From what I am told by my elitist paper, the British love it!
"British austerity moves raise fears" by Danica Kirka | Associated Press, March 21, 2013
LONDON — Britain’s Treasury chief unveiled another tough budget Wednesday despite weakness in the economy that raised fears of a third recession in a little more than four years.
That means they are in a depression.
Though he offered beer drinkers and car drivers a tax break — no doubt a popular move among some — and provided incentives for home-buyers and investments in infrastructure projects, George Osborne showed the Conservative-led government remains convinced that debt-reduction moves are the best way forward for Europe’s third-largest economy....
That is not a view shared by all. After three years of austerity, the country is borrowing more than Osborne initially thought and growing far slower than anticipated.
Ed Miliband, leader of the Labor Party opposition, said the budget was ‘‘more of the same’’ from a government that has failed to revive the economy following its deepest recession since World War II and presided over the loss of the country’s triple A credit rating from Moody’s Investors Service.
‘‘Today, the chancellor joined Twitter,’’ Miliband said. ‘‘He could have got it all in 140 characters: Growth down. Borrowing up. Families hit. And millionaires laughing all the way to the bank. Hashtag: downgraded chancellor.’’
While insisting that his approach was the only way to tackle the economy’s problems head on, Osborne conceded that the forecasts from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility were more downbeat than the last set less than four months ago.
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Doesn't the Queen have $omething to $ay about this?
"Britain’s constitutional monarch has no political power but meets regularly with prime ministers and other senior politicians to talk about events of the day."
"Call for austerity amid glittering pomp; Queen Elizabeth delivers address on gilded throne" by Jill Lawless | Associated Press, May 09, 2013
LONDON — The message was one of thrift and austerity, but the messenger was opulence incarnate.
Britain’s Conservative-led government announced a modest program of legislation to tighten immigration rules, curb welfare expenses, encourage business, and invest in infrastructure — in a speech read by a monarch on a gilded throne, wearing a crown studded with 3,000 diamonds.
The contrast was part of the state opening of Parliament, an annual pageant of pomp and politics centered on the Queen’s Speech, a legislative program written by the government but read out by the monarch before a crowd of lawmakers, ermine-robed peers, and ceremonial officials in bright garb evoking centuries past.
You out-of-touch elite really gotta stop living in the past.
The event’s mix of extravagant surroundings and prosaic content was starker than usual at a time of halting economic growth. Britain’s economy has been through two periods of recession since the global financial crisis hit in 2008, and grew by only 0.3 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Which is really no growth at all.
Prime Minister David Cameron told lawmakers that the measures in the speech would make Britain more competitive and ‘‘back aspiration and those who want to get on.’’
But Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition Labour Party, called it ‘‘a no-answers Queen’s Speech from a tired and failing government.’’
The leaders were kicking off a lively six-day debate in the House of Commons on the proposals.
In a ritual she has enacted dozens of times during her 61-year reign, the queen was driven from Buckingham Palace to Parliament in a horse-drawn carriage, escorted by mounted members of the Household Cavalry in scarlet tunics and gleaming breastplates.
Dressed in an ivory gown and wearing the diamond-encrusted Imperial State Crown, she delivered the speech from a gilded throne in the House of Lords.
Who paid for all this?
The speech is written on parchment whose ink takes three days to dry, but it took the queen only seven minutes to read it.
It promised ‘‘an economy where people who work hard are properly rewarded,’’ with laws to ‘‘reduce the burden of excessive regulation on businesses’’ and enshrine consumer rights....
The government also threw a few nuggets to those wearied by rising prices and stagnating salaries. It promised better and cheaper childcare, a simpler state pension system, and a cap on long-term-care bills.
Related(?): Bollocks
On immigration, the speech said the government would make Britain a country that ‘‘accepts people who will contribute and deters those who will not.’’
Related: England's Egregious Immigration Entrance Exam
Proposed immigration measures would limit newcomers’ access to health care, fine businesses that employ people without the legal right to work in Britain, and make it easier to deport foreign citizens convicted of crimes.
According to my agenda-pu$hing pre$$ here in the states, that's racist!
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"UK service marks 60 years since queen’s coronation" by Jill Lawless | Associated Press, June 05, 2013
LONDON — Britain’s royal family gathered at Westminster Abbey Tuesday for a ceremony of pomp and prayer to mark the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Elizabeth, 87, was crowned in the abbey on June 2, 1953, in a ceremony laden with 1,000 years of tradition. British monarchs have been crowned in the ancient London church since William the Conqueror in 1066.
The queen’s children and grandchildren were among 2,000 people attending Tuesday’s anniversary service, which featured hymns, prayers, a reading from Prime Minister David Cameron, and a poem written for the occasion by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual head of the Anglican church, told the congregation that the service celebrated the queen’s ‘‘path of demanding devotion and utter self-sacrifice, a path she did not choose, yet to which she was called by God.’’
Self what?
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The service was carefully designed to evoke memories of 60 years ago....
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Related:
"A COLORFUL DISPLAY OF TRADITION -- Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her birthday Saturday with traditional pomp and circumstance, followed by a visit to her husband in the hospital. More than 1,000 soldiers, horses, and musicians took part in the parade in London known as "Trooping the Color," a ceremony marking the monarch's official birthday. Her actual birthday is April 21 (Boston Globe June 16 2013)."
Oh, never mind. From what I read the economy is great, and I'd rather not do any digging after the last experience.
While on the subject of old fossils....
Prince Philip spends 92nd birthday in hospital
I'd wish for the guy's passing but he wants to reincarnated as a virus so he can kill billions; therefore I say hook 'em up and keep 'em alive.
"Maria Carrillo, vice president of medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer’s Association, an advocacy group, said she was not convinced that the trends were real or that they held for the United States. She said that the British paper had a methodological flaw and that the Danish work might reflect the fact that people there were generally healthier than those in the United States."
Oh, I thought that was an article about royal incest (or worse?) because that sure is a strange looking family is some places.
Related: Britain's Shadow Royalty
The real shadow royalty: The Rothschild family
