Wednesday 3rd December 2014

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 1:07 pm

Clanger Research Enterprises presents the great Autumn Statement hashtag summary:

For the hour between 12.00 and 13.00 UK time.

CM Go 1200
Autumn Statement 1220
CM Stay 8
VLGMiliband 1

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 1:17 pm

David Cameron’s attempt to make a risque joke in the House of Commons has backfired after he accused Labour of indulging in "political maso-sadism".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... chism.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The man is a child - it's embarrassing.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 1:33 pm

Laughing out loud at masosadism

Sodding Osborne

He says he inherited an economy in crisis now it's the fastest growing of any major economy.

By that metric where was the UK when he inherited it? SECOND in the G7 after only the US. So by his own measure not really in crisis

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 1:40 pm

Full Autumn Statement available here

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... ssible.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 1:44 pm

Ed Balls did rather well I thought.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 1:46 pm

Ed Balls got a hold of the numbers from the Office of Budget Responsibility delivered to him just after Osborne's speech. The numbers didn't match. The amount of borrowing is billions & billions more than the Chancellor admitted to. Pretty damning information.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 1:50 pm

http://cdn.budgetresponsibility.indepen ... web513.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Office for Budget Responsibility:
Economic and fiscal outlook
Presented to Parliament by
the Economic Secretary to the Treasury by
Command of Her Majesty
3 December 2014

"This is the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest Economic and fiscal outlook published on 3 December 2014. It sets out forecasts for the economy and the public finances, and an assessment of whether the Government is likely to achieve its fiscal mandate, supplementary target and welfare cap."

http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/econ ... mber-2014/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 1:54 pm

citizenJA wrote:Ed Balls got a hold of the numbers from the Office of Budget Responsibility delivered to him just after Osborne's speech. The numbers didn't match. The amount of borrowing is billions & billions more than the Chancellor admitted to. Pretty damning information.

Haven't been able to catch any of Osborne and more importantly Balls, can anyone give a breakdown please?

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:03 pm

StephenDolan wrote:
citizenJA wrote:Ed Balls got a hold of the numbers from the Office of Budget Responsibility delivered to him just after Osborne's speech. The numbers didn't match. The amount of borrowing is billions & billions more than the Chancellor admitted to. Pretty damning information.
Haven't been able to catch any of Osborne and more importantly Balls, can anyone give a breakdown please?

I don't have a TV license Stephen, I stumbled across a working player on my improperly functioning Linux desktop & was discovered that snippet of Ed Balls serving it to Osborne - George lowered his head at one point but quickly returned to his usual looks of head-shaking disdain over what couldn't be denied. Osborne has borrowed some triple digit billions & the house collectively keened in a wail of despair.

I'll do what I can to bring more accurate information soon.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:05 pm

Stamp duty tax cut. Anyone would think the recovery in the property market was already running out steam and needed yet more propping up to keep house prices artificially high and Tory voters happy. I wonder which poor and vulnerable people they're going to shaft to fund their latest tax cut?

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:05 pm

Reported in the other place that WATO on Radio 4 never even interviewed a Labour spokesperson - "none available", apparently.

Does anybody really believe that, on today of all days?

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:12 pm

yahyah wrote:Anyone watching ?
Several people [including Chris Bryant] say Osborne looked pale & unwell.

If he's doing what we suspect, and is as far gone as the other day suggested, then he's going to look increasingly ill.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:13 pm

David Cameron accuses Ed Balls of masosadism – but what is it?
After the PM said the shadow chancellor was an example of political masosadism, Twitter was quick to provide definitions

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... masosadism" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ed Balls

G caption reads below:
But pray tell, what is masosadism, Mr Cameron?

edited to add - Ed Miliband looks the way he does because as an intelligent, polite & honourable person himself, he remains flabbergasted every time the Prime Minister of the UK says what Dave lets out of his mouth.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:14 pm

Andrew Neil just made a good point. Growth has actually been higher this year than forecast, yet Osborne has still missed his deficit reduction target by a big margin.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:16 pm

According to Twitter Ed Balls made mincemeat of Osborne despite the best efforts of the opposition to scream him down.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:17 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Reported in the other place that WATO on Radio 4 never even interviewed a Labour spokesperson - "none available", apparently.

