We all forget that Gordon has been running the economy since 1997.1st 3 years he continued the Tory policies then he got busy and implemented his own spend spend spend policy.Now whoever is in charge will have to pay pay pay. TW

TW, plymouth, UK

I could see all this coming when I emigrated 3 years ago.

People of Britain: you voted for Nulaber.

3 times.

You reap what you sow.

Jon Leigh, Safely out of it in rural, France

Rece

At the rate british pubs are now going out of business the breweries won't need to worry about them.

Dave, Mold, Flintshire

If, as GB says, he is listening to the public, why in the name of sanity is he still prime minister ? Almost everyone wants him gone, and he appears not to be hearing that.

Alan, London,

Hey Gordon...Gordon?..Gordon...hey, you there Grodon?
Nope sorry my mistake, thought you were listening

paul, nottingham, uk

"anyyone on income over £10,000 will be £120 better off."

Eh? I'm around £230 worse off and don't qualify for the £120 'compensation'. Just take the flak and re-instate it. Cheaper all round. The Governemnt never does anything the simple way. It would rather 'create' thousands of extra non-jobs.

Anthony, Brum,

A good chancellor Oh yeah! Pull the other one do. He sold the gold; then the company that constructs nuclear power plants to Japan. They are now preparing to make billion in China while Brown is getting the French to construct similar plants in UK. Has anyone heard of such daft business practice.

M. Cawdery, Portadown, Co. UK, EU

The "compensation" for the 10p tax fiasco is nothing of the sort. It will have to come from borrowing which we have to pay back - with interest.

So even with the compensation we'll actually be worse off than if the change wasn't made! Do we want them to ADD to that with another billion+ ?!?

Jay, Farnborough,

Gordons pet project to right of African debt simply made the corrupt officials in Africa richer and the poor poorer. Another good move Gord.
By the way where is our Gold sold at $270 or so.? Current price over $ 900. Nice one Gord.

John Bull, Farnham , Surrey

I too am begining to feel sorry for the looser. He really should pack his bags and go.It is becoming embarrasing to watch.

John Bull, Farnham , Surrey

Gordon Brown couldn't sell £1 coins for 50p each.Oops! I'm sorry, he can - after all he did sell our gold for about 1/3rd of it's current value. Prudent? Puerile is a better description of him.

A.M. Williams, Stafford,

Ah, poor Gordon Brown, so tax-happy that he quite forgot to consult the Law of Unintended Consequences.

Dennis Eagan, Colorado Springs, US

James of London. Yes, clearly the simplest solution would be to bring back the 10% rate but that would be admitting that he had made a mistake wouldn't it? We all know that Brown NEVER, NEVER, makes mistakes don't we.

Richard, Alicante, Spain

In times of economic turbulence a country needs a strong goverment to lead it.This Labour government should do the country a favour and step down. further failings of this government are compounded by the fact that they didnt set aside any money for the eventual downturn in the economy

Rich Hutchison, Edinburgh, UK

What on EARTH was the point of removing the 10p bracket if they are just going to pay people back the extra tax they are taking?

This was one of THE worst political decisions imagineable - hit the lowest earners, then waste a furtune trying to give it back. Pointless.

Hibbo, Dundee,

£1Billion? Peanuts. Gordon can raise this amount with further tax on petrol at 1p a litre

Andy, Bristol, uk

When the state of the nation sinks to the present position and the government so obviously incompetent there needs to be a mechanism to halt expenditure on doctrinaire policies. Also an Act to reduce all poorly thought out taxation to enable taxpayers to meet essential ouitgoings. Then an election

Dicken, Farnborough, UK

Here is a novel idea stop sending truck loads of money to personal pet projetcs such as Africa.Time to sort out your own house first!!

peter andrew, montreal, canada

I immigrated here 15 months ago. I've been working F/T a total of 13 months and so far have never earned more than 12,500 gross pa (overtime included). By far the bigger post in my expenses is the rent (don't qualify for benefits). And I save each month... Should I send my spending diary to the PM?

Carol, Bristol,

If Brown cannot see that this last year has been a disaster and that he is deeply unpopular, then he is on another planet and that alone is reason enough for the Labour Party to give him the boot. His refusal to admit his errors makes him look even more incompetent.

Phil, London,

how can it cost 1 billion, when they are only giving back what they took in the first place

tony, manchester, england

He thought that he could get away with the 10p tax abolishment ,making millions of poor people poorer. He was found out to be a deceiver and shifty. He was forced to lose face and back track,even after he said nothing could be done. The whole episode shows him to be grossly incompetent . Sack him

Eddie , Newcastle, Co. Down

He and his team must have known that ow paid taxpaers would lose, unfortunately the added tax allowance only gives back the lowearners what they lost and anyyone on income over £10,000 will be £120 better off.

