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.

I don't think even Cameron actually believes anything he says nowadays..... His austerity policy lost all credibility quite a while back, and it only continues because he hasn't the balls to stop it running out of control and totally fooking this nation up.

This government is truly the worst in my living memory and there have been some poor ones.

To get away from Dally's pretence at understanding that about which he pontificates - he lost any credibility in that field a long time ago -and to get back to the subject of the politics of the country.

I'm 48. I started voting during the early 80s when the Conservative party were in power and have voted in every single election, at whatever level, since. I believe it to be a fundamental plank of the British society.
I've never voted Conservative and never will. I see that despite their protestations they only truly represent a small part of the population, those with land and money.
I've been a swing voter between the other two all my life, alternating between Labour and Liberal/LibDem depending on which I felt reflected my views most honestly.
In recent years - probably since about 1990 - I've consistently voted LibDem as I felt i couldn't trust Blair, or laterly Brown as I didn't see them as representing anything other then a very small area of interest to them.
Now I can't see myself voting in the next election. Tories? No, they've dragged us to the bottom of the gutter than the Labour party dropped us into. LibDem? Nope, they've destroyed any credibility they had. Labour? See first comment. UKIP? Hahahahahahahahah.... A joke party that will implode after the next election, or when Farange walks away. Whichever comes first.

I honestly don't see a viable party in British politics any more.

Sounds like you should set up a party to reflect your views.

I think we should brace ourselves for some serious cuts in public spending: www.cityam.com/article/loss-uk-s ... e-sterling and, Cameron's response to the ratings downgrade: www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... -32891961/

I think we should brace ourselves for some serious cuts in public spending: www.cityam.com/article/loss-uk-s ... e-sterling and, Cameron's response to the ratings downgrade: www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... -32891961/

Your experience is remarkably similar to mine over almost the exact same period of time (I'm 50). I can't currently see myself voting for any of the three main parties and most of the fringe parties are either deeply unpleasant or pointless. Often both.

I'm going to have to find one somewhere though. I can't bring myself to abstain in a General Election.

In which case vote for a minority party whose key message is something you believe in (eg Green if you are concerned with the natural world / environment, UKIP if you are anti-EU, etc). Do not consider it a wasted vote.

I'm going to be voting Labour, probably. I have only ever voted Labour or Lib Dem, and the Lib Dems will never get another vote from me at any level.

I don't think Labour did too much wrong domestically during the Blair/Brown years, if you conveniently forget about the whole Iraq kerfuffle. The [uglobal[/u financial collapse caught most people/governments with their pants down, and it'd have been just as severe for the people of this country under any colour of government. I do think the Labour party would have been far less inclined to use the disaster to drive through an unpleasant ideological agenda of raping the poor, though. So, on that basis alone, I'll probably vote for them.