davieG Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18567776 State spending is too high and likely to be leading to "waste and inefficiency", ex-Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister David Laws has said. Mr Laws said the public sector's share of the economy should be cut to 35% from the 49% it reached in 2010-11. It needed to be "back in kilter with the amount of tax people are prepared to pay", he told theSunday Telegraph. Mr Law's call goes further than that of Commons Treasury committee chairman Andrew Tyrie who wants a 40% share. Mr Laws resigned as chief secretary to the Treasury two years ago after admitting he claimed expenses to pay his partner rent. 'Shocking spending levels' In his interview with the Telegraph, the Lib Dem backbencher said the founding fathers of the Liberal Party would have been shocked by spending levels. "Even after the existing fiscal consolidations, state spending will account for some 40% of GDP, a figure that would have shocked not only Adam Smith, William Gladstone, and John Stuart Mill, but also John Maynard Keynes and David Lloyd George," he said. "The implication of the state spending 40% of national income is that there is likely to be too much resource misallocation and too much waste and inefficiency." In an article being published on Monday by the Institute of Economic Affairs, Mr Laws will also call for "lower marginal rates of tax at all income levels", a simplified tax system and a "substantial" rise in the personal income tax threshold. Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable last week said government spending was increasing as a share of the UK economy, rather than decreasing as planned. UK public spending as a share of the economy tends to rise during recessions, as the size of the economy contracts. It fell as low as 36.3% in 1999/2000, rising to 47.7% a decade later. It has been projected to fall to below 40% again by 2016/17. It would help if there were some honest national and local politicians.
RyanB89 Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 maybe we should sack the army, navy and air force, then we wont be able to spend billions bombing little muslim countries.
Webbo Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 maybe we should sack the army, navy and air force, then we wont be able to spend billions bombing little muslim countries. Take a deep breath, go and lay down and keep taking the tablets.
RyanB89 Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 Take a deep breath, go and lay down and keep taking the tablets. You like bombing little muslim countries and killing/displacing thousands of innocent civilians?
I am Rod Hull Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 You like bombing little muslim countries and killing/displacing thousands of innocent civilians? Sure he does, that`s how he became a mod...
Saxondale Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 Laws is bang on here. On a side note, Afghanistan isn't little, it's fvcking massive, almost three times the size of Britain in fact.
RyanB89 Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 Laws is bang on here. On a side note, Afghanistan isn't little, it's fvcking massive, almost three times the size of Britain in fact. I guess its ok then, libya isnt that big.
Webbo Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 I guess its ok then, libya isnt that big. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_outlying_territories_by_total_area Libya is the 17th largest country in the world, the UK is 80th.
RyanB89 Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 http://en.wikipedia....s_by_total_area Libya is the 17th largest country in the world, the UK is 80th. Ok iraq isnt that big.
AdamN Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 Ok iraq isnt that big. Still bigger than the UK. Keep trying.
BlueSi13 Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 maybe we should sack the army, navy and air force, then we wont be able to spend billions bombing little muslim countries. Didn't ourselves and NATO enter Kosovo not so long ago to prevent the ethnic cleansing of the muslim populace during the Yugoslav wars?
Daggers Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 http://en.wikipedia....s_by_total_area Libya is the 17th largest country in the world, the UK is 80th. With a population 1/10th of ours. Try again.
RyanB89 Posted 24 June 2012 Posted 24 June 2012 Didn't ourselves and NATO enter Kosovo not so long ago to prevent the ethnic cleansing of the muslim populace during the Yugoslav wars? How is that relevant? some kind of twisted justification for these acts of war against innocent civilians?
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