The New UK Spending Cuts

[CrystalShadow]

Egh.

I have no idea what this will result in in practice.

All I know is it could easily screw me over big time, seeing as I'm on disability owing to mental health reasons, I'm probably one of the most vulnerable to being pressured.

How exactly that's supposed to be possible considering the reasons I struggle to get work, I'll never know. Especially in an environment where there's clearly going to be a massive shortage of work.
Who are they fooling, thinking the private sector will just arbitrarily absorb all those public sector jobs?
Is economics magic now?

But when you have certain kinds of problems people find it easy to claim you're just faking it.

That's not to mention that I have way too much debt, thanks primarily to an ill-concieved attempt to, you know, improve my prospects for the future...
Unfortunately it means any changes to welfare amounts could easily cripple me entirely.
On top of that I have unrelated medical issues the NHS can be a bit finicky about, and this just scares the shit out of me to be honest.

There's just so many ways that this could turn into a disaster for me... And not much I can do about it.

I voted lib-dem too. For some stupid reason I thought it would be a good idea. Of course, my electorate is a tory stronghold anyway, so in our fabulous electoral system it accomplished nothing whatsoever regardless.

My... Isn't politics wonderful?

 

[LightspeedJack]

So to summarize: Everything still going to shit.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

And anyway, the government lose far far more money to tax evasion than benefits theft but they won't do anything about that because all those conservative tossers probably do it themselves.

Lord Ashcroft was just caught avoiding £3.4m of tax.

And the media weren't allowed to follow the story due to claims of libel.

None of this surprises me any more.

 

[Duol]

When will people realise that austerity is the only way to avoid becoming the next Greece. It's gonna hurt but that's what happens when the state is so large. European wellfare is on the one hand one of the greatest inventions but at the same time a massive burden. The economy will not collapse simply because you cut wellfare. What will destroy it and the entire Euro economy is speculation and that's what happens when its seen that you aren't managing your debt.
The government is brave. It is likely they will not be re-elected for a long time, but at least they will get the job done.
On a side issue: All the people who say they voted lib dem and are outraged because they aren't voting against the tories and fighting this out need to realize that a coalition government does not work this way.

A lot of the welfare cuts aren't just hitting benefits you know. They're also going to damage training programmes and resources that are designed to put people back into work. We're going to get let less dole money as a consequence, but we're also going to be unable to find work again anyway (what with the job cuts to the public sector, the increase to the retirement age and the cut to welfare departments). The tories are also planning to raise VAT (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/08/tories-raise-vat-emergency-budget) and are passing on more money to banks (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11593370).

So the working classes are going to be paying for the excesses of the rich, essentially. The very people who put us in this recession in the first place, I might add.

Yes, all very terrible and unfortunate. I do believe that the private sector has the capability to take over the shortcomings of the public one, and more effectively at that. In my opinion the publisc sector has always and will always be inefficient. That's not to say privatization is always the answer, but very often it is and should be.

So you blame the wealthy for the recession? Fair enough. But let's just say we asked them to pay for this mess. Do you think they would stay? Hell no. I know I would out of there faster than well... you get the point. Without the wealthy bankers, lawyers, tax advisers, hedge fund managers, CEOs etc. there would be no-one left to pay for any wellfare at all.

For a government to stay solvent in todays times they need to be competitive. They need to act more like a company, and less like a government. Do you seriously think any company would survive if they behaved the way that a government does? That's not to say that they should approach nation ruling with the iron fist or an accountant in some company, but some lessons regarding efficiencey really need to be learned. Not to mention realizing that money borrowed needs to be paid, even by governments.

 

[gallaetha_matt]

I've been saying for awhile this country is going to the dogs...I ain't too happy that I will be retiring at the age of 68 (possibly higher if they up it the 31 years it's going to take to raise it).

My generation (Children of the boomers) is fucked from either side...Elder we got the boomers, younger we've Slackers and young parents (read mothers) spawning ill disciplined yobs.

I mean all the way during the election speeches The blues were preaching about saving and what not. I felt like screaming at the telly saying I do save but my savings always end up on out goings...It's OK if your earning average income (20-25k+) - My guess that is boosted by the big earners, since most people I know are on 13-18k.

So if you're the real average your outgoings will creep over you income if you decide to enjoy live...

