UK Budget Week: Darling Facing Up To Reality

I was actually quite pleased to see the No11 Spinners around today in the media and various ‘Badger’ quotes.

In it Darling has agreed that things are bad, the light has gone on and we need to make some urgent changes to the fiscal order of the UK:

- The economy is likely to shrink between 3-4% this year (which makes protestations that this is the worst quarter optimistic)
- Government Spending will hit 10% of GDP
- The tax base could shrink by over 8% - permanently downsizing the UK capacity for public expenditure.
- Unemployment will exceed 3 million

This is, quite simply, the worst position we have been in since WW2. The measures taken to address it need to be drastic and long-term. The people of the country need to know that 2009-2018 might well be diametrically opposite in experience to 2000-2008.

This period of time is two parliaments long. If Labour get it wrong they are very unlikely to be back in power during this period.

Tomorrow, what would Capitalists@Work do and Wednesday a quick reaction to the Budget. Thursday how it will fall apart (or not, if it is a shock budget!).

Badger has it all to do. I actually wish him luck, for all the sickness of Labour, Darling is all that stands between us and a call to the IMF in the next few months - a massive tax and spend expansionary Labour budget will sink the UK. No doubt No.10 is pushing, I hope Darling does not intend to follow-orders and stay loyal and in the bunker to the bitter end.

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