Whilst it is laudable for Eric Pickles, and the Tory Party, to make some valiant attempt to solve the first time buyers housing problem I am not sure whether this Help-to-Rent scheme takes us any further up the road.

A discount from market rent, organised through government funding of housing associations, is well intentioned and certainly gives the applicant a discounted rent for seven years with a first option to buy at the end. Continue reading →

The penny has dropped, here we are searching for justification for these Labour Party policies on economic grounds and struggling to find them.  The reason why it is so difficult for economists and political commentators to demonstrate that these socialistically inspired policies would not raise the monies that Ed Balls is suggesting is that they don’t need to raise any money at all.

In fact, by way of illustration, the Treasury themselves have carried out independent assessments and have found that 45% high income tax  raises more money than 50%.  Why then is the Shadow Chancellor promoting the latter? Continue reading →

Well, you have heard it first at the Labour Conference yesterday the somewhat ‘bumbling’ Ed Balls espousing the politically charged rhetoric that Mansion Tax will pay for the NHS.  How cynical is this?

Firstly, the proponents of this tax have no idea how much revenue it will raise and this figure is pure guesswork.  Secondly, I’m not sure how much more money needs to be spent on the NHS since the present government has maintained the fulsome commitments to healthcare of frontline medicine of the last ‘discredited Labour regime’ despite the vital cut-backs that needed to be done. Continue reading →