Well? Or is it not that sort of statement today? S-max is near empty so will be a £85 fill anyway.

Cheers

go ahead, after all the increase is due in january

looks ok, unless you are rich – can someone explain the pension implications please?

Here’s a summary from Sky news:

Most working age benefits, including Jobseeker’s Allowance, will rise by 1% in each of the next three years. Changes to welfare “save £3.7bn by 2015/16”. Child benefit to rise by 1% for two years from April 2014.

:: ISA limit raised to £11,520 and basic state pension to rise 2.5% from April. Public sector workers to see average 1% rise in earnings.

:: National pay arrangement in NHS and prison service to continue, and no changes to civil service arrangements, but greater freedom for schools to set pay in line with performance.

:: Will collect £7bn more in tax than the last Government to tackle “evasion” and loopholes. More resources (£77m) to ensure multinational firms “pay their fair share” and avoidance is reduced.

:: Fuel duty escalator “scrapped”. Planned 3p a litre rise due in January is cancelled.

:: Income tax threshold increased by £235 in 2013. Means no tax paid on earnings under £9,440.

:: “Need to ask more of the better off”: No new homes tax. From 2014/15 the pension lifetime pot relief will fall from £1.5m to £1.25m; annual allowance down from £50,000 to £40,000. This affects top 2% of pension pots.

:: Threshold for 40% rate of income tax to rise by 1% in 2014 and 2015 from £41,450 to £41,865 and then £42,285.

:: Corporation Tax rate cut by further 1% from April 2014.

:: The Bank Levy Rate will be increased to 0.130% next year.

:: Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount to increase by 1% over the same period, reaching £11,100 and Inheritance Tax nil-band rate to rise from £325,000 now to £329,000 in 2015/16.

:: £1bn more for road improvements – upgrading A1, A30, and M25. Funding guarantee for extension to Northern Line tube.

:: £600m more on scientific research infrastructure.

:: £1bn to expand good schools and build more.

:: The deficit has fallen by a quarter in “just two years”. Forecast to fall this year to 6.9% of GDP. Borrowing forecast for 2012/13 is therefore £108bn. It will take one extra year to reach his debt target.

:: Office for Budget Responsibility now forecasts GDP growth -0.1% in 2012, blaming Eurozone crisis. Sees growth of 1.2% in 2013, 2% in 2014 and 2.3% in 2015. OBR expects jobless rate to peak at 8.3% (currently 7.9%).

:: Has delivered £12bn in Whitehall spending cuts. More on the way. Government department resource budgets reduced by 1% next year with schools and hospitals protected.

All we need now is for Fuel prices to regulated and the VAT scrapped on them and I’ll be happy.

Not too bad really. I’m relieved in all honesty.

:: £600m more on scientific research infrastructure.

Win. Now the sector just needs to convince them we need to government funding at the same levels Asia putting in.

I hate the conservatives a tiny bit less now.

From the Russell group

The UK’s investment of 0.56% of public expenditure in higher education is one of the lowest in the OECD. Even including private expenditure on higher education this was still only 1.3% of GDP, well below the OECD average (1.6%), half that of the USA (2.6%) and below South Korea, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Chile, Argentina, Russia, and comparable to India. (Source: OECD education at a glance 2012 (data refer to 2009).
• Over 2010-11: the 24 Russell Group universities accounted for 71% of the IP income generated by UK universities; the estimated turnover from companies spun out from the 24 Russell Group universities was 49% of the total sector; active spin outs from Russell Group universities accounted for 63% of those which survived for three years.

id panic buy anyway
snowmageddon has come!!

i cant see how a 1% increase in adult benefits and childrens from 2014 is a good thing for the poor when inflation is more than double that

nor do i see that 7bn will be recovered from tax evaders

still dont see any real drivers of growth there, though infrastructure and science boosts are welcome!

Nothing unexpected really. Billions more in cuts, and a complete head-in-the-sand failure to acknowledge, never mind address the real problems… a stagnant, flat-lining economy, and falling real-terms incomes

Triple dip recession anyone?

I listened to some of it, and one thing came across clearly…. George Osbourne has actually got the whinniest, most annoying voice in the world

S-max is near empty so will be a £85 fill anyway

So, even if the 3p a litre duty increase had been applied (and it isn’t being) and it would have happened tomorrow (which it wouldn’t), you’d have saved a whole £1.80…

Most working age benefits, including Jobseeker’s Allowance, will rise by 1% in each of the next three years. Changes to welfare “save £3.7bn by 2015/16”. Child benefit to rise by 1% for two years from April 2014.

IIRC, all of these previously followed inflation.

never mind address the real problems… a stagnant, flat-lining economy, and falling real-terms incomes

The obvious question is – what would you, or should he, do?

The obvious question is – what would you, or should he, do?

Standard Keynsian stuff: Borrow and invest massively in long term infrastructure projects to stimulate demand, get money circulating in the economy. The theory is the extra growth will exceed the extra debt and we can pay it all off.

George Osbourne has actually got the whinniest, most annoying voice in the world

Not heard Miliband speak then?? 😆

Osboune’s delivery is very dull, but the funniest part for me was Ed Milliband. OK I was watching BBC feed via computer and the picture will have been distorted – but he looked pi$$ed! Eyes blinking very slowly then wandering all over the place. I thought he was going to pick his nose at one stage.

At least Osborne is becoming more realistic in outlook – this is going to take a long,long time – but big negative over the manipulation of stats etc – that was Gordon Brown’s downfall and should not be repeated (big pantomime boo hiss for that behaviour GO). But they still miss the point about balancing fiscal and monetary policy – tight fiscal policy (while understandable) and very loose monetary policy will not work if the banks are screwed – and they are and still hiding the fact! Until they recognise this fact little progress will be made. The problem with them all coming from the same Unis (both sides) and studying the same degrees – with the obvious exception of GO himself. He’s a historian and should know better than the one-dimensional economists!

The biggest thing Keynes would have done would be to force the Germans to take a hit – creditors and debtors have to take the hit before you get out of these crises. Oh and he would have ensured that Greece exited the Euro in order to bring some competitiveness to the economy!!!

The obvious question is – what would you, or should he, do?

Well giving hundreds of billions to the banks, with nothing firmer than

‘Erm….if its not too much trouble, could you maybe lend some of it to businesses? Please? No? Oh…. ok then. Well will you at least not immediately pay it to yourselves in bonuses? Please? No to that too? Oh ok…….”

Then we might have seen some actual growth for all that monumental sum of cash we’ve spaffed, that we’ll all be paying off for ever!

Not heard Miliband speak then??

Yeah, but he’s just a wheeze by the labour party to amuse the electorate, and keep the seat warm, til we get close enough to the next election for big brother to take over

Trouble is binners the goals of regulation and the goals of current monetary policy are incompatible. Regulation is pushing banks to shrink assets, monetary policy is doing (largely) the opposite and at the moment ne’er the twain shall meet.

People are attacking the wrong “trickle-down” effect. One works 😉 the other (the banks one) doesn’t/isn’t here or abroad!

I felt a bit sorry for Milliband today (bizarrely). I dont like attacking people on the basis of their appearance generally but he did look remarkably like (a drunken) Wallace at times today and generally looked like a little prep school boy with matron sitting the other side of Balls.