Does anybody really believe that, on today of all days?

Ed Balls owned Osborne in the House of Commons today! Billions, George! You've borrowed billions! Everyone knows it, the people know it, even your Tory fellows behind you are embarrassed. It's a bad day for government. A bad five years for the people.

And Radio 4 can't find a Labour party spokesperson to interview.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:18 pm

ohsocynical wrote:According to Twitter Ed Balls made mincemeat of Osborne despite the best efforts of the opposition to scream him down.

It was beautiful.

edited to add - Ed Balls picked up the report hot off the press on the table & read from it - he put his notes down & addressed Mr. Speaker - "I'm going to set my notes down here & read from page 15 Table 1A"... (Ed Balls got it right, I'm writing from memory)

Ed Balls proceeded to let us all know the truth about Osborne's abject failure as a Chancellor.

Ed Balls also criticised Osborne's hair.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:19 pm

Ed Balls - this is for you, sir...

DonutHingeParty · Post by **DonutHingeParty** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:31 pm

Poor Myleene Klass can't catch a break, can she?

Her tiny £2m garage will cost her £153,750 in stamp duty, whereas previously it would have cost her £131,250 - which means that she'll need to find another £22,000.

#londontax

(I'm only kidding; I couldn't give a stuff)

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:34 pm

"Chancellor George Osborne's promise to balance the nation's books in this parliament is "in tatters", shadow chancellor Ed Balls has said.

He said Mr Osborne is forecast to borrow £219bn more than planned, as he responded to the Autumn Statement.

"Every target missed, every test failed, every promise broken," he told MPs, and claimed that people were £1,600 a year worse off as a result."

George Osborne said he had steered the economy from crisis to stability. He said Mr Balls had "no answers" to the economic challenges the country faces. "He has no credibility, no workable policies, because he has got not plan."

A future Labour government would take Britain back to square one, he told the Commons. In his Autumn Statement, Mr Osborne said that although borrowing was set to be £91.3bn this year - above the forecast £87bn - the longer term outlook was rosy, with the UK "out of the red and into the black" by 2019/20. Government borrowing is forecast to be £91.3bn this year, then £75.9bn, MPs were told. In March the forecast for this year was for borrowing of almost £87bn.

"The deficit is falling this year and every year," Mr Osborne said.

Ed Balls responded,'Every target missed'

...responding to the chancellor's fiscal statement in the Commons, Mr Balls claimed the chancellor had not been straight about the figures. Citing the latest economic statistics from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, he told MPs that borrowing has been revised up by £4.9bn this year, and by £7.6bn in 2015.

"Over two years he's revised up borrowing by £12.5bn... this means the chancellor will have borrowed in this parliament £219bn more than he planned in 2010.

"It's all here in black and white," he said.

He said stagnating wages had squeezed living standards and led to a fall in tax receipts, with people on average £1,600 worse off. "We all know he's changed the way he's styled his hair but he can't brush away the facts," he said. Mr Balls added: "He promised to make people better off. Working people are worse off. He promised we were all in this together. When he cut taxes for millionaires... "

Every target missed, every test failed, every promise broken."

The shadow chancellor said Labour would deliver an economic recovery "for the many, not just a few", and balance the nation's finances in a fairer way.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30314331" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:42 pm

"Every target missed, every test failed, every promise broken."

This simple message needs repeating and repeating and repeating, until Joe Public gets it.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:43 pm

http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comme ... 00805.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The tories scent a May victory? On what basis?

DonutHingeParty · Post by **DonutHingeParty** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:44 pm

Luckily Osborne's done the hardwork for me. If you buy a house (Not live in as a poor little old lady hopeless to stop the gentrification of her surrounding area, but actively choose to buy) a house worth £900,000, you will pay less tax to the exchequer.

And what was one of his other minor priorities? Removing tax from attending orchestras.

Hardly a white van man Statement, was it?

Although there was the wholesale crapping on the environment and flying in the face of the British Tourist body by making it easier to fly to Benidorm with your sprogs and fill up the skies with carbon and noise.

