Don't even go there. I had to move money over earlier this week to buy my RRSP. I got $1.59.

If you never learn anything else in your life, just remember the golden rule: always blame the government. Whether you've lost your job; lost a game of golf; you're getting old; there's too much rain; you've spilled a drink of some kind; whatever it is. There's always something the government can do to make your life easier, which won't involve either raising taxes or cutting public spending. Plus, it will make you feel better to have someone to blame.

Fair enough....up to a point. However, the then Chancellor and now PM 'no more boom and bust' Broon I would suggest has had a considerable part to play in the depth of the recession the UK now finds itself in.

Couldn't agree more. The tw@t encouraged the nation's decade long binge on private and public debt that will guarentee a decade of stagnation or even recession like Japan. And now they are trying to sell the whole "We'll pay it off next year" line to the electorate, only the dealers aren't having any of it, hence the accelerating collapse of the pound...masked by the concomittant collapse of the Euro. Labour have destroyed our finances, our society, our democracy and our culture. Dave "cuddle me" Cameron is hopeless too. Just want that job offer now, then I can kiss this stupid country goodbye. Canada is sitting pretty financially...short medium andlong term. Lowish budget deficit, low overall debt, and low off-balance sheet debt (pension liabilities). Europe is screwed on all counts.

Worse still look we he done to the pensions.......now the youngsters will have to work until they are in their 80's.

JET

Don’t know why you are blaming Labour so much, they and the Conservatives are just as much to blame this all started under Thatcher in the seventies when they wasted all that income from North Sea Oil and created the greed society.

I agree...I despise them both equally...they are part of the political establishment that has destroyed our country. Brown and Mandleson though, seem to be even more despicable than our former ruling class.

Running out of time now to transfer my cash for the house purchase. Been waiting 5 months for the rate to go up, but the pound continues to sink like a pair of lead knickers. I'd be relieved now to exchange at a rate I found completely unpalettable a couple of months ago.

Can't see much hope of an improvement, Uk economy has had it. Depressing as it is to watch your savings devalue as you exchange, at least Canada should have a better economic future.

There may be a glimmer of hope. If the Tories win the general election normally things pick up for a day or two

JET

No different here in Canada - Canada is not a utopia!

Yes, it's all Thatcher's fault!

Britain has been in a slow decline regardless of the party of government since at least WWI and a rapid decline since the end of WWII; Thatcher and North Sea oil merely gave the economy a brief respite that Labour then squandered. The pound has managed to bumble along for decades because of its past history as a relatively reliable currency, but now Brown has adopted the economic policies of a banana republic, the pound is going the same way as the currency of such a nation.

I have to say I thought I was getting a bad deal when I transferred most of my money at around $2-2.15 to the pound, I'd hate to be doing it today!

I am not sure if a new government can turn it around, anyone leaving the UK now is taking a real hit. However, in the early 1990s, Canadian government debt was spiralling out of control and this was reversed by some prudent fiscal measures. Also, the C$ dropped to US$0.63 in 2001, this was also reversed so there is hope for improvement over time.

Accounting principles, statistics, reporting etc, are different and many canadian investors prefer to rely on UK/European indicators because they are more reflective of the reality. It may not be too far away before Canada has to reveal its true state of affairs. Then watch the C$ drop!

But when I come I know what we must do and invest. So in a way we can make choices. Over here they have forced indirectly companies to abandon final salary pension schemes and we now have stakeholder pensions.

So we knowingly come and make that choice and not have things eroded from underneath us.

JET

What do you think they are hiding?