The inflation rate has soared to 3.5 per cent in January as direct result of the Government’s VAT rise.
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Duration : 0:1:20
VAT sends inflation rate soaring to 3.5 per cent
Labour get into …
Labour get into power and they bankrupt the country, sell off all our gold, devalue the pound, borrow and print money up to the eyeballs and raise taxes to record levels.
Socialists will never change.
Have you heard …
Have you heard about the fake gold bars coming from fort Knox? Dollar bills to.
Google it:
It declined to …
It declined to comment if the Bank was consulted on whether gold should be sold, or whether alternative forms of sale were advised to maximise revenues.
George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, said: First it was discovered that Gordon Brown ignored advice on pensions; now it is revealed that he ignored advice on gold sales and the taxpayer has lost millions. The chancellor is in danger of getting a reputation as someone who has very poor economic judgment.
The gold sell-off …
The gold sell-off is seen in the City as Labours equivalent of Black Wednesday, when John Majors government lost £3.3 billion in a day in its failed attempt to prop up the pound.
The Treasury insisted last night that the Bank of England recommended auction as the best method to achieve the programmes objectives of transparency, fairness and value for money.
Its statement casts …
Its statement casts doubt over previous assurances given by Treasury ministers and Tony Blair to parliament that the decision to sell the gold reserves was made on the technical advice of the Bank of England.
A senior investment bank director, present at a meeting held by the Bank of England in May 1999 to discuss the sell-off, said: We were told this was a Brown thing and that the Bank had no say over what was going on. The officials were unhappy.
Warnings over the …
Warnings over the risks of losing money from the gold sell-off are understood to be set out in internal correspondence sent by Bank of England officials to the Treasury in 1999.
Last night the Bank of England sought to distance itself from the decision to sell off the gold. In an unusual intervention, it said: In regard to the gold sales, the Bank acted solely as agent and the decisions were taken by HM Treasury.
o At a secret …
o At a secret meeting with senior gold traders, Bank of England officials were warned that the proposed auctions would achieve the worst price for taxpayers. The officials are understood to have agreed with the analysis but said they were powerless to influence the Treasury.
o Several Asian countries including China are named by an insider as having bought the gold on the cheap from the Treasury. The Chinese may have made more than £1 billion from Browns botched sell-off.
From interviews …
From interviews with key Treasury, Bank of England and gold market insiders involved in the decision, The Sunday Times has established:
o The Bank of England, which has managed Britains gold reserves for more than 300 years, was never asked for its advice on whether Britain should sell the gold. A senior Bank of England executive said the timing of the sale was not debated.
They have revealed …
They have revealed that Bank of England officials had serious misgivings over the chancellors determination to sell 400 tons of bullion in a series of auctions between 1999 and 2002, when the price was at a 20-year low. Since then the price has almost trebled, meaning the decision cost the taxpayer an estimated £2 billion.
This Tuesday the chancellor will face a Commons grilling over the affair as the Tories seek to undermine his reputation for economic competence.
From the Times on …
From the Times on line…
GORDON BROWN is to face questions in parliament after revelations that he disregarded advice from the Bank of England before he sold off more than half the countrys gold reserves at the bottom of the market.
Insiders involved in the decision have broken ranks after an 18-month battle in which the Treasury has blocked attempts by The Sunday Times to make public the official advice received by Brown before he sold the gold.
It’s sold and went …
It’s sold and went to pay interest on what he had borrowed.
Exactly so we cannot print money, to do so would fuel inflation, that is what they are now considering doing in the US, they do not have the gold to back it up but they are most likely going to print anyway. That is the nail in the coffin.
who did gordon …
who did gordon brown sell the gold and silver to? and you can’t print endless amounts of money if the currency is backed by gold or silver because there is a limited amount. you could only print the money if there was gold for it to represent and this means no inflation because there is a limit to how much you can print
The increase is on …
The increase is on essentials that consumers need to simply survive, heat their houses, eat and go to work. That is not a recovery in any sense of the word, so in no way should interest rates be put up but prices on VAT and taxes on fuel should be taken off. That would reset a more realistic inflation figure of 2%, and at some point we might start to recover. Recovery will only much take longer if they use the VAT, food and fuel figures to explain inflation.
Because if we print …
Because if we print money it will fuel inflation even faster. We cannot back our paper money with Gold or silver cos Gordon Brown sold it all.
What they need to do is not look at the inflation at present as a recovery as it is not, it is a red herring as the report says it is fueled by price rises not because the economic climate is healthy or recovering but because the world and home economy is still failing, it has nothing to do with consumer spending in the high street.
cont…
why dont we end the …
why dont we end the bank of england and let government print the money instead paying interest for our currency? and why not back money by gold and silver instead of using worthless paper backed by nothing.