Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

[jimibt]

this bbc article is a sobering read on the above for all us tree hugging lefties and Atilla the Hun tories: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6p24zpeg05o

the bit that caught my attention (in relation to all of us [we know better] political armchair detectives) was this part:

The OBR clearly does suspect that there was a large hole left in the public finances before the election.

Just how black that hole is depends on whether you think the government really had any choice over its acceptance of 5-6% pay settlements for public sector workers.

But that aside, the OBR has made clear there were billions of pounds of spending pressures that it did not know about when preparing its last forecast in March.

The spending was only revealed to them last week, the letter said, and given the “seriousness of the issue” the OBR has launched a review into the March forecast to assess the “adequacy” and “assurances” provided by the Conservatives.

it then goes on to say:

This revelatory letter does significantly undermine the notion put forward by the opposition - that is, the former government - that everyone had access to the OBR forecasts, therefore the “books were open”.

But this should not have come as a surprise. The OBR warned last year that the errors in its borrowing forecasts were largely down to underestimates in government spending. The OBR said that it was legally obliged to accept the figures it was given.

i'm only the messenger, no opinion expressed

So, its half a dozen of one and six of the other

well, if that means 6 lies and 6 cover ups, then yes. lol, glad i'm not really that immersed in politics, but it is all interesting stuff... right, back to monitoring the fluff in my navel (as opposed to naval!!)

[Archery1969]

this bbc article is a sobering read on the above for all us tree hugging lefties and Atilla the Hun tories: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6p24zpeg05o

the bit that caught my attention (in relation to all of us [we know better] political armchair detectives) was this part:

The OBR clearly does suspect that there was a large hole left in the public finances before the election.

Just how black that hole is depends on whether you think the government really had any choice over its acceptance of 5-6% pay settlements for public sector workers.

But that aside, the OBR has made clear there were billions of pounds of spending pressures that it did not know about when preparing its last forecast in March.

The spending was only revealed to them last week, the letter said, and given the “seriousness of the issue” the OBR has launched a review into the March forecast to assess the “adequacy” and “assurances” provided by the Conservatives.

it then goes on to say:

This revelatory letter does significantly undermine the notion put forward by the opposition - that is, the former government - that everyone had access to the OBR forecasts, therefore the “books were open”.

But this should not have come as a surprise. The OBR warned last year that the errors in its borrowing forecasts were largely down to underestimates in government spending. The OBR said that it was legally obliged to accept the figures it was given.

i'm only the messenger, no opinion expressed

So, its half a dozen of one and six of the other

well, if that means 6 lies and 6 cover ups, then yes. lol, glad i'm not really that immersed in politics, but it is all interesting stuff... right, back to monitoring the fluff in my navel (as opposed to naval!!)

[firlandsfarm]

Hunt made a number of accusations re available figures yesterday and I see it that they stand until the OBR, IFS or others shout them down which I have not heard. Let's face it the OBR, IFS et al want to keep their jobs so will defend what they have previously stated. When was the last time an OBR or IFS projection was correct? They are renowned for inaccuracies in their projections. Where are the facts that refute Hunt's claims?

Oh and don't forget Jim's BBC quote is from a Luvvie broadcaster commenting on a statement from a publisher who gets things wrong more often than right! This is the problem with our media recently, they will say anything to attract their desired followers by saying what they want to hear.

[sionascaig]

When was the last time an OBR or IFS projection was correct? They are renowned for inaccuracies in their projections.

Garbage in garbage out? Which is basically what OBR are saying and now need to redo March forecasts as Cons failed to disclose stuff (allegedly)..

Agree, we will have to wait & see what comes out of review...

Only thing that appears to be certain is that ticket prices have gone up & it is the fans that will suffer.

[jimibt]

Only thing that appears to be certain is that ticket prices have gone up & it is the fans that will suffer.

make that -ticket prices went up, while in transit!!

[Archery1969]

o dear o dear, its all coming out now.....

'We'll have to increase taxes', says Reeves.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7290yxw8q4o

Looks like everyone will have to pay for Labour sticking with their core voters being public sector workers and unions. They must keep them happy afterall.

Wonder what private sector workers are going to thing about this. O and all the pensioners. And lets not talk about those wishing to take their tax free pension lump sums in the next 12 months or so.

Its not going to be rosey ahead, for sure.....

[Derek27]

o dear o dear, its all coming out now.....

'We'll have to increase taxes', says Reeves.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7290yxw8q4o

Looks like everyone will have to pay for Labour sticking with their core voters being public sector workers and unions. They must keep them happy afterall.

