With President Obama suggesting to the world leaders, that cutting spending too quickly could cause a second recession (something Gordon brown was keen to promote) and other financial experts agreeing, the coalition have decided just to go for it now, not waiting for things to level out more.  The biggest announcement was that VAT would rise from 17.5% to 20%, there were some rumbles in the house of commons when this was mentioned, but considering this was something Labour were going to do anyway, no one rally could complain. As this will happen in January next year, it may be a good Christmas for many retailers as people buy early to avoid the VAT rise. On saying that, the previous Vat drop to stimulate the economy by Gordon brown, didn’t seem to make any impact, so there is also an argument, that 2 1.2% added may have the same effect as being taken away.

Then we start talking about the public sector and how just about all departments will have to make 25% reductions in costs and that there will be a pay freeze on most public sector workers for the next 3 years.  How will this go down?  Well considering that many workers were expecting to lose their jobs or at least compete for them, this may not get as much criticism as in different times.

The Liberal Democrats are in uproar over the immediate VAT rise, claiming this is not what they voted for at the last election and that they are in bed with the Conservatives. It is true that some jobs were created to accommodate these Liberal politicians, an argument that will not go away and will probably get worse.  Is this budget there will be more news and old news than normal.

The result is the Conservatives are trying to do a deal with the Lib Dems, to see if they can create some sort of coalition government, with agreed  shared policies. If this is agreed, Nick Clegg will achieved more than any other Lib Den leader has in nearly 100 years, even though he lost seats this election. Labour also wants to deal, but knows it needs to wait to see if the talks between the conservatives and Lib Dems falls down first before they move. This is probably Gordon Brown’s last chance of staying in number 10, and many cannot see how the conservatives and even the LIb Dems would want this to happen, even though the Lib Dems policies are closer to Labour’s than the Conservatives.

In the meantime we all sit and ait and wonder what the future of Britain will be. It will not match what anyone voted for, as every party will be make concessions.

Small businesses will be also waiting, not wanting to commit to large purchases or marketing campaigns until they know he mapped out political future.  Take a small company such as Global Door. They rely very much on the housing and DIY market, to sell their range of composite doors. Currently they do not know if interest rates will rise this year or next and can only wait and hope the political decisions help small businesses to cripples them in order to pay back the national debt.  This does not just stay at composite doors, but also the motoring sector where businesses want to know if there is enough confidence after any coalition in the business sector to buy high ticket items such as a new vehicle, or even commit to company vehicles.

Time will tell, but how long? Will this process take for ever, will every decision take forever? It didn’t work in 1974, so should it work now? Or is it a safer bet to have more than one party governing, ensuring all decisions are safe ones in this financial unstable time?

In 2009 the UK posted a UK Government deficit of £159.2 billion, equivalent to over 11% of UK GDP. One might be lulled into a false sense of security thinking that this is a sustainable debt considering we are in the grips of the deepest recession since 1920’s.

However any good accountant in the UK will know, and be happy to tell you, that (by December 2009) the UK Government debt reached in excess of £950 billion, equivalent to more than 68% UK GDP. The figures don’t make such good reading, which is why accountants are good people to have around in business. They can make sense of what is really happening. UK Accountants will also tell you about impending consequences, and in this case are much more likely to do so that UK Politicians (who act as if they don’t know). perhaps Uk Accountants should play a more active part in UK politics since politics is almost always about the economy and Government spending. Is this not the case in US Politics, and the election of President Obama into the White House in 2009.

In the UK’s case, the Maastricht Treaty sets limits on deficit and debt  to 60 per cent for all EU countries, including the UK. This means that the UK is in default. Assessment is on a financial year basis and data was passed to the E.U. Commission at the end of March 2010. It is still inclear what the final consequences of the UK default will be. It will surely put the UK’s all important AAA credit rating in jeopardy. It is this error that could cloud how Gordon Brown’s time in charge as UK Prime Minister may be judged, and gives ammunition and power to the COnservatives argument of severe cuts in public spending to bring the UK Deficit into line.

The new thing for 2010 has the televised debates that has got the people of the UK talking and has radically changed the Lib Dems’ chances, as Nick Clegg’s popularity rose massively after the first debate. It raises the question of whether the main voters will vote for someone they like, or for their policies in their manifesto.

The economy is the key theme this year, with Labour saying it is too early to make massive change and the conservatives wanting to do more earlier and with the current problems in Greece, his argument may be getting through more.

But the details of the parties manifestos, seem to be lost in the media scrum for likeability of the comments Mr brown made about Mrs. Duffy, that appears to have hurt him in the media eyes, but not in the polls.

The problem with the manifestos (all of them), is that they are just too general. If we take an industry such as car manufacturing that has just been through (and is possibly is still in ) the worst downturn ever, there is not clear words of what each party will do to help this industry. The success in car buying relates to the factories, car showrooms the UK leasing companies, not to mention the related car parts and accessory businesses.

This has not been singled out as the worst but just as an example, that most people do not feel they are being represented within these manifestos, as they are just too general and created to create a dream of a wonderful Britain, when in reality most people are more interested in their families future and success.

So here to Thursdays elections and lets see if the vote goes to nice people, someone who insults his voters or a party that was miles ahead a year ago and now is looking to just be the majority in a hung parliament.

Organizing For America

It is huge gamble based on information that with right numbers, the war can be won although everyine has an opinion of what will be decided as a win. The TV camera went out to the USA citizens with some claiming they though Obama was for peace not war and they felt a bit cheated. However whether these were carefully chosen people to get the drama of the news or the general opinion of the masses we still don’t know.

What we do know is that comming home without any achievement will leave the critics open to say all lives lost in Afghanistan would have been for nothing and Obama needs to achieve to go down in history as a great President. A difficult decison with no supporters either way.

The results was demonstrations outside of the BBC and headline news which must be great news for the BNP who are getting a massive amount of publicity both positive of the event and even those who disagree with the BNP party views still believe that in a democracy he should be allowed to be on the programme than it is up to the voters to decide the issues.

The papers the next day were full of opinions of one sidedness and some claimed the audience had been chosen for the night. The BNP have far right views but recenetly have had some success at the polls which many belive is due to the lack of performance from the Labour and Conservative party.

The Eurosceptics want a retrospective referendum and those in support of more power going to Brussels do not want his to go ahead in case the result is a resounding no.

You can read more about David Cameron Dithering at the Gardian

These are moments of opportunty, making the most of them can bring the world together, ignore them and find hostility and mistrust can be instilled in many nation.  The UN website states “its your world” what it does state is that we have little control over our leaders actions even in a democracy.

Obama mentions that no one form the outside can instill democracy on a country, something that the United States have been trying to do for the last decade, so lets see if his more balanced approach realyy does make a difference.

But as the steam gathers pressure there needs to be a release soon, as today it emerged that Jack Straw sent a letter to Scotland stating that it would be in the UK’s interest for the bomber not to be excluded from the prisoner transfer agreement. This did not endorse a release but did endorse that the bomber could be included in the prisoner transfer agreement and therefore being moved home. Jack Straw has commented that because the exchange was refused the letter then the letter was irrelevant and that any deal with Libya was “just not true”.

This will of course add fuel to the whole concern, especially as there had been a promise to the USA that the bomber would serve his who sentence on Scottish soil. The Brown government is unpopular at home with current polls suggesting a conservative win, but now this is likely to expand worldwide, with trust being lost from the USA, Scotland and the East. Gordon brown can’t win on this one, so it is probably time to decide which side he is on and cut his losses, at least some credibility may be saved not just for the Prime minister but for the UK too.