http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...onger-afford-welfare-state-warns-Osborne.html The rich and greedy ****ed it up and now the poor and most vulnerable in society will pay the price. Welcome to Britain 2014. There is a choice though if you live 'north of the border'.
How does the SNP plan to pay for it if they are in Govt. Post independence? A lot of it is unaffordable, look at the money poured into caring for the elderly, and people will continue to live longer.
In an independent Scotland, Alex and Nicola will dance round the country dispensing magical pixie dust. Everyone will have all the services they need and no one will have to pay tax. FACT
The welfare state as it is is unaffordable, Gordon Brown was borrowing £35bn a year to pay for it in 2006 - if you can't afford it during the boom times, before the bankers (and every **** including myself taking Northern Rock mortgages) ****ed the country, then you still can't afford it after they do. What was wrong with the Welfare state of 1999 - why did it have to grow to twice the size in 10 years under Labour? Labour bought votes with money that they borrowed and the UK is now spending £51bn a year on interest for accumulated debts - that's £51bn that could have went towards a Welfare State if the country had been run properly in the first place.
Unlike the Tories that caused the Welfare state growing up to this size by shutting down loads of industries and selling off Council Flats for cheap to gather votes?
It's not always Labour v Tory in these debates - because I just happen to think that the current welfare state is unaffordable does not mean I support 1980's Thatcherism.
The reason it's 'unaffordable' is due to the policies of successive Tory/Labour governments who pander to the needs of bankers, big business etc. while failing miserably to tackle the social problems that affect this country. They've created the welfare problems due to a constant mismanagement of the economy built on short-termism and greed.
Well I'm not even saying that Leftish State-ism can't work - Norway have made it work quite well by doing it properly, actually investing the state's wealth rather than spending it straight away, always keeping a budgetary surplus, and paying the dividends of invested state wealth into an excellent welfare state (whether or not I would actually choose to live in a Norwegian style state with it's Leftest removal of liberty in the form of high taxes on Alcohol etc, is another thing). Labour acted closer to the Greek model of Leftism though, trying to bribe the current electorate by making future citizens have to pay the bill.
The welfare state is unaffordable and so is the inefficient and bloated NHS. #cgo-sitt [c'mon george osbourne - sock it to them]
^^^^ Probably the dumbest thing ever written on not606. And this is a forum which boasts superhooper and jonno as members.
What's with the beel, Julian? What benefits are you in reciept of that are under threat by the nation HAVING to balance its books?