Giles McNeill: Labour’s Two Trillion Pound Debt

Today official figures have revealed that the national debt has risen above £2 trillion for the first time in our history.

According to the Office for National Statistics the national debt, including the cost of bailing out the banks, now stands at £2,323,000,000,000. That works out at over £37,600 for every man, woman and child in the country.

This terrible debt is Labour’s legacy. They thought that they had abolished boom and bust and so ran large deficits even before the financial crisis.

Because of this, we are currently paying £43 billion per year, over £120 million per day, in debt interest. This is money that could otherwise be spent on frontline services like schools and hospitals. The average earner in Gainsborough has to work for 152 days just to pay the interest on Labour’s debts.

Commenting, Giles McNeill said:

"These are shocking figures. Labour maxed out the nation's credit card with over £1 trillion of government debt. The longer it is left the worse it will get. If we don’t take steps now to live within our means we’ll end up paying higher taxes and face deeper cuts just to pay off our debt"

Thoughts on the New Labour Party Leader - 'Red-Ed' Miliband

The mood in the Conservative camp is one of 'undisguised mirth', as David Crow put it, at the election of Ed Miliband as Leader of the Labour Party.


Leader of the Labour Party
Ed Miliband MP.

On Saturday night, shortly after the result was announced, staff at Conservative headquarters in London were, it is understood, popping open the champagne.  Advisers to Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron think the next election is more winnable than ever.

Much of this relief is understandable. Ed Miliband’s victory has sounded the death knell for New Labour, that election-winning machine which the party had come to hate.  The Conservatives have always said Tony Blair was unbeatable and feared that David Miliband, his last disciple, would also prove a tough opponent. 

Ed Miliband sees no shame in closing the door on the Blairite past, and everything it stood for.

"The era of New Labour has passed, a new generation has taken over."

Were the word used yesterday, in his first major interview since winning the crown, with the BBC's Andrew Marr.

There is nothing 'new' however, about the team that now leads Labour.  Ken Livingstone is not only the party’s mayoral candidate, but also topped the poll in the race to sit on the party's governing body - the National Executive Committee.  Lord Kinnock, red-flag bearer for the left wing, was one of Ed Miliband’s most vocal supporters.  Despite Blair’s attempts to consign them to history, the union barons are once again an important voice in the political debate.

Beyond the same old faces.  Gone is the emphasis on social mobility, on reward for hard work and entrepreneurial spirit.  It will be replaced by 'equality', essentially old-fashioned redistribution of wealth. Labour no longer wants to have more pie – it just wants to cut it up more evenly.

The banks will be bashed; the rich will be soaked; the private sector will be banished from public services. This is the manifesto on which Labour will fight the next election.

For Ed Miliband is not the joke that his opponents are trying to portray him as.  No, he is not as good as Blair, few politicians are.  But he is still a credible leader considering recent peers.

Susan Boyle of X-Factor fame
before and after.

He is much better than Neil Kinnock, the 'Welsh windbag' that voters simply would not vote for in 1992 – no matter how much they hated John Major and his completely divided government.  As Gordon Brown’s favourite number cruncher, he is clearly economically literate, unlike Harriet Harman, and will be able to twist facts and figures to attack the government as only a Brownite can.  He is no professional for the media, but his smile is nowhere near as scary as Brown’s, and the transformations that can be managed today, with a little coaching, are staggering - think Susan Boyle.

If he can convince the big trade unions to keep industrial unrest in check, his populist brand of socialism could tap into the banker-bashing zeitgeist.  As could his claim that the deficit can be reduced without much pain.  Voters might say they back tough cuts right now, but it is easy to say that before their impact starts to bite.

Worst of all for David Cameron is that Ed Miliband is a relative unknown – both in politics and public.  A fresh face gives him an enormous advantage - which his brother, David Miliband, would not have had

Government to hike business taxes on local firms at time of recession

Average business rates bill in West Lindsey may hit £5,932 thanks to Gordon Brown

Labour Ministers in Whitehall were today accused of kicking local firms “in the teeth” as it emerged that the Government is pushing ahead with plans to increase business rates on local firms at a time of economic recession.

