The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is trying his best in the Guardian to trash the reputation of the well respected Think Tank the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) and accuse them of bias and not being very nice to him.
This is the same IFS who Mr Clegg was happy to quote during the General Election Campaign mind you, when it was saying nice things about the Lib Dems plans that on the whole have be dumped by the Coalition, after they concluded that June’s budget and this week’s Comprehensive Spending Review from the Coalition were regressive and hit the poorest hardest.
Worse still for the Lib Dems and their leader were the IFS claims that only the measures the previous Chancellor Labour’s Alistair Darling put in place for the top earners made it more progressive.
I can understand why Nick Clegg might be worried after all his party has slipped to 10% in the latest YouGov poll and many MP, Councillors, AM’s and activist are worried about the scale of the cuts especially in Wales, but how wise is it for Nick Clegg to attack such a highly regarded Think Tank as the IFS and its methods when the majority of people believe them rather than the politicians.
And we shouldn’t forget that it was Nick Clegg who signed his party up to the Coalition knowing full well what was in store for the General public in the months and years ahead, in mine and lots of other people’s opinions Nick Clegg would be better off defending his Government's decisions rather than attacking those who are pointing out uncomfortable truths.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
CSR some initial thoughts
Due to work, a dentist appointment and busy day yesterday I haven’t had a chance to fully digest yesterday Comprehensive Spending Review.
But after talking to a people this morning I think one of the reasons why it doesn’t feel as bad as it could have is that the UK Government did well softening people up and managing expectation and of course the cuts and tax rises aren't happening overnight, they will be introduced over the Parliament.
That said it was a very political CSR and I bet George Osborne isn’t best pleased at the comparison to Gordon Brown that most commentators on the right and left made about his delivery. But back to content of the CSR where there are plenty of risks involved both domestically and internationally from what was announced yesterday and I hope that the Chancellor and his Treasury team will be flexible and change course if things take a turn for the worst.
Here in Wales there is understandable concern over the job losses in the public and private sector and the benefit rule changes, changing Incapacity rules for the sickest in society is awful and is going to be a tough sell to people who are probably really worried today, and then there are the obvious questions for those worried about losing their job is where are the new jobs?
As i have written on this blog before i’m in favour of changing the benefit rules to help people back to work and have done research on that very subject, but to compliment it you also have to provide training and real jobs for people to move into and decent wages so that individuals and families can move out of the benefit trap. I haven’t seen much in new thinking that either Government is doing to address these problems and apart from lobbying there is little many in the communities affected can do to change minds in London.
The part we can control will tell us a lot about how Wales copes in the months and years ahead after WAG decides what its priorities are for their smaller budget. After yesterday's response by Carwyn and Ieuan it could be more political than policy driven, which is a shame but quite predictable.
However this should be time for some new thinking on the way health, education, social services are delivered as well as how Wales does sustainable job and wealth creation. But are the politicians brave enough to look at other options and are we the public willing to accept new ways of delivering public services to manage the enormous changes that will take place if all the cuts all implemented in full, time will tell
But after talking to a people this morning I think one of the reasons why it doesn’t feel as bad as it could have is that the UK Government did well softening people up and managing expectation and of course the cuts and tax rises aren't happening overnight, they will be introduced over the Parliament.
That said it was a very political CSR and I bet George Osborne isn’t best pleased at the comparison to Gordon Brown that most commentators on the right and left made about his delivery. But back to content of the CSR where there are plenty of risks involved both domestically and internationally from what was announced yesterday and I hope that the Chancellor and his Treasury team will be flexible and change course if things take a turn for the worst.
Here in Wales there is understandable concern over the job losses in the public and private sector and the benefit rule changes, changing Incapacity rules for the sickest in society is awful and is going to be a tough sell to people who are probably really worried today, and then there are the obvious questions for those worried about losing their job is where are the new jobs?
As i have written on this blog before i’m in favour of changing the benefit rules to help people back to work and have done research on that very subject, but to compliment it you also have to provide training and real jobs for people to move into and decent wages so that individuals and families can move out of the benefit trap. I haven’t seen much in new thinking that either Government is doing to address these problems and apart from lobbying there is little many in the communities affected can do to change minds in London.
The part we can control will tell us a lot about how Wales copes in the months and years ahead after WAG decides what its priorities are for their smaller budget. After yesterday's response by Carwyn and Ieuan it could be more political than policy driven, which is a shame but quite predictable.
However this should be time for some new thinking on the way health, education, social services are delivered as well as how Wales does sustainable job and wealth creation. But are the politicians brave enough to look at other options and are we the public willing to accept new ways of delivering public services to manage the enormous changes that will take place if all the cuts all implemented in full, time will tell
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
The hollowing out of Scottish and Welsh Labour
Below is an extract from Gerry Hassan about the hollowing out of Scottish Labour and the false sense of hope the UK Coalition Government has given it, the full article is worth a read, but seems as much of its applies in Wales to the Labour Party, I thought I would share it.