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:47 pm

ohsocynical wrote:
yahyah wrote:Anyone watching ?
Several people [including Chris Bryant] say Osborne looked pale & unwell.
If he's doing what we suspect, and is as far gone as the other day suggested, then he's going to look increasingly ill.

Do you think he might have a sore bottom?

DonutHingeParty · Post by **DonutHingeParty** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:48 pm

Kudos to the BBC, of all places:

Note though. The new stamp duty will still be paid by the buyer of a property, not the seller who may of course be enjoying a huge windfall profit driven by past house price inflation.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 2:57 pm

Chris Bryant ‏@ChrisBryantMP 34m34 minutes ago
A damning irony: the Conservative club in the Rhondda is closed and has re-opened as a foodbank.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 3:14 pm

DonutHingeParty wrote:Kudos to the BBC, of all places:

Note though. The new stamp duty will still be paid by the buyer of a property, not the seller who may of course be enjoying a huge windfall profit driven by past house price inflation.

Oh, wow. Good catch.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 3:18 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote:http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comme ... 00805.html
The tories scent a May victory? On what basis?

They hope their promises on the economy and the NHS will overshadow concerns on Europe and immigration

The article's writer must frequent the same hair stylist as Osborne. They're both in need of an intervention.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 3:21 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30314331" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ed Balls MP: "Every target missed, every test failed, every promise broken"
The Video

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 3:43 pm

From the OBR...

Compared to March, onshore corporation tax receipts are expected to be higher throughout the forecast. The two main downward effects on receipts are from lower projections of industrial and commercial profits in most years, and a higher projected level of losses in the financial sector being brought forward and used against taxable profits.

Oops.

The reason that it seems to go up in total is put down to "modelling changes" and the ability of the Chancellor to get more out of multi-nationals moving profits abroad. So that's alright then...

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 3:44 pm

http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1042478 ... -statement" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ed Balls response to the Autumn Statement

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 3:46 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:From the OBR...

Compared to March, onshore corporation tax receipts are expected to be higher throughout the forecast. The two main downward effects on receipts are from lower projections of industrial and commercial profits in most years, and a higher projected level of losses in the financial sector being brought forward and used against taxable profits.
Oops.

The reason that it seems to go up in total is put down to "modelling changes" and the ability of the Chancellor to get more out of multi-nationals moving profits abroad. So that's alright then...

Higher financial sector losses?? Renationalise it.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 3:50 pm

It's not higher losses in themselves, it's their being brought forward to years with profits to reduce the tax payable this year.

I'm presuming they're expecting CT to go down next year. Which was always the plan, I thought, so of course they're going to use the losses against this year.

I don't understand that explanation at all.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 3:51 pm

Owner Occupiers' Housing Costs using the Net Acquisitions approach, Article
Released: 03 December 2014

Owner occupiers’ housing costs are the costs associated with owning, maintaining, and living in
one’s own home. There are many methods for measuring these costs, two such methods are net
acquisitions and rental equivalence.

In addressing its requirements, the UK has decided that rental equivalence is its preferred measure
of OOH costs for incorporation in UK consumer price inflation. This approach uses the rent paid for
an equivalent house in the private sector as a proxy for the costs faced by owner occupiers’. In
other words it answers the question “how much would I have to pay in rent to live in a home like
mine?” for an owner occupier.

New out today from the ONS.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/cpi/owner ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 3:56 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:So the deficit is actually down a bit from last year albeit above forecast, but there was a lot of talk in the last couple of months about borrowing actually going up relative to last year. Has Osborne worked some fiddle like he did with the G4 licences or was it simply a case of making things look worse than they were so the figures appeared better by comparison? Or is it measured over a different period?

It is up in the year to date- Andrew Neil hammered Sajid Javid on this. I can only assume the OBR are predicting it to fall overall this year.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 3:59 pm

citizenJA wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:According to Twitter Ed Balls made mincemeat of Osborne despite the best efforts of the opposition to scream him down.
It was beautiful.

edited to add - Ed Balls picked up the report hot off the press on the table & read from it - he put his notes down & addressed Mr. Speaker - "I'm going to set my notes down here & read from page 15 Table 1A"... (Ed Balls got it right, I'm writing from memory)

Ed Balls proceeded to let us all know the truth about Osborne's abject failure as a Chancellor.

