UK government under attack from economic think tank
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research has today rejected Alistair Darling's claim that he can half the UK budget deficit by 2013/14 and indeed it has also called into question his promise to reduce government debt. After carrying out a review of the government's tax and spending plans for the short to medium term the Institute believes he will fall well short of his 50% budget deficit reduction and net borrowings will still remain around the 6.8% level in 2013/14 despite promises to bring it below 5.5%.
The economy will play centre stage as we approach the next general election with Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats all having their own specific strategies and ideas for the future. However, it is the economic strategies of the Labour Party and the Conservative party which are at opposite ends of the spectrum and will polarise voters more than ever. Gordon Brown has promised a spend, spend, spend phase to support the UK economy while David Cameron believes the budget deficit needs be addressed sooner rather than later, which will lead to significant public sector investment reductions.
We will see a number of reports and reviews of each party's economic strategies in the coming months and they could well give very different opinions and views going forward.
Share this..
Related stories
Massive jump in gilt futures reflects changing government policy
The announcement earlier this week that the Bank of England has up to £150 billion available to acquire government bonds and financial assets in the open market has created quite a stir in the gilt futures market. Since the announcement was made we have seen a substantial rise in investor interest in the sector and prices have risen substantially. But why are investors so keen on gilts?
Lord Turner defends his Tobin tax speech
Lord Turner has today defended his recent speech in which he called for a tax to be charged on all financial transactions and claimed that, in a number of instances, the UK banking sector was "socially useless". Lord Turner's recent comments attracted very different opinions from across the globe and the financial community and despite the fact that this particular subject is outside of his remit...
Read MoreSantander bids to increase share of UK savings market
Spanish banking giant Santander, the owner of Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, has this week revealed plans to introduce a £100 payment per customer switching to any of the above banks after 7 September. This particular offer is one of very few currently available on the market and while there are some conditions attached it is sure to catch the eye of many who are still feeling the effects of the...
Read MoreUK Banks need help not revenge
As governments, regulators and heavyweights from the business arena continue to gang up against UK banks there is a feeling that revenge is on the cards and the banks will be the ones to suffer. However, while even the most loyal of bankers in the UK would agree that changes need to be made to the UK banking sector, we need to see remedies for the UK banking sector not revenge.
Whil...
BBC set to tackle £2 billion pension fund deficit
While the announcement in April 2008 that the BBC pension scheme was around £470 million in deficit caught the headlines and concerned many members of the scheme, experts predict that figure is now nearer £2 billion after subsequent stock market falls. As a consequence the corporation looks likely to reduce its programming budget by millions of pounds in order to try and alleviate the growing pe...
Read More