The Labour Government

No messing about with Starmer be interesting where we be at in 2/3 years because he seems to have a plan how he wants to run the country plus more connections to governments in Europe!

He’s doing alright. He won’t get any respite either, this winter is going to be hard with cost of living. See how he navigates that.
 
The £22bn figure does not come from the OBR.

The £22bn figure is an estimate from the Treasury, and the OBR merely acknowledges that they had been made aware of this estimate prior to it being made public.

Whether the guidance on departmental spending provided to the OBR ahead of the March Budget was misleading or not is currently the subject of a review by the OBR. It’s not currently correct to say that there is any factual gap around the spending forecasts or indeed that the OBR was misled. That’s why the OBR needs to have a review on the matter to establish the facts.

Fair enough, I can admit I have misinterpreted, the Treasury provides the estimate. But then in that case, I’m inclined to wait for the OBR’s review to be complete before declaring it outright bollocks.

I think there are two questions here that get conflated - one is does the gap exist? My suspicion is that yes it does, and it is at least in part made up of differences in policy on things like public sector pay - things that were predictable.

The second question is whether there is impropriety in the March forecast, things like wedging in unfunded commitments. I think that is the bit that we won’t know until the investigation is complete.

There is a third question around whether the gap actually means anything in practice (it is based on guidelines, it’s not as if the economy suddenly crashes if a spending limit gets breached). But I think that’s an entirely different matter.
 
My in-laws are pretty well off. Both retired in their early 50s, because they had generous pensions. They don't need the winter fuel allowance. They've even tried to have their's cancelled, out of guilt, in the past. In fact there's an awful lot of well-off baby boomers who don't need that money, and a lot of younger people, who are far worse off, who do need it. The same younger people who probably aren't going to be able to retire until their 70. It's right that the fuel payment is means tested. The important thing is making sure that older people, who need the benefit, are able and encouraged to apply for it.
I’m just a few quid over the limit, fuk em
 

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