Toff moment from Tory enterprise adviser

[Undesired Walrus]

The prime minister's enterprise adviser has apologised after saying most Britons had "never had it so good" despite the "so-called recession".

Lord Young of Graffham told the Daily Telegraph the Bank of England's decision to cut the base rates to 0.5% meant many homeowners were better off.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11793486

Have we stepped in a machine back to the 30's?

 

[TragicMonkey]

That sounds like the sort of criticism one would expect from someone who probably buys his own furniture!

eta: Oh, and the other good one: Would you really want your wife and servants reading that sort of thing?

 

[Dave Rogers]

Have we stepped in a machine back to the 30's?

Well, it was the Telegraph he was talking to.

Dave

 

[commandlinegamer]

Ahem, Macmillan made his comment in 1957, as Britain was starting to recover from the effects of WWII and years of austerity.

Young had the decency to resign, rare in a politician these days. But to be honest, although it was pretty tactless, I don't think it was a hanging offence.

 

[Soapy Sam]

There's even a grain of truth in it. While it may be damn near impossible to get a mortgage, those who have one (and a job) will be paying less due to the low interest rate.
On the other hand, pensioners dependent on investment income are stuffed. (Especially if they had BP stock).

 

[Cuddles]

There's even a grain of truth in it. While it may be damn near impossible to get a mortgage, those who have one (and a job) will be paying less due to the low interest rate.

Indeed. As someone who got both a job and a mortgage shortly before the recession, this is exactly the situation I am in. My mortgage payments are almost half what they were when I first took it out, so there's really no question that I'm much better off than I would have been without the recession.

The problem is that this situation hardly describes "most" people in the UK, and an awful lot more people have suffered due to loss of jobs, loss of investments, and so on. People in my position are lucky to be better off, but the recession is certainly not a good thing for the country as a whole.

 

[Ivor the Engineer]

They just can't help themselves...

Howard Flight, a former Tory MP, made the comments just days after being given a peerage by David Cameron. Downing Street moved swiftly to distance itself from the remarks.

Mr Flight, who has yet to be ennobled, was asked in an interview about changes to the child benefit system which will see top rate taxpayers no longer receiving the state-hand-out.

The father of three told the Evening Standard: “We're going to have a system where the middle classes are discouraged from breeding because it's jolly expensive.

"But for those on benefits, there is every incentive. Well, that's not very sensible."