CPI up to 2.9% For December.

In message , Martin writes

Radio 4 is my default FM station. Except when it goes:

Dum Di-dum, Di-dum, Di-Dum Dum, Di-Dum Di-Dum, Dum.

In message , Andy Pandy writes

I was thinking of the 70s/80s.

Yes indeed, that was disastrous, but there was a lot of pressure from the financial sector. Didn't Thatcher de-regulate our banks free up the City before that? I'm asking, because the talking heads have made that assertion.

I fall into the "Enough pension and savings to exclude me from any means tested benefits, but no yacht". I'm still working on the acronym for that...

Yes, whatever it's colour. I'd love everyone to vote LD and send them into a panic.

That fits - you're happy to leave it on all day on Saturdays :-)

They didn't "leave Noo Labour" with anything in the 70's/80's. That was 1997.

Of course there was! And in the US it was combined with the disastrous Community Reinvestment Act which effectively forced banks to make sub-prime loans.

Yes, although the problem was really de-regulation combined with the complicated financial instruments which were designed (or at least put into widespread use) well after her time.

And incompetent regulation - like this lot hiring that loony from HBOS as deputy chair of the FSA after he had previously sacked his head of risk regulation at HBOS for, erm, continually highlighting the risks they were taking.

Normally I'd welcome a hung parliament but this time it could be a disaster as the markets want to see a strong government.

And I'd argue that GB is not a "bumbling" as he seems. He's very good at looking after no. 1, which is all most MPs care about. I think the bonus culture should be changed, even if we get our money back. The current system rewards excessive risk taking, which is what got the economy into the mess it's in now.

IIRC it was the continous attacking by the press about his age that made him stand down.

I think Paddy Ashdown was the best LD party leader of recent times. Kennedy a close second.

I don't recall this. Do you have a link to the story?

The markets aren't everything. It might make the big organisations write off the debt they are trying to hide at present.

They are when the government needs to borrow 170 billion per year! If they can't get that credit cheaply because the markets don't trust them to sort out the current mess then we'll enter a downward spiral of increasing cost of debt increasing the borrowing requirement...

Erm, why? And how would that help?

In message , Martin writes

From our own Correspondent, Moneybox, News Quiz (or ISIHAC or The Now Show).

In message , Mark writes

And probably the best Defence spokesman.

Ah good - something on which we differ. FOOC & NQ or ISIHAC - yes. But can't stand Moneybox or Now Show (or F.Glover for that matter - or any of the 6:30 pm so-called comedy slots Mon-Thurs).

But I make up with Point of View & BH the following morning - though I wish BH would use non-celebs for paper review. And I'm devastated that I still haven't got a honey spoon.... :-(

On reflection, I guess M.Box has one redeeming feature - it ensures this sub-thread is definitely still on-topic :-)

Maybe - but (unlike CK) PA is now an established "elder statesman" which I find makes it much harder to recall accurately just what he / they were like in former days.

It would be better for the government not to borrow such ridiculous amounts of money.

To not prolong the recession.

In message , Martin writes

Well they used to call him Paddy Pants-Down..

Well, quite, which is why they need a serious plan to identify spending cuts or additional taxes, something this government are too cowardly to do (until after the election).

So how would writing off debt help? It would worsen the companies balance sheet and make getting credit harder etc.

Indeed. But I assume such behaviour is common-place and, indeed, almost inevitable amongst our more senior politicians, given that a pre-requisite for climbing that particularly greasy pole is to be strongly alpha male.

In the short term it might not help them. However the debt is there and it's not good hiding it IMHO. I can't see how they can move on until it is written off.

Get the pain over with now is my opinion.

How did Heath manage it then?

tim

There are plenty of film-clips showing that he waved his baton more than adequately.

In message , Martin writes

And very topical! If you listened to Moneybox today (30th) you heard a very nervous HMRC representative telling the presenter that it is the responsibility of the recipient of incorrect tax codes to call the IR and inform them. 8-(

It appears that there has been an enormous c*ck-up when two databases were merged, and her comments implied that many thousands[1] of incorrect codes had probably been sent out...