Alistair Darling/Timelines: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
imported>Nick Gardner |
imported>Nick Gardner |
||
Line 22: | Line 22: | ||
* February 2008: The ''Northern Rock'' bank is "nationalised" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7249575.stm] | * February 2008: The ''Northern Rock'' bank is "nationalised" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7249575.stm] | ||
* March 2008: Budget[http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/Budget2008/index.htm][http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/Budget2008/DG_073113] | * March 2008: Budget[http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/Budget2008/index.htm][http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/Budget2008/DG_073113] "To strengthen the public finances over the next five years, Labour plans to allow the tax burden to increase by 1.0% of national income (£14 billion) and to cut public spending by 0.5% of national income (£7 billion)" (IFS assessment[http://www.ifs.org.uk/budgets/gb2008/08chap2.pdf]). | ||
* April 2008: Bank of England announces its ''Special Liquidity Scheme'' to allow banks to swap some of their [[Liquidity|illiquid]] assets for liquid Treasury [[Bills]] for up to three years [http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/markets/sls/sls-information.pdf]. | * April 2008: Bank of England announces its ''Special Liquidity Scheme'' to allow banks to swap some of their [[Liquidity|illiquid]] assets for liquid Treasury [[Bills]] for up to three years [http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/markets/sls/sls-information.pdf]. |
Revision as of 08:58, 1 November 2010
1997 to 2007
(from the biography page of Alistair Darling's website[1])
- 1978 - 82: Solicitor
- 1984: Admitted to Faculty of Advocates
- 1982 - 87: Councillor, Lothian Regional Council
- 1987: Elected as MP for Edinburgh Central
- 1988: Opposition spokesman for Home Affairs
- 1992: Opposition spokesman for Treasury Economic Affairs and the City
- 1996: Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
- 1997: Chief Secretary to the Treasury
- 1998: Secretary of State for Social Security
- 2001: Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
- 2002: Secretary of State for Transport
- 2003: Secretary of State for Scotland
- 2006: Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
- June 2007: Chancellor of the Exchequer
2007 to 2010
- February 2008: The Northern Rock bank is "nationalised" [2]
- March 2008: Budget[3][4] "To strengthen the public finances over the next five years, Labour plans to allow the tax burden to increase by 1.0% of national income (£14 billion) and to cut public spending by 0.5% of national income (£7 billion)" (IFS assessment[5]).
- April 2008: Bank of England announces its Special Liquidity Scheme to allow banks to swap some of their illiquid assets for liquid Treasury Bills for up to three years [6].
- September 2008: The Bradford and Bingley bank is "nationalised" [7], and the Halifax/Bank of Scotland bank is rescued from bankruptcy by a bid from Lloyds TSB [8]
- October 2008: A £20 billion fiscal stimulus including a temporary reduction in value added tax (amounting to about 1 per cent of GDP)[9]; suspension of the code for fiscal stability.
- unlimited support to all UK banks and undertakes to inject capital or take equity in banks and to guarantee interbank lending [10] [11].
- January 2009: The Bank of England is to set up a Treasury-financed Asset Purchase Facility to buy high-quality assets for the purpose of quantitative easing operations [12].
- February 2009: Launch of the Government's Asset Protection Scheme[15] - under which firms are offered protection against banking losses in return for a fee.
- March 2009: Budget [16] Alistair Darling forecasts a return to growth in the 4th quarter of 2009 and growth of between 1 and 1½ per cent in 2010.
- budget speech [17]
- February 2010: The Fiscal Responsibility Act[1] - imposes a duty on the Treasury to ensure that by the financial year ending 2014 public sector net borrowing as a percentage of GDP is at least halved from its level for the financial year ending 2010, and to make continuing reductions thereafter.
- March 2010: Budget[18]- a fiscal expansion of 0.5 per cent, followed by contractions of 0.8 per cent each year until 2013/14, by which time the budget deficit would halved.