http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/does-the-treasurys-brexit-equation-stand-up-to-scrutiny-a6989356.html Does the Treasury's Brexit equation stand up to scrutiny? Osborne looking puzzled? Osborne forecasts that families will be £4300 by 2030. He also announces that wages will be lower, prices will be higher and living standards will fall. To "prove" this highly speculative piece of nonsense he points to The Treasury's "Brexit" equations, which seems to be little more than Algebraic gobbledegook, scribbled on a "Post it" pad page and offered to the British people as irrefutable evidence that everyone should vote "Remain" in the forthcoming referendum. (How many people actually understand the Algebra in any case?) The Treasury "Brexit" equation. During his tenure as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Osborne's (and the Treasury's), "forecasts" have been wildly ...
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http://news.sky.com/story/1243530/official-average-earnings-outpace-inflation Official: Average Earnings Outpace Inflation Wages higher than inflation "Jobless numbers continue to fall as total pay exceeds inflation" There are probably some people who actually believe this nonsense. Unemployment is "down" thanks to zero hours contracts, temporary "placements" where the government pay the employer to take on an unemployed person for a fixed period of time and the use of "work for benefits" type labour. Earnings are "outpacing" inflation due solely to a fall in energy prices on the RPI (food prices continue to roar ahead) and the inclusion of "bonus payments" in the wages and salaries figure. How many ordinary people actually receive bonus payments? You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/sep/05/home-cooking-decline-low-income-ready-meals Home cooking in decline as low-income households turn to ready meals This Guardian article and many of the comments on the page, clearly miss the point and the message. Buying the cheapest options on the supermarket shelves, and then changing from Tesco, Asda or one of the other major outlets, to Aldi or Netto or one of the others, is for many people today purely an economic choice. As everyday household costs increase and choices have to be made, the price paid for food often one of the first savings made. Add to this the increased number of people claiming benefits and the cutting of benefit amounts the disposable income of significant numbers of families has been drastically reduced. Foodbank There should therefore be no surprise in the phenomenal increase in the numbers of people who now have to resort to foodbanks....
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/09/iain-duncan-smith-benefit-cap-rebuked_n_3245186.html?utm_hp_ref=uk Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan-Smith has been rebuked for falsely claiming the coalition's controversial benefits cap had already caused 8,000 people to move into jobs. Ever since Roman times, politicians (and others) have used propaganda to spread ideas and perceptions amongst people, to further a specific message or political position. Garth Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell provided a definition as "Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist." The most refined manifestation of this was of course, Joseph Goebbels and his use of a propaganda machine between 1926 and 1945 in Germany. "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it". ...
This government and The Office for National Statistics are at it again. The Office of National Statistics report shows 2.7 per cent rise in annual inflation during October On the 16th October last, I wrote a piece on this Blog following the announcement that, according to the Office for National Statistics, inflation had fallen to a three year low. Essentially, I was a little sceptical of the figure and the way in which the euphoria of the press and media immediately leaped onto the band wagon of announcing that the worst of the economic crisis had passed and the “green shoots” of recovery were plain to see. The reasons for my scepticism were that the announcement of the new lower figure came just days after the energy companies had started their usual round of winter price hikes, and the fact that the lower rate announced in October but using the September figure, is the one against which State Pension increases and State Benefit levels are calculated...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/active/9623053/Roll-up-your-sleeves-and-find-jobs-minister-tells-unemployed.html Jobless people who do not make enough of an effort to find work face a “rude awakening” from tomorrow under new rules which could see them stripped of their benefits for three years. Mark Hoban, the Employment Minister In spite of the latest statistical lies from government and the DOS, unemployment remains high with hundreds of thousands not being counted for one reason or another. Now Mark Hoban the Employment Minister (Mark who?) with echo's of Tebbit's bike, tells people to roll up their sleeves. Unemployment, recession, inflation and cuts in public expenditure are destroying the fabric of our society and all that this dim wit can offer is cliche's and threats. We have a government of self opinionated rich morons, who are more interested in maintaining their lavish life styles, taxpayer funded perks and pensions, and first class trave...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/oct/18/energy-companies-forced-lowest-tariff The Cartel of Energy companies. New laws will force energy companies to offer customers the lowest tariff We were sold the lie that "privatisation introduces competition which would improve services and drives down costs". All that happened was that a few privately owned companies replaced one publicly owned company, and created a cartel of private companies, fixing the price between them. This latest piece of idiocy from government will ensure just one thing. The companies will be "forced" to ensure that customers are on the lowest possible tariff and the companies will respond by ensuring that there are only two tariffs. There is no guarantee that either will be the correct low charge. In any case, it has never been properly explained as to how there can be numerous tariffs for the supply of energy. Just another example of the energy cartel spreading...
http://news.sky.com/story/998246/economy-inflation-nears-three-year-low The headline rate of inflation has eased to a near three year low of 2.2% How convenient that the rate goes down. How convenient that the rate falls by 3% points in one month. How convenient that the rate falls days after the Energy companies announce their latest theft from peoples pockets with their monopolisti c cartel price rises. How convenient that the rate falls in the very month that the rate is used to calculate next April's increases in the state pension and benefits. 3% down. Who do these lying bastards think actually believe their crooked fixed figures?
http://news.sky.com/story/961678/olympics-give-uk-jobs-market-a-boost The manipulation of statistics on behalf of governments is nothing new. The way in which inflation figure are calculated and announced always depends upon which set of measurements is most flattering to government policies at that time. RPI or CPI ? It depends on whether there is an r in the month. The art of manipulating figures was not in fact, invented by Thatcher, but it was certainly developed during the 1980's into a very persuasive method of convincing the public into accepting the lies of government in respect of many aspects of British society. If the figures used last month for example, do not show improvement, then change the method of calculation by adding something here or omitting something there until you reach the position that you had decided that you wanted in the first place, then call it something else, and hey presto, all is well. Previous, and subsequent governments t...