Ed Balls also criticised Osborne's hair.

So Osborne tried to use some false figures before the OBR got their report out, and Balls managed to get the OBR figures just in time? Have I understood?

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:06 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote:http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comme ... 00805.html
The tories scent a May victory? On what basis?

The Tories always get the benefit of stuff like that- I remember in 2013, they were still miles behind but there were better GDP figures. Nick Robinson was doing "they aren't as downhearted as they thought they'd be". I don't recall anything like that in 2010 with Labour and good GDP figures.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:13 pm

citizenJA wrote:
DonutHingeParty wrote:Kudos to the BBC, of all places:

Note though. The new stamp duty will still be paid by the buyer of a property, not the seller who may of course be enjoying a huge windfall profit driven by past house price inflation.
Oh, wow. Good catch.

And buyers especially BTL, will be trying to screw down the price on properties that are valued at just above the minimum amount.

I can foresee Mr Ohso and myself having a few tussells when we have to sell. I hate estate agents almost as much as I do Tories and LibDems.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:14 pm

Willow904 wrote:Stamp duty tax cut. Anyone would think the recovery in the property market was already running out steam and needed yet more propping up to keep house prices artificially high and Tory voters happy. I wonder which poor and vulnerable people they're going to shaft to fund their latest tax cut?

I wonder if there's a political tactic here too- get loads more people think their house is worth close to £2m, and pick up a few votes in London?

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:15 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
citizenJA wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:According to Twitter Ed Balls made mincemeat of Osborne despite the best efforts of the opposition to scream him down.
It was beautiful.

edited to add - Ed Balls picked up the report hot off the press on the table & read from it - he put his notes down & addressed Mr. Speaker - "I'm going to set my notes down here & read from page 15 Table 1A"... (Ed Balls got it right, I'm writing from memory)

Ed Balls proceeded to let us all know the truth about Osborne's abject failure as a Chancellor.

Ed Balls also criticised Osborne's hair.
So Osborne tried to use some false figures before the OBR got their report out, and Balls managed to get the OBR figures just in time? Have I understood?

I think that's how it happened. If so, well fielded Mr Balls. And once again, I suspect the clever hand of Ed M pulling the strings.
He really does make the Coalition look as if they're still in the nursery.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:19 pm

ONS - Economic Review, December 2014
Part of Economic Review, December 2014 Release
03 December 2014

...between 2008 and 2014, real weekly earnings for the average employee fell by 10.3%.

Between 2008 and 2014, real earnings fell most (by around 15%) for younger age groups, aged 29 or below.
In contrast, real earnings for those aged over 60 fell by 7.2%.

This fall was larger for low-skilled occupations (down 13.5% over the same period) than for high-skilled occupations (11.1%).

The trend towards part-time jobs making up a larger portion of total jobs has been more prevalent in low- and medium-skilled jobs than high-skilled, which may be one factor behind the relatively greater fall in real wages for the low- and medium-skilled.

Low-skilled occupations comprise elementary occupations, sales & customer services operators and process, plant & machine operatives.
Medium-skilled occupations include caring, leisure & other service occupations, skilled trades and administrative and secretarial occupations.
High-skilled occupations comprise managers, directors & senior officials, professional occupations and associate professional & technical occupations.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/elmr/econ ... -workforce" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:20 pm

That should surely be a resigning matter?

It's one thing to make announcements that are less impressive when you read the small print. But to try and get it all out before some figures are published by a neutral body? Christ.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:25 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
citizenJA wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:According to Twitter Ed Balls made mincemeat of Osborne despite the best efforts of the opposition to scream him down.
It was beautiful.

edited to add - Ed Balls picked up the report hot off the press on the table & read from it - he put his notes down & addressed Mr. Speaker - "I'm going to set my notes down here & read from page 15 Table 1A"... (Ed Balls got it right, I'm writing from memory)

Ed Balls proceeded to let us all know the truth about Osborne's abject failure as a Chancellor.

