Loz, are you happy with the budget proposals of the bankers levy charge? The LibDems for a long time have made great play about how they were the only party that would stand up to the banks and hit them where it hurts, e.g. 10% tax on profits, limiting cash bonuses to ?2.5k pa. According to one Beeb post-budget discussion I saw on the box yesterday, these proposals would have brought in around ?5billion. Now, because the Tories have had their way by introducing their levy charge, this will only bring in ?2.5billion. It's quite clear to see who is wagging the tail of the lapdog. Interest rates should remain 'historically low', and up to now this has cushioned a lot of people from real hardship, but they will eventually rise. Try factoring in a 2-3% rise in your mortgage rate, which sounds a lot but isn't when you guage it against the long term average, the 'middle classes' are eventually going to be hit a lot harder that the Beeb calculator might suggest.