Forum Topic

Treasury in surplus

Also lowest borrowing level for 11 years. Is Brexit to be blamed for that , too?

Barbara Shillabeer ● 2820d21 Comments

Or this?The number of people in work in the UK has continued to climb, with a record 32.6 million employed between October and December, the latest Office for National Statistics figures show.The jobless rate, remaining at 4%, is at its lowest since early 1975.Weekly average earnings went up by 3.4% to £494.50 in the year to December - after adjusting for inflation, that is the highest level since March 2011.Full BBC report yesterday:UK employment hits another record high - BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47290331

Sue Hammond ● 2820d

Gosh Barbara it's very quiet in this thread isn't it?  Where is everyone?  Where are the usual suspects to talk Brexit down?  Weird.

Sue Hammond ● 2820d

Just to balance these Treasury figures with some realism thanks to austerity. Whether Brexit concerns have attributed to the rise in poverty in the UK is neither here nor there. Not everything is about Brexit. If the Treasury is in surplus (wow, good housekeeping at last) at the expense of countless homeless and starving people in Britain I don't see that as something to be proud of.At least 320,000 people are homeless in Britain, according to research by the housing charity Shelter. This amounts to a year-on-year increase of 13,000, a 4% rise, despite government pledges to tackle the crisis. The estimate suggests that nationally one in 200 people are homeless.The Trussell Trust is the largest food bank network in the UK, and it handed out around 41,000 food packs in 2009/10 compared to 1.2 million in 2016/17. 

Lucille Grant ● 2820d

"Not everything is about Brexit."Just the bad news perhaps?🙄

Sue Hammond ● 2820d

Well said, Lucille. The 'countless homeless and starving people ..." Is the 'absolute disgrace' not a few MPs acting o their principles'.

Jane Carter ● 2820d

I would guess the fact that Gordon Brown left the country bankrupt and unfettered immigration might have a bearing on your analysis

Barbara Shillabeer ● 2820d

Deafening silence from BBC news tonight re Treasury announcement.

Barbara Shillabeer ● 2820d

I don't know if you watched Newsnight on Monday Barbara. On the day seven MPs resigned from the Labour party you would confidently expect the BBC's flagship news programme to be dominated by the subject. It barely got a mention, instead 15 minutes were devoted to a dead fashion designer. The political bias at the BBC really is quite breath taking. The sooner the licence fee is removed, and the Guardianistas who run the organisation are forced to stand on their own two feet the better.

Mike Harris ● 2820d

All that stuff about Lagerfeld is evidence not of a supposed political bias but of a populist bias in the news values. Both sides of the Brexit debate complain that the BBC is biased against them, which suggests to me that they are doing their best to remain balance and stay neutral.As for scrapping the licence fee and making he BBC "stand on their own two feet" is a recipe for destroying the BBC. And what do you think would happen to all the radio stations if this course was adopted? As for "the Guardianistas who run the organisation", that's absolute nonsense.

Richard Carter ● 2820d

Great news on the surplus - long may it continue.  I’d argue, however, that this is partly due to immigrants who have given the economy a major boost.  The biggest issue facing our economy is the large amount of elderly people we now have.  We’ve had 70 years to prepare to fund pensions and social care for the post war population boom, who are now all reaching retirement age,  but as a country we’ve neglected to do so - hence the panic to import more tax-paying workers - exactly the same issue Germany and other developed nations have faced.  Of course, if some pensioners don’t want immigrants in the country (as Brexit may have suggested) that’s something the country will have to deal with.  The cost might have to be lower pensions and less health and social care, but that might be deemed to be a price worth paying for taking back control.  What I don’t buy is any call to send home hard working taxpayers but then expect the same level of services to be maintained.  If there’s a cost to Brexit, those who voted for it should pay it

Craig Fordham ● 2820d

The meme that "Gordon Brown left the country bankrupt" is an outright lie. In fact, it was the utterly reckless and greedy actions of the banks that left the country bankrupt, and sorting out the consequent mess was one of the few things that Brown got absolutely right.

Richard Carter ● 2820d

As an older member of the community who voted Remain I would agree with you on what you state about tax paying immigrants Craig. However British pensions are already one of the lowest so your suggestion to lower them will only force more elderly people into poverty.

