Yet another example of Gordon Brown's spite

[longfingernailspaintedblue]

If there is anything which encapsulates what a bitter and vindictive man Gordon Brown truly was, then surely it is this?

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/7805707/Gordon-Brown-accepts-a-pay-cut-for-David-Camero n.html

I agree with cutting the Prime Minister's salary - but of course Gordon Brown didn't have the courage to cut his own salary, only David Cameron's.

"I was at a dinner with some really senior financial experts fairly recently. They genuinely believe that Gordon Brown was instrumental in saving us from a much, much worse recession."

did you maybe misunderstand what they said? When they said "saving us from a recession", did they mean saving themselves or saving the public? It is certainly true that GBH saved their bacon and allowed them to continue feeding from the trough. It is understandable that they are grateful to their saviour.

Well, longfingers, let's see......before the election, Labour started implementing a series of cuts to tackle the deficit (£15bn, iirc). One of those cuts was in ministerial salaries, which is only right and proper.

The Conservatives basically got in by saying they'd cut harder and deeper than Labour and reduce the deficit more (they reckoned they could find an additional £12bn of cuts).

So really, Shiny Dave ought to cut his salary a bit more than Gordon did, no?

Why use taxes to pay for interest on debt for short-term projects, when they can be used instead for long-term public spending?

Gordn Brown being painted as a shit...in the torygraph, really? blimey. What is the world coming to.

WhatFreshHellIsThis

Well you will be pleased to hear that Cameron has cut his salary by 5% (and that of other ministers), on top of the spite cut which Gordon Brown inflicted. Indeed, had you read the article I linked to, you would have known that already.

I don't remember Labour talking about cutting ministerial salaries before the election - perhaps you can refresh my memory by linking to a speech in which Gordon Brown mentioned it? All I can find is a proposal for a pay freeze at a time when the Tories were talking of ministerial pay cuts here.

I did read the 'article' - apostrophes because I wouldn't call that collection of random unsubstantiated gossip an article. And it seems to imply that Cameron didn't know his salary had been reduced when he made the 5% cut, which is ludicrous.

Anyhoo, it's all a load of 'my source says' nonsense that means bugger all.

And why on earth do I need to find a speech where Gordon proposes ministerial cuts? Either he made the cut, or he didn't, surely. What would a speech prove? That his intentions were honourable?

Ah, the fact that he didn't announce it means it must have been kept secret out of spite.....of course. Wonder if he sewed dead fish into the Number 10 curtains, too?

Oh come on. He not only didn't announce it, he went out of his way to keep it a secret.

You're the one who claimed that before the election Labour were talking about ministerial pay cuts. Yet you can't provide the evidence to back it up - this is perhaps because it simply isn't true?

Unlike most things in politics, this is a matter of fact, not opinion. All you need to do is find a speech by a Labour minister, dated before the election, saying they are proposing a cut in ministerial pay. I think you will be looking a long time.

I rather hoped he would have left a log in the bed

And of course Cameron knew his salary when he made the 5% cut - but he proposed the 5% cut before the election, not knowing that Gordon Brown had lined up the spite cut as well.

It is a measure of Cameron's good political judgement that he went ahead with the extra 5% cut anyway.

claig no dear I did not misunderstand.

Do you think it might have put Cameron off if he'd known before the election then?

"Nah - £150K? I think I'll pass then."

I wouldn't listen to the financial "experts", the same "experts" who didn't see it coming and got us into the mess. They justify being bailed out by the public, a bit like a thief justifies picking your pocket by saying that he only did it to lighten your load.

Everyone agrees that government spending will increase during a recession, and that might incur borrowing.

That doesn't answer the question of why we were borrowing in the boom years. There was no reason to borrow then.

If there had been some restraint then we could have paid down part of our debt. It is perfectly possible. Both Canada and Australia have done it.

That would have given us far more flexibility in dealing with the recession when it came.

over time we will probably find out that Labour was splashing the cash in a futile attempt to try to buy the favour of voters in anticipation of the election. Luckily we stopped their drunken spree when we did, who knows how much more they would imbibed? They were like a boozer on a bender, but we stopped them in their tracks and gave them an ASBO.

OP, you take everything way, way to personally. Chill out.

yes, of course, he went out of his way to keep it a secret. Probably swore Sarah to secrecy with a blood oath and chuckled about it over his porridge. Because when you're PM, you have nothing better to do than plot petty little intrigues like that Seriously, you may not agree with the man's politics, but this is all a bit childish, isn't it?

Let's face it, if he had made it a key point in one of his speeches, he'd have been accused of trying to curry favour with the electorate. If he'd not done it, then he'd have been accused of planning cuts while contributing nothing to the public savings. No matter what he did, someone was waiting to savage him for it, and now the Conservatives are busy blaming him for everything to distract attention from the fact that they are busy dismantling the public sector hand over fist.

Yawn, and furthermore,

Riven I think normally ministerial pay decisions are announced to Parliament. Here is Gordon Brown's written Statement to Parliament in March on the subject

www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2010-03-10b.18WS.4#g18WS.5

For political reasons, most Prime Ministers do not always take the full salary anyway. I vaguely remember Tony Blair making a big thing of it in his early years, and I think Gordon Brown might have done this too.

surely, no one really knew ''what''/who was going to be pm proir to the election so it would have effected GB too if he was re-elected.
so, maybe not sneaky afterall or spiteful.

besides which the journo says ''from what I am told'' [so there is no hard evidence?].

Also, going off the point but, DC does get a free luxury pad in the centre of london completely PAID FOR by us [number10], not to mention of course his country mansion [Chequers?] both PAID for by us [they talk about cut backs...what a joke]. FGS, who needs three homes when some people dont even have one? Of course they dont mind taking a pay dip it is literally PEANUTS to them!

surely, no one really knew ''what''/who was going to be pm proir to the election so it would have effected GB too if he was re-elected.
so, maybe not sneaky afterall or spiteful.

besides which the journo says ''from what I am told'' [so there is no hard evidence?].

Also, going off the point but, DC does get a free luxury pad in the centre of london completely PAID FOR by us [number10], not to mention of course his country mansion [Chequers?] both PAID for by us [they talk about cut backs...what a joke]. FGS, who needs three homes when some people dont even have one? Of course they dont mind taking a pay dip it is literally PEANUTS to them!

yes quite right Riven. And charge rent for NO.10? like the rest of us....''it's hard times Dave''.

Isn't the 5% cut only in their ministerial pay so not a 5% cut of overall pay? And it was announced before they'd (ministers) had actually recieved any pay. So,in effect, saying that your ministerial pay willnow be x instead of y. Not quite teh same effect as announcing a 5% pay cut really.

"its cheaper to pay public sector workers dole than pay them their salaries"

that cannot possibly be true - even if you factor in housing and other benefits