He writes ‘Modern politics have a faint whiff of the aristocratic court; the politics of nepotism, of the Miliband brothers and now the Eagle sisters (Angela and Maria), of everything being about how you know and working the channels of access and power.
In Scotland the situation is actually much worse. Without the new nursery grounds of the new political elite, Scottish Labour is left drawing on threadbare resources to produce dull, risk averse semi-competent politicians who rose to the starry heights of MPs' researchers and organisers. The last UK election saw a significant diminution of Scottish Labour’s ranks; out went John McFall and John Reid, and in came the likes of Gemma Doyle, MP for West Dunbartonshire, and another young, bland, identikit politician who is unlikely to ruffle feathers or challenge the system.
Scottish Labour cannot pass off these changes as being the result of the establishment of the Scottish Parliament. The talent hasn’t gone elsewhere, it has just gone.
Look at the potential packed into Donald Dewar’s first Cabinet in Labour ministers: McConnell, McCabe, Alexander, Deacon, and then look at Iain Gray’s prospective team which could be the Cabinet next May. It is a spine-chilling prospect with Gray’s team having a quality which would not look out of place running a small to medium ranking council. Not Glasgow or Edinburgh mind you, but maybe a Dundee or Stirling.
The sole modus operandi of the whole enterprise is now shaped by partisan point scoring and tribal detestation of the SNP. No thought is given to the wider, noble cause of speaking for Scotland or a wider national interest.
The Scottish Labour leadership feels the exact opposite. It believes it has the wind in its sails, buoyed by the May UK election result north of the border, and what the opinion polls are saying about the likely result of next May’s Scottish elections.
Yet, the hollowing out of Scottish Labour is a much more deep and complex story, than about one or even two election results.
Once upon a time Scottish Labour saw itself as the crucial bridge building coalition between Scotland and Westminster. The party stood up for Scotland at Westminster, and sold the benefits of Britain in Scotland. This politics was done adeptly by Tom Johnston and Willie Ross, often using the Nationalist threat to extract more money out of Westminster, while having little interest in democratic politics, being more motivated by results and getting things done. It is no longer a viable politics.
Now Scottish Labour no longer counts to the same degree at Westminster, and it is going to have to chart its own course north of the border: unreformed, unapologetic for decades of Labour arrogance and misrule, and bereft of new ideas.
It sets out on this feeling rather good about itself, smug and self-satisfied that it is again the people’s party. This is the traditional Labour feeling of self-righteousness and sentimentality which New Labour set out to destroy and failed to do.
Normal service has been resumed for some. ‘We have got our party back’ crowed the complacent twice loser Neil Kinnock. Scottish Labour is heading for the victory it thinks is rightfully its entitlement, and as things stands, steaming straight into stormy waters and the rocks.’
There are of course differences between Welsh and Scottish Labour, Welsh Labour never had the quality or quantity of Ministers around the UK Cabinet table to start with and despite remaining the largest party the decline of Welsh Labour has been even more spectacular than that of their Scottish cousins.
One final thought I often wonder why there is no equivalent to Gerry Hassan in Wales to cast a critical eye over the future of Labour in Wales especially as they remain the dominant force driving Welsh politics, despite what I and many others think about them.
He writes ‘Modern politics have a faint whiff of the aristocratic court; the politics of nepotism, of the Miliband brothers and now the Eagle sisters (Angela and Maria), of everything being about how you know and working the channels of access and power.
In Scotland the situation is actually much worse. Without the new nursery grounds of the new political elite, Scottish Labour is left drawing on threadbare resources to produce dull, risk averse semi-competent politicians who rose to the starry heights of MPs' researchers and organisers. The last UK election saw a significant diminution of Scottish Labour’s ranks; out went John McFall and John Reid, and in came the likes of Gemma Doyle, MP for West Dunbartonshire, and another young, bland, identikit politician who is unlikely to ruffle feathers or challenge the system.
Scottish Labour cannot pass off these changes as being the result of the establishment of the Scottish Parliament. The talent hasn’t gone elsewhere, it has just gone.
Look at the potential packed into Donald Dewar’s first Cabinet in Labour ministers: McConnell, McCabe, Alexander, Deacon, and then look at Iain Gray’s prospective team which could be the Cabinet next May. It is a spine-chilling prospect with Gray’s team having a quality which would not look out of place running a small to medium ranking council. Not Glasgow or Edinburgh mind you, but maybe a Dundee or Stirling.
The sole modus operandi of the whole enterprise is now shaped by partisan point scoring and tribal detestation of the SNP. No thought is given to the wider, noble cause of speaking for Scotland or a wider national interest.
The Scottish Labour leadership feels the exact opposite. It believes it has the wind in its sails, buoyed by the May UK election result north of the border, and what the opinion polls are saying about the likely result of next May’s Scottish elections.
Yet, the hollowing out of Scottish Labour is a much more deep and complex story, than about one or even two election results.
