According to the European Court of Auditors, €7 billion of the 2013 budget was misspent. However, the EU has a very loose definition of the word ‘misspent’, Here are a few examples of projects judged to be money well spent: €500,000 paid to two fishermen to scrap their boat in […]
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How departmental spending has changed this Parliament
ConservativeHome has charted the change in departmental expenditure limits since 2009-10 in a “To The Point” article, How the departments have fared in this Austerity Parliament: Health spending is up. Communities and Local Government has been cut in half. I recommend this good summary article.
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Labour’s spending chaos
Via Share The Facts: Labour’s spending plans are in chaos – with Ed Miliband and Ed Balls spending the money from their proposed homes tax over and over again. Last week Balls said the tax will fund the NHS and nothing else: ‘All the money we raised from the mansion […]
Read MoreA summary of the Autumn Statement
The Conservative Party’s summary of the Autumn Statement is as follows. Backing business all the way: Local businesses will benefit from a cap on business rate rises and an extension of rate relief. The increase in business rates next year will be capped at 2 per cent – businesses were […]
Read MoreFor City AM: It’s time to end the cruel delusion of cheap money and reckless spending
City A.M. asked me to comment in advance of the Autumn statement. I wrote: GEORGE Osborne will present his Autumn Statement to a country in the grip of a cruel economic delusion, perpetrated against the poor and the aspirational. Welfare states everywhere are spending chronically beyond their means while papering […]
Read MoreBudget 2013: The Headlines
The following was provided by the Conservative Party in summary of the Budget 2013. In a tough economic situation, the British people know there are no easy answers or short cuts. But we are succeeding, slowly but surely, in fixing those problems. We’ve now cut Labour’s record deficit by not […]
Read MoreThe moon landings and the trajectory of public spending
Ahead of the budget, the TaxPayers’ Alliance reports, More Britons believe the moon landings were faked than think that taxes are too low. Headlines include: People underestimate the real rate of tax on their income. Fewer than one in seven people realise the Government plans to increase the debt, not […]
Read MoreBucks County Council extends council tax freeze
This week Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) announced its budget plans for 2013/4. Keeping money in people’s pockets during these tough economic times is an essential part of ensuring the continued prosperity of Buckinghamshire. It is also welcome to see that the Conservative 2010 General Election pledge to freeze council tax […]
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A new debate is emerging on the scope of the state
Few people would tolerate a country in which the poor starved or went homeless and yet in Wycombe food is provided by the One Can Trust and emergency winter shelter by Wycombe Homeless Connection. Last time I divided the social security budget (£207bn) by the number of people in poverty (13m), […]
Read MoreMore unexpected borrowing?
Yesterday, we learned “public sector net borrowing was £0.6 billion in July 2012; this is £3.4 billion higher net borrowing than in July 2011, when net borrowing was -£2.8 billion (a repayment)”. Compared to say May, when we borrowed £17.9 billion, £600 million seems relatively modest. It’s still the gross […]
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