Comments on: The Emperor’s New Clothes: The Make-Believe World of Gordon Brown http://link4business.info/2008/12/the-emperor%e2%80%99s-new-clothes-the-make-believe-world-of-gordon-brown/ Your Business Link Portal: Starting, Growing, Running, Rescuing a Business (plus Gossip & Moans) Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:56:01 +0100 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Janine http://link4business.info/2008/12/the-emperor%e2%80%99s-new-clothes-the-make-believe-world-of-gordon-brown/comment-page-1/#comment-4938 Janine Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:33:43 +0000 http://link4business.info/?p=361#comment-4938 You only have to look at what Brown and his toadies wrote in the Queen’s Speech to see that they are not on the same planet as the rest of us. Apart from the fact that there is no way they can ever get all the laws through in the few months left until the election can anyone really believe that passing a law saying you are going to – legally – cut the national debt by 50% in the next four years means you can actually do it? Crazy. The public want to know HOW you are going to cut the deficit. You only have to look at what Brown and his toadies wrote in the Queen’s Speech to see that they are not on the same planet as the rest of us. Apart from the fact that there is no way they can ever get all the laws through in the few months left until the election can anyone really believe that passing a law saying you are going to – legally – cut the national debt by 50% in the next four years means you can actually do it? Crazy. The public want to know HOW you are going to cut the deficit.

]]> By: Brian http://link4business.info/2008/12/the-emperor%e2%80%99s-new-clothes-the-make-believe-world-of-gordon-brown/comment-page-1/#comment-3734 Brian Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:31:35 +0000 http://link4business.info/?p=361#comment-3734 Will Gordon Brown cancel the next election? Everything he says about not wanting to call an election until he has sorted out the recession and his ideas on electoral reform points to a Hitler-like cancellation of the 5-year rule on calling elections. Will Gordon Brown cancel the next election? Everything he says about not wanting to call an election until he has sorted out the recession and his ideas on electoral reform points to a Hitler-like cancellation of the 5-year rule on calling elections.

]]> By: James Green http://link4business.info/2008/12/the-emperor%e2%80%99s-new-clothes-the-make-believe-world-of-gordon-brown/comment-page-1/#comment-429 James Green Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:54:28 +0000 http://link4business.info/?p=361#comment-429 Well Elisabeth, Whether or not Gordon Brown is good at maths is questionable. There have been quite a few occasions over the last 12 years as both Chancellor and as Prime Minister that basic arithmetic caused him problems. Remember that it was Mr Brown who announced the removal of the 10% starting rate of tax in his last budget. As ever the change didn’t take place immediately but a year later. At the time the Tories challenged Brown’s claim that taken together with the 2% reduction in basic rate few people would be worse off by the removal of the 10% rate. They said that some 4 to 5 million of the poorest in society would be worse off Brown and his cronies decried the Tories and voted down an amendment to the 2007 Finance Act, which would have addressed this problem. Oddly enough many of those most vociferous in their condemnation of the Tories claim suddenly woke up 12 months later and rebelled, forcing Brown and his puppet Darling (though he is slipping off the strings from time to time) to make a U-turn and introduce a complicated adjustment to the tax-free allowances to try and rectify the problem – of Mr Brown’s making. And Brown couldn’t even get the maths right on that either! The Treasury and the PMs website gave examples of what effect the changes would have. Unfortunately they got the sums wrong at it was left to the HMRC website to publish the correct figures. You have to ask the following questions: Why didn’t Gordon Brown manage to work out the fairly simple maths that the Tories pointed out would mean problems for the lowest paid? Why did the Labour party attack the Tories claim that between 4 and 5 million would be affected (the Institute for Fiscal Studies later confirmed the figure as 5.4 million) without even checking the sums? Why was it that Gordon Brown’s MPs and ministers took 12 months to waken up to the problem? Can’t they count either? Why replace a perfectly sensible and simple 10% rate of tax (which cost nothing to administer) with a complicated “correction” which actually costs the public money to administer? This is only one example. There are plenty of others that I could give you. When all is said and done Elisabeth, maths is not the most important aspect of managing an economy but you have to question someone who clearly ignores what he doesn’t like (I can’t believe that he didn’t know that the Tories were right all along) for political reasons. Call it what you will “head in the sand” or “Emperor’s new clothes” – I think it shows that he isn’t the man for the job! PS By the way, for full details of the mathematical errors have a look at the blog below: http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=183438&d=1025&h=1019&f=1026&dateformat=%25o%20%25B%20%25Y Well Elisabeth,

Whether or not Gordon Brown is good at maths is questionable. There have been quite a few occasions over the last 12 years as both Chancellor and as Prime Minister that basic arithmetic caused him problems.

