paulr

What,you mean one of Britains best ever Prime Ministers to be replaced by an old fashioned "tax and spend"redistributer whose idea of fun is a night in reading "A history of government borrowing 1980-1990".

I dont think so.

Surely not!!!!!!!!!!

eClaire

Not going to happen!

Harry_Boy

Where have you been recently mate?

paulr

Enjoying the benfits of the lowest inflation/interest rates/unemployment in living memory...thats where....

unclebuck

Gordon Brown to replace Tony Blair?


No. Michael Howard to replace Tony Blair.

UB

Harry_Boy

Not that that's down to Blair. Surely Prudence Personified Gordon Brown had more to do with this undoubted prosperity???

Harry_Boy

My post was slightly tongue in cheek mate, but I'm still convinced that GB is more of an asset to this country than TB.

suprabeast

oh yes low interest rates are great

i just love my money sitting there in the bank aquiring nothing every year!

I used to get 13%, made a fortune for doing nothing

Brendan Hughes

They're lower in the eurozone

Gordo

"Enjoying the benfits of the lowest inflation/interest rates/unemployment in living memory...thats where...."

Yawn, yawn, yawn. Blair has followed the Thatcher mandate but neither he nor his leftie colleagues can claim credit for inflation or interest rates (err, I suspect the Bank of England and the wider world have had a much larger impact!). Don't believe the unemployment figures - the number of economically available workers not in employment has gone up by 750,000 since Labour came to power - they have just switched everyone from "unemployed" to other categories to massage the figures.

Suresh

[QUOTE=Gordo ... they have just switched everyone from "unemployed" to other categories to massage the figures.[/QUOTE]
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Labour Govt measures unemployment by internationally accepted standards (ILO measure), rather than using the dishonest, manipulative methods the Tories used to use.

Dream Weaver

Yeah right

I'm well enjoying earning nothing on savings, paying 85p for a litre of fuel, £3 a pint, £5 for ciggies etc etc and all my tax going to asylum seekers - what a smashing bloke Bliar is

paulr

BUT the question is,would that dour Scot be any better..............

NO he wouldn't.

unclebuck

That 'dour Scot' has been quietly borrowing money hand over fist to buoy up the economy and make the figures look good for the next election. Once that's over, and if they get back in, watch out for *massive* increases in taxation across the board to pay it all back. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw his lardy ****.

Vote the buggers out before its too late.

UB

tiggers

Yeah, let's all vote for Michael Howard.

I'm bored with low mortgage payments, low unemployment and low inflation. I want a return to the good old days when the Tory party could keep the mortage rate right up there at 15.4 % or spiral inflation to well over treble it's current figure or spend most of the country's currency reserves on trying to keep the UK in the ERM when it was their economic policies that meant we had to withdraw from it.

Sorry, but say what you like about the current government the facts are that this has been the most econmoically stable period in the UK's history for as long as I can remember. For businesses and the average man on the street low rates, inflation and unemployment are a good thing.

For those of you whining about your investments think about the bigger picture for once rather than just your self centred little world. Besides you can invest it in other ways, but of course that would require you doing something about it and you all want something for doing nothing as usual.

tiggers.

unclebuck

Well, don't say you weren't warned. The only difference between the Tory boom and bust cycle and this one, is one of frequency. When the bubble bursts this time around it will be a *lot* more painful for a *lot* more people than anything you or I will have previously seen.

It's no use harking back to the 'bad old days' either. Any economic stability there may be is down to the Bank Of England's stewardship of the pound and the continuation of *Tory* monitary policy after NL came to power. So, although they claim it, there is no credit due to New Labour for this. They were simply in the right place at the right time.

Now that period has passed they are reverting to the old 'tax and spend' policies that they have always adopted. As I say, they are trying to cover this up until they gain a third term in office. After that there will be no stopping them. Taxation we've seen up till now will pale in comparison.

UB

tiggers

Sorry ub, but that is bollocks plain and simple. Any crash if it comes cannot be worse than that of 1989 due to the simple fact that the starting point for interest rates is so much lower.

I agree that Ken Clark did have some sound economic policies in place and that Labour have continued with some of them. Problem is look how many years of poor management of the economy it took the Tories to reach these plicies.

I also agree that the Bank of England has managed the rates and the curency very well. Who was it who gave them the power to do that - the Tories??? No it was Labour although it's a pity the Tories never came up with the idea as then we may have been spared the years of economic disaster we suffered under their last stint.

