Sorry about the long delay since the last blog!!

I am sorry about the long delay since the last blog, which was perhaps an unfair diatribe (are'nt diatribes always unfair) against British premier Gordon Brown. Since the last blog Brown has survived the Chilcot waffle and a further decline in sterling. It appears Brown was less than transparent about his role as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the funding of defence expenditure. What was obvious was Brown was not going to take the blame for anything.
However, it looks like there could be a double dip recession in the United Kingdom with the rise in VAT to 17.5 pct and the end of the car scrappage scheme. The economy is still in a very fragile state and Brown is perhaps gambling on a return to growth to make a dent into the public sector deficit. Yet the markets fear that if Brown remains as prime minister, he would put Ed Balls as
chancellor.
The message of "blood, sweat and tears" from Tory shadow chancellor George Osborne has not really set Middle England alight. The Conservatives are obviously not going to attract too many seats in the Labour client regions of Scotland and Wales. They have got to win a battle against Lib Dems and Labour in English seats. The Lord Ashcroft affair makes David Cameron look weak.
Whatever party wins the forthcoming UK general election it will have to deal with a
National Health Service (NHS) sliding towards bankruptcy. The primary care trusts or PCTs are already running out of money and still the NHS is more geared towards its employees than its patients.
In London, there are proposals to cut A&E and maternity
services. In the north of the capital all roads seem to lead to the Royal Free at Hampstead with the plans for consolidation/centralisation of services.
There will have to be some real productivity improvements/changes in the NHS. A hard nosed attitude over missed appointments, staff absenteeism and treating tourists for free would make a difference at the margin. Labour has trumpeted its planned increase in NHS expenditure for the next couple of years but after accounting for the rise in national insurance (NI) payments, PFI charges etc this will leave little extra for the average patient.

Are we experiencing the green shoots of recovery?

In the United Kingdom are we experiencing the green shoots of recovery? www.searchaccountant.co.uk The housing market seems to be stabilising but there is the danger that the Bank of England will raise interest rates too early. Despite the 0.5 pct base rate mortgage lenders are still demanding high deposits and quite a few commentators consider that the British housing market is still too expensive. The relatively painless adjustment would be a few years of sideway movement combined with a rise in general prices. However, the more painful adjustment would involve increasing repossessions and general
deflation.
You don't get the sense that UK Chancellor Alistair Darling is on the top of his brief. He is not pushing through help for the British housing sector and he seems to be stalling on help for the car industry in Britain.
However, he showed dogged determination in seeing off Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who wanted the job to go to close friend and ally Ed Balls. Darling is going to have to navigate a spending statement in the winter. This will be quite tricky
and he might regret not being pushed out. Normally, when the relationship between a chancellor and a prime minister breaks down, the PM remembers he is the First Lord of the Treasury. Apparently, Darling was saved when the cabinet staged a revolt against the promotion of Balls, so we are living in extraordinary political times.

It looks like the tax master does not like paying tax.

It seems that UK Chancellor Alistair Darling likes to raise tax but does not particularly like paying tax himself with his constant "flipping". I bet HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) would be itching to investigate his affairs.
The chatter is that Ed Balls is being lined up to become the new chancellor. So Mr Darling is fighting on all fronts.
www.searchacountant.co.uk
Mr Balls did actually pay capital gains tax, which helps his cause, although he is not liked by the Blairites. He is probably finding the Children's brief a vale of tears and would like to be out of it. Even though he is not chancellor, Balls is forever making speeches about the economy.

Liam Halligan writes perceptive article about King re-appointment.

In yesterday's Sunday Telegraph, former Channel Four economist Liam Halligan has written a perceptive article about the belated re-appointment of Mervyn King as governor of the Bank of England. Halligan describes King as one of the few world-class economists in the United Kingdom and attacks the dithering of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The colummist considers Brown Nero-like and cites unnamed sources in Whitehall, who believe the Prime Minister finds decision-making extremely
difficult while others claim that Brown just likes playing cruel
games.

The Prime Minister's long-term adviser, Schools Minister Ed Balls, has said recently
that interest rates were low and were coming down. This reflects a government battle for lower and sooner rates.

I have always had the sensation that UK interest rates have always been too slow to come down and too quick to go up. Compared with the hare of the U.S Federal Reserve, the Bank of England is a bit of a tortoise.