Gordon Brown retiring from politics.

[Doon frae Troon]

There is so much mis-interpretation, error, narrow-mindedness, selfishness, bias and outright prejudice in the posts so far that it's pointless adding my own!

But as far as Westminster attendance is concerned, Broon has been 'retired' since Miliband took over in 2010!

Much maligned, he seems to be acting in a slightly more humble way than 'Tony' in his charitable ventures!

He was still very impressive on the hustings during the Independence campaign!

Well said.

For those of you who wanted to save the UK you only have Gordon Brown to thank. Scotland would be an independent country by now if not for him.

 

[delc]

There is so much mis-interpretation, error, narrow-mindedness, selfishness, bias and outright prejudice in the posts so far that it's pointless adding my own!

But as far as Westminster attendance is concerned, Broon has been 'retired' since Miliband took over in 2010!

Much maligned, he seems to be acting in a slightly more humble way than 'Tony' in his charitable ventures!

He was still very impressive on the hustings during the Independence campaign!

Brown and Blair were both pretty awful in their own ways!

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Brown and Blair were both pretty awful in their own ways!

As was Major and Thatcher and The current habitants of the roles

Hard to find a PM and Chancellor who was liked by all - maybe Churchill as PM ?

The chancellor is the one that makes the decisions on money - those decisions will never ever please everyone so someone will always have a whinge

Looking back it looks like the biggest error Brown was selling the gold at a ridiculously cheap price when 3 years later it was worth more than quadruple than he sold it for

And in the Independant vote he didn't "save" UK - he Prob might have stopped it being a little closer

 

[delc]

As was Major and Thatcher and The current habitants of the roles

Hard to find a PM and Chancellor who was liked by all - maybe Churchill as PM ?

The chancellor is the one that makes the decisions on money - those decisions will never ever please everyone so someone will always have a whinge

Looking back it looks like the biggest error Brown was selling the gold at a ridiculously cheap price when 3 years later it was worth more than quadruple than he sold it for

And in the Independant vote he didn't "save" UK - he Prob might have stopped it being a little closer

We don't really know what effect Broon had on the Scottish independence vote. He was probably more interested in saving the Labour Party than the United Kingdom, as they largely depend on Scottish MP's to have any chance of forming a majority Government at Westminster! :mmm:

 

[Foxholer]

Looking back it looks like the biggest error Brown was selling the gold at a ridiculously cheap price when 3 years later it was worth more than quadruple than he sold it for

Ok...Hypocrisy rules (mine )! :rofl:

That means that the 300 tons he didn't sell (from memory he sold nearly nearly) is now 'worth' nearly twice what the whole lot was worth at the time!

And there's plenty of opinion that it's because of what he did - and subsequent continuing International agreements that UK and other Governments wouldn't to do the same - that the price has skyrocketed.

His 'biggest' error seems to have been announcing the sale and auctioning it - both actions meant that the price was lower than it could/should have been.

There was a rumour that his action was to prevent an imminent 'Banking Crisis' - caused by some very dodgy, but legal goings on - and the fact that that didn't happen was vindication of his action. I'm very dubious about that - 'spin' imo - and there didn't seem to be any action for 'lessons learned'!

Final Salary Pensions...Had been recognised as unsustainable since late 90s and no-one had had the 'internal fortitude' to do something about them - and there's still, understandable, argument today!

Stealth Tax...True Expert! But Osborne is almost as good, using future-dated implementation to soften the impact.

 

[delc]

Ok...Hypocrisy rules (mine )! :rofl:

That means that the 300 tons he didn't sell (from memory he sold nearly nearly) is now 'worth' nearly twice what the whole lot was worth at the time!

And there's plenty of opinion that it's because of what he did - and subsequent continuing International agreements that UK and other Governments wouldn't to do the same - that the price has skyrocketed.

His 'biggest' error seems to have been announcing the sale and auctioning it - both actions meant that the price was lower than it could/should have been.

There was a rumour that his action was to prevent an imminent 'Banking Crisis' - caused by some very dodgy, but legal goings on - and the fact that that didn't happen was vindication of his action. I'm very dubious about that - 'spin' imo - and there didn't seem to be any action for 'lessons learned'!

Final Salary Pensions...Had been recognised as unsustainable since late 90s and no-one had had the 'internal fortitude' to do something about them - and there's still, understandable, argument today!

Stealth Tax...True Expert! But Osborne is almost as good, using future-dated implementation to soften the impact.

Our financial security ultimately depends on having a large stock of gold, so if the worst comes to the worst, we can still honour our 'promise to pay'. Selling half of it off at a rock bottom price is hardly a prudent thing to do.

I note that final salary pensions only became 'unsustainable' AFTER Mr Brown effectively raided £10bn a year from pension funds in 1997! :angry:

 

[Foxholer]

Our financial security ultimately depends on having a large stock of gold

That's just blatant rubbish! What is the current value of the Gold that is sold? About $20Billion. Compare that against UK GDP of 2.5 Trillion and it's a drop in the ocean. If, as was reportedly the purpose, the proceeds were converted to Foreign Currency assets, then there was, supposedly, a significantly reduction to the volatility of the reserves.

