The Budget

[Cuntybollocks]

Am I to take it that everyone is happy with yesterdays budget?, given than nobody has bothered to comment.

[Sam Slater]

It's a 'meh' budget. Not good, not bad. Don't want to piss off the electorate a year before the election, but can't give us too much because next year's budget will be the real sweetener just before we go and vote.

Happens all the time no matter who's in power.

[Arginald Valleywater]

Least interesting budget in years. No big deal for the average earner who is nowhere near retiring.

[Milk Tray Man]

Even the Labour lot were left struggling to find anything specific to slag off, being reduced to "we're worried that pensioners might blow their pension pots" and the same old hackeyed and generalised attacks on "tory privilege".

[David Johnson]

One of the main reasons why there was no particular, specific bad news in the Budget is the nearness of the next election.

What Osborne obviously didn't mention was that the deficit was supposed to have disappeared by next year. He is nowhere near meeting this pledge. As a result there will be more austerity for at least the next parliament and the cuts/increases in taxes are likely to be just as bad.

As for this budget, much of the stuff for pensioners which was the most significant change is about putting right the problems that Osborne has caused himself. Osborne has pumped billions and billions of dirt cheap money into the banks via quantitative easing and help to buy etc. etc. The result has been that the banks win yet again and they have little interest in getting money from savers. Interest rates for cash isas and bonds are at record lows.

For example Osborne is setting up pensioners bonds "at market leading rates" such as 40% for a 3yr bond. Well savers could do better than that 2 years ago before Osborne caved into the banks who were refusing to lend by giving them ridiculously cheap money.

[David Johnson]

Should read "4% for a 3 yr bond"

[lensman]

+1
Also worth mentioning is the big increase in cash isa allowance.Not such a big deal now but will be better when the interest rate goes up.

[David Johnson]

Well how many people have the close to ?6K spare to put in a cash isa now, never mind the ?15K limit Osborne will be introducing?

So this will impact on a very small number of people I guess.

[lensman]

+1
Also as you've pointed out,these hardly make up for the years of record low interest rate due to the cheap money he made available to the banks.The bloody banks are always the winners.