I lost my job 3-4 months ago...And only now are they saying they may be able to help me pay my mortgage - Oh and JSA is the only money coming in that I can get...To pay my Car (and all of its other stuff), food, housing also serving my loans...Basically it comes to one week of pay from my last job for a month. And with all these cuts and what not there are more and more unemployed and less and less jobs. Basically any and all savings have now run dry.

I've tried getting out of the country but my qualifications don't seem to be wanted - Anywhere.

Fucking hate scrounging...Plus the defence cuts seemingly suggest it may be harder to get a role in the armed forces that isn't an infantry one.

What gets me as well is the big arse companies have been posting profits/record profits...I've another story about that but this has already gone on long enough - Hooray for privatization.

*Edit* It already cost the same/more to take a bus or train to get to the job centre than it is to drive...and they want to up it.

I'd riot but I fear the voice will fall on deaf ears.

Ouch. I feel your pain though. It does feel like we're trapped, with no way out of our financial situation and a government that keeps swiping our opportunities as fast as they can appear.

The danger is that since we have no legal recourse, the temptation is to turn to violent protest. I really hope that doesn't happen but I do just want to do something about it. To somehow make my voice heard.

And anyway, the government lose far far more money to tax evasion than benefits theft but they won't do anything about that because all those conservative tossers probably do it themselves.

Lord Ashcroft was just caught avoiding £3.4m of tax.

And the media weren't allowed to follow the story due to claims of libel.

None of this surprises me any more.

Lord Ashcroft is David Cameron's bumboy, right? Oh my days.

The more I read about this stuff. The worse it seems to get.

 

[Kinguendo]

I wish I'd figured this out beforehand. I would've cast my vote in a completely different direction. I've always voted Labour, but I've always wanted to vote for the lib dems because in the past they've proposed the sort of policies I'd like to see in effect. When I saw Nick Clegg arguing for these policies with intelligent, well thought out points, I thought "Now's my chance to vote Lib Dem, at last! Change is coming!"

But I had a crisis of conscience when I was in the polling station. I really, really wanted to vote for Labour - because I knew what I'd be getting. I had to remind myself that the Lib Dems had always offered exciting, Liberal reforms and with Nick Clegg debating so eloquently they were finally likely to get into a position of power. I really had to push myself to cross that box.

Then they joined up with the tories and I thought "Oh bums."

I feel kind of insulted by the Lib Dem's now. I think it's probably a good thing they're there to reign the tories in, I reckon it was them who stopped the Tories from completely gutting the NHS and cutting school budgets in this round of spending cuts. But they're too weak to offer more than token resistance to all the other Tory bullshit.

Your avatar also really fits the thread. Every time you've posted I've imagined Randy Marsh yelling "We didn't listen! WE DIDN'T LISTEN!"

Because we didn't.

Sadly it appears I sensed the times changing for the worse a while ago, I saw the rise of the BNP as a VERY bad sign and bought myself a toughened face guard because that was something I was certainly going to stand against. Now it looks like thats what I will be wearing for this, shame to become a militant Liberal... the words really shouldnt go together.

 

[Captain Pancake]

I think it's a ***** that we're losing all our harriers and all our aircraft carriers are only going to be carrying helicopters. That's a massive blow to our security, and sure in 10 years we're upgrading to a new generation of fighter, but ten years is a long time to have such a blaring vulnerability.

 

[7moreDead_v1legacy]

Ouch. I feel your pain though. It does feel like we're trapped, with no way out of our financial situation and a government that keeps swiping our opportunities as fast as they can appear.

The danger is that since we have no legal recourse, the temptation is to turn to violent protest. I really hope that doesn't happen but I do just want to do something about it. To somehow make my voice heard.

Sometimes a little violence goes a long way...

I just hate seeing the public laying on its back, which is seemingly doing.

If I went mental *read raised hell* they'd section me.

If 10 went mental they'd call us a terrorist cell or some bull shit.

If half the nation went mental what could they do?

 

[Kinguendo]

I think it's a ***** that we're losing all our harriers and all our aircraft carriers are only going to be carrying helicopters. That's a massive blow to our security, and sure in 10 years we're upgrading to a new generation of fighter, but ten years is a long time to have such a blaring vulnerability.

Not really the time to be thinking of potential threats from others when we are being attacked by our government right now.

