Is it any wonder the 50% rate didn’t bring in very much when A) Those that could afford to could avoid paying it and B) Really should have been set at £100,000 and above rather than the £150,000 and above (which shows that New Labour’s heart was never really in this measure).

Unemployment is down.
Employment is up.
The deficiet id coming down (tho not quickly enough).
Interest rates on Gilts at managable levels.
Education is being refromed (in england) to promote inovation (which is upsetting the unions double plus good).
Welfare is being reformed to promote work.
The Civil Service is being reformed and costs reduced.
Defence spending is under control.
Health spending is being maintained (mostly).
Really stupid HoL reforms have been dumped.
The people got a say (oh what a say) on AV.
More powers have been transfered to Holyrood.
No third runway at heathrow (thought you would like that James)
Investment in highspeed rail (which is, granted, questionable).
A helluva Olympics going on as we type.
Supported the removal of a nutcase dictator from Libya.

Is everything perfect, no. Of course not there are lib dems in government. But considering the state of the public finances before the election. And the State of the European and US economies, and the difficulties we face in getting properly into the African, Asian and Latin American Markets due to EU membership well things aint all that bad.

Taking people out of paying income tax is a good thing. I dont know anyone who i have the chance to ask in person if they would rather the thresholds had stayed where they are that would.

You dont like the dropping of the top rate of tax, well since it didnt bring in much. COmplicated the tax code even more, and would, most likely have seen diminishing returns, the only reason to keep it is if you just dont like that people earn enough to be paying at that rate. Which is, to be frank, a bit on the mean side.

Dont get me wrong there are things that are being done which i wouldnt do (international aid) and there are things that are not being done which i would do (cutting health spending).

The big Failing of this government is that they arent pushing supply side reforms.

Oh and one last thing, your point about the ratings would have been better if you could have found a report that wasnt almost s months old and shown to be wrong.

Quite what evidence there is that we are about to run out of fossil fuels i dont know, hell there were people predicting that we were about to run out of coal in the 1860′s! You will not ethat that didnt happen. And anyway if we are about to run out shouldnt the SNP shut up about north sea oil? Or is that just a lie to make scots think we will all be loaded after the dissolution of the union? Never mind that windmills only work when its windy. Sorry when the wind is above a certain speed….but not so fast as to wreck the turbine. Which means you need other generators in place (which generally have to be fossil fueled) to cover when there isnt enough/too much wind.

As for interferring in local councils…..it goes beyond planning, tho if local residents dont want something in their area why should they have it forced on them? Just because it might possibly make things better for the rest of the country? well if it does why cant you offer incentives to local residents rather than making it clear that it doesnt matter who they vote for locally they will get what they are told and had better jolly well like it.

Seems people like Charles Kennedy would rather not rock the boat then stick up for what they truly believe in…

As for planting windfarms everywhere, we need to start harnessing renewable energy now, rather than waiting for fossil fuels to run out. There’s a target for renewable energy, and they’re trying to meet it. In contrast, Westminster is going backwards by cancelling renewable projects and basically showing up the “greenest government ever” line for the lie that it so obviously was.

The Scottish Government are just as democratically elected as councils. Far better to have them overturning some decisions than to see the country stagnate because of NIMBYism.

cheers James