ConDem Coalition

Ian Duncan Smith following the ConDems [sorry for the typo] policy  of half truths, when he said the life expectancy for men was 89 and for women 90. He was accused of fiddling the figures in an attempt to soften the idea of “Work till you Drop” The actual government figures from the National Statistics Office are 77 for a man and 82 for a woman. The chances are for people doing a heavy job retiring at 70 are that if they do survive to pension age, they won’t enjoy it for long.

France was paralysed by strikes when it was suggested that their retirement age should be increased from 60 to 62yrs.

Vince Cable said that claimants may see their payments dwindle or dry up after a fixed period to enable the £193billion to be used to give relief to other government departments.

David Cameron has been shamed into following Gordon Browns’ example of giving up his right to a PMs pension of £66,000 p.a. Read The Full article

Vic Farron  RFT Express

Post budget Review

George Osborne's emergency budget is an indication of the pain this government intends to inflict on the British Public. More will come in the Autumn.
As expected the conservatives have hit the low paid workers hard, and are still showing their old hostility towards single parents. The rich, the bankers, and the large companies came off better than they had hoped for, small companies will be hit hard by the higher VAT, and the increased insurance premium.
All investment in job creation shemes have been scrapped, they expect that as the public sector shrinks, the private sector will take up the slack.
The top 4 UK banks concentrate their lending on high earning commercial mortgages, with only 3% of their lending going to help businesses take up the slack in the economy.
For the first time in 2 years one member of the Bank of England has recommended an interest rate rise.
With unemployment, and inflation rising, it would appear that the Conservatives  are relying on the few workers we have left to foot the tax increases.
The government initially tried to copy the Canadian example of regenerating the UK, until everybody told the Government that the Canadian example wouldn't work.
Their flagship "Free Schools" copied from the Swedish, is another example they are quoting. The trouble is the Swedish example didn't work in Sweden.
They are now trying to copy the German example of "Austerity Packages", but in truth they are probably copying the example set by Japan in the 90's. Cuts without job stimulation : this caused 10 years of stagnant growth.
The Lib Dems which  the Conservatives bought for just 22 ministerial positions, are now just there for window dressing, having sold out their electorate for a supposed power.  Read More


Vic Farron RFT Express.

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The Truth about Pre Budget Cuts

Nick Clegg :: “The truth is that this loan was promised by the outgoing Labour Government as a calculated ploy to win support in Sheffield just ahead of the election, when they knew all along that there simply wasn't the money to keep to that pledge in first place.” What is he talking about?.. The Sheffield Forgemaster £80mill loan to produce giant reactor cores, 80% going for export, more jobs. [Made Labour look good]

Cameron::”There was a suspicion that while some of these decisions might have been good decisions, not all of them were good decisions and not all of them were good value for money.

Cameron:: “I will protect frontline services” “I will not dismantle the NHS”

Alexander:: “new North Tees and Hartlepool hospital cancelled”. [Made Labour look good]

Alexander :: “ I have found another £1bill black hole”

Treasury :: “ Unable to say what it is”

Cameron : “ Free Schools - any body can set them up” 720 groups express an interest. Cost £25mill to £30 mill each school. Total money available £50 mill in first year. There was a suspicion that while some of these decisions might have been good decisions, not all of them were good decisions and not all of them were good value for money... Read the Full Article

Vic Farron RFT Express.

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OBR confirm deficit £23 Billion less than expected.

The OBR confirmed that the deficit the coalition faces is £23 Billion less than expected, due to the policy measures put in place by Alistair Darling, making the justification for heavy cuts in public spending and higher taxes less credible. It also confirmed that household income was relatively strong through the recession as weaker salaries were supported by tax changes such as the temporary cut in VAT.


The current chancellor George Osborne appears to be still committed to finding £85 Billion in order to balance the books by the end of the current coalition term.[A commitment he made in January 2010] Of the £85 Billion approximately £68 Billion will be in cuts, and £17 Billion in tax rises. There is speculation that due to the structural deficit increasing this year by an estimated £12 Billion, he will increase tax rises an extra £2.4 Billion.

The Coalition has often referred to the Canadian model in the 90’s and the reductions they made to their deficit. Fortunately sufficient knowledgeable people have convinced them that this would not work. Possible they have been looking at what Japan did in the 90’s. This led to 10 years of stagnant growth.

The Times in a light hearted analogy between The World Cup and politics, suggesting ‘England team now would hardly have a slower centre-half pairing if Cameron and Clegg swapped with Terry and Carragher (would the Government suffer notably?)’.

Vic Farron RFT Express. Read the Full Article

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Hydrogen car :: Equivalent to 300 M.P.G.

The UK's first Hydrogen fuelled car from Riverspeed. They insist this is not a prototype, with Leicester agreeing to take the first 30 cars prior to it being available to the public.
The two seat vehicle was designed by a small team of British motorsport engineers and was built at Silverstone. It has a maximum cruising speed of 50 mph and a range on one tank
of hydrogen of at least 200 miles. With a body made of lightweight composites it weighs
only 350kg and thanks to novel design principles is able to do the equivalent of 300 miles
per gallon. Hydrogen produces nothing but a few drops of water from the exhaust,
although to achieve true “zero emission” credentials the fuel must be produced from
renewable energy sources.
Riversimple will generate revenue in a very different way to other car companies;

instead of selling a car as a product, we will sell mobility as a service. Customers will
pay a fixed monthly and per mile charge, getting the flexible mobility that owning a car
provides, without the burdens; tax, fuel costs, insurance and vehicle depreciation. This
sale of service model motivates Riversimple to build cars with a long operating life (up
to 20 years) that are highly economical to use, since we receive revenue throughout
the life of the car and also pay the costs throughout.
Vic Farron RFT Express
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Cameron blames Labour for the debt crises

Cameron blames Labour for the debt crises, and which he claims was even worse than he thought. Alistair Darling told the BBC this was nonsense, the only thing that had changed was that when Cameron took over, we were borrowing £11 billion less than was forecast in March. How can £11 billion reduction in one month be worse than he thought?

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Rule Changes to Stabilise Coalition?

David Cameron is planning to change the rules on how an election is called, in order to quote ‘to help the stability of his coalition government’. This is what the conservatives say is fair government.
The deal agreed between the conservatives and the lib-dems is for a fixed 5 year term for the present government, and it can’t be dissolved without the support of 55% of the MPs. Conveniently the coalition doesn’t have 55% of the MP’s needed, so they cannot dissolve parliament. And coincidentally the lib-dems along with all the other MPs doesn’t have 55% either. So the conservatives can get rid of the lib-dems anytime they want, and nobody can do anything about it.

That’s open, fair government, designed to rekindle trust in MPs, well at least David Cameron thinks absolute power is fair to him.
Read more