The aim of this paper is to provide an outline of some of the key features of George Osborne’s 2010 emergency budget speech and to provide a précis of the implications resulting from the measures contained within the budget. The result of the 2010 United Kingdom general election resulted in no single parliamentary majority and thus heralded the formation of the 2010 Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition government. In choosing to govern in partnership both party leaders declared that their respective political visions would be “strengthened and enhanced, rather than compromised, by working together”. Cameron and Clegg pledged radical reforms to facilitate the economic renewal of the U.K. in the policy publication, ‘The Coalition: Our …show more content…
For that reason the Coalition’s strategy was produced to create conditions for a private sector led growth, utilising rapid measures to cut the budget deficit, primarily by reducing public spending. The budget specified a £40 billion package of tax increases, welfare cuts and Whitehall spending restraints designed to slash the deficit by the end of the Parliament.
The government planned to borrow £452 billion over the lifetime of the Coalition, a move that would see the net public sector debt, at the end of March 2015, standing at £1284 billion or 69.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Thus the Coalition’s ‘unavoidable deficit reduction plan’ would focus on the reduction of public debt.
Osborne stressed the coalition inherited the largest budget deficit of any economy in Europe with the exception of Ireland. As far back as 2008 Cameron had slated the Labour government, famously accusing them of ‘not fixing the roof when the sun was shining’ a point Osborne highlighted in his speech, accusing Labour of not abiding by Gordon Brown’s ‘golden rule’ on fiscal policy. Labour, he stated, had failed, in the good years, to set aside money to allow them to borrow sustainably in economic downturns. The Coalition would not make the mistakes of Labour, and outlined their mandate as being – structural, to provide flexibility in response to external shocks; current to protect productive public
Over the four years from 2009-10 to 2012-2013, Labor had met its fiscal rule of keeping the average spending growth rate to less than 2% a year (Musgrave, R. A. n.d). This was the lowest period of spending growth in 23 years, meaning that not enough money was being injected into the circular flow of income. This reduced aggregate demand as consumer spending was low. In order to ensure that key spending was sustainable, structural improvements were required for the 2014-15 Budget. Overall, the Labor government has left a disastrous legacy of high debt for the Liberal government to try and overcome.
This will be beneficial in the long term because private sector will increase investment in capital goods, which is an injection into the circular flow of income and will also lead to a shift of the LRAS to the right. Secondly, the extent to which, if at all, cuts in public spending are unavoidable given the size of the budget deficit, so I feel that the government addressing this through cuts on public expenditure is a positive. Although, I do believe to some that significant cuts in some areas may lead to disruption and there may be some alternates such as increasing taxation and their relative merits.
Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years…” When he spoke those words at the convention, he expected his audience to see that Britain hasn’t changed and doesn’t plan to change. They will do as they have done in the past. History will repeat
The conservative party has been in existence since the 1670s and was first called the ‘Tories’, a term used by the Scottish and Irish to describe a robber. This party is a right- wing party which believed in conserving the tradition and the king, as the name entails. David Cameron, the current party leader became the leader in 2005. He is also the present prime minister of Great Britain and he has made a lot of changes since he became the leader of the party. In this essay, I will talk about the history of the party, looking into detail at their gradual changes or transition in ideology and the various changes that David Cameron has made to the party’s image and beliefs.
The Labour government in 1945-1951 achieved a high degree of activity and success, despite working within ‘the aftermath of war’ which inevitably ‘brings enormous difficulties’. The Labour government devoted their power to reconstructing a better nation, one that would be a ‘better place in which to be born, to grow up, and to live and even die’. On the other hand it is possible to criticise Labour due to their ‘irresponsible’ spending.
Pro-growth agenda empowers the private sector to create more jobs and removes federal impediments to exploration, development, and trade.
Both parties (when in opposition) criticized the other of using the annual budgets as a mechanism to win votes in elections, and not improving the failing economy. For example, Heathcoat Amory’s 1959 budget included a range of tax cuts to boost support; this was in a time when high inflation suggested financial restraint would have been a better strategy. This resulted in higher consumer spending that led to a rise in inflation, and because of this the economy was unstable.
The many reasons why New Labour under Tony Blair continued Thatcherite policies will be explored throughout this paper. Once analysis of New Labour has been explored, this paper will attempt to narrow the consequences of Thatcher’s policy continuation to confer whether those policies were beneficial or destructive to British political discourse and British society.
But has the Conservative party actually abandoned Thatcherism? Considering the points displayed in this essay, I have come to the conclusion that Cameron’s ‘progressive’ party may not so adverse to Thatcherism at all. The most important issues over specific reforms raised by the current Conservative Government seem to be highly influenced by the ideas of Thatcher. What is essential to point out is that times have evolved since the Thatcher timeframe and the Conservatives have had to evolve along with these times and adapt their attitudes to gain support from the electorate who view the ‘Iron Lady’s’ concepts as out of date. As to any argument, there are two sides to the story; let us remember that Cameron’s Government has only had the chance
Currently, debt held by the public is 78 percent of GDP. Reducing the public debt to the internationally recognized standard of 60 percent of GDP will require enormous changes in fiscal policy. Changes that will likely be politically unpopular.
These cuts will result in a decrease of government expenditure and an increase in household tax. Firms will suffer, with little support from the government sector, reducing the circular flow of income. Household savings will increase, as they will be paying more in tax. Firms will then be impacted because consumers will be spending
Maria comes home one day earlier than usual. Her family, two daughters of age five and eight and a stay-at-home husband, is surprised to see her so early and unexpectedly. The tired look on her face reveals the experience she had at work. She brings out a sluggish smile as her daughters rush up to greet her with their warm embraces, reminding her of the happiness they constantly provide but also saddened by their questionable future. Quietly, she sits down in front of her anxious spouse as he patiently awaits the news, sensing the tension in the air.
The economic reforms initiated by Prime Minister Margret Thatcher since 1980’s has made the United Kingdom record steady economic growth in the 1990s. However, successive Labour governments increased government spending significantly. Since 2010, the government upheld austerity as the principal of its economic policy. In 2014, the country recorded its strongest economic growth since 2007 of 2.387 trillion dollars with GDP per capita at 39,350.64 dollars. The GDP increased significantly because of the enhanced performance of the construction, manufacturing, and services sectors. Retail sales also increased with unemployment relatively at lowest
The European issue was the most problematic issue throughout Major’s governance. Polarized opinions divided not only the country, the Tories, but the cabinet itself. Major failed to manage the government to run effectively on European issues as the government motion had been opposed in parliament (Bale,2011; Cowley and Garry,1998). Yet, he successfully shifted the attitude of United Kingdom towards Europe from Thatcherite ultra-sceptic perspective or Labour’s Europhile perspective to somewhere in-between - while keeping in the European Community in order to gain
Since the global financial crisis of 2008, the UK government has been implementing various policies to combat the recession and stimulate economic growth. This essay will look at how effective the fiscal and monetary policies used since the crisis are in achieving the four-macro economic objectives. In addition, I will provide my input on the best way the UK government can carry out these policies.