[Closed] What Recession? We've never had it so good!

I've got more gadgets and home comforts than ever

I suspect he knows that if he didn't condem it, it may come back to haunt him. The mortgage bit is very true, but I suspect saying you've never had it so good, before the public spending review cuts actually take hold might be unwise.
It did sound like he was recorded in a restaurant, so you do wonder if it was after the 1st of 3rd bottle of tax payers' wine 🙂

I think that the pain hasn't started properly. I think that in the new year the extent of the cuts will start to become apparent and by Easter there will be a great deal of stress across all sectors (excluding finance obviously).

His point was that anyone with morgage has seen a big drop in what they have to pay. This is largely true! (base rates at 0.5%!)

Only true if you've got a mortgage, a point conveniently ignored when some people are talking about the imapcts of increased vat etc.

I partly agree. For those that have kept there jobs it does still seem to bit of a boom time. House prices are low as are interest rates. Is food not quite well priced at the moment as well? Electronic goods are cheap!?! So to live a basic lifestyle is quite reasonable and everything else is luxury.
I'm facing my second redundancy in 18 months so I'm not ignorant to the unfortunate souls who are unemployed.
IMHO a lot of the recession is very media driven and is scaring people ito not spending like they have for the last decade. That (over)spending culture had to end sometime and now it has, albeit rather suddenly and the shockwaves are being felt by some people. Hopefully it will all even out and things will get better/more balanced.

Only true if you've got a mortgage

Or if you didn't see a recession coming and 'sensibly' decide to lock into a higher rate in case they went through the roof again 😳

I think the biggest embarrassment to Cameron is that he is effectively bigging up Labour during the last couple of years by claiming we've never had it so good.

Only true if you've got a mortgage, a point conveniently ignored when some people are talking about the imapcts of increased vat etc.

But not if you're on a fixed rate mortgage...

Sadly the validity of comments depends on media spin, not reality.

[url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/politics/politics-headlines/heartless%2c-insensitive-old-tory-absolutely-spot-on-201011193271/ ]Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.[/url]

Ah, well he's resigned now so he [i]must[/i] have been wrong.

Typical ****ing tory!!!!

If he had the audacity to stand in front of me and make that remark - he wouldn't be standing for very long.

For some of us this recession has been very very real indeed. Though I doubt for him or any of his friends

did he not say the vast majority of people are better off due to low mortgage rates? Do the VAST majority of people have mortagages or just the VAST majority of Tory voters?

He also said that people see their mortgage go down by £600 when interest rates go down. Which sort of implies vast mortgages. He obviously amazingly out of touch.

Unfortunately this a typical "nothing beyond" Watford comment. The recession hasn't hit the Tory heartlands particularly hard yet and hence doesn't exist.

The recession and cuts have still to hit yet for many people largely as a result of the initial global response to the crisis which was the adoption of Keynesian policies throughout most of the developed world - policies which seem to have worked to prevent collapse (in the short term at least). The cuts in spending and attempts to balance budgets that are now taking centre stage is likely to lead to a deeper recession.

Or if you didn't see a recession coming and 'sensibly' decide to lock into a higher rate in case they went through the roof again

I feel your pain verses, half our mortgage is still tied into a 5 year fixed... 😳 weeps

Compared to Nigeria we've never had it so good.

Title of this thread reminded me of a great line by a band called the Redskins, "you've never had it so good, the favourite phrase of those who've always had much more than you or i". Nuff said.

Yeah bring back Red Wedge!

[i]Compared to Nigeria we've never had it so good[/i]

Compared with itself Nigeria has never had it so good!

He's part right, but that's because the real recession has started yet.

Well in my situation when i was out of work i was glad the interest rate went down so my small mortgage got smaller. Now Im in work im still glad the interest rate is still low.

Some of what he said may be correct, but I think its more to do with the way its been spun by the media and certainly some people hate torys whatever they say.

the doom and gloom mongering is quite pathetic.

The fact that the government is going to be spending more in nominal terms seems to have passed many by. Some knee-jerks around seem to think the cuts are going to equate to the sacking of the entire public sector. 100,000 jobs = 0.33% of the workforce.

and for those that missed it, the 2008/2009 recession finished in.... 2009.

[img] [/img]

He's out of touch, as anyone in an ivory tower can be. But harking back to the 90's people don't seem to have been hit as hard now as they were then, so whilst Youngs comments are not true, the expected doom & gloom hasn't yet appeared, although I side with those doom mongers who say it might yet occur.

On a personal level we're doing Ok, but if this recession had occured 3 years earlier I really think as a family we'd be struggling or maybe even lost our house - our home circs have changed massively in the last two years though and it's almost like we're able to sit on the outside looking in on things; wife's job is under threat though and I'm a nurse in the NHS so once the public spending cuts kick in then our tale could be massively different.

The effects of the cuts will take a while to come through...

indeed. But it's whether you guess the cuts will have a recessive effect on the economy or not that marks out the doom from the opportunity.

Some knee-jerks around seem to think the cuts are going to equate to the sacking of the entire public sector.

It's not just the job losses. My pension contributions are going up and we've been given a below inflation pay rise. So, I've less money to spend on wood for building sheds. So, people who work in DIY shops will get less money.

From what I can see construction is about to nosedive again - I don't know of any optimistic contractors or architects and engineers.

I've only one friend who's suffering, and quite frankly they brought it on themselves by overspending for the previous 10 years.

