UK Budget

[Hondo]

And your definition of "fairness" is what?

[BDunnell]

But that's what a coalition is. We (as in the electorate) voted for a hung parliament, the result of which was this coalition.

No, we didn't vote for a hung parliament. That was not an option on the ballot paper. We voted for individual parties. The result was a coalition. There is a big, big difference.

I give you more credit than to be naive to the fact that by voting lib dem there was a reasonable chance your representative would end up as part of a Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government.

I did not vote for them on that basis. I make my choice on the basis of specific policies and the quality of the candidate, while ruling out voting Conservative at any time. What other criteria am I to use?

[BDunnell]

That sounds like advocating for dictatorship. Modern politics is all about negotiation.

So, those of us who do not believe in coalition/pluralist politics are 'advocating dictatorship', are we? I do not feel that coalitions are a desirable thing at all. They only take place in mainland Europe as a matter of expediency, when one party has failed to achieve an outright majority and requires the support of other parties, and never on the basis of the national interest. Look at the current German coalition — it's a disaster, and I'm sure most voters there would prefer a strong majority government.

Should we turn to a PR system in the future, its highly likely no single parties manifesto will ever be delivered again.

I am not actually in favour of PR.

[Hazell B]

18.5% is better than 20%.

Daft as it sounds, I'm in favour of it being 20% even though I'm in business myself.

17.5% was a doddle to work out in a rush at auctions and in the wholesaler, and 20% is easier even than that. 18.5% would be a horrible figure to work out in my head in a rush (say during bidding at auction) and would confuse the hell out of everyday people. As it is the vast majority can't work out how much something is either minus it's VAT content or plus VAT.

Anyway, it's a tiny bit on most things and frankly when it does change I bet you won't even notice on most purchases that you don't already know to be VATable.

[Dave B]

Daft as it sounds, I'm in favour of it being 20% even though I'm in business myself.

17.5% was a doddle to work out in a rush at auctions and in the wholesaler, and 20% is easier even than that. 18.5% would be a horrible figure to work out in my head in a rush (say during bidding at auction) and would confuse the hell out of everyday people. As it is the vast majority can't work out how much something is either minus it's VAT content or plus VAT.

Anyway, it's a tiny bit on most things and frankly when it does change I bet you won't even notice on most purchases that you don't already know to be VATable.

And as an added bonus businesses will likely have more time to do the maths as they'll have less customers to worry about.

I cannot fathom how this Conservative government - and yes I know it's nominally a coalition but it's not as if the LibDems have any actual power in this - are escaping scrutiny for the decisions in that budget which will cost literally hundreds of thousands of jobs in both the public and private sectors.

Labour need to urgently bring forward their leadership election so that they can get on with the job of being an effective opposition, because right now the country's being rogered from behind.

[Daniel]

And as an added bonus businesses will likely have more time to do the maths as they'll have less customers to worry about.

I cannot fathom how this Conservative government - and yes I know it's nominally a coalition but it's not as if the LibDems have any actual power in this - are escaping scrutiny for the decisions in that budget which will cost literally hundreds of thousands of jobs in both the public and private sectors.

Labour need to urgently bring forward their leadership election so that they can get on with the job of being an effective opposition, because right now the country's being rogered from behind.

Double dip recession here we come!

Well at least I won't need to worry about going to work for a while if my contract doesn't get extended in September

[GridGirl]

Surely, if your work contract might not get extended you should start worrying about it sooner rather than later. Why dip into your savings if you can look for something as soon as possible?

[Daniel]

Wow, I wouldn't have thought to actually look for a job. Jobs around here are difficult to find at the best of times and the public sector are the biggest employers and if public sector jobs go in great numbers then the region is screwed.

[GridGirl]

Double dip recession here we come!

Well at least I won't need to worry about going to work for a while......

Well your own wording made it sound as though you were going to wait to find out about your contract and then look look for a new job.