Lucille Grant ● 2819d

I totally get that Lucille and it's not something I would personally seriously countenance. I'm just intrigued to see what price Brexiteers are willing to personally pay if the Remainers are proved right.  I do, however, sense a growing anger amongst young people - certainly some of those I work with -  towards older generations.  If you're in your twenties, saddled with £50k of student debt, paying over 50% of your salary in rent, have little in the way of job security and very little chance of ever owning your own home, it must feel as though elderly Brexiteers (and the majority of leavers were older) have simply climbed the ladder and then kicked it away for future generations.  It's a lazy generalisation as Brexit didn't just break on demographic lines, but I worry it's another source of division that will play out in the months and years to come.Fingers crossed we'll flourish outside the EU, but if not, the price will have to be tax rises; cuts in services or both

Craig Fordham ● 2819d

I get that growing anger too Craig, on behalf of my 30 something daughter. Luckily no student debt (we paid her costs at uni through remortgaging at the time) but job security and owning her own home (which I had from my late 20s) is not on the horizon.I still don't believe we will flourish outside of the EU but time will tell.

Lucille Grant ● 2819d

Craig / Lucille, there certainly is growing anger in the UK and not just amongst the young who perceive the Brexit vote as narrowing their life opportunities. The growing racism is a sign of something ugly and angry which bubbled up thanks to the referendum. I know several stories of French, German and others leaving this country because they are now encountering hostility whereas before they felt welcome here. Frankly that makes me angry too. I have been in Dublin for a few days and heard more stories about Irish people returning home because they too no longer felt welcome in the UK. The Irish Times today carries interviews with four such folk. One of them is actually English. A consultant who speaks three languages and does business across Europe. He has relocated to ensure he can continue to work post Brexit. He too got abused on the train just because he was on the phone speaking Russian to a client!It’s no good telling people immigration has been good for Britain. There is a widespread belief immigration has driven wages down and disadvantaged the average working man. None of these sad stories (nor the fact that we have a minimum wage) will cut any ice with them. Other people relocating include mixed marriage couples (French/British, German/British etc) where one partner no longer feels happy here. What has happened to this open trading nation of ours?  The view of the UK from Dublin, now an ever more friendly, open, culturally diverse international capital city, is gloomy indeed. Brexit, a subject best avoided here, dominates everything. Proportionately it will affect Ireland far more than us and the Irish, sadly but probably rightly, think that most Brits don’t care a hoot.

Jonathan Callaway ● 2818d

It's very sad Jonathan. I have made many friends from across Europe and beyond - it's one of the joys of living in cosmopolitan Putney - but all feel worried.  A German friend of mine has lived here for all but six months of his 42 years, worked hard, paid his taxes and contributed to his local community. His children were all born here and know no other home.  Yet even he has no idea what Brexit might mean for him. Did anyone really vote for this?

Craig Fordham ● 2818d

Jonathan and Craig - completely agree.  Am aware of a number of British young people in their 20s who are looking to North America, Ireland and Europe for opportunities - not the UK - and like you, know many European friends and work colleagues who have been here for decades and are now unsure of their future (and have had abuse on public transport for speaking in a language other than English).  EU exit has unfortunately unleashed an ugliness targeted at all those from abroad - European and those from further afield - although I am sure that many leave voters did not intend that to happen.  The whole situation is really, really sad.  Is this really the highest ambition the UK has for itself in the 21st century?

Ruth Pates ● 2818d

Hello Ruth,No, I do not believe, at least I hope not, that the highest ambition of the UK in the 21st century is to exclude anybody that is not British.Regrettably, there is a resurgence of strong nationalism in the UK and other parts of the world which I find very worrying indeed.  Looking at history, we know what happened in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s....  It is incredibly sad!

Ivonne Holliday ● 2818d

It is more than sad Ivonne, it is incredibly worrying. Did Brexiters really vote for this? I can't believe they knew the ramifications because it was never pointed out before the Referendum (for that the blame lies squarely with Cameron)

Lucille Grant ● 2818d

Brexit  wasn't, and still isn't, defined so how could anyone voting leave understand what they were voting for? My view, as a senior remainer, is that if Brexit of some sort is achieved then at some stage in the next decade the UK is likely to rejoin the EU because of the negative effects from Brexit unless the EU fragments and Europe starts bickering like it did in previous centuries. If that happens, given the strength of eastern economies such China,kk then Europe may just recede into insignificance. Let's face it, the Japanese aren't rushing to conclude a trade deal with the UK; perhaps they're holding back because they expect Brexit to fail and don't want to waste their time?

Michael Ixer ● 2818d

Hello Lucille and Michael,I agree with both of you.The other side I try not to shout about is that the Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians were amazing civilizations many moons before the "West" came along.  Just scratch the surface as to why they collapsed and some similarities are rather - frightening?

Ivonne Holliday ● 2818d