Darling talks, UK growth slows

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, forecast slower economic growth in the UK this year when he delivered his first Budget speech in the House of Commons. Darling said the turbulence in financial markets was having an impact all over the world. He said the problems, or total failure, of credit markets was a …

[Sam]

Noooo!!!

My medicine is going up 55p?

[oliver Stieber]

that's going to stop binge drinkers

Wow a whole 4p a pint, looks like I'm going to have to ask for a raise in my pocket money.

Paris, because even she wouldn't come up with such a stupid budget

[Geoff Mackenzie]

We suspect the economy might slow down

So we're going to tax you some more.

Cheers, guys. But then, that's why we pay them the big bucks, isn't it?

[Campbell]

Oh dear!

£2Bn for frontline troops, remind me what war we are fighting and who the emeny is please, but only £200M for schools and projects like e-Merlin, Jodrell Bank getting closed down.

How much are we spending on the Olympics?

Says it all really.

[Anonymous Coward]

@that's going to stop binge drinkers

shut up.

Tax increases shouldn't be used to avert behaviour, education and alternatives should do that.

I see all the taxes on fuel and travel have really dampened the need and desire to travel.

4p a pint is a lot of money for the government if you think about how many pints the country gets through in a year - infact the depressing thing is (Having known and worked with alcholics) if they can't afford beer they'll move onto more damaging spirits. Rubish Vodka, Whisky and Gin is cheap and it'll kill you a hell of alot quicker then a nasty beer habit.

[dervheid]

"Female entrepreneurs will benefit from an additional £12m fund"

That should buy quite a lot of new clothes / designer handbags / Jimmy Choo's.

Oh, sorry, that should have read 'Business Suits / Briefcases / Boardroom essentials.

[Mike Crawshaw]

More like...

fags will have already gone up 20p/pack in every newsagent in the country...

[Anonymous Coward]

Oil is still 71 Euros a barrel

"Darling said the turbulence in financial markets was having an impact all over the world. He said the problems, or total failure, of credit markets was a major risk to world economies"

Actually Europe is doing OK, oil is still 71 Euros a barrel the same as its 2005 price. Just as long as nobody is stupid enough to bail out any banks with too much exposure to USA then we're...... wait, they did what now?

Look, Cheney can do his 'deficits don't matter thing' for another year, and his various funny money trickery to hide the problem, but Europe will be fine. Whatever the USA thinks, it's not the engine of the global economy, China is. it's the fat hitchhiker of the global economy and it's taken everyone for a ride long enough.

[Slaine]

don't believe anything until it is officially denied

But he promised: "There will be no return to the interest rates of the early 90s.".

So now then, Darling, these are YOUR words are they? ... "There will be no return to the interest rates of the early 90s.". Silly me, for a minute there I thought you were claiming to have control. Don't the Bank of England now set the rate? How are you gonna stop them?

[H2Nick]

At least my Diamond White didn't go up much...

So Darling promised "There will be no return to the interest rates of the early 90s.".

Like he knows ?

First thing I noticed, looking at the download from the BBC site is that expenditure is £43 Billion more that receipts, and that debt interest is already £31 Billion.

Good old New Labour, spending money they don't have...

BTW - Why not just tax alc per unit ? (Obviously far too simple for a politician..)

Icon denotes the way finances are going & also me after a good sesh on the Diamond White :)

[Spleen]

The only beneficial decision Labour could possibly take

"UK GDP growth is forecast to slow from three per cent in 2007 to 1¾ to 2¼ per cent in 2008, before picking up to 2¼ to 2¾ per cent in 2009."

There's going to be a general election in 2009?

[Anonymous Coward]

Must. Not. Scream!

I was going to comment on the budget and the general state of our country... but just thinking about it pi**es me right off... If I had to type about it I think I'd probably f**king explode!!

Mines the one with one-way tickets in the pocket for some far more reasonable shores...

[pete]

Yeah man ...

Let's all move to Poland :)

[John Macintyre]

@that's going to stop binge drinkers

I think you fail to see the point of the budget. from the bbc:

'In other announcements, alcohol tax will go up by 6% above inflation - and then by 2% above inflation for the next four years, potentially boosting Treasury coffers by £635m annually by 2010.'

raising the tax on alcohol is not there to stem it, if it were they wouldn't expect a constant return of that large a sum for the next 3 years, they'd expect it to go down... it's all about the small print

[Robert Harrison]

alcohol

Let's give the government some credit here. They've had some insight: They know that if they tax the hell out of booze they'll make a mint as more and more poor sods in this country turn to booze to drink away their worries about [crime/cost of living increases/lack of good jobs/booze duty rises/corrupt fatcat MPs] living in this fuckweaseled country.

[John A Blackley]

I hate to say.......

Well, I don't really. But you (or someone dear to you) elected 'em and you keep 'em in power by just having a bit of a moan and then quietly bending over again.

Things never improve only as a result of p!$$!ng and moaning.