Isn't it also funny how all Tories like you always tell us how bad things are going to get with the economy under Labour yet so far it hasn't seem to have happened - the 'it's always just around the corner' factor - like you're hoping for it.

Although you say no credit is due to them for the stable economy they have been in power SEVEN years and the economy is still stable - they must have something to do with it even if it is just leaving those that make the decisions to get on with it - something the meddling Tories could do to learn.

Sorry ub, attack them as much as you want on law and order and the like, but the economy is the one area they have done brilliantly.

tiggers.

unclebuck

Just a quick reply as I have other stuff to do....

Yes, and for 5 years of that they simply followed policies already in place. Since then heavy behind the scenes borrowing has been going on to keep up the appearance that all is well. As I said this ruse is to get them re-elected. Then we'll see the *true* character of this mob.

What makes you think they haven't?

I could do that with one hand tied behind my back and win comforably.

Yes, by adopting policies of others, and letting others make the big decisions. Hardly *brilliant* as you claim. They are brilliant at dressing stuff up and taking the credit though, I'll give you that.

UB

unclebuck

Almost missed this. This is of course, another misconception. People are borrowing in much greater proportions than in '89. They are 'maxed' out and beyond in many more cases than at that time. Therefore just a slight increase will have a more far reaching effect on a much larger percentage of the population.

UB

paulr

I agree.

HappyChristmas

18 years of Conservative government has bred a generation of me-me-me people who all want something for nothing. Improving public services COSTS MONEY, which comes from taxation. The Tory alternative is not to spend money on services and leave people the option to go private - which most people can not afford to do.

A simple choice really and I know which I prefer.

JM2PW

unclebuck

oops

unclebuck

Wrong again. The Tory alternative is cut out waste in Public Services. For example all those worthless middle managers screwing up the Health Service fiddling figures to meet pointless targets.

Why have 750K more civil servents been created under NL? What do they all do???

The only defence NL have is to attempt to demonise Tories with negative slurs. I just hope nobody is interested in their brand of destructive personalised politics, as it's diverting people from the truth.

UB

HappyChristmas

Sorry, the Tory answer for the NHS was to create a 2-tier service via GP fundholders. This created an unequal playing field for patients. And no, I don't agree with all NL policies, I think foundation hospitals are a mistake.

Under labour the number of health authorities has been substantially reduced and massive amounts of investment made in front line services to try and remedy chronic underfunding in the past.

Incidentally, just how much waste do you think there is in public services these days ? I've worked in the NHs and local government - staff are so thin on the ground that even covering for annual leave is extremely difficult.

I'd also (seriously) be interested to learn where the 750,000 extra civil servants figure comes from.

unclebuck

Sorry, I mean't 75K not 750K erm... I read it somewhere. If I remember I'll post a link.

tiggers

For someone who has other things to do you sure keep going on here, but then again that's a Tory trait - say one thing do another

I was going to keep quiet as I know when I'm talking to a brick wall, but your last comment is laughable. The Tories spend far more time telling us how bad Labour are than how they are going to make things better. As for destructive politics how many Tory politicians were disgraced the last time they were in power - some (althoughn not enough IMHO) even went to prison FFS - they're a joke.

Whoever posted about Thatcher's me-me-me mentality was spot on - she was responsible for tearing up the social fabric of the country and converting most people to greedy self indulgent ******* many of which seem to be present on here btw.

Anyway ub, you vote for them and I'm sure you'll be very happy if they get in as their policies may well suit you perfectly and that's all that really matters to you isn't it?

All the best,

tiggers.

unclebuck

I like everyone else trusted New Labour. Thought things would improve. What a joke that turned out to be. I'm no Tory, but I just want this lot of scheming *******s out of office.

(Not that you'd believe that, of course, as you clearly have your own agenda.)

UB

tiggers

We got them out of office - they were called the Tories

imlach

IMHO, the UK economy is probably influenced more by worldwide events than by UK policy. Yes, you can say we had x amount of inflation and interest rates under the Tories, and y amount of inflation and interest rates under Labour....

BUT...worldwide recession/growth has a much bigger influence on our economy. The whole western world has seen low inflation and low interest rates for the last 5 years. The worldwide economy has been in a period of growth/ultra-mini-recession during the period of NewLabour being in power.

So, it's hardly an outstanding acheivement to keep the UK economy (the bit affected by Brown) in shape.

Had Brown been in power during the late 80's, he'd have faced the same issues as the Tories, and perhaps had a very similar result.

The Chancellor almost has the job of micro-managing our economy....the bigger picture is influenced by factors outwith the confines of his power.