In the event of a Conservative/Lib Dem coalition, would you rather see George Osborne or Vince Cable as Chancellor?

[FlyingMonkey]

Naturally, the Lefties amongst us would prefer Vince Cable. But I'm curious to know whether Conservative supporters actually rate Osborne. Vince Cable has spoken a lot of sense on the economy but sadly I doubt Cameron would agree to giving him the keys to No. 11.

Neither.
Heard a business bod on radio 4 last weekish saying Cable was a liability as a financial spokesman - paraphrase, obv. I don't think Gideon George Osborne has ever said anything sensible about the economy. Ken Clarke, probably.
That speech, longfingernails, is,IMHO, the speech of a well-briefed man espousing right-wing economic theories. I understood most of it, and I only "did" economics in my first year at university.

i think council tax is a good token!

I'd like to leave a fair and safe society to all our children. Guess that's why I'm not a Tory.

Give me Vince over Osborn any day. In fact give me Wirsal Gommage over Osborn.

lol I also had wistful thoughts about bringing Ken Clarke back to be Chancellor today!

Raising the income tax threshold to 10k gives a tax break to everyone, rich and poor alike - doesn't actually help the poor as a group any more than anyone else. Unless you increase the tax rate of the upper income brackets at the same time.

The inheritance tax thing was an admission that the Tories are wolves in sheep's clothing. They haven't really changed. It's still the party of the rich for the rich.

And don't give me that bollocks about it being unfair to be taxed on inheritance. We all pay tax every time we get money and every time we spend it. There's income tax, VAT, petrol duty, council tax, national insurance... why should this particular exchange of money be exempt when no other is?

And the most important point of all is that the person who earned/saved/made/got that money ISN'T being taxed 'twice'. The person paying the tax is the person who suddenly gets a nice chunk of money they didn't earn.

Edam - you cld look at this thread - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/politics/960378-Labour-inheritance-tax-benefit-for-married-people Probably won't change you opinion - but let me know what you think!

well I'm not a liberal lefty and I'd love to see Vince Cable as Chancellor. Not going to happen though sadly.

George, through gritted teeth. Won't want Lib Dems anywhere near the economy.

vince cable for me

Jackstar - yeah, I understand the arguments, I was one of the MNers who went to see David Willets. I still think it's extraordinary that anyone can claim that someone who inherits a house worth £750k is somehow being discriminated against! Or that someone who lives in a house worth £750k is a victim in any way. Even in London, £750k gets you a very nice house that most people can't afford.

Dh will benefit from the change in IHT law so houses that have been inherited by a husband or wife can then be passed on when the surviving spouse dies without paying IHT if they are worth less than whatever it is - £650k? His widowed mother lives in a five bedroom house in the home counties within commuting distance of London. (His parents moved there in 1970 and extended - they were ordinary people not particularly wealthy, value is all house price inflation.)

BUT I don't think it would be unfair for dh and his sister to have to sell the house (or raise a mortgage) and pay tax on the bit over the old IHT threshold (think it was £350k). As long as his mother doesn't go mad and leave it to a dogs' home, he and SIL will be the lucky beneficiaries of house price inflation. Paying tax on massive capital gains you did nothing to earn seems fair enough to me - everyone who has far less than that amount pays tax, why shouldn't dh and SIL?

cable but he wont get it. gideon baby has been reading all his economics books and practicing on his calculator. shame to let all the effort go to waste.

I'm think I'm Conservative (I took the policies, it say I was evenly split between Con and Lib but live in a Cons safe seat) and I would prefer to see Vince Cable in post. I think. But then again having a Chancellor from a different party could be very problematic.

Either would be a nightmare

Please can we have Ken Clarke?

Neither. Bring back Ken!

I would sooner see Daddy Pig as chancellor before George Osborne. But TBH, I don't think George will ever be Chancellor. No-one likes him.

Pfft, but how would you feel about Ken?

Ken Dodd?

I suppose if it had to be a Tory, then I would imagine Clarke would be well received as a Chancellor and up to the job. But he indicated on Question Time that there was no way he would do the job didn't he?

I can't imagine many people worse suited to the job of Chancellor than George Osborne. Maybe Danny Dyer.

I'm taking that as a (grudging ) admission that Ken would be acceptable. Which has to be high praise from a lefty dragon.

I'm trying to get a Ken bandwagon rolling...

ken clarke please - hasn't he been chancellor before. He's getting on but would be better than osborne.

We need someone with experience. Cable too left wing, osborne no experience and doesn't come across as very bright.

Mwah ha ha at longfingernails believing that politicians of the stature of George Osborne write their own speeches.

Even the City are secretly terrified of what Osborne will do to the economy; he's clueless.

Pfft - pmsl at Danny Dyer.

INteresting times. Lots of decisions being made this weekend that could affect our futures.
So - shall I go to big M and S or big John Lewis this morning?

Vince Cable - or, frankly, anybody but Osborne. Listening to him scares me as he sounds out of his depth already....

Quattro - you can take it as that, as in, if it was a sole Tory government. If there was a coalition, I think that Cable is the best man for the job, he is vastly experienced and well liked, I think he would make a great Chancellor.

Not sure if the Tories would agree but it seemed like DC was hinting at that in his speech as a bone for the Liberals. But then I think that even DC would rather Vince than George.

And he might not have any choice - I'm not sure Ken would do it.

And Danny Dyer is too busy studying the world's most dangerous men, sadly.