Poll blow to Cameron and Osborne on economic handling

Is this any surprise after the events of the last fortnight?

From the Wall Street Journal ‘Britons' faith in the ability of Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to manage the economy has eroded significantly since the March 21 budget, according to an opinion poll released Friday.

Of the 2,028 adults surveyed by ComRes on behalf of ITV News between March 30 and April 1, 53% said they don't trust Cameron to lead the U.K. out of its current economic problems, up from 47% last month. But Osborne fared even worse, with 60% declaring a lack of trust in the architect of the government's austerity program, which aims to start cutting its debt by the end of this parliament in 2015. Before his March 21 budget, 52% of those surveyed expressed distrust in his policies. The proportion of voters declaring their trust in Cameron fell to 31% from 36%, while the proportion declaring their trust in Osborne was lower still at 21%.

The gap between the proportion who declare their distrust in Cameron and Osborne and the proportion who trust them is now at its widest since ComRes began the poll in October 2010, the month in which the government detailed its planned spending cuts.

In the budget, Osborne announced a slightly lower level of government borrowing for coming years, and a slight upward revision in the economic growth forecast for this year. But the measures that have gained the most attention included freezing tax allowances for the elderly--which has become known as the "Granny Tax"--and the extension of sales tax to hot pies. The government has also been criticized for its handling of a proposed strike by drivers of gasoline delivery tankers. Some members of the government urged motorists to prepare for the strike by stocking up on gasoline, which critics say contributed to long lines and shortages at gas stations.

The coalition government next faces voters in local elections due May 3, with the mayoralty of London being the biggest prize on offer in that contest.

While a series of opinion polls have shown that the immediate response of voters to the budget has been largely negative, the government can take some comfort from the fact that the opposition Labour Party isn't reaping the benefits, having lost a by-election in one of its traditional strongholds on March 30.

Indeed, the ComRes poll found that just 18% of potential voters trust Labour leader Ed Miliband on the economy, while an even more meager 15% trust the party's economy spokesman, Ed Balls. Joining the latter on that trust rating was Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the junior partner in the coalition to Cameron's Conservatives.

Recent data and surveys suggest the U.K. economy avoided falling into recession in the first quarter, although narrowly. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research, one of the U.K.'s oldest independent forecasters, Thursday estimated that gross domestic product rose by 0.1% in the three months to March, having fallen by 0.3% in the three months to December. Second-quarter output is likely to be hit by an extra holiday to celebrate the Queen's diamond jubilee and the disruption of gas production in the North Sea. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has said he expects the economy to experience a "zigzag" recovery this year, with the impact of the Olympic Games also likely to affect the data in the third and fourth quarters.'

Is he the only Welsh Council Leader doing this?

The Western Mail is reporting that the Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council Labour’s Russell Roberts currently has 3 other jobs besides leading the second biggest local authority in Wales and as a direct result is currently making almost £100,000 per year.

His 3 other roles are as Chairman of the South Wales Police Authority, a board member of Cwm Taf Health Trust and Deputy Leader of the Welsh Local Government Association.

With the local elections on the horizon it’s no surprise the opposition has pointed this out, but with current levels of unemployment in Wales, pay freezes in the public sector and job losses that Local Authorities in all parts of Wales are being forced to make as a result of the UK Government’s cuts, it makes you wonder how any Council Leader can justify 4 jobs and this sort of remuneration? 

The full article is HERE 

Welcome back ORDOVICIUS

Proof that you can’t keep a good blogger down and once Welsh politics get under your skin it won’t leave you alone, it’s good to see Simon Dyda back with his new blog called Red Dragon White Bull adding a critical eye and a European dimension to the Welsh political blogosphere.

Welsh Government Green Investment Bank bid update

Following the many tweets started by Vaughan Roderick and my blog post, it was good to see momentum kept up by Owen at the Oggy Bloggy Ogwr and his comprehensive take on the Welsh Government’s hatchet job of a bid to secure the Bank for Cardiff.


But i have been surprised that there hasn’t been more sustained political reaction especially since there are local elections in a few weeks, this along with the mess at AWEMA should surely be appearing the opposition's local election literature.

Yes Tory leader Andrew RT Davies raise the bid at FMQ’s before the Easter break but considering he had an open goal he was the one who ended up getting slapped down by Carwyn Jones and the First Minister’s half hearted apology so eagerly reported by the welsh media for spelling and grammar meant an end to their interest but it. However the apology hardly makes up for embarrassment caused and the further dent to the Welsh Government’s reputation among voters, business leaders and other Government’s in the UK.

The Lib Dems Eluned Parrott did ask for an urgent question on Tuesday but it was unsurprisingly refused by the Welsh Government, but Kirsty Williams went on the pre-prepared dental survey at FMQ’s and despite strong condemnation by Jonathan Edwards MP and Simon Thomas AM on the weekend, Plaid’s new leader Leanne Wood went on renewables at FMQ’s on Tuesday.

All 3 opposition leaders can ask the First Minster questions on the same subject, but last week highlights the lack of shared interests and co-ordination that currently exists among the Parties and their leaders and how easy it is for Carwyn to pick them off one by one, to be effective and for the sake of the health of welsh democracy the need to find a way to work together or Carwyn and his Ministers will keep getting away with things like this.

However Labour may have successfully swept this under the carpet, but business partners included in Government’s bid such as Lloyds Banking Group and Cardiff University and Labour’s favourite anchor company Tata Steel among other have now seen the bid and I fully expect this matter to be raised when they next meet Carwyn Jones or Edwina Hart and ask some uncomfortable questions asked about the poor standards within the Welsh Government and Civil Service that the media and opposition seem unable or unwilling to do.

It’s also been noticeable that we haven’t heard a peep from Business Minister Edwina Hart or her Department on Cardiff’s bid, who even before the bid farce was being considered for another role after extensive lobbying by the business community because of her inability to communicate, her lack of understand of her portfolio and general attitude and hostility towards the business community.

Labour will successfully shift the focus to the Tory/Lib Dem car crashes of last week, the pasty tax, petrol shortage disruption and the granny tax for the foreseeable future, but they need to remember that not everyone has such short memories and attention spans and what happened with the Green Investment Bank bid and AWEMA will come back to bite them eventually.