Wonder what private sector workers are going to thing about this. O and all the pensioners. And lets not talk about those wishing to take their tax free pension lump sums in the next 12 months or so.

Its not going to be rosey ahead, for sure.....

That £40B or whatever the figure was that Lettuce Liz through away has to come from somewhere.

[Archery1969]

o dear o dear, its all coming out now.....

'We'll have to increase taxes', says Reeves.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7290yxw8q4o

Looks like everyone will have to pay for Labour sticking with their core voters being public sector workers and unions. They must keep them happy afterall.

Wonder what private sector workers are going to thing about this. O and all the pensioners. And lets not talk about those wishing to take their tax free pension lump sums in the next 12 months or so.

Its not going to be rosey ahead, for sure.....

That £40B or whatever the figure was that Lettuce Liz through away has to come from somewhere.

But voters won’t forget, not even 3 weeks after taking power, what Peter and others said, comes true.

Labour lied during the election.

What comes next will be harsh for all Labour MPs.

[firlandsfarm]

Labour lied during the election.

Honestly did you expect anything different? I feel sorry for the mugs who fell for it and voted for them ... they are suddenly realising they have another 4+ years to remind them how gullible they were.

[Derek27]

o dear o dear, its all coming out now.....

'We'll have to increase taxes', says Reeves.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7290yxw8q4o

Looks like everyone will have to pay for Labour sticking with their core voters being public sector workers and unions. They must keep them happy afterall.

Wonder what private sector workers are going to thing about this. O and all the pensioners. And lets not talk about those wishing to take their tax free pension lump sums in the next 12 months or so.

Its not going to be rosey ahead, for sure.....

That £40B or whatever the figure was that Lettuce Liz through away has to come from somewhere.

But voters won’t forget, not even 3 weeks after taking power, what Peter and others said, comes true.

Labour lied during the election.

What comes next will be harsh for all Labour MPs.

It's not possible to lie with your mouth shut, which effectively is how Starmer played it. What Peter said hasn't yet come true, still 2/3 months until the budget. Things currently look rosy compared to the alternative.

[sionascaig]

I thought the hot topic would be the OBR saying the Cons lied to them!

- and in Truss's case tried to sack treasury officials & abolish the OBR.

Come full circle now and labour have given OBR greater powers to see & challenge assumptions, with a legal duty to call out issues.

Isn't the bigger issue - rather than left v's right ideology - competence v's incompetence?

I wouldn't expect any government to get everything right but surely it is fair to say the last 4 governments were in general, grossly incompetent but occasionally got something right?

(and if you were on the "right" side of politics I'm sure must have been seriously disappointed)

[Emmson]

Labour lied during the election.

Honestly did you expect anything different? I feel sorry for the mugs who fell for it and voted for them ... they are suddenly realising they have another 4+ years to remind them how gullible they were.

All politicians lie all the time, whats new? this labour government will be judged on whether the country is better off or worse off from the day they took over. We already know the Tory era of 2010 - 2024 was a complete and utter failure on all fronts and you know it too firlandsfarm if you're being honest with yourself.

[Emmson]

Labour lied during the election.

Honestly did you expect anything different? I feel sorry for the mugs who fell for it and voted for them ... they are suddenly realising they have another 4+ years to remind them how gullible they were.

I resent these words from firlandsfarm, churlish, possibly if not probably designed to ignite a new forum toxic squabble. Calling me and others a mug

[jimibt]

Labour lied during the election.

Honestly did you expect anything different? I feel sorry for the mugs who fell for it and voted for them ... they are suddenly realising they have another 4+ years to remind them how gullible they were.

I resent these words from firlandsfarm, churlish, possibly if not probably designed to ignite a new forum toxic squabble. Calling me and others a mug

+1 agreed. yesterday when I posted the OBR piece, I let the many deceits that followed my post rest. However, you can see that the FF are not gonna let a little bit of truth get in the way of a bit of divide and conquer.

To even start calling labour voters mugs and whatever other filth must have been typed and removed before posting just shows what the jackboot brigade really think about anyone that doesn't follow their ideology, no matter how much of a sh!t-show the past 14 years were. of course, we'll next be hearing about being handed it from the previous labour govt and world events all conspiring to make the jackboots' job all but impossible..

anyway, like you, feel this individual is just an agitator looking for a response (alas, which we've given him/her or whatever pronoun they prefer).

[sionascaig]

I resent these words from firlandsfarm, churlish, possibly if not probably designed to ignite a new forum toxic squabble. Calling me and others a mug

It's kind of the equivalent of calling all Brexit voters mugs... And those that voted Mr Brexit in Chief into government... Maybe an over-reaction after being caught out so badly?