For us, although I was made redundant (for the 6th time a couple of years ago) we're managing fine and still owe nothing but the (0.35% over base) mortgage.

arguably employee pension contributions should have gone up long ago (both in private and public sector) to fund the inevitable effects of increased life expectancy.

Dont buy wood from DIY shops 😉

From what I can see construction is about to nosedive again - I don't know of any optimistic contractors or architects and engineers.

we started a £230m build program in October.
Another one about the same size due to start on site at the end of 2012.

British Land?

I'm very lucky to have not been affected by the recession, my job is fairly secure (I work in a small but essential department in a large water company) and due to a change of role my wages have gone up by approximately 20% in the last year. Also with the exception of beer and bike parts, I don't spend a lot of money.

The downsides for me are that I am not a homeowner, but my rent has been fixed at the same rate for the past 4 years and my utility bills are pretty reasonable (I'm now a single person in a 2 bed flat).

I am however aware that I am one of the lucky ones.

I'm still on the upward progression through the pay scale, so am cushioned from any pay freezes. My wife's about to go back to 'proper' work now the kids have started school too, so we should get progressively better off.

Main worry for us is what is going to happen to EMAs and council funding for transport to school, plus the knock on effect on A-level study from the tuition fee increase. That could have an effect on our numbers.

Although... If my wife goes back full-time and I take redundancy, I'll not be too sad 🙂

aP - no.

Im a freelancer and those projects are my clients'.

I also have some stuff going on in Libya and Saudia Arabia as well as other UK stuff which is still at a conceptual/feasibility stage.

My work is pretty much over by the time the client breaks ground.

Doesn't this just show how well Labour handled the international financial crisis?

we started a £230m build program in October.
Another one about the same size due to start on site at the end of 2012

Them's some big sheds.

I think there was little risk that anything Labour or the coalition could have done would have actually changed the shape and timing of the recovery.

The longer term shape of growth is more at stake.

Well in my situation when i was out of work i was glad the interest rate went down so my small mortgage got smaller. Now Im in work im still glad the interest rate is still low.

Some of what he said may be correct, but I think its more to do with the way its been spun by the media and certainly some people hate torys whatever they say.

so your analysis is your fine so everyone else must just be moaning?

It would have been a far less controversial statement to make about a year ago. Thats why its embarrassing for Dave for it to be heard now. That and someone from the 80's tory administration stating that the lucky-few-are-doing quite-nicely-thank-you. Building a firewall / collective amnesia between that kind of red-braces 80s tory and the cuddly new hug-a-polar-bear new tories of the noughties is exactly what Dave did to make the tories (very faintly) electable. Almost as soon as Dave was credited with having achieved it.... its all started to seep through again, and although he's very quick to cut others down for letting it happen, he's actually just as bad at doing it himself.

Made me smile when I heard it.

I hope they spend the next 5 years coming out with similar ill placed and offensive gaffes.

I'm not really sure why Cameron is so upset. Have you got any idea? I'm not feeling much confidence in the coallition!

It's a comment that is entirely sensible in my opinion, but with the rather knee-jerk stupid inflationary reactions coming from (amongst others) the red side of things, he's bound to try to distance himself from it. Although really he didn't, he said it was insensitive and inaccurate but let the guy keep his position, possibly because he agreed while having to appease the people.

I don't know of any optimistic contractors or architects and engineers.

I know of a few who are seeing a vast and sudden influx of work here in the UK, in the hundreds of million contracts. So busy they're now run off their feet after laying off a few staff to get through the tighter patch.

You/we've never had it so good!

All you lazy maggots I step on you!

Cut all benefits ...

There I said it. David Cameron got no balls just because someone said something "insensitive" ... welcome to another round of political spin.

😈

p/s: been told by dentist today to go private ... £550 for a crown and root treatment. There you go I am poorer.

All you lazy maggots I step on you!

Cut all benefits
................................

p/s: been told by dentist today to go private ... £550 for a crown and root treatment. There you go I am poorer.

Be sure to make those feelings known down at your local JobCentre.

It will probaly help you cut down on your dental bills.

were you not thanking him for ignoring the welfare state and introducing you to the market economy ?
stoner

Some knee-jerks around seem to think the cuts are going to equate to the sacking of the entire public sector. 100,000 jobs = 0.33% of the workforce.

Effects of the recession for me - redundancy from a £40k + perks job (although I took voluntary 3 months before they shut the doors)

Set up on my own and not had a day yet since January without work and turned over £80k in 11 months as a sole trader with no employees.

It may hit me over the next year though as I work on the roads.

Tied in to a 6% mortgage, but other than that, never had it so good.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR - Well done! 😀

trailmonkey - Member

Be sure to make those feelings known down at your local JobCentre.

It will probaly help you cut down on your dental bills.

I guess I will be toothless (well one tooth less) when I visit them so not sure if visiting them will help ... LOL!

vat increse in jan may be a diffent story.

In the good times under Labour, got made redundant twice, had to relocate to somewhere we could afford to live and wasted all my previous managerial experience having to do rubbish call centre jobs while studying part-time for a degree that was completely devalued by the huge numbers of zombies being encouraged to go to university so we could meet some stupid (originally Tory?) target.

Never mind, if the public sector unions agree the proposed civil service redundancy package, the third redundancy - when it comes - will just about pay off the mortgage.

In the meantime, we have enough to raise our family, have a comfortable lifestyle without any extravagances, so yeah, life is still pretty good.