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UK
www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th March 2015
Shailesh Vara
As I See It A political budget
Any Chancellor uses his budget to gain more popularity for his party. George Osborne has done exactly that and one can not but accept it. When he has to present a budget just seven weeks prior to a very historic election, though it is “a popular budget” the question remains how far it can produce the expected favourable results. Out of 100 British voters, as of now, some 33 appear to have opted for both the Conservative as well as the Labour party. The real battle is to win those who are not yet committed to any political persuasion. This budget, the last in the present Parliament, would make everyone compare the overall change between 2010 and 2015. The economic indicators can be summoned up as under: * unemployment rate: 2010 - 7.9% ; 2015 5.7% * size of the economy: improvement of 8.5% * exports: increased by 14.8% * imports: increased by 13.3% * national debt: whopping increase by 44%.
From £974 billion to £1402 billion * budget deficit: decreased from £141 billion to £93.6 billion. A reduction of 33.6% falls far short of the earlier objectives * economy: according to the Financial Times (FT) “the Office of the Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) initial forecast was honest but wrong and badly so. The biggest error was to overestimate productivity growth. * labour market: in the words of the FT “the performance of the labour market has been one of the biggest surprises of the past five years.” Given the weaker then expected economy, low unemployment with poor productivity and wage growth was probably a better outcome than the alternative of high unem-
ployment with descent productivity and wage growth. But now the economy is recovering, the wages and output per hour need to rise too — * public finances - FT wording “the Chancellor says he has halved the deficit as a share of national income.” That is true, but records are far less impressive than any planned in 2010, so the deficit reduction must be regarded as a failure — * winners and losers: FT wording is very noteworthy “the government policy over the past five years has favoured the relatively elderly over the young” — In a way when I was watching the Chancellor’s budget speech a lingering thought was if he was trying to bribe the voters or not. It appears, like other chancellors, he had no option but to offer several bribes. To raise money he has to dig some more - almost £10 billion - from the banking sector. Tomorrow or the day after the burden will be passed on to the citizens. - CB
Nine British medical students flee Sudan for Syria
Conservative MP for North West Cambridgeshire and Junior Justice Minister
Budget that works for you Last week the Chancellor gave the final budget of this Parliament, and the message was clear. We have a long term economic plan that is working – and it was a Budget that works for you: tax cuts so people keep more of the money they earn, a helping hand for first time buyers, support for savers – and a plan that is building a healthier economy that won’t burden future generations with more debt than they can ever pay off. Labour’s reckless overspending and mismanagement of the economy brought Britain to the brink – with businesses closing, people losing jobs and a record deficit. Since then, we’ve been working to our longterm economic plan. There is much more to do, but we have made good progress. The economy is growing, living standards are rising, the deficit is down, debt is set to start falling as a share of national economy. There are record numbers of people in work – and more people of Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnicity in
work than ever before. That means more people with the security of a regular wage and able to provide for their families. This budget continues the work we are doing. We believe that hardworking people should keep more of the money they earn. So we’ve announced income tax cuts for 27 million people – raising the amount of money you can earn before paying income to £10,800 next year and £11,000 the year after. This is a downpayment on our commitment to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 by the end of the next Parliament. For first time buyers, we’re giving a helping hand. A new ‘Help to Buy ISA’ will mean for every £200 a first time buyer saves, the government will give a bonus of up to £50 – up to a total of £3,000. This will help more people achieve the dream of owning their own home. And we’re backing savers, with a new Personal Savings Allowance that abolishes savings tax altogether for
17 million people. A new flexible ISA will also give people complete freedom to take money out of an ISA and put in back later in the year without losing their tax-free entitlement. This is all good news. But with warning lights flashing in parts of the world economy – like Greece in Europe – now is not the time to put this at risk. That is exactly what Ed Miliband as Prime Minister and a Labour government would do. All they offer is a return to the chaos of the past: more wasteful spending, more reckless borrowing, more taxes hitting families – and people across Britain would pay the price. So at the election in just a few weeks, voters have a clear choice. We can put at risk the progress Britain has made, with Ed Miliband trying to lead a chaotic Labour government. Or we can stick with the competence of David Cameron as Prime Minster, leading a proven team and working to a clear plan to secure a better future for you, your family and Britain.
High Commission of India holds Visa press conference
Reshma Trilochun
Hisham Mohammed Fadlallah
Nada Sami Kader
Ismail Hamadoun
Rowan Kamal Zine El Abidine
Nine British medical students have secretly fled to Syria to help treat jihadists at hospitals controlled by Islamic State. Five men and four women in their late teens and early twenties fled from medical school in Sudan where their families had sent them to learn more about their culture. The family of the absconded believe that they were “brainwashed” by ISIS sympathisers and have travelled to Syria, in attempt to persuade their children to return home with them. It is said that one of the students, who is
Lena Maumoon Abdulqadir
Sami Ahmed Kadir
Mohamed Osama Badri Mohammed
Tamer Ahmed Ebu Sebah
Sami Ahmed the daughter of Kadir. These stua surgeon sent a dents are of smiling “selfie” Sudanese backto her sister grounds, born before arriving and brought up at Syria. in the UK. The names The father of of the runaway Lena Mamoun students are Abdelgadir (19) Lena Maumoon reveals, “We sent Abdulqadir, our children to Nada Sami Kader, Rowan Tasneem Suleyman study [in Sudan] Huseyin so that they would Kamal Zine El be surrounded by their Abidine, Tasneem culture. But their decision Suleyman Huseyin, to go to Syria has been a Ismail Hamadoun, Tamer shock for all of us. We Ahmed Ebu Sebah, have decided not to return Mohamed Osama Badri home unless we go with Mohammed, Hisham them.” Mohammed Fadlallah and
A press conference at the High Commission of India was held on Wednesday 18th March 2015 to discuss the new visa schemes that they are implementing, as well as the biometrics collection procedure during visa applications. Many travel companies and journalist were present at the press conference, posing questions at the authorities regarding the new biometrics procedure and the uncertainty of the date. Many people were appalled at this new regulation that is supposed to take place and what enraged them even further was the contradicting statements of the High Commission of India with the information that was available on their website. While the authorities stated that the new dates of implementing the new procedures are yet to be decided, the website clearly stated that the changes will be taking place on 16th March. The High Commission of India, Mr Ranjan Mathai mentioned that this will not be a rule significantly for India, this is proving to be the way forward with many countries
adapting to the new technological advancement to visa and their procedures. “They [biometrics] are increasingly becoming the norm all around the world. And I refer to the norm all around the world because very often, what systems are introduced here [UK] becomes not just an international norm but an international rule.” Further on, Mr Mathai elaborates on the different visas and the requirements as well as how to acquire them. For instance, the e-visa availability may come into progress, as UK citizens may become eligible to visa on arrival in the near future. With the e-visa, you will apply for the visa online prior to your travels and receive your visa on arrival at India, where you will be required to do the biometrics process on arrival itself. This would be a single entry ticket to India and would be given once a year only. The evisa procedure have yet not been implemented and negotiations are taking place on when and how this procedure will take place. The reason being this press conference was to give an insight to the proposed plan and to answer
High Commission of India, Mr Ranjan Mathai
queries as the new prospective procedures have received criticism. A lot of flak was received for the idea of having to book separate appointments for each family members for an Indian Visa at the Indian Embassy, not guaranteeing that the appointment could be given in blocked slots. However, it has now been clarified that it is not mandatory for the personal presence of the applicant; a nominee or family member are able to submit the visa application on their behalf, provided that the nominee/family member are able to produce an authorisation letter signed by the applicant.