Well, "our own currency which served all the countries well for many hundreds of years" isn't that a bit of mysticism promoted by elderly conservatives? ("Back in the day everything was better!")

I mean, let's have a look through the history of some European currencies:
Let's start with the history of my own country (Germany): So, from 1948 to 1998 we had the D- Mark. Before that, since 1924 there was the Reichsmark. Before that, issued 1919, we had the Papiermark and the Rentenmark. This was preceded by the Mark (since 1871). And before that we had, depending where in Germany you lived either Taler or Gulden or Kreuzer or whatever. "served all the centuries well"??? Not so much.

But you can also look at France. It came into being 1795 not only because of the French Revolution but also since the Livre, its predecessor had become dysfunctional. In 1865 it became part of the Latin Monetary Union (see Italy). Though the name of the currency remained, factually you had a new Franc when the Union broke (1914 factually, 1924 formally). The monetary and historical developments then led to the introduction of the Nouveau Franc (official term) in 1958. Centuries???

The Lira existed since 1861, but (see above) from 1865 until 1914 as part of the LMU. And from then (I do not know how often reformed) until the introduction of the Euro all this glorious "fix-it-all" remedy of just sovereign depreciation had led to the fact that the original centimes had vanished altogether, the smallest coin was 50 Lira and the largest banknote 500.000 Lira. A success??? Or wouldn't you agree that they had already reached a point where they would have had to have a major currency reform anyways?

Spellcheck

Spot on, I agree with you !.

Good ol' Tony Benn...the most honest, conscientious and compassionate MP this country ever had! If we had a few more like him we would stand a chance against these toffee nosed hoohaa henry thieves!

I would say anyone on over150 K would welcome this austerity budget, it really depends who suffers the austerity?

No, especially as what is needed was a 'Stimulate growth' Budget !

Well don't emigrate to North korea or Syria then.

Thats a bit harsh on Millipede

I agree with a lot of what you say and while Bliar as I'm sure you know how he is refferred to over here, may have passed a few examinations and obtained some qualifications of note...that does not make him honest or indeed honourable. Had this man been a south american dictator he would have been shot for the lies he told and the many deaths he has let happen. His inability to stand up to Brown and Bush has been a curse on the British public. We reap what we sow and now we are reaping the weeds left to us by a socialist government that didn't have clue as to how to run the UK.

to put a twist on another well known priminister...''you have never had it so bad.''

It is a strange thing that people have lost a sense of the difference between Labour and Conservative.
Nowadays we tend to vote for the group that convinces us they have a "fix" for the problems they tell us we have. Understandable enough.
But the traditions still remain oh so very very important.

In the Left corner we have The Labour Party who believe in mutuality. Labour believes that the whole is greater than the sum of its part ie Twice the people means three times the fun .Working with others as group,a team rather than just a few individuals doing on their own thing. Doing away on your own is way way less productive.. Labour followers also say that money is the tool of humankind." PEOPLE BEFORE MONEY" is the thing with Labour.

In the Right corner The Conservatives do not believe in mutuality. They believe that the natural formation of society is a pyramid with the Exclusive few at the top and the rest of us below. They justify their lust for power and greed by saying that everybody would take a place at the top if only they could.
They believe that the top man must get the way biggest slice of the cake and let others starve . A.similar line to "The Devine Right of Kings".
The Conservatives believe that people (common ones) are there to serve money and its needs.
"MONEY BEFORE PEOPLE" is the thing with the Conservatives.

Piffle is defined as nonsense - wrong word, everything can now be based on 13+ years of bitter experience, an undeniable mess if there ever was.