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So How Are Those Cuts Coming Along?
Are we quite sure these things work?When we left on our two year sabbatical at the start of 2011, public spending was running at an annual rate of £700bn (Total Managed Expenditure). Now we're back and...
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The Freeze That Never Was
We need a new freezerBack in his first budget in 2010, George Osborne imposed a two-year public sector pay freeze. It supposedly applied to all staff except the low paid, who were to get a flat £250...
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Doomsday Deferred
Maybe we can stay luckyBOM has always been concerned about the rising burden of government debt interest, and we've blogged it many times. But we must admit that so far, it has not been quite the...
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Recent Bonfires - 89
It's high time we had another bonfire round-up:Wrong kind of railway management costs us £50m+ "Civil servant failures over the West Coast rail contract will cost taxpayers “at least £50 million”, a...
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Our Scary NHS
The bald facts**Two years away from blogging, and it's time to check how the NHS is doing under its current consultant Mr N.H.S Cameron.We have to start with mid-Staffs. It ought to be old news - we...
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Our Scary NHS - 2
Postponing our appointment"The UK has had universal free health care and public health programmes for more than six decades. Several policy initiatives and structural reforms of the health system have...
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Walking Out With Tina
"One of the best ways to help hard working families is to cut their taxes. As a low tax conservative I absolutely believe in doing this. That is why we’re already cutting fuel duty and freezing council...
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Terminological Inexactitudes
"As the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has made clear, growth has been depressed by the financial crisis, the problems in the Eurozone, and a 60 per cent rise in oil prices between August...
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Recent Bonfires - 90
Spotted recently:£210,000 to rehouse 18 newts - "Town hall bosses will spend £210,000 of taxpayers' money on two new ponds for just 18 newts. Cheshire East Council agreed the plans yesterday after...
View ArticleEvery Little Bit Helps... But It's Not Enough
Today's IEA speech by Doc Fox was a sharp reminder of how far we have strayed from the paths of fiscal righteousness. We have overspent, over-borrowed, and overtaxed. We have encouraged welfare...
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Staffing Shambles
According to the Managing Director of Manpower, the recruitment agency:"We've noticed that a number of public sector organisations have begun recruiting again with renewed vigour... in their efforts to...
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How Big's The Deficit?
Rather bigger than we're led to believeDave and George have long boasted about cutting the deficit by a quarter. And if you look at the official numbers, they're right: over their first two years...
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Our Scary NHS - 3
Maybe he should have a crack at the NHSAccording to government health adviser Professor Sir Brian Jarman, ministers and officials could have saved at least 20,000 lives had they listened to his...
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The Spending Problem
It's almost certain that tomorrow's budget projections will incorporate yet another downgrade to growth expectations. Which means that the current plans for public spending have become even less...
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The Overspend Gets Bigger
See you at the airportSo what do we make of the budget?Given his starting point, George did a reasonable juggling job, and managed to sound as if he's serious about getting the economy moving again....
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Another Slice Of Salami Sir?
Glad someone's enjoying thisLong-time readers will know that the 2012 Olympics smashed the world record for salami slicing (see all 2012 posts gathered here).The first slice - served up when we...
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Plan B Kicks Off
Get used to thisSo here we are with a government spending far more than it can raise in revenue, building up a catastrophic pile of debt, and facing an election in just two years time. Spending cuts...
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Problems With The Roller
This may never turn into a Rolls RoyceNow don't laugh, but there used to be a theory that the Civil Service was a finely tuned Rolls Royce. Ministers had only to point it in their chosen direction,...
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Facing Down The Unions
Impartial BBC journos off-dutyIt's just like old times. The teachers are going on strike, the Post Office workers are going on strike, and even those most essential of essential workers, the BBC...
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Recent Bonfires - April Fools Edition
April 1st wind-ups£4,800 for boob job - "WANNABE glamour model Josie Cunningham shows off her new 36DD boobs - served up on the NHS. Josie, 22, had a £4,800 breast op funded by the taxpayer after...
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I'm Entitled
Mick should have been picking litter outside Mr Mundair's shopYes, we know: we can't judge our entire welfare system on the basis of Mick Philpott. But what we can say is that if it hadn't been for our...
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Incompetent And Reckless Bankers
"An apology is due for the incompetent and reckless Board strategy; merely apologising for having failed to plan for an unforeseeable event is not much of an apology."The Parliamentary Commission on...
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Bring Me My Pot Of Gold
We've got stacks of theseThe fundamental reason we have to cut the welfare bill is because we can't afford it. At 16% of GDP and growing, we simply have to get a grip. And of course, the decisions are...
View ArticleMore Jobs As Welfare
Watch the vid (if you can) and then check out the bile in the YT commentsFor those of us who believe Margaret Thatcher rescued Britain from a 50 year spiral of economic decline, the bile still directed...
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Not Waving But Drowning
Apologies for lack of posts. Denham Senior has been hospitalised with a serious heart condition and blogging has therefore moved to the back seat. But today's report from the Royal College of Nursing...
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