David Bates Financial Adviser

As a 21 year old bank clerk in Alperton, near Wembley,in 1974, I was asked to count votes in the Brent East constituency at the first general election held that year.I found the atmosphere bery intimidating. The lasting memory was of some bery nasty personal attacks on the Tory candidate, by Labour party members and officials, which gave me the opinion, that whatever the policies Labour adopt, there is always a “fight dirty” approach at General Election time. 1974 was a time when there was a hung parliament, and I regretted going against my instincts and for the only time ever, I voted for the Liberals.

So, why do I raise this now? Having seen Gordon Brown roll out the only arguments that LABOUR can muster, in a hideous attempt to cover up their 13 years of bungling failures: namely have a go about Lord Ashcroft, Inheritance Taxm and the spurious accusation that the Tories will cut public sector jobs in the NHS, police and schools. Labour also keep telling lies about what David Cameron is supposed to have said.

Even worse was that awful Party Political Broadcast by Eddie Izzard, who I had grown to admire for his charity 43 marathons. OK he was acting out a script, but it was so full of bitterness, malicious insinuations and untruths,that were quite frankly an insult to the intelligence of people in the UK. Scaremongering about a return to the Thatcher years, by the “children of Thatcher” , quote,is not the way to win the hearts and minds of the people LABOUR need to keep them in power.Why can Labour not accept the world is not the same as the bad old days of 1974?? There were only just computers in banks,there were no mobile phones, no internet. There was no Twitter or Facebook and we had three TV channels. LABOUR’s campaign is panning out to be that of the gutter, borne out if desperation and lack of ideas on how to spin even more complex tissues of lies and illusion. Gordon Brown is simply not credible, and I wonder if his lackies really believe the rubbish they wheel out on Newsnight.

I have said it before. When will our politicians be honest? I believe Nick Clegg and David Cameron are far more honest than Gordon’s Gang. Peter Mandelson talks about “the veneer behind the veneer” when speaking about the Tories, but where is “the substance” he talks about from Labour?? Labour are the party of empty broken pledges, always have been always will be.

On the day that started with my seeing Alistair Campbell, at Leeds Railway station, about to board the train I got off,the first historic live debate took place. Stage managed and controlled as it was, it did show the strengths and weaknesses of the three participants. If Nick Clegg was a Tory, the result of the election would not be in doubt. He was convincing as a person, but the Liberal Manifesto is flawed. David Cameron was not as good as everyone expected , but I think he will come back, more strongly next time. I thought he managed to avoid taking the debate down to the level Gordon Brown did at times,by not rising to the bait that Gordon offered. Gordon Brown trotted out the same old claptrap as he has over the past two years, ignoring questions about the reason why all of a sudden Labour are talking about tackling manifesto promises from 1997. He chose instead to debase the discussion by intriducing snide comments about Lord Ashcroft and clear misrepresentations od current Tory thinking, and by being obsequious towards Nick Clegg and the liberals.

I really think that Gordon is so convinced he will lose the overall majority that he WANTS people to vote liberal.

If this was a boxing match then round 1 was shaded on points by the liberals, with the Tories 2nd and Gordon trailing miserably behind.

Should politicians simply talk up the economy, when the truth is that it is still suffering and has a long way to go, before we can truthfully say it is growing?  A General Election is looming large on the horizon, and the points scoring process as started. Labour, via Lord Peter Mandelson, are accusing David Cameron, and the tories of putting down the British economy, when they should be talking it up. In the past this has happened, 1979, for example. A beleagured Prime Minister , James Callagahn claimed inflation was only at 8%, as Labour grappled with the winter of discontent, like a paratrooper trying to take the air out of his parachute on landing and put it back in its pack, or like King Canute trying to order the sea to obey him. However hard he tried the reality showed up. Britain was not prepared for how bad things REALLY were ,as interest rates soared after the election to tackle the parlous state of the economy.

We all know there are very difficult days’ ahead, more difficult than any of us can remember, so I say to all politicians ADMIT the truth, don’t pussy foot about dismissing opposition comments that are the stark ECONOMIC TRUTH. Britain is in a mess, Britain, as it has been proved , was “not best placed to come out of recession quickly”.  Gordon Brown is having to eat his words more and more, he is just not to be believed on anything, as he struggles to save HIS job, and not the country.

The Conservatives are certainly taking a brave step, by setting out the facts of the situation, that have been well documented elsewhere. There is a mountain of government over spend to deal with, and they are warning that it will hurt. Gordon Brown , desperately, tried to to tell us everything would be godd and there would be a reduction in the debt, by more spending, which is self funding???

So what does it matter if we retire a year later, those currently in their 50′s anyway. If it does mean a better longer term pension, then it can only be good.

Cutting out waste is going to help, putting up taxes may have to happen, but that depends on how well the economy improves, and how new business can contribute tax on their profits.

The BBC in their carefully edited versions of events at the Tory conference, as usual managed to distort what was being said. I am sorry Gordon Brown, the media do decide elections. People do follow what they see in their papers and on the internet, as well as on their TV screens, and the point you seem to miss is that the messages , such as in the Sun newspaper, are repeated in all the various new forms of news media, which will only serve to drive home the message, “don’t vote for Gordon (Gone Bust) Brown, the self proclaimed saviour of the Global economies of the world”.

So what if David Cameron was handed a glass of bubbly, these things happen at receptions, where you are an invited guest. No-one really cares if he drinks champagne, surely. Quite frankly, I can’t stand the stuff…much rather have a nice glass of red wine, any day.

Gordon Brown said that Britain would be the first to come out of recession. WRONG!!! Germany are well on their way to recovery, but Britain are floundering about , aimlessly drifting towards next year’s general election. The “tory ” press are demanding he go now, suggesting he is stubbornly hanging on for the sake of it. There seems to be a groundswell of opinion that says “this man was not elected, is doing a bad job and has past caring about Britain”. He will also upset his own party now with comments about the “middle class in Britain, being squeezed” . He plans to give them more help, an obvious popularity seeking move designed to try and mitigate next year’s landslide Tory victory.

You have to admire David Cameron for wanting the job, which is going to be the hottest potato in decades.

As usual the FTSE 100 index is pressing onwards and upwards, although the pound is still floundering