Stick.
Wrong end of.

Neither Cameron or Osborne requires rightwing backbench pressure to lower taxes and to slash public expenditure.
It's what they intended right from the outset.
It's why they chopped infrastructure spending early on and cut the top rate of tax first.

It's their raison d'etre, Rodney.

The thick posh b@stard Osbourne probably thought they were referring to batteries when the mentioned triple A

They've taken alot of stick for NOT cutting properly.

What on earth are you rambling about now?

What are "proper" cuts?

Gidiot, writing in the [iSun[/i – so not a newspaper for grown-ups – claiming it was evidence that his polices were right all along and need to be continued.

Quite, quite unbelievable. And worse, people will continue to believe him.

However this government did have the top rate of tax at 50% for the first two years and 45% for the most recent year, compared to the Labour government that had it at 40% throughout apart from the last 6 weeks. So they are not really doing their rich chums as much of a favour as Blair did.

As the Bank of England has been running a policy of devaluing sterling in an orderly fashion for some time the loss of the AAA rating was inevitable. Indeed, it is laughable that it lasted so long. Official policy has dictated we would lose it. Osborne's political error has been stressing its retention as a key plank of his policy. In reality though that was always likely to have been bluster to try to put of the day. Logically, our rating has a long way to drop yet.

Perfect storm brewing for April - the new bedroom tax for those on social housing relying on benefits to pay their rent will be kicking in at just about the same time as the current incumbents turn down another opportunity to think about a mansion tax.

And still Labour will sit on their hands.

There is no easy solution - unless you have one? It is difficult to cut taxes at present (although some people suggest slashing corporation tax to nearer 10% attract inward investment) and there is little prospect of economic growth taking off unless we have become the epicentre of a new industrial revolution. That leaves cutting the welfare state. Despite all the protestations that has not happened to a great degree yet.

This country was effectively bust until North Sea oil saved us. It's bust again but there seems little prospect of another North Sea oil to save us. Our long-term decline has been continuing for decades and has only been masked by two things - North Sea oil and more latterly credit expansion. Both have had their day. Sadly, this means the future looks dire, especially with our demographic profile. We need some very serious innovation to save things.

That's because they haven't got an alternative, because they are, in essence, basically the same as the Tories.....Its the same as when Labour were in power and the Tories just promised to match Labour's spending, because they had no alternative either.

They are all incompetent and come election time their uselessness will be reflected by the electorate turning their backs on voting.

That is letting him off far too easily. He didn't make a passing comment about us retaining our AAA rating. He said it was what you could judge his policies on. There is no other way to call it other than he has failed by his own measure. [iWhy[/i he failed doesn't even matter because if he was such a bloody genius we would still have the AAA rating.

What he is good at, as is the Coalition spin machine, is coming up with all sorts of rubbish to say black is white. As Mintball pointed out he is now saying losing the rating just proves he was right all along. This just shows how far we have sunk as a society because Mintball is also correct in saying most people will swallow it. Even if that were true it doesn't alter the fact that IMO he should resign or be sacked. You can't miss one of your key economic targets, twist it to say it proves your point anyway and have any credibility left.

Perhaps we could persuade Frankie Boyle to form his own party and hopefully hold the balance of power like in Italy. Would replace one joke of a party with a joker party.

You still haven't explained what "properly" means in this context.

he's busy forming a list of "those minorities"

Colloquialism. If you want more precise language - not cutting anywhere deeply enough.

If he cut any deeper he might have a few of us stopping in our tracks and asking "Hang on, just exactly why are we paying our taxes if we aren't getting any public services ?"

Paying the finance costs of the debt has become a new public service.

Which is another idiotic statement that is either intended purely to wind people up or, if a genuine reflection of views sincerely held, reveals a chronic lack of understanding of such matters.

Mind, it's been said more than once that trolls always have at least some sympathy with the extreme views that they extol ...

Cameron will get his 2nd term. Democracy is an illusion.

Can you please explain your statement? It seems nonsensical and to bear no relation to my post.

You are a troll, an idiot or a bit of both.
Simple enough for you?

I was asking Mintball a perfectly reasonable question.

Not sure why you feel obliged to write such juvenile stuff. Go play with your Star Wars figures there's a good lad.

I saved her a job and answered you for her.

I am trying to understand this bit of what she wrote:

"Which is another idiotic statement that is either intended purely to wind people up or, if a genuine reflection of views sincerely held, reveals a chronic lack of understanding of such matters."

It makes absolutely no sense in the context of what I wrote.

Also what are the "matters" of which I spoke that Mintball believes she has a superior understanding of?

I read today that Cameron said in PMQs that the loss of AAA meant that cuts would need to be further and faster.