UK Politics (10 Viewers)

[Red]

We'll see how this goes, because I'm not entirely sure of how many of the UK folk have any interest in politics.


Anyway, the Election is now less than three weeks away and the first ever televised debate between the leaders of the main parties just took place.

Most places seem to think Clegg was brilliant, while Brown and Cameron struggled.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle7099159.ece

However, I didn't think any of them were brilliant or awful, so it is not a debate that is likely to prove decisive.

I expect the biggest of the televised debates, in terms of importance, will be the one focused on the economy, but time will tell.


I'm getting into this whole campaign more than I thought I would at the outset. Probably because the parties have actually set out genuinely contrasting positions, which hasn't happened so much in recent years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN3gRjNQ7OA&feature=player_embedded#!

They were interviewing United fans ahead of the Derby at weekend outside Old Trafford this is what they had to say.

Why weren't you at the Leaders' debate tonight?

 

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[Nicholas]

Why weren't you at the Leaders' debate tonight?

Political one? it was invite only mate. I would of liked to have gone the crowd was to tame for my liking. Clegg, Cameron and Brown all had it easy.

 

[Red]

There wasn't any heckling allowed, unfortunately.

It was still interesting, if only from the perspective of seeing history being made due to it being the first debate of its kind in the UK.

 

[Nicholas]

There wasn't any heckling allowed, unfortunately.

It was still interesting, if only from the perspective of seeing history being made due to it being the first debate of its kind in the UK.

Yep, what impressed me was how good of a public speaker Nick Clegg was. Gordon Brown gets to tense in those situations and does not look comfortable. I'm not a fan of Conservative either mainly because of Cameron.

 

[Red]

I can't stand the Tories.

Clegg spoke well when he spoke, but I thought he allowed the other two to sideline him somewhat, especially in the first half. I thought Brown was pretty solid and Cameron did live up to expectations.

My natural inclination is towards Labour, but my constituency is Tories v Lib Dems, so I usually vote to keep the Tories out.

 

[Bjerknes]

Gordon Brown? The guy who sold all of England's gold at it's multi-decade low of $250 per ounce?

 

[Red]

What year was that done in?

 

[Bjerknes]

Must have been around 2002, when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer.

 

[Red]

Ta.

Just checking it was when he was still Chancellor.


Anyway, the nation's finances have been in the safe hands of a man educated in Aberdeen in the last couple of years.

No wonder everything has gone so well...

 

[Bjerknes]

Alistair Darling?

 

[Red]

Aye.

Was at Aberdeen Uni at the same time as my dad.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Gordon Brown? The guy who sold all of England's gold at it's multi-decade low of $250 per ounce?

You can look at it like that, but bear in mind that the price of gold has only gone up as a result of him doing that.

 

[Bjerknes]

You can look at it like that, but bear in mind that the price of gold has only gone up as a result of him doing that.

Don't agree at all. A lot of it has to do with the cheap money policies set in place by central banks around the world over the last decade, especially the Federal Reserve lowering rates after the Tech Bubble and 9/11. The rising price of gold over the years is a result of inflationary practices, or money being allocated towards natural commodities.

And this even occurred despite the COMEX (gold exchange) being a highly manipulated market on the short side.

 

[Red]

Andy, you're the resident economist here, so what is the better bet for the UK at the moment, in your very humble opinion:

a. Raising taxes and reinvesting that to try to sustain the slight improvement in the state of the economy before trying to tackle the budget deficit; or

b. Making big cuts straight away to try and tackle the budget deficit?

 

[Bjerknes]

Andy, you're the resident economist here, so what is the better bet for the UK at the moment, in your very humble opinion:

a. Raising taxes and reinvesting that to try to sustain the slight improvement in the state of the economy before trying to tackle the budget deficit; or

b. Making big cuts straight away to try and tackle the budget deficit?

Sovereign debt issues during this financial collapse is my number one concern. National debt and consumer debt have been the problem in this consumer-led, debt-caused recession/depression, and for our economies to improve this debt needs to be cleared from the system. So I would have to say make cuts immediately and address the budget deficit. Moreover, all banks that have been deemed insolvent should be allowed to fail with all toxic assets being placed in a transparent market so that the public knows what everything is worth. You don't want the taxpayers holding on to assets that are worth nothing.

But politicians and the general public don't understand this. They think that the government has to step in to fix the problem, throwing money around haphazardly, increasing the current account deficit. All of these supposed remedies just make matters worse in the long run.

 

[GordoDeCentral]

Gordon Brown? The guy who sold all of England's gold at it's multi-decade low of $250 per ounce?

duuuuh didnt you ever hear this song

 

[Nicholas]

Never a frown with Golden Brown.

 

[Red]

Sovereign debt issues during this financial collapse is my number one concern. National debt and consumer debt have been the problem in this consumer-led, debt-caused recession/depression, and for our economies to improve this debt needs to be cleared from the system. So I would have to say make cuts immediately and address the budget deficit. Moreover, all banks that have been deemed insolvent should be allowed to fail with all toxic assets being placed in a transparent market so that the public knows what everything is worth. You don't want the taxpayers holding on to assets that are worth nothing.

But politicians and the general public don't understand this. They think that the government has to step in to fix the problem, throwing money around haphazardly, increasing the current account deficit. All of these supposed remedies just make matters worse in the long run.

Labour are plan a and Tories are plan b.

The banks that were in danger, rightly or wrongly, are now in government hands, so they need to be dealt with.

As far as I can tell, the plan seems to be to hold on to the banks until everything improves and they can be sold off, but God knows how long that would take to happen.


What do you make of the Labour claim that the Tory plan to make significant cuts straight away would send the UK straight back into recession?

 

[Bjerknes]

duuuuh didnt you ever hear this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7R7q1lSZfs

Strangely enough I think I have.

 

[Bjerknes]

Labour are plan a and Tories are plan b.

The banks that were in danger, rightly or wrongly, are now in government hands, so they need to be dealt with.

As far as I can tell, the plan seems to be to hold on to the banks until everything improves and they can be sold off, but God knows how long that would take to happen.


What do you make of the Labour claim that the Tory plan to make significant cuts straight away would send the UK straight back into recession?

I'm not entirely aware of the GDP situation in the UK, but if it is anything like it is in the US, the increase in GDP is mostly due to government spending. That's not real growth and it will dry up soon unless the government wants implode itself.

This whole borrow and spend towards economic recovery only works in the short run at the expense of the long run and future generations. Sure, pull the stimulus out now and we will have negative GDP numbers again, but that's what needs to occur. Debts need to be cleared. It's going to happen anyway. If not, then you're only delaying the inevitable and putting the country more at risk of default.

Would the Labour party rather have a major recession or government collapse? Because that what it comes down to. Their policies have been used all over the world and have never worked, from the Wiemar Republic to Japan.