Awake, I feel your angry, it is so pathetic.

I suppose 0.5% growth in Europe next year is to do with Osborne as well.

David seriously you're becoming a laughing stock. We have some of the lowest interest rates on bonds in Europe, in case you've not been watching there has been near oblivion in Europe.

Argh nevermind, let's just borrow more - who cares all that matters is more GDP growth, nevermind the debt

"But the economy is barely growing and the outlook is for things to get worse not better."

Yes and no. The macro economic environment will certainly weaken but the issues you mention that have squeezed household incomes (VAT rise, higher oil price, higher food prices and other imported parts of inflation) should all reverse quite significantly next year.

matthew: What's wrong with working in a brewery. I would imagine it's quite interesting and rewarding.. Matthew... are you a closet snob, i think you really want to be a Tory.. I certainly could organiser a piss-up in a brewery, it's just a pity your wonderful Labour party couldn't..

@ Luddite
I didn't say cut it out completely- it's just that there's WAy to much of it making crazy costs... you want to open a small business on a hight street right now, your business rates are 40% of the rent AGAIN, paying for the numpties to turn up and insist u put in wheelchair access for your human cannonball classes...
@ Fox
'Osborne adds to the welfare spending on a daily basis. Why are so many conservatives relaxed with this.'
that's because they are ensuring that the truly weak and poorest in our society are going to get extra help as the cuts sink in- pupil premium, increase tax threshold, the POOREST uni applicants go free maintenance grants or something, it goes on. The point is that asswipes like yourself will be encouraged to fuck off and die whilst the needy get access to the resources u were previously consuming, and therefore wasting- stuff like oxygen, water, a job...

Correct.
But it was an attempt to make OBR a body independent of Govt.

The Conservatives and Lib Dems, had no problem blaming Gordon Brown every time it rained.

Osborne has sleepwalked into another crisis, he has attended G8 and G20 meetings and still has nothing productive to say, always attacking the eurozone leadership.

Osborne blamed the snow for last year's Q4 contraction,that how poor he his.

With unemployment at a 17 year high, and welfare spending 5% higher then last year, Plan A is really working.

The consequence of lower growth means more government spending and lower tax revenues, the last time I checked, the JSA was paid by the government.

matthew fox: Why would i wish to wast bread? As for 'Gordon Brown'... The less said about that embarrassment the better.. "bankers bonuses" Matthew them bonuses that you hate so much are paid to all bank workers from the wanker at the top to the hard working lad & lass on the desk and in the back room.. And lets not forget in the good times the banks made and still do make billions for the treasury. Money! Gordon Brown in his time as chancellor squandered on the unreformed and inefficient public sector.

@Stu

If this comedy hour?

When Labour came to power, unemployment at 2.5 million, don't tell me you have swallowed all this guff about Labour taking over a "Rolls Royce " economy.

I don't know if you understand how graphs work Stu, but the false argument about a " Massive Rise in Unemployment " during the boom years, really doesn't hold any weight whatsoever.

Unemployment actually rose for the first time, under Labour in 2007, a stonking 10 years into government.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10604117

Awake! there's nothing wrong with health and safety in the work place, after all.. you don't go to work to die..

Mark,I'm all for paying off the debt but how can you do that with poor growth,reduced tax incomes due to increased unemployment and an ever increasing welfare bill because of those job cuts?
Why cant people understand when you implement austerity you strangle growth its as simple as that. Its a question of how much you implement it over how long that matters.
Take Spain last week,savage cuts, result? Zero growth! How will they pay their debt back on that basis? They cant.

matthew fox: There's a fundamental difference between paying a unproductive government worker £25.000 plus pension, and paying them £67.50 Jobseeker's Allowance. You do the maths your intelligence one?

"There is no swearing on daytime tv Luddite, is that why you give it a miss?" No i'm to busy working...

"Osborne adds to the welfare spending on a daily basis. Why are so many conservatives relaxed with this" The coalition isn't relaxed about rising unemployment no one is, it's awful and soul destroying, but to create sustainable employment one has to make painful and difficult decisions. All governments can do is to make life easier for employers, and create the conditions for sustainable employment. Something our previous economically discredited Labour Government never did! 1%.. and with 1 million of our young people unemployed why are we still allowing any economic migration? Go-on Matthew call me a racist...

mark allen
economically u can have austerity and grow an OPEN economy- blanchflower and gang won't admit that (well blanch MIGHT) . We have an open economy.
th whole of europe including us is heading for zero growth, the US not far behind- these are ALLmajor indebted economies. Asia is still growing at 7-9%- do u see a pattern?

Luddite, your not a racist, you hate everyone, I can tell that from all the bad language you use.

Awful and soul-destroying, do you mean like the 80's when there was 3 million plus unemployed.

Interested to know where you work Luddite, is it the White Lightning brewery? Are you a failed party organiser there?

@ Matthew Fox
"With unemployment at a 17 year high, and welfare spending 5% higher then last year"

Apparently under Labour there was a massive rise in unemployment during the 'boom' years, even when Britain 'had' money Labour couldn't reform the benefits system.

There are companies now moving their business ventures away from the Eurozone and US, opting for Asian countries like China and India whilst keeping their operations in the UK - a good example is Landrover as we have seen on TV. I think businesses need to follow suit, the future has always been China, UK was too slow to capitalise on this fact, France however wasn't.