George Osborne on Newsnight

Did you see George Osborne on Newsnight being interviewed by Paxman.This is the bloke who could possibly be the Chancellor in May next year. I'm biased being a Labour supporter, but  I thought he was appalling. Paxman grilled him on how he was going to plug the budget defecit. Osborne was asked how savings of £7 Billion could plug a hole of £90 billion. Osborne could have said that the Tories will create an environment where business could thrive and the economy grow. He didn't. All he said is that there are billions of pounds worth of savings to be made in departmental budgets. Given that civil servants run these regardless of the party in power and we've heard this all before, can we believe any of it?

It strikes me that his new stealth tax rises are targetted at rather soft targets. Raising the pension age will hit a narrow and vulnerable band of people. Freezing public sector pay for those on over £18,000 will again hit hard working front line staff. You can be sure that the execs on £150,000 a year will get a "SPECIAL BONUS". When questioned by Paxman he said "I've not written the budget yet". He trotted the old line "We've been less dishonest than the other lot" several times - Sorry that should say "we've been a bit less vague about cuts".

The only way we'll ever plug the hole in the budget is to get the economy working so businesses generate more money and jobs. Everyone moved from the dole office to the labour market stops being a cost and becomes a source of revenue for the Government. If Osborne had a clue, hed get rid of red tape that makes it expensive and undesirable for people such as myself to hire staff. If companies employing less than 20 people were given an environment where they could flourish, rather than the current one where you get a massive new book of Income tax rules, an ever growing list of rules and regulations and massive costs and problems associated with employing people, then many people claiming benefits could be found work.

Another thing which Osborne hasn't addressed is those people claiming benefits and working illegally. I've seen estimates that this is costing the country up to £5 Billion. Whilst this problem will always exist, why not have an amnesty. Anyone who has been working and claiming benefits can be told that if they come forward and stop claiming benefits, for a six month period there will be no fines and no jail. After that it will double. That way many people would see it as an opportunity to start a clean slate and go legal.

One last thing. Why not give a six month break on business rates to all new start up companies. For many of these it would make a huge difference. I'd also like to see startup companies given a break on the minimum wage. If a firm could pay 50% of the minimum wage in their first year, then companies could get off the ground and attract people on the basis that if they make a go of it, they'll then get a decent wage after a year. I know many people who would start businesses tomorrow, but cannot afford the startup costs as prescribed by the Government. How come a Tory shadow Chancellor talks about none of this. Paxman hit it on the head when he asked him if "Someone who has worked for the Conservative Party since he was 23" had the right experience to do the job of running the economy? I'll leave you to guess what I thought the answer was.