, faux debate trotting out the same pr cooked up soundbites
c) actually make any difference whatsoever seeing as no politician is obliged or it would seem inclined top keep any of his pre-election pledges

vince cable he's a financial guru apparently

no he's not.

He's managed to trot together enough Fisher Price Financial words to convince the vast proportion of the rest of the country who are financially illiterate and utterly ill-informed that he knows all about it. This is the same guy that was moaning that hedge funds had made money shorting bank stocks because the 'government and taxpayers were supporting them'. Which of course is not what someone wants if they're short on bank stocks, they want the government to let the bank go to the wall!

I expect Darling to win the cerebral argument, Vince to win the idiot masses and Osborne to underline just how technically untrained and inexperienced he is.

With any luck, that will give Dave the final nudge to drop his chum and slip into a nice pair of Hush Puppies and spark up a Monte.

He's managed to trot together enough Fisher Price Financial words to convince the vast proportion of the rest of the country who are financially illiterate and utterly ill-informed that he knows all about it.

I couldn't agree with you more Stoner.

As a financially illiterate myself, even I, could work out that Brown's claim of "no return to boom and bust" was so obviously, complete bollox.

And you don't need a degree in economics to work out that house prices cannot increase at a faster rate than wages indefinitely…….so eventually, the shit is going to hit the fan.

Thank you Vince, for stating the bleedin' obvious.

Ive even tried reading his book "The Storm".

It's unmentionable.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/liberaldemocrats/7534160/Vince-Cable-apologises-for-Treasury-boast.html

hubristic ****t

well i thought vince came across best

good on specific details where the others were vague,
good at rattling off facts in a statesmeanlike manner

darling
came across very well considering hes an incumbent overseeing such a big debt rise, he seemed intelligent and conscientous

osbourne not as bad as i thought, seemed out of his depth as a debater and a finance guy compared to the other 2, bizarely wearing far too much makeup!

and slip into a nice pair of Hush Puppies and spark up a Monte.

😆
Hell yes…!

Vince came across as the only one willing to be slightly frank with the public, this made the other two look like camera playing idiots.

I usually can't even begin to understand why anyone in their right mind might think "Ooh, I think I'm going to vote Labour".

But then I see Osborne and I begin to sympathise with the view.

[edit] but only for a minute. I hope the Labour party get their ar#es kicked out of office in disgrace.

D,ONT BELIEVE THE HYPE.OH YE.

I still think this whole 'efficiency savings' wheeze of Osbornes is pie-in-the-sky nonesnse. The idea that they're going to save billions by buying cheaper biscuits and not spending so much on paper-clips is just laughable

The tories must really think we're all absolute idiots

binners, what do you think about the self same "efficiency savings" of Darling and Brown? Also "pie-in-the-sky nonesnse"? (sic).

There are savings to be made. There may well be hard things to dig up, but as you say, let's start with the biscuits and paper clips. There's a lot of waste in the public sector which needs to be cut down. Much of the private sector has already made steps in this, cutting down on travel costs etc, so why not the public sector?

Or is it only nonesnse (sic) when a Conservative suggests it?

Tory plans in full (courtesy of the Daily Mash).

What I particularly like (and cannot believe Osborne didnt point out) is how a pledge not to raise taxes, has been presented as a promise to cut taxes 😯

Of course, Vince can make promises, he's got no chance whatsoever of having to fulfil them…

CF. Couldn't agree with you more fella. Lets be honest – the choice at this election is as grim as I've seen it in my life.

The Tory's are saying they're going to slash waste by the paper-clips and biscuits methods. They're not. They're going to take an axe to public services

I suspect it'll be more effective than Brown/Darlings 'lets move 3000 civil servants out of Whitehall to Tyneside or somewhere. Yes lets. Given this governments record, whats the chance of that saving any money at all. Let alone Billions

And as far as waste in the public sector is concerned. I've worked for a local council on a contract basis once. I was absolutely gob-smacked with the waste. It was an absolute scandal. Truly unbelievable

"Public Sector Waste" covers a multitude of sins.

For the Tories it's solved by firing people and freezing salaries, although I suspect a Labour administration would do exactly the same.

