Sure This Is Reason To Clear World Debt

[martyn]

5 year old police officer

[lectro]

You know you're getting older when the police men look younger...

[Stavros]

That's the problem with government employees!

 

 

Stav.

[Rog]

Some thoughts on the Geldorf initiative.

 

The provision of Foreign Aid should not be confused with providing charitable donations. The former is a legitimate Government responsibility, the latter is not.

 

Foreign aid in the form of loans and even grants should be beneficial to both the donor as well as the recipient. If done sensibly both parties will benefit, the donor by an increase in business by linking the aid to contracts to provide goods and services from the donor country wherever possible, and the recipient by having access to a supply of goods or services that otherwise would be unavailable to them.

 

Careful choice of both recipient and the nature of grants should result in the establishment of an ongoing market the servicing of which over time should result in a net profit to the donor.

In that way careful use of tax payers money should over a period of time result in benefit to both parties, the exception being where investment may occasionally be made so as to prevent political developments in a foreign country that would in the longer term result in significantly greater costs to redress.

 

The US Marshall Plan is a classic example of such investment of aid for political as well as social benefit to both donor and recipient nations involved.

 

Foreign charity is a different matter altogether and is not something that a government should engage in.

 

It would be appropriate for our government to introduce a means whereby gifts by individuals were allowable expenses against tax as it is morally repugnant for a government to effectively tax a donation made as a result of a wish by an individual to do what they see as being good, but that should be the limit of any government in the matter of untargeted strategic aid and grant awards to foreign countries. Such should be the sole responsibilities of designated and tightly controlled charities.

 

The present situation where even part of our taxes are given as gifts is disgusting and should be stopped straightway. So also is this hair brained scheme of Bleah et al to write off grants in the form of loans to foreign countries that were strategic investments and as such represent UK wealth. The most that should be done is to change the loans to ‘no interest’ loans in which the capital is to be repaid iver a number of years – say 25 at the most.

 

A government has the legitimate right to strategically invest some of the tax payers money in overseas countries, but it has no right to give it away.

[=^..^=]

Rog, would you know if the UK is still paying off its war debt from WW2?

[ans]

5 year old police officer

 

5 Year Old Crack Dealer

[Rog]

Rog, would you know if the UK is still paying off its war debt from WW2?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yes. I would know and here is the details - source - Hansard.

 

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/c...28w04.html_wqn4

 

At the end of the First World War the United Kingdom debt to the United States amounted to around ÿ850 million. Repayments of the debt were made between 1923 and 1931. In 1931, President Hoover of the United States proposed a one-year moratorium on all War debts, which allowed extensive international discussions on the general problems of debt repayment to be held. However, no satisfactory agreement was reached. In the absence of such an agreement no payments have been made to, or received from, other nations since 1934.

At the time of the moratorium the United Kingdom was owed more by other nations (ÿ2,269 billion) than the outstanding principal it owed the United States ($4,368 billion—at 1934 exchange rates this was around ÿ866 million).

Second World War debt

Under a 1945 Agreement the United States Government lent the United Kingdom a total of $4,336 million (around ÿ1,075 million at 1945 exchange rates) in war loans. These loans were taken out under two facilities: (i) a Line of Credit of $3,750 million (around ÿ930 million at 1945 exchange rates); and (ii) a Lend-Lease loan facility of $586 million (around ÿ145 million at 1945 exchange rates), which represented the settlement with the United States for Lend-Lease and Reciprocal Aid and for the final settlement of the financial claims of each government against the other arising out of the conduct of the Second World War.

28 Feb 2002 : Column 1441W

Under the Agreement the loans would be repaid in 50 annual instalments commencing in 1950. However the Agreement allowed deferral of annual payments of both principal and interest if necessary because of prevailing international exchange rate conditions and the level of the United Kingdom's foreign currency and gold reserves. The United Kingdom has deferred payments on six occasions. Repayment of the war loans to the United States Government should therefore be completed on 31 December 2006, subject to the United Kingdom not choosing to exercise its option to defer payment.

As at 31 March 2001 principal of $346,287,953 (ÿ243,573,154 at the exchange rate on that day) was outstanding on the loans provided by the United States Government in 1945. The Government intend to meet its obligations under the 1945 Agreement by repaying the United States Government in full the amounts lend in 1945.

All World War II debts owed to the United Kingdom by other countries have either been repaid or settlements have been agreed with the countries concerned. Details are provided in the Finance Accounts of the United Kingdom and their successor the Supplementary Statements to the Consolidated Fund and National Loans Fund Accounts for the financial years 1945–46 to 1987–88 and the following Command Papers:

 

China CM 198;

 

Czechoslovakia Cmd 7798 and Cmnds 55, 56 and 2280;

 

France Cmnd 6988;

 

Netherlands Cmd 7358;

 

Poland Cmd 6864 and 7148 and Cmnd 1057;

 

Turkey Cmds 6165 and 9120; and

 

USSR Cmd 7297

[=^..^=]

So if the UK deferred payment would our debt be cleared with everyone elses ?

[Rog]

So if the UK deferred payment would our debt be cleared with everyone elses ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I very much doubt it.

[germann]

Do you think they'd sort out my Visa statement while they're at it?

[Rog]

Do you think they'd sort out my Visa statement while they're at it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Dream on. There'd be no votes in it.

[Darth Vader]

Back on thread....

 

May be Blair should clear up things in the British Commonwealth Club before he rants about world debt.

 

And as Mrs Windsor (Mountbattenburg, the germanic inbred) is the head of the Commonwealth, I wonder what she thinks about youngsters being exploited in this way?

 

Shameful

[Alias]

Although it's by no means great, at least the Indian gov. offered them a job. It is unfortunate for the child to be so young, but at least he gets an education, a wage, and is literate.

 

By no means is it the best way, but the Indian government cannot afford to be as socialist as some, so at least the family has a chance of earning the money to carry on after their tragic loss.