I note that final salary pensions only became 'unsustainable' AFTER Mr Brown effectively raided £10bn a year from pension funds in 1997! :angry:

I was actually wrong about that date. It had been known significantly earlier (not sure of dates, but many years) but only blatantly obvious - and published by Actuarial authorities -in mid-late 90s. Life expectancy, therefore Annuity period,had been steadily increasing, but no-one bit the bullet



But you keep 'true to your prejudices'! After admitting to my hypocrisy (commenting when I stated I wouldn't) I'm back to being 'out'!

 

[FairwayDodger]

Well said.

For those of you who wanted to save the UK you only have Gordon Brown to thank. Scotland would be an independent country by now if not for him.

I admire the sentiment but it's factually incorrect. The vast majority of "no" voters had decided over a year before the referendum. The result might have been closer but the outcome the same. Brown et al blinked too soon and now we're saddled with more devolution that nobody voted for.

 

[Foxholer]

Well said.

For those of you who wanted to save the UK you only have Gordon Brown to thank. Scotland would be an independent country by now if not for him.

I admire the sentiment but it's factually incorrect. The vast majority of "no" voters had decided over a year before the referendum. The result might have been closer but the outcome the same. Brown et al blinked too soon and now we're saddled with more devolution that nobody voted for.

Yeah. I stated 'impressive', not 'effective'. I have no idea how effective he was, though I suspect it was beneficial for the 'No's.

 

[delc]

H

That's just blatant rubbish! What is the current value of the Gold that is sold? About $20Billion. Compare that against UK GDP of 2.5 Trillion and it's a drop in the ocean. I, as was reportedly the purpose, the proceeds were converted to Foreign Currency assets, then there was, supposedly, a significantly reduction to the volatility of the reserves.



I was actually wrong about that date. It had been known significantly earlier (not sure of dates, but many years) but only blatantly obvious - and published by Actuarial authorities -in mid-late 90s. Life expectancy, therefore Annuity period,had been steadily increasing, but no-one bit the bullet

While it is true that life expectancy is increasing, if the pension funds had been allowed to keep the surpluses they built up in the 70's and 80's, they could have covered this. Incidentally not everybody has a long life. My dear wife died from cancer at the age of only 59 and had been on a company pension for less than a year and hadn't reached State pension age!

 

[Val]

Well said.

For those of you who wanted to save the UK you only have Gordon Brown to thank. Scotland would be an independent country by now if not for him.

I thought when the referendum finished you would stop posting inaccuracies like this. The only reason Scotland isn't an independent country is because the MAJORITY of Scotland didn't want it to be.

Get over it.

 

[Val]

H
While it is true that life expectancy is increasing, if the pension funds had been allowed to keep the surpluses they built up in the 70's and 80's, they could have covered this. Incidentally not everybody has a long life. My dear wife died from cancer at the age of only 59 and had been on a company pension for less than a year and hadn't reached State pension age!

Any figures to show this or is this just del boy guess work?

 

[CMAC]

I thought when the referendum finished you would stop posting inaccuracies like this. The only reason Scotland isn't an independent country is because the MAJORITY of Scotland didn't want it to be.

Get over it.

spot on and factual:clap:

 

[delc]

Gordon Brown also abolished the Marriage allowance! The way things ended up, it often paid a married women with kids to dump her husband and become a one parent family, because of all the additional benefits she became entitled to. What ever happened to family values?

 

[FairwayDodger]

Gordon Brown also abolished the Marriage allowance! The way things ended up, it often paid a married women with kids to dump her husband and become a one parent family, because of all the additional benefits she became entitled to. What happened to family values?

Never understood why the state paid married people an allowance. Especially when it didn't allow everyone to get married.

 

[delc]

Never understood why the state paid married people an allowance. Especially when it didn't allow everyone to get married.

The marriage allowance was originally a tax relief given to the husband to help support his wife (when they generally didn't work). Apart from bigamists, who wasn't allowed to get married?

 

[FairwayDodger]

The marriage allowance was originally a tax relief given to the husband to help support his wife (when they generally didn't work). Apart from bigamists, who wasn't allowed to get married?

So it was a pretty redundant benefit in the modern age then? I was delighted when it was binned.

Gays couldn't get married. Still can't in Scotland but can from January.

 

[chrisd]

I lost count of the number of times Brown stood at the Dispatch Box for PMQ and proudly announced "we've abolished boom and bust" - no mystic Meg there!

 

[Doon frae Troon]

I thought when the referendum finished you would stop posting inaccuracies like this. The only reason Scotland isn't an independent country is because the MAJORITY of Scotland didn't want it to be.

Get over it.

Strange how Alex Salmon agrees with my comments.
The swing was with the Yes voters until the panic measures of 'The Vow' and big Broons intervention.
Why would they intervene if the majority was as solid as you say?

 

[CheltenhamHacker]

Strange how Alex Salmon agrees with my comments.
The swing was with the Yes voters until the panic measures of 'The Vow' and big Broons intervention.
Why would they intervene if the majority was as solid as you say?

No wayyyyy, Alex Salmond has thrown out another excuse for losing? Well then, he must be right, can't be any way that it's just an excuse!