 

[gallaetha_matt]

Yes, all very terrible and unfortunate. I do believe that the private sector has the capability to take over the shortcomings of the public one, and more effectively at that. In my opinion the publisc sector has always and will always be inefficient. That's not to say privatization is always the answer, but very often it is and should be.

So you blame the wealthy for the recession? Fair enough. But let's just say we asked them to pay for this mess. Do you think they would stay? Hell no. I know I would out of there faster than well... you get the point. Without the wealthy bankers, lawyers, tax advisers, hedge fund managers, CEOs etc. there would be no-one left to pay for any wellfare at all.

For a government to stay solvent in todays times they need to be competitive. They need to act more like a company, and less like a government. Do you seriously think any company would survive if they behaved the way that a government does? That's not to say that they should approach nation ruling with the iron fist or an accountant in some company, but some lessons regarding efficiencey really need to be learned. Not to mention realizing that money borrowed needs to be paid, even by governments.

So you're basically saying that the wealthy caused the recession. But we should just clam up and pay for their mistakes ourselves because they're wealthy, and'll only jump ship when we try to call them on it?

I agree that we need to be more responsible with our national debts. But is gouging the public really going to help at all? Especially since Cameron and all his toff buddies are rich and powerful. They're only going to get richer and more powerful from all these cuts.

It'd be like a big company saying "We lost a lot of money this year because our CEO made some pretty bad decisions, so we're going to be sending around a hat for you to help pay his car payments out of your own pocket. We're sacking half of you, but not before we get your donation in the hat. Those of you that are left are getting their wages cut. Also we get to keep the hat when you're done. Because this is a business! And it's a nice hat! That's why!"

I can't work out if you're defending the current government, or if you're saying "The world is shit, shut up and get on with it." Either way, you're very wrong.

EDT: I'm so mad that I'm not proof reading my posts anymore. You can all tell, can't you?

 

[lewism247]

'Feed the rich and gut the poor'

Fixed that for you.

Almost all of the policies and decisions I've heard of the government are making make me uneasy. They're looking dangerously close to repeating what they did last time they were in office, namely, screw over the majority of people. A lot of time they don't seem to realise how their decisions will affect anyone who isn't middle class or higher, I wonder why that is?

 

[Kinguendo]

Sometimes a little violence goes a long way...

I just hate seeing the public laying on its back, which is seemingly doing.

If I went mental *read raised hell* they'd section me.

If 10 went mental they'd call us a terrorist cell or some bull shit.

If half the nation went mental what could they do?

As Al Capone said "You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.", they clearly arent listening... they havent been for decades. If I was shouting for that long and being ignored I would have broken a knee cap or two by now, but because some douchebag with a smug face has armed police no one thinks revolting against him is the thing to do? No wonder they walk all over us, they have been taking more and more rope for years and now we are surprised they have enough to hang us with it?

 

[Verlander]

I've been saying for awhile this country is going to the dogs...I ain't too happy that I will be retiring at the age of 68 (possibly higher if they up it the 31 years it's going to take to raise it).

My generation (Children of the boomers) is fucked from either side...Elder we got the boomers, younger we've Slackers and young parents (read mothers) spawning ill disciplined yobs.

I mean all the way during the election speeches The blues were preaching about saving and what not. I felt like screaming at the telly saying I do save but my savings always end up on out goings...It's OK if your earning average income (20-25k+) - My guess that is boosted by the big earners, since most people I know are on 13-18k.

So if you're the real average your outgoings will creep over you income if you decide to enjoy live...

I lost my job 3-4 months ago...And only now are they saying they may be able to help me pay my mortgage - Oh and JSA is the only money coming in that I can get...To pay my Car (and all of its other stuff), food, housing also serving my loans...Basically it comes to one week of pay from my last job for a month. And with all these cuts and what not there are more and more unemployed and less and less jobs. Basically any and all savings have now run dry.

I've tried getting out of the country but my qualifications don't seem to be wanted - Anywhere.

Fucking hate scrounging...Plus the defence cuts seemingly suggest it may be harder to get a role in the armed forces that isn't an infantry one.

What gets me as well is the big arse companies have been posting profits/record profits...I've another story about that but this has already gone on long enough - Hooray for privatization.

