Cameron on VAT
I don't really understand
his criticism. He talks about it being a waste of 'our money', but if that is how he views tax cuts then it's very abnomal within the Conservative Party, and only makes any sense if he plans always to run a balanced budget.
That retail sales are falling (if they are) is not the relevant comparision. It isn't even really whether they are falling more than they would otherwise. A VAT cut has two effects for consumers, the first is that prices are cheaper, so they should buy more goods rather than save, and second their real income is now higher, so they can save more/pay off debt. The cost to the government is, give or take some small other factors, the gain to the public (at least in the short-term) and so what is probably most relevant is to what extent it is spread about.
Labels: budget, David Cameron, economy, Tories
That byelection
The BBC lists the candidates. Does anyone know who has the best policies on civil liberties?
* Grace Christine Astley - Independent
* David Laurence Bishop - Church of the Militant Elvis Party
* Ronnie Carroll - Make Politicians History
* Mad Cow-Girl - The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
* David Craig - Independent
* Herbert Winford Crossman - Independent
* Tess Culnane - National Front Britain for the British
* Thomas Faithful Darwood - Independent
* David Michael Davis - Conservative
* Tony Farnon - Independent
* Eamonn "Fitzy" Fitzpatrick - Independent
* Christopher Mark Foren - Independent
* Gemma Dawn Garrett - Miss Great Britain Party
* George Hargreaves - Christian Party
* Hamish Howitt - Freedom 4 Choice
* David Icke - No party listed
* John Nicholson - Independent
* Shan Oakes - Green Party
* David Pinder - The New Party
* Joanne Robinson - English Democrats: Putting England First
* Jill Saward - Independent
* Norman Scarth - Independent
* Walter Edward Sweeney - Independent
* Christopher John Talbot - Socialist Equality Party
* John Randle Upex - Independent
* Greg Wood - Independent
Labels: David Cameron
Strange Conservative times
First we have Conservative MP (albeit not one I had heard of) in an attack on Mrs Thatcher's mental state, and an attack that was apparently that was sanctioned by the leadership. Malcom Rifkind asks some slightly more decent questions, though this is something only a politician could say:
Why did she agree to go last week, of all weeks, when there was talk of an election in the air?
Last week, of all weeks? Did you notice anything different about last week compared with any other political week? Not sure I did. I imagine most people if asked to characterise last week would either talk about Kate McCann, England v Russia or the first bank run since the 1970s. Apparently however there was an election in the air.
Then in today's Sunday Telegraph, Cameron blames Labour for the crisis at Northern Rock, arguing that:
Under Labour our economic growth has been built on a mountain of debt.
and argues that we need more State regulation and less free markets. Perhaps we do, although I can't see what policy any Tory government would have followed that would mean less debt. Kenneth Clarke, whom we now must see as being on the economically liberal wing of the party, argues the opposite in the same piece. Or maybe it's just that George Osborne and David Cameron have never seen the point of a mortgage?
Labels: David Cameron, George Osborne., Gordon Brown, Mrs Thatcher
A man called Quentin joins Labour
Gordon Brown has his first mandate, albeit one of one, with Quentin Davies
joining Labour from the Tories. His resignation letter to David Cameron contains some pretty strong criticism:
It is fair to say that you have so far made a shambles of your foreign policy, and that would be a great handicap to you - and, more seriously, to the country - if you ever came to power...But the last year has been a series of shocks and disappointments. You have displayed to the full both the vacuity and the cynicism of your favourite slogan 'change to win'.
His reasons for going seem a mixed bag - he mentions the Tories' anti-Europeanism, anti-inequality, anti-nuclear power, and lots of other things. I think he might just not like David Cameron and George Osborne.
Labels: David Cameron, Defections, George Osborne.
