Cameron’s economic falsehoods mask a catalogue of missed opportunities – Tax Research UK
The Coalition has borrowed more than four times more, every year, than what Labour did, on average, according to Richard Murphy at Tax Research UK – writing in opposition to a claim by David Cameron that Britain will be on the “path to ruin” if Labour takes charge of the public finances.
Cameron is clearly trying to steal the “Road to Ruin” label that was applied to a now-infamous Tory campaign poster and throw it back at Labour. His problem is that he has dud ammunition.
Mr Murphy writes: “It’s very hard to see how one man can get as much wrong as David Cameron can in the repeated sentiment he has to offer to the UK.
“But the evidence is clear: every single word of what he has to say is deeply misleading because it is so wrong.
“After five years in office all he has learned is that keeping repeating the misinformation is the only policy he can find that he still thinks worth pursuing. And, unfortunately, some still believe him.”
Mr Murphy points out that:
- In five years the Coalition has borrowed more than Labour did in 13, by a considerable margin.
- And there wasn’t an unforeseen banking crisis on the Coalition’s watch.
- We have no gilt crisis.
- We have no affordability crisis.
- And we have a lost opportunity to invest at rates lower than we have almost ever known, which lost opportunity is why we have an economic crisis.
Read his article on Tax Research UK – and throw Cameron’s Guardian comments in the bin.
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The Tory newspaper on Monday 12 January has revealed that the flat rate state pension is indeed the biggest con in UK history.
Not even 45 per cent of new pensioners from 2016 (women born from 1953 and men born from 1951) will get the full flat rate state pension.
This effects 2 million people in work today, in their late 50s and early 60s.
More detail is on my petition of all the losers from the flat rate pension that even leaves people with nil state pension forever in old age, which includes poorest workers, housewives and widows:
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/state-pension-at-60-now
Indeed some people are getting flat rate state pension forecasts as low as £66 per week.
The Lib Dem Mr Steve Webb, Pensions Minister, said in a Daily Telegraph article, … “I have no interest in people not getting what they expect.” …
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/11338434/Less-than-half-of-workers-will-get-full-flat-rate-state-pension.html
The House of Lords Library informs us that the ring fenced and full National Insurance Fund is wrongly being called in surplus since 2013, when this is the non-paid-out state pension since 2013. SOURCE JOHN PRESCOTT LABOUR
THE FLAT RATE PENSION PROVEN TO BE A CON
The government told people that everyone reaching pensionable age after 2016 would get the full flat rate pension.
This has now officially been shown not to be the case.
A previous newspaper article quoted a DWP representative informing there was no single “formula” for the calculation of flat rate pension as there had been “so many tweaks and reforms” to the pension system over the decades that payouts would be “vastly different for different people” for many decades.
This is damning evidence that the new state flat rate pension is far from the sweeping “simplification” the Government has led us to believe for the past five years.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/11067567/New-flat-rate-state-pension-how-much-will-you-get.html
LESS FLAT RATE PENSION DUE TO CONTRACTED OUT FROM SERPs / S2P AND LESS NATIONAL INSURANCE
Few workers in final salary works pensions, especially in the public sector, were consulted by their employers contracting out their staff from the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme, called State Second Pension from 2002.
This meant the employer paid less into the workers’ additional state pension scheme. This happened to me in the council works pension.
Public sector workers who have contributed even up to 40 years National Insurance (if full time enough to have qualified, as this is not paid for weekly jobs below 14 hours per week in each separate job) will only get the basic, not full state pension, because the government decided, without consultation, to pay National Insurance at the lower rather than the standard rate.
So the employers saved money to the detriment of their employees’ state pension.
NO GUARANTEED ANNUAL RISE FROM WORKS PENSIONS
The government has omitted to inform workers that those reaching state pension age on and after 6 April 2016, who have been contracted out of SERPS / S2P and have a guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) as part of their occupational pension, will no longer receive cost of living increases on these GMPs.
At the moment it is the responsibility of the state to pay it with the state pension, if you reach state pension age prior to 6 April 2016.
HOW TO GET ONE UP ON THE TORIES AND UKIP?
So will Miliband now do a u-turn in his election 2015 manifesto and repeal the Pension Bills 2010-2014 and pay out the state pension to women born from 1953 who turned 60 from 2013 and men born from 1951 who turned 65 from 2013, if Labour can gain the coalition partner of the Scottish National Party in power after May?
Labour signing and promoting my petition will trigger a debate in parliament, if you can bring about 100,000 signatures, to show up the falsehoods by the coalition about the flat rate state pension.
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/state-pension-at-60-now
I also found the news article just a few days ago that “Labour would borrow an extra £170 billion by 2030” – Well seeing as the Condems have borrowed £417bn in four years, that would be an incredible improvement.