Douglas Blaney, Glasgow, Scotland

I read this morning that in the UK there is, among all the major economies, the highest recorded level of household debt at 173% of income and this is allied with the highest cost of living in any western economy.
Buggins wants to be judged on his stewardship of the UK economy. Fine.

m collins, Leeds,

"Of course, we have to listen to what people say." Brown said that yesterday, he also said almost the very same words exactly one year ago, outside Number 10.

The root of every one of Brown's problems is that he does NOT listen to people; in fact, he REFUSES to listen to anyone.

Mike, Brighton, England

The amazing thing about is the amount of polital capital the tories have made out of this. They were against the 10p tax band when Brown intoduced it and would'nt reinstate it. The only tax policy Cameron has is to remove inheritance tax from the rich and increase taxes on the poor to pay for it.

Frank, Aberdeen, uk

Is there any truth in the rumour that Alistair Darling’s computer has been replaced as its delete button was worn out?

Brian Christley, Abergele, UK

"Gordon Brown is facing a £1 billion annual bill" er, no he isn't, we the taxpayers are.

marksany, Grays, Essex

Instead of tinkering and trying to rectify a mistake, would it not be simpler for this PM to bring back the 10 pence rate ???

james, london,

SK from East Sussex clearly thinks that income of less than £18k is a part-time job and that there is a strong demand for employing pensioners. Oh that this were true.
Gordy was gloating when he announced the reduction to 20p basic rate. Only right then that he should glower now he has been rumbled

Ian Cooper, Newark, Notts

This is rediculess. Why did he not just cancel the 10p cut would have cost the country alot less. Incompitence!

Dean, Southampton, England

Unbelievably stupid to do it at all, and totally incompetent to attempt to mitigate its effects by other means since.

Only sensible course: reverse the change, everyone affected would be put back where they were, no one else is drawn in, and the cost is the minimum.

Keep digging, Gordon.

Roger, Leeds, England

He could start pruning back severely on public expenditure rather than trying to fund all these concession, buy votes and so on. This never seems to figure in the equation because it's not part of his "vision" whatever that may be now. Time to go.

JohnM, Perth, UK

I am minded of a slogan for a certain brand of Brown Bread. To paraphrase it...

'Don't just say Brown, say Hopeless !'

Adrian, Sherington, Bucks, UK

Some people lose and some people win in any changes to tax levels. That's the whole point of them.
The compensation idea is inherently flawed. If abolishing the 10p tax rate is unfair, restore it and add 2p back onto the basic rate to pay for it.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK

I am a 61year old female ex BT pensioner. Since the abolition of the 10p tax can prove through my pension pay slips I am £204.00 per annum worse off and am told I will be compensated by £120.00,is this right? Then it is the unknown tax until I am 65 with no eligibility for any tax benefits.

Betsey Maureen Shepherd, Dronfield, England

SK, East Sussex.

We don't all live in your prosperous location.
Up here, low earners are low earners by necessity.
Jobs are low paid, and even lower paid immigrants compete !

There are lots of people, like me, who get no Tax breaks/benefits at all, never have, and probably never will !

cap, Lincoln,

-'Thank God Nu-Labour don't run British breweries; there would not be a single pub in Britain with beer in the cellar!'

Yeah. As it is, there are plenty of pubs with beer in the cellar, but thanks to the government's highway robbery duty on alcoholic drinks, people can't afford to buy it.

Tom Watson, Stafford,

Gordon Brown needs to learn something about finance and accounting.
Perhaps he should seek advice from a corner shop keeper.

peterj, malvern, UK

And middle England will foot the bill for yet another one of McBrown's incompetent fiascos. When are the Labour Party going to wake up and ditch this looser before they go into total meltdown?

roger Kingston, york,

Gordon will simply add it the UK's credit card, along with all the other debt. Very prudent man you see; look at his investments in the NHS and education...

roger, london,

Its getting so bad, that I am actually feeeling sorry for Gordon..

Not really.

ronnie, bucks, UK

Please, give us a general election so we can put this government out of it's misery.

David, St Albans, UK

Everybody should contribute something to team UK. The first 10,000£ we earn should be taxed at 10p, then goes up to 20p. Simple fair and effective, too simple for this government!

john, bath,

I can't understand the fuss they have simply failed to describe it in modern the right way. In America this would have been called a well targeted financial stimulus package and received praise from all sides.

Michael Stalker, Manchester, England

Classic case of taking with one hand and paying out with another plus it will cost more bureaucracy wise which wouldn't have been the case if they had left it alone.

john, shrewsbury, uk

There clearly was a problem with cutting 10p tax rate for low earners and women 60-65 who are officially retired and cant claim other low earner benefits. But, the upside is that those earning between £18k and £36k will benefit. Others on low earnings could get a job or claim job seekers benefits.

SK, East Sussex, England

Thank God Nu-Labour don't run British breweries; there would not be a single pub in Britain with beer in the cellar!

Rece Porter, Orlando, USA