For everyone else it means "spending £4bn on a computer system that doesn't work", or "using the internal mail system to post fine china to a relative at the other end of the country".

[edit] the latter occurrence has been witnessed first hand by a friend.

osborne had plenty of chances to call darling on labours failings but seemed to miss most of them

Ah, the usual suspects, and the usual attacks on the public sector. 🙄

the point is none of them gave any specifics on what or indeed how theyd cut public sector 'waste'

El-bent. Are you saying the present Public Sector could possibly be described as 'efficient'? Seriously?

I think the major problem is that George Osbourne, slightly, only very slightly, looks like Piers Morgan.

I have a number of friends who've both worked in the public sector and worked for it as contractors. Both groups were staggered by the wastage of public cash and the attitudes of some of the management towards spending.

I can't say fairer than that… I'd rather see workplace practice tightened than see services slashed.

The tories are promising tax cuts as of todays policies. They are also promising no cuts in all the main spending areas of government spending ( NHS education and defence) and to decrease government debt – this simply does not add up. Osbourne must think we are stupid.

As for efficiency savings – they are there but a tiny part of the budget. Most areas have been under efficiency savings pressure for years – enough to make a significant difference is simply pie in the sky – they need to be honest – cuts in public spending mean cuts in services.

Cutting spending now is the wrong thing anyway. It will make the chances of returning to recession much greater – the "double dip" Se the 30s, the 80s and keynes for proof

In this instance I have to agree with TandemJeremy.

>they need to be honest – cuts in public spending mean cuts in services.

You think only the tories would cut services ?

allthepies, didn't you know?
Conservative cuts = WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! EVIL TORIES KILL NHS!
Labour cuts = Sensible and rational approach to the deficit.

😉

El-bent. Are you saying the present Public Sector could possibly be described as 'efficient'? Seriously?

Binners, I would ask you to re-interpret what I said, but PJM1974 describes my view quite well.

I'd rather see workplace practice tightened than see services slashed.

Albeit there will be cuts beyond just "efficiency savings", I was actually pointing out the political mindset of those who are chomping at the bit to slash and burn public services beyond what would be necessary to achieve a reduction in public sector spending.

CFH: Ah yes, thanks for clarifying 🙂

Of course, Vince can make promises, he's got no chance whatsoever of having to fulfil them…

You are obviously not paying much attention to the opinion polls ratty. Whilst it well be true that Cable has little chance of fully implementing his economic policies, he might yet be in a position to make certain demands on the economic direction which the country takes.

It is certainly possible that after May this year, either Darling or Osborne, will actually have less influence than Cable.

.

El-bent. Are you saying the present Public Sector could possibly be described as 'efficient'?

I have no idea about El-bent, but I wouldn't certainly describe the Public Sector as "efficient".

Anything which hasn't been privatised and is still in the Public Sector, is so, because the Private Sector could simply not cope at all. The Public Sector provides what the Private Sector cannot. I call that efficiency.

I think all politicians should be truthful about public sector "savings". Significant savings mean cuts in services – no matter who does it. I suggest to you that Labour are less likely sack staff however.

They must know that the savings on the scale they claim simply are not there. Yes there are saving s to be made but they are fractional unless you cut significant numbers of frontline staff – cos that is where the bulk of the money goes.

I'd like to see someone explain the tory position of – no cuts the NHS, Education or defense, no tax rises indeed tax cuts and a reduction in the deficit.

Its economic illiteracy.

On the plus side… It didn't seem to go the direction of the US TV debates and "fuzzy math"- which is really what I was expecting, a situation where being qualified and informed (better informed, in that case, on your opponent's own policies than they are never mind your own) ends up counting against you. So that's a relief.

What I thought was amusing (and frustratingly sad at the same time) was earnest Alastair trying to score political points off Osborne about where the money was going to come from to fund the "tax cuts" when the financial cupboard is bare and there isn't a penny spare. And no one thought to ask the obvious question to the chancellor about why the cupboard was bare and where all that lovely money has gone?

Agree with other posters that Cable came across quite well but then I suppose he could also afford to be a bit more honest than the others as he will not actually have to make good on anything he proposes to do. Although I suspect the full Lib Dem financial proposals are not really very good from the couple of snippets that he mentioned.