*Edit* It already cost the same/more to take a bus or train to get to the job centre than it is to drive...and they want to up it.

I'd riot but I fear the voice will fall on deaf ears.

Ouch. I feel your pain though. It does feel like we're trapped, with no way out of our financial situation and a government that keeps swiping our opportunities as fast as they can appear.

The danger is that since we have no legal recourse, the temptation is to turn to violent protest. I really hope that doesn't happen but I do just want to do something about it. To somehow make my voice heard.

And anyway, the government lose far far more money to tax evasion than benefits theft but they won't do anything about that because all those conservative tossers probably do it themselves.

Lord Ashcroft was just caught avoiding £3.4m of tax.

And the media weren't allowed to follow the story due to claims of libel.

None of this surprises me any more.

Lord Ashcroft is David Cameron's bumboy, right? Oh my days.

The more I read about this stuff. The worse it seems to get.

He contributed a lot of funding to the conservative party. In fact, I think he was the main financial backing from an individual. Hence why he won't get done for it. Basically he's non-domiciled. We should do what the Americans do, and force citizens to pay tax regardless of what country they live in. Don't wanna pay tax? Renounce your citizenship, and for Lord Ashcroft he would have to renounce his Baron-hood (sp?), his life Peer status, and his Order of St Michael and St George. Which I doubt the little nazi wanker would do

 

[gallaetha_matt]

'Feed the rich and gut the poor'

Fixed that for you.

Ha. Did it used to say feed the poor and gut the rich? Sorry, like I said above. I got so mad that I'm not proof reading my posts properly. I've got so much to say that it's like all my words are trying to come out at the same time. It's like giving birth to triplets who all want out at once.

 

[7moreDead_v1legacy]

As Al Capone said "You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.", they clearly arent listening... they havent been for decades. If I was shouting for that long and being ignored I would have broken a knee cap or two by now, but because some douchebag with a smug face has armed police no one thinks revolting against him is the thing to do? No wonder they walk all over us, they have been taking more and more rope for years and now we are surprised they have enough to hang us with it?

If it were to happen I'd be more than happy to wield a pitchfork and a torch against the armed wall of bureaucracy.

A bullet for freedom anyday.

 

[Daverson]

I was somewhat dismayed to see that, even though it's cost had been reduced, Trident was still forming a significant amount of the UK defence budget. I release we do need a nuclear deterrent, but why do we need Trident? Nuclear weapons don't win wars. For those who want to feel smart and say "what about WW2! Nyah!", welp, the Japanese were pretty much already going to surrender, and had the atomic bomb been dropped on the originally planned target, killing their emperor, the Japanese would likely never have surrendered. In return for a weapon that's designed not to be used, our armed forces are being almost cut in half.

To quote Patton: "Wars may be fought with weapons, but they're won by men".

 

[Kinguendo]

As Al Capone said "You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.", they clearly arent listening... they havent been for decades. If I was shouting for that long and being ignored I would have broken a knee cap or two by now, but because some douchebag with a smug face has armed police no one thinks revolting against him is the thing to do? No wonder they walk all over us, they have been taking more and more rope for years and now we are surprised they have enough to hang us with it?

If it were to happen I'd be more than happy to wield a pitchfork and a torch against the armed wall of bureaucracy.

A bullet for freedom anyday.

Its a fair trade, isnt it. If we are lucky we might even get famous, posthumous but still... it would be nice for people to know my name, maybe even spark some pride in those left behind and better still it would be for a good reason.

 

[lewism247]

'Feed the rich and gut the poor'

Fixed that for you.

Ha. Did it used to say feed the poor and gut the rich? Sorry, like I said above. I got so mad that I'm not proof reading my posts properly. I've got so much to say that it's like all my words are trying to come out at the same time. It's like giving birth to triplets who all want out at once.

Yeah it did and I know how you feel. I'm dreading all this more because they didn't treat Scotland very well the last time they were in power.

Also, that is a terrible mental image.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

If it were to happen I'd be more than happy to wield a pitchfork and a torch against the armed wall of bureaucracy.

A bullet for freedom anyday.

sounds like you and some other people here might be interested in this, its not quite a revolution, but its a start.
http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/blogs/66-luna17-activist/6155-10-november-nusucu-national-demonstration-to-oppose-education-cuts