Once upon a time Scottish Labour saw itself as the crucial bridge building coalition between Scotland and Westminster. The party stood up for Scotland at Westminster, and sold the benefits of Britain in Scotland. This politics was done adeptly by Tom Johnston and Willie Ross, often using the Nationalist threat to extract more money out of Westminster, while having little interest in democratic politics, being more motivated by results and getting things done. It is no longer a viable politics.
Now Scottish Labour no longer counts to the same degree at Westminster, and it is going to have to chart its own course north of the border: unreformed, unapologetic for decades of Labour arrogance and misrule, and bereft of new ideas.
It sets out on this feeling rather good about itself, smug and self-satisfied that it is again the people’s party. This is the traditional Labour feeling of self-righteousness and sentimentality which New Labour set out to destroy and failed to do.
Normal service has been resumed for some. ‘We have got our party back’ crowed the complacent twice loser Neil Kinnock. Scottish Labour is heading for the victory it thinks is rightfully its entitlement, and as things stands, steaming straight into stormy waters and the rocks.’
There are of course differences between Welsh and Scottish Labour, Welsh Labour never had the quality or quantity of Ministers around the UK Cabinet table to start with and despite remaining the largest party the decline of Welsh Labour has been even more spectacular than that of their Scottish cousins.
One final thought I often wonder why there is no equivalent to Gerry Hassan in Wales to cast a critical eye over the future of Labour in Wales especially as they remain the dominant force driving Welsh politics, despite what I and many others think about them.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Tory Cabinet members face tax avoidance claims
Tonight’s Channel 4 Dispatches was timed to coincide with the Comprehensive Spending Review later this week, and will cause the Government and especially the Chancellor George Osborne as one of those investigated some major headaches when he gets up on Wednesday and announces £83 billion pounds of cuts after the endless claims of We’re all this together. They look even more hollow now.
I can only find reference to the story in the Daily Mail (note the irony) it’s says ‘Three Cabinet millionaires have been dragged into a ‘tax dodging’ row.
A Channel Four investigation to be screened tonight is expected to make a series of claims about the financial affairs of Chancellor George Osborne, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond and International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell.
All three men vehemently deny wrongdoing, and Mr Hammond warned last night that he would sue if the Dispatches programme implied he had tried to avoid paying his taxes.
A senior Government insider described the allegations as ‘outrageous’.
The programme is expected to claim that the men have used a variety of ‘wealth management’ techniques to protect their fortunes.
While none is accused of illegal tax evasion, the subject of legal tax avoidance is highly sensitive as the Coalition government promotes the slogan ‘We’re all in this together’ in tackling the budget deficit.
Dispatches highlights the decision by Mr Mitchell to invest in two property investment funds in the British Virgin Islands – a well-known tax haven where profits are beyond Britain’s corporation tax laws. He is said to have invested at least £130,000.
The programme also focuses on Mr Hammond, whose £7.5million fortune makes him one of the wealthiest of the Cabinet’s 18 millionaires.
It suggests that his practice of paying himself share dividends instead of a salary from his property firm Castlemead is a tax-efficient device used by the wealthy.
And it claims that he moved to limit his exposure to the new 50p top rate of tax last year by moving shares in the firm into the name of his wife who pays tax at a lower rate. It is suggested the move could save him more than £25,000 a year.
The Dispatches programme entitled 'How the rich beat the Taxman’ is on Channel 4 tonight at 8pm
I can only find reference to the story in the Daily Mail (note the irony) it’s says ‘Three Cabinet millionaires have been dragged into a ‘tax dodging’ row.
A Channel Four investigation to be screened tonight is expected to make a series of claims about the financial affairs of Chancellor George Osborne, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond and International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell.
All three men vehemently deny wrongdoing, and Mr Hammond warned last night that he would sue if the Dispatches programme implied he had tried to avoid paying his taxes.
A senior Government insider described the allegations as ‘outrageous’.
The programme is expected to claim that the men have used a variety of ‘wealth management’ techniques to protect their fortunes.
While none is accused of illegal tax evasion, the subject of legal tax avoidance is highly sensitive as the Coalition government promotes the slogan ‘We’re all in this together’ in tackling the budget deficit.
Dispatches highlights the decision by Mr Mitchell to invest in two property investment funds in the British Virgin Islands – a well-known tax haven where profits are beyond Britain’s corporation tax laws. He is said to have invested at least £130,000.
The programme also focuses on Mr Hammond, whose £7.5million fortune makes him one of the wealthiest of the Cabinet’s 18 millionaires.
It suggests that his practice of paying himself share dividends instead of a salary from his property firm Castlemead is a tax-efficient device used by the wealthy.
And it claims that he moved to limit his exposure to the new 50p top rate of tax last year by moving shares in the firm into the name of his wife who pays tax at a lower rate. It is suggested the move could save him more than £25,000 a year.
The Dispatches programme entitled 'How the rich beat the Taxman’ is on Channel 4 tonight at 8pm
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