bil

Well, I think that blaming GB isn't necessarily correct, though understandable.

Bear in mind that I am pretty apolitical, in so much that I hate them all. I heard one account that GB's actions were, taking into account of the info available at the time, not as stupid as it appears now. Plus, the guy has delivered what, more than a decade of sustained gradual growth with low interest rates and stability? Speaking as someone who endured the tory years of boom and bust with a crippling mortage, I value what he has delivered highly. To this day I can still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when they announced that the mortgage rate had gone up by 50% in a single day.

That was a really unfunny moment.

At the moment we are beset by a lot of problems which aren't the government's fault, oil prices etc, which are playing merry Hob with the economy. Add to that every idiot and his wife talking up a recession, and we will have a real problem.

Just ask yourself this.

What state would we have been in had we endured the last 10 years of yet more Tory boom and bust? Well, I bet the rich would have been richer, because those with spare money can make a fortune buying in the times of bust. As for the rest of us? A lot worse of than we are now, I'm sure.

That's not to excuse everything, but just to try and put it into perspective.

chippie2

does it really matter what Joe Public says ,the politicians never listen ,pensioners are non productive so thats why we are treated the way we are whether its labour or tory,they take no notice of the media either but lets get it of our chest and have a moan ,how can we change this I dont know

bil

You can't. A lot of countries, if they treated their people like they treat us, there would be rioting in the streets and politicians hanging from the lampposts.

Since ours can get away with treating us with all the respect due a used kleenex, they will continue to do just that.

Cape Blue

Sorry guys, but the pension scheme has always been a pay-forward deal and you guys only paid in enough to keep those who were already pensioners paid. What should have happened 20-30 years ago was extra contributions being made to both keep the existing and start contributing for the future. Now you baby boomers are coming into retirement it is going to be a squeeze on current tax payers as it is, even without any pension increase.

jdr

That is no excuse, everything is a pay forward deal, you pay in till or in case you need it.
Like I said, bad management...... they got the sums wrong.

Cape Blue

They didn't get their sums wrong - they just knew that you guys would never pony up for the level of taxation that would enable some catch-up on pensions. If any party suggested it you would have voted them out, now we have plenty of boomers retiring and not enough people to pay for them - you trousered the low taxes and want the next generation to pay for you.

chippie2

so you dont think its bad housekeeping I thought when we moved out of N/ireland the country would have a few bob in its hand but no we got involved with Iraq +you know what happened next the clever ones kept away ,so I believe that is one of ther easons we are in trouble,they keep on telling us we are the third richest nation ,we are a soft touch .anyone who decides to live in the uk we finance them temp or perm
got to go the sun is shining
adios

Rambling Rose

Well its 'water under the bridge now' Bil and I understand your comments about Gordon Brown in general. However, I was working in the private pensions industry at the time and he was advised of the affect his actions would have by the CBI and others. Seems like he was just looking for a way to rake in more taxes that Joe Public wouldn't notice.

Rose

toyboy23

Hear hear! The UK has been stoney broke for a long time now. It’s simply no good today hanging on to your political ‘flag’ and saying “oh, if only so-and-so was back in power”. The world is a VERY different place to what it was say, twenty years ago.

This ‘talking up’ has become rife now, and it was all started by the media who just love scare mongering. On forums like this you get bland comments like ‘my brother is an estate agent and he says nothing is selling’ with no clarification of the circumstances. It’s plainly not true, and yet it gets written and remembered.

This is unbelievably simplistic tosh. The machinations of the financial institutions in the 80s and early 90s meant all sorts of ‘legal’ fiddles went on. Add to that stock market crashes manipulated by people whom it suited, and hey presto your pension fund is hugely diminished. I had that happen to at least two funds my money was in. That money did not just vanish, it went into clever financier’s pockets. That, added to the hire and fire mentality now endemic in the UK, means that as a PAYE employee in the UK you are nowhere financially now, and never will be.

That is blindly assuming that HM Govt has always been, and now is, astutely managing all its other financial areas. When you’re bankrupt, you borrow from Peter to pay Paul. It’s all a juggling act from now on, and one appallingly easy target is pensioners.

bil

Well, aren't those the same people that assured us that a minimum wage would destroy the country?

The trouble is, that all this is very, very complex. For every reason that you could give that it was a bad choice, I'm sure someone else could give a reason that said it was actually a good choice.

There is no way I can possibly grasp all the info, all the choices and what it all signifies. All I know is that there are a lot of vested interests out their with their own reasons for slagging off GB. I truly don't believe the Tories would have done any better, and my suspicions are that they would have been even worse for the man in the street.

Come the next Tory government they too will seek every single way they can screw every penny out of us that they can.

To quote an old song, ' It's the rich what gets the pleasure, it's the poor what gets the blame.'

Still as true as it ever was.

What's the difference?

toyboy23

Yup. It’s certainly complex. Isn’t that why the govmint has all them civil servants hanging in there? And all them advisors hanging on?

If you read ‘A History of Modern Britain’ by Andrew Marr, it is well detailed that, for example, Maggie came in to power when Britain was in a hideous mess. Guess what? When she left (or rather had to be forced out) it was in another terrible mess. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose eh?

(You can probably swap ‘Maggie’ in the above example for any PM of your choice.)

Dennis and Maggie left much better off than when they entered No.10, and so did Cherie and Tony. Notice a pattern? Get used to it. Whoever is in power will shaft you.

I’m just waiting for the hoary old argument ‘you baby boomers have stolen from your children with your high house prices’ to be wheeled out…

Mitzyboy

.................. whilst the MP's vote NOT to have more control over their expenses, whilst they furnish and claim for second houses, employ their family etc etc, and vote themselves nice pay rises into the bargain!

I'm not someone who left the UK because I hated it. But many of the people who controlled our lives there are well bent, and greedy.

jdr

LOL....

bil

As I have said before. Your choice at the next election is limited to whether the government screws you using a red condom, a blue one or a yellow one.

Whomsoever gets in next, no matter what political party they belong to, we can be assured of three things.

1. More taxes.

2. Less personal freedom.

3. More red tape.

Cape Blue

I was talking about the State pension not private ones.