Martin Vickers: You cannot pay out what you haven’t got

“the whole world runs on credit”

“Dicken's Micawber once summed up economics as follows:-
Annual income £20 0 shillings 0 pence: annual expenditure £19 19 shillings and 6 pence, happiness: annual expenditure £20 0 shillings and 6 pence, misery.
Simples, tsk!
It is the ability to pay back that is the problem, not the borrowing.”

“google

consent me uk
jonny void”

“Name any UK government over the last 200 years, whether they were Conservative, Labour, or Liberal, which hasn't borrowed.

You can't, because there weren't any.

Every government has to borrow, it's a fact of life. Either Mr Vickers doesn't know his history, or he's trying to brainwash us all with the same Tory clap trap.

http://tinyurl.com/b9el23n”

“Yes, Governments do have to make unpopular decisions, but surely the drop in income from tax is a direct result of Government actions. The more people that your policies put out of work and throw on the scrap heap, the less tax you will receive and the more benefits you will need to pay out. Provide jobs, proper full time jobs where people can earn a living wage and have the self respect of being able to support themselves and their families and the benefits bill will fall. Also, Malcolm_Ex is right, tax avoidance at the top end is one of the biggest issues, make these companies pay the tax they owe, stop giving the top earners tax cuts and we might be part way towards cutting the deficit. On top of that, get the biggest scroungers of all to scrap the idea of giving themselves a nice big pay rise whilst cutting benefits, and limiting the general population to no more than 1% pay rises.

On top of this stop giving massive handouts to other countries until old people in the UK can afford to be warm and there is no need for people to visit food banks; and introduce a system like that employed in Australia in respect of immigrants, if they want to come here, make them prove that they are capable of supporting themselves, have a trade that is needed in this country and a job to come to - in other words stop giving massive handouts to people from Eastern Europe and elsewhere who have never paid a penny into the system and send their Government handouts home to their families where they boost the Polish economy, not ours.”

“I quite agree with Malcolm_X with regard to those avoiding tax, but with only £155bn being reaped in from income tax currently, and £207bn being paid out in benefits, it just shows the extent of the problems there are. Those figures are not inclusive of paying for education, the health service, the forces and all other state dependant bodies.
It is not only the ultra rich and big business who do not pay their way, but all those who work on the side doing barrow jobs, and all others who are involved in direct cash payments and failing to declare them.
You and I both know, whatever political bent you have, that until all loopholes are closed, then nothing will be achieved.
And until politicians realise that they work for you and the country, then even less will be achieved, in Parliament or in the local council chambers for that matter.”

“It's true, you can't pay out what you haven't got. However, we would have a lot more money if we stopped the ultra rich and big business from avoiding tax payments.

Tax avoidance costs £70 Billion per year. That would pay for all Housing Benefit, Family allowance, Disability living allowance, Incapacity benefit, jobseekers allowance, Council tax benefit, and still have £18 billion to play with.

Unfortunately it's easier to brainwash the general public into thinking people on benefits are work shy than it is convince the ultra wealthy to pay their fair share.”

“"Governments have, as they are very fond of telling us, to make unpopular decisions and in the present financial circumstances that's absolutely true and it would make no difference which party was in power – you can't pay out what you haven't got, unless you're foolish enough to borrow beyond what you have the means to repay, as Gordon Brown seemed prone to do."

Don't councils also have to make "unpopular decisions" in order to operate in these austere times? Perhaps Mr Vickers should reflect on that before jumping on the next bandwagon about cuts in local services.”