Remember that it was Mr Brown who announced the removal of the 10% starting rate of tax in his last budget. As ever the change didn’t take place immediately but a year later. At the time the Tories challenged Brown’s claim that taken together with the 2% reduction in basic rate few people would be worse off by the removal of the 10% rate. They said that some 4 to 5 million of the poorest in society would be worse off

Brown and his cronies decried the Tories and voted down an amendment to the 2007 Finance Act, which would have addressed this problem. Oddly enough many of those most vociferous in their condemnation of the Tories claim suddenly woke up 12 months later and rebelled, forcing Brown and his puppet Darling (though he is slipping off the strings from time to time) to make a U-turn and introduce a complicated adjustment to the tax-free allowances to try and rectify the problem – of Mr Brown’s making. And Brown couldn’t even get the maths right on that either!

The Treasury and the PMs website gave examples of what effect the changes would have. Unfortunately they got the sums wrong at it was left to the HMRC website to publish the correct figures.

You have to ask the following questions:

Why didn’t Gordon Brown manage to work out the fairly simple maths that the Tories pointed out would mean problems for the lowest paid?

Why did the Labour party attack the Tories claim that between 4 and 5 million would be affected (the Institute for Fiscal Studies later confirmed the figure as 5.4 million) without even checking the sums?

Why was it that Gordon Brown’s MPs and ministers took 12 months to waken up to the problem? Can’t they count either?

Why replace a perfectly sensible and simple 10% rate of tax (which cost nothing to administer) with a complicated “correction” which actually costs the public money to administer?

This is only one example. There are plenty of others that I could give you.

When all is said and done Elisabeth, maths is not the most important aspect of managing an economy but you have to question someone who clearly ignores what he doesn’t like (I can’t believe that he didn’t know that the Tories were right all along) for political reasons. Call it what you will “head in the sand” or “Emperor’s new clothes” – I think it shows that he isn’t the man for the job!

PS

By the way, for full details of the mathematical errors have a look at the blog below:

http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=183438&d=1025&h=1019&f=1026&dateformat=%25o%20%25B%20%25Y

]]> By: Owen http://link4business.info/2008/12/the-emperor%e2%80%99s-new-clothes-the-make-believe-world-of-gordon-brown/comment-page-1/#comment-425 Owen Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:15:35 +0000 http://link4business.info/?p=361#comment-425 I'm not much of a political observer, but I can't guess it's easy to try and control an economy the size of the UK in the current economic climate. The are 3 things a government can do to try and get out of recession: Drop taxes, reduce interest rates and increase government spending. However, each one of these is going to negatively affect some group or other, with it's associated political repercussion. Thank goodness I'm not in their shoes! I’m not much of a political observer, but I can’t guess it’s easy to try and control an economy the size of the UK in the current economic climate. The are 3 things a government can do to try and get out of recession: Drop taxes, reduce interest rates and increase government spending. However, each one of these is going to negatively affect some group or other, with it’s associated political repercussion.

Thank goodness I’m not in their shoes!

]]> By: Elisabeth http://link4business.info/2008/12/the-emperor%e2%80%99s-new-clothes-the-make-believe-world-of-gordon-brown/comment-page-1/#comment-424 Elisabeth Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:46:43 +0000 http://link4business.info/?p=361#comment-424 Problem is would anyone else do it any better. Gordon has little carisma, but he is good at maths. Is he applying maths as he would to his own economy or is he merely applying labour politics maths to the sort out the economy. The worms are out of the can now, you cant get themback in again anayway. So what is the problem? Well I'm not going to spell it out, but if you dont have any kids you at least dont have to worry about have that expence anyway. Use condoms. Problem is would anyone else do it any better. Gordon has little carisma, but he is good at maths. Is he applying maths as he would to his own economy or is he merely applying labour politics maths to the sort out the economy. The worms are out of the can now, you cant get themback in again anayway. So what is the problem? Well I’m not going to spell it out, but if you dont have any kids you at least dont have to worry about have that expence anyway. Use condoms.

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