Monday, April 02, 2007
Gordon Brown
I pointed out that I didn't much like his last budget, and felt that some of the current Labor economic theory (insofar that it pretends that a 'greed-is-good-and-necessary' approach has a useful and voter-friendly scientific basis) is unsound to put it mildly. But strong attacks on him by a basically Tory and anti-voter Press have become totally unreasonable.
Here's Polly Toynbee's brief (Liberal) take on it: "Note how almost the entire press is on song for the "£5bn pensions raid" story, with a single-minded, out-to-kill consistency across every Tory paper. This "stealth raid" happened 10 years ago in public at the dispatch box, and has been industry's excuse for the retreat from company pensions ever since. There is no doubt that the £5bn played its part in the pensions crisis, but it was peanuts compared with £250bn of pension funds lost on the stock market; £5bn is a gnat bite compared with the cost of pension holders' extra longevity. It is small compared with the pension holidays that grasshopper companies stole in the good times (1988-91), as if winter never comes. The closure of final salary schemes owes more to the chilling business culture that no longer regards caring for employees as part of what a public company does now that share price is supreme.
The Times, rabid yesterday, used the Freedom of Information Act to elicit Treasury officials' advice on removing the benefit that let pension funds reclaim tax on share dividends. Other Tory chancellors had considered it and one did cut it. Revealing officials' warnings that there would be a fuss is no great scoop: there has been a fuss ever since. As Kenneth Clarke said yesterday, good chancellors don't take whatever advice they are given. Where is the "con" or "stealth"? Officials also advised that pension funds "should be able to cope with the change".etc..."
IMO: All the nonsense propaganda put out by the Tory press has convinced me that, if that is their best efforts, don't vote Tory. Particularly, not for the dodgy toker Cameron who helped ruin the Home Office. (I wonder how the Home Office turns out with Reid, incidentally).
Order-order says: Just a simple question - if the Tories think Gordon's pensions grab was wrong, will they reverse it? Will it be a manifesto commitment?
Here's Polly Toynbee's brief (Liberal) take on it: "Note how almost the entire press is on song for the "£5bn pensions raid" story, with a single-minded, out-to-kill consistency across every Tory paper. This "stealth raid" happened 10 years ago in public at the dispatch box, and has been industry's excuse for the retreat from company pensions ever since. There is no doubt that the £5bn played its part in the pensions crisis, but it was peanuts compared with £250bn of pension funds lost on the stock market; £5bn is a gnat bite compared with the cost of pension holders' extra longevity. It is small compared with the pension holidays that grasshopper companies stole in the good times (1988-91), as if winter never comes. The closure of final salary schemes owes more to the chilling business culture that no longer regards caring for employees as part of what a public company does now that share price is supreme.
The Times, rabid yesterday, used the Freedom of Information Act to elicit Treasury officials' advice on removing the benefit that let pension funds reclaim tax on share dividends. Other Tory chancellors had considered it and one did cut it. Revealing officials' warnings that there would be a fuss is no great scoop: there has been a fuss ever since. As Kenneth Clarke said yesterday, good chancellors don't take whatever advice they are given. Where is the "con" or "stealth"? Officials also advised that pension funds "should be able to cope with the change".etc..."
IMO: All the nonsense propaganda put out by the Tory press has convinced me that, if that is their best efforts, don't vote Tory. Particularly, not for the dodgy toker Cameron who helped ruin the Home Office. (I wonder how the Home Office turns out with Reid, incidentally).
Order-order says: Just a simple question - if the Tories think Gordon's pensions grab was wrong, will they reverse it? Will it be a manifesto commitment?
# posted by uv : 10:49 PM
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