Ed Balls also criticised Osborne's hair.
So Osborne tried to use some false figures before the OBR got their report out, and Balls managed to get the OBR figures just in time? Have I understood?

That's how I saw this thing go down & all the documentation & dates are in accord with the dramatic way it sounds. From the press.labour website linked below:

"Ed Balls response to the Autumn Statement

The House has not yet seen the detailed documents from the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility tables. I am sure they will arrive shortly.

But I have listened carefully to the Chancellor’s statement...."

http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1042478 ... -statement" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:30 pm

Away from Balls/Osborne, I see the SNP councillors who burnt copies of the Smith Commission have been suspended from the party and Sturgeon has criticised their actions.

Especially notable since many CyberNats had been bellowing their support for them - have they switched to the new "line" now, or could this be the start of a genuine split?

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:32 pm

Just catching up.

So we are so broke, 'Labour left no cash', that vulnerable & unemployed people are being penalised by the Coalition...but there's enough money to cut stamp duty for all but the most expensive houses ?

Why ? Can understand cutting stamp duty for lower paid first time buyers, saving for a deposit & stamp duty is not easy.
But you budget the stamp duty cost when you sell your property, the cost of paying it comes out of the sale of your last property. In a sense it's notional money, you don't really lose it because you never had it until you realised your assets when moving.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:40 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:It's not higher losses in themselves, it's their being brought forward to years with profits to reduce the tax payable this year.

I'm presuming they're expecting CT to go down next year. Which was always the plan, I thought, so of course they're going to use the losses against this year.

I don't understand that explanation at all.

I was being facetious. Corporation tax, stamp duty, property & shares taxes are currently making up a feeble 20% of government receipts. It's VAT & income related taxes making up the bulk of government receipts & income related tax is dropping. The projected financial sector revenue losses as a proportion of incoming government tax receipts confuses me.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:42 pm

Katie Allen ✔ @KatieAllenGdn

Obr's Chote: stamp duty change shd boost transactions as net giveaway. Prices should rise for houses where duty cut

House prices should rise..... because that's been Osborne's one and only obsession from the start. Everything he's done has been in aid of keeping the property bubble going at all costs. Once again I find myself wondering if it can be possible to keep house prices artificially high indefinitely. The overall cost of housing benefit has gone up substantially under this government, it surely can't be sustainable to continue to subsidy landlords at this pace of growth and if you cut housing benefit, I see no way the market can bear current prices. Do the Tories really believe they can keep this nonsense up another full 5 years? Because right now, without significant change in approach, the property market looks on course for one hell of a crash when the bubble finally bursts.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:42 pm

yahyah wrote:Just catching up.

So we are so broke, 'Labour left no cash', that vulnerable & unemployed people are being penalised by the Coalition...but there's enough money to cut stamp duty for all but the most expensive houses ?

Why ? Can understand cutting stamp duty for lower paid first time buyers, saving for a deposit & stamp duty is not easy.
But you budget the stamp duty cost when you sell your property, the cost of paying it comes out of the sale of your last property. In a sense it's notional money, you don't really lose it because you never had it until you realised your assets when moving.

The buyers have to pay the stamp duty, Yahyah - that's my understanding. Apologies - yes - I've only repeated what you've written better, my friend.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:48 pm

Vince Cable delivers broadside against autumn statement figures
Exclusive: Business secretary questions whether spending cuts will be possible and calls on chancellor to be more honest with voters

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... nt-figures" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd forgotten about him, sincerely. How sad is that?

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 4:48 pm

Peter Jukes ‏@peterjukes 33 minutes ago
Ah. Apparently George Osborne misled us: he's not paying off all WW1 debt, merely re-financing it http://onforb.es/1rT00mW" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; #AutumnStatement

BBC say 'Government to pay off WW1 debt
Chancellor George Osborne is to pay off the UK government's remaining debt from World War One, the Treasury has announced.

The government will repay the outstanding £1.9bn of debt from a 3.5% War Loan on 9 March 2015.'