Whitey Grandad

An interesting take on the money raised from Income Tax from different wealth levels. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8417205.stm

It's also worth pointing out that if we didn't take these cost-cutting steps then the interest we pay on our national borrowing could rise even further, even if we didn't borrow any more.

The short answer is very little. Our total debt is over £900bn rising to £1100bn next year. When RBS shares reach something around £0.56 each then we shall have made a profit. They are just below that level at the moment. We have also made a big packet out of the emergency loans. http://www.debtbombshell.com/ If that keeps you awake at night: http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/uk_national_debt_chart.html These charts are expressed as percentage of GDP which has fallen by over 6% in the last few years.

Absolutely. It was a case of 'one government too many'. If only Labour had replaced Blair with Brown sooner..

Even with all these 'cuts', public spending is set to rise. Annual interest payments alone will rise from £42bn this year to £63bn in four years time. The increase is about what we spend on education or defence.

There is no appetite for this amongst the national governments.

You needn't have bothered. You can get it back after you reach 60.

Bankers have never caused a recession in the same way that they have never caused growth. Recessions occur from time to time. They always have and the always will. The longer the gap since the last then the deeper the downturn.

There were a number of causes of which irresponsible lending was only one part.

And how many jobs would be saved (or created) if the banks were to charge less instead of giving these bonuses to their staff?

They were only 'average' because the trend line is drawn through them.

Thatcher aranged that we get it as a rebate which goes into the national coffers. I think this is worth around £4bn a year. The important question is 'what do we get for our money?'

Thanks, that's what I thought but I wasn't sure.

I think you'll find that very few of these would stay around and pay the taxes and we would end up with even less than we get now. The trick is to set the levels so that we maximise our revenue from these sources.

We get a lot of it back, but by no means all of it.

Interesting thought, but they didn't borrow the money so why should they pay off the debt?

They pay it to the Treasury, if they borrow it. We provided a draw-down facility which restored confidence in their ability to continue trading, but at a very high price. We also took a large slice of equity in them. One bank (whose name escapes me) chose to borrow from the Middle East instead of paying these high rates. The money that we have allocated has not been lost. We 'own' a couple of major banks which are enormous money-making machines and as soon as the share prices rise a little bit more we can cash in bigtime.

This is a (forgive me) simplistic approach. We all need food and other basic necessities. We don't need gender-reach consultants. We don't need designed obsolescence in mobile phones and computer operating systems. Why do we need increased business? What has changed in the world since the 1950s, 1960s ? Only that young mothers are forced out to work and put their children into day care.

We have already borrowed far too much and it has to stop. Interest payments last year were £30bn and this year they are £40bn. That is far more than our defence budget.

They already pay interest - over 12% - on what they 'borrow'.

I understand. I presume that Hilda was her sister so then something simple and dignified, e.g. 'with fondest memories from ... You will remain in our hearts forever. May you Rest in Peace'

But that demand is created by borrowed money that we can no longer afford. The money paid in salaries is far higher than the NI/PAYE.

I'm not laughing, well done! Incidentally, when you are at parties what do you say when people ask what you do?

You mean she doesn't know?

I agree, although I feel that even a wooden version of his Ted statues would still have looked disproportionate. I'm sure that the club could have recovered a large proportion of the cost by selling gnome-sized versions.