The Government is introducing a new law - the Business Rates Supplements Bill - which will allow town halls to increase business rates on local firms by leving a ‘supplementary’ rate on top of current bills. This comes at a time that business rates are already due to rise by a painful 5% in April.

• There are 2,572 premises in West Lindsey which currently pay business rates. The average bill in West Lindsey in 2008-09 was £5,417 raising a total of £13.9 million a year in tax in total from local firms, which is handed over to Whitehall.

• Due to the impending 5% rise, business rate bills in West Lindsey will hit an average of £5,688 from April. If a supplementary business rate were imposed on top, this could push the average bill on local firms to a record £5,932 a year.

• Supplementary business rates are likely to be used to fund local authorities’ current expenditure, rather than new infrastructure. Councils will be pressured into levying supplementary business rates to make up for funding pressures. Firms will not be given a proper vote on whether or not they support the new charge. According to the Government, supplementary business rates could increase taxes by up to £600 million a year if levied by every local authority.

• There will also be a business rates revaluation in 2010, which may increase the bills even more for many firms – especially shops, since retail property rents have risen sharply in recent years. Higher rateable values will worsen the impact of supplementary rates.

Giles McNeill said:

“I fear that supplementary business rates will be yet another backdoor way for Gordon Brown to hike taxes by stealth. At a time when local firms are struggling for their very survival, even higher business rates are a kick in the teeth from the Government.”

Giles McNeill on the Start of Nettleham & Saxilby Division Campaign

Whilst for many the County Council and European Parliamentary Elections, to be held on Thursday 4th June, may seem a long way off; nothing of substance was ever achieved without hard work and to that end the Conservative’s campaign in Saxilby kicked off today with myself and Rupert Matthews, Conservative Prospective European Parliamentary Candidate for the East Midlands, out and about in Saxilby.

A good number of volunteers turned out to deliver leaflets to the majority of households in Saxilby, and for those of you who haven’t yet had a ‘Saxilby Matters’ it will be dropping on your doormat any day now.

Giles and Rupert inspect a 'Saxilby Matters' at the start of Milbeck Drive.

I was very pleased to have the opportunity to show Rupert around Saxilby. Rupert was curious about the Library and I was sorry to inform him that the hours had been reduced, but that, in my view, had Saxilby had a Conservative County Councillor – who would be listened to by the Council’s leadership – then the hours may not have been reduced.

It was really good weather to be out and about and meeting local people and chatting to them about the issues that affect them. Naturally the economy is at the top of everyone's minds and so I was please to outline what Conservative are doing at West Lindsey, County and National Level to help people.

After the morning session we went for a tour of a number of sites in the Nettleham & saxilby Division. We went to Odder, Burton Waters, Riseholme and to finally to Nettleham before heading into the City of Lincoln to meet with a local business owner who is having a particular problem with European Union regulation.

All in all a full day of activities and I am personally very grateful to Rupert for coming and visiting, campaigning and generally helping out for the day.

Labour's Debt Crisis Campaign Launched

The Conservatives have today launched a nationwide advertising campaign to highlight the human consequences of Labour’s Debt Crisis.

The campaign includes a poster and an online film and shows a four week old baby alongside the slogan ‘Dad’s Nose. Mum’s Eyes. Gordon Brown’s Debt’.

Gordon Brown’s answer to the crisis has been to borrow even more money, taking our national debt to record levels. As a result a new born baby will come in the world saddled with a debt of £17,000.

Speaking at the launch, David Cameron said:

“We’ve got to stop this Government before they bankrupt our economy and bankrupt our children’s future.”

And he added:

“In the Spring, they will have another budget. And I’m really worried they’re going to do it all over again.”

Download Labour's Debt Crisis Report.