Apr 18 2007

The great pensions debate

5 Responses to “The great pensions debate”

1. # Chris Mon 18 Apr 2007 at 11:56 am

   When are the Conservatives going to really land a punch on the government? You repeatedly let them get away with blatant lies, helped by certain unquestioning sections of the media. For example, if Mr Brown really thinks that he would not be worse off if you took one fifth of his income away, then demand he make an annual charitable donation of that one fifth of his income that he clearly doesn’t need (although you will need to check he doesn’t just give it to the Smith Institute and thus get the money back in kind).

   Every week at PMQ’s the Prime Minister ends up stating how wonderful the economy is - with low inflation, low interest rates, etc. etc. Everyone knows it’s pack of lies. Everyone knows that interest rates and inflation are rising. Yet not once have any of the Conservative front bench had the balls to challenge the Prime Minister on these points. The pattern of Mr Blairs response is pretty easy to predict: Totally fail to answer the question in hand, blame the Tories, accuse the Tories of being just as bad, point to how wonderful the economy is doing. Where are the well researched responses to those standard phrases and responses that he uses? Why has no one managed to tear him apart with irrefutable evidence that he is lying?

   Sure things are going well for the Conservatives at the moment, but I really fear that this is more to do with the Government imploding than to the direct actions of the front bench. I really hope that this is only the perception that is being portrayed by the media, and that the Conservatives are really capable of destroying what must be the most ineffectual Governments in decades.

2. # Brian Tomkinsonon 18 Apr 2007 at 7:16 pm

   I watched much of the debate on television. The calibre of speeches from the Labour benches was absolutely abysmal and, to their shame, generally showed their ignorance of the subject. Brown was full of self-satisfying bluster and, as usual, threw out multitudes of selective but meaningless statistics in an attempt to confuse the argument. Hutton’s closing speech was truly appalling - did someone once seriously consider him as a future Prime Minister?!
   The Conservative contributions were well argued and from a position of knowledge and understanding of the subject. Regrettably votes are just based on the most basic tribal loyalty with no regard for the merits of the motion or the strength of the debating arguments - and we call this democracy!

3. # Steven_Lon 19 Apr 2007 at 7:30 pm

   ‘Regrettably votes are just based on the most basic tribal loyalty with no regard for the merits of the motion or the strength of the debating arguments - and we call this democracy!’ (Brian Tomkinson)

   It’s the tribalists of politics that the electorate voted in. If there were more independents elected, there was always a hung parliament and a coalition, then I’m sure such votes would be a lot less predictable. It is democracy, if yopu vote Labour / Tory / LibDem then you should know that you are voting for someone with party loyalties.

4. # Philip Chastonon 19 Apr 2007 at 11:30 pm

   Brown is an unimpressive character who has bluffed his way through the serial catastrophes of his tenure. Each minister should be held responsible for the consequences of their actions. He has established a framework for pensioner poverty, now and in the future, by taxing all forms of savings. Many are disillusioned with the tory party as they wished to see thsi attack on their property shoute from the rooftops. Alas….

   In the world of westminster, convention denies blame. You should hold a minster’s feet to the flame for the damage they have caused. But in the real world, these people cause real damage, end careers and destroy livelihoods. Brown’s decisions cause real hardship and suffering, in his quest for a fairer Britain. He should be held to account for that.

5. # John Dearingon 23 Apr 2007 at 10:23 am

   Why has it taken so long for this pensions swindle to become a matter of public debate? I knew what was going on bcak in 97 and as a result withdrew the modest financial support I had (more fool me) been giving to the Labour Party. On the plus side the government did at least facilitate the compensation of those who’d been swindled by the private pensions wheeze that your lot dreamt up in the 80s.

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