Devildog

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8634241.stm

Go Gordon, top effort as the "saviour" of the world

Pete, lets see you put a positive spin on that one

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

His "Get out card" is there in the article:

David Lock

Labour can also claim that unemployment was higher under the Tories.

Mind you there is an excess of kids out of work and I suppose the fact that many of them can't add up or string a sentence together doesn't help........

dl

Funkii Munkii

It's just like 1979 all over again, country in a state, huge unemployment, Tories get in and sort the mess out, another generation learns a valuable lesson.

Xx-IAN-xX

So no Pete yet then. Ok i'll say it for him " we have new labour and Flash to thank for the rise"

Leslie

If it was not for the massaging of the figures by not counting many who are effectively unemployed the figure would be far higher.

Les

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Do you really believe that?

What sorting out did the Tories do last time? Two recessions, record unemployment, record interest rates, high inflation, riots on the streets, a war we didn't need to fight, a whole industry put out of work over a petty argument, the ERM fiasco, selling off the Nort Sea oil, sellig off all the country's nationalised industry at a rock bottom price to make everyone feel great about share issues, the dog eat dog I'm alright Jack culture etc. etc.

They are all the same - self serving greedy ineffective career politicians! Doesn't matter whether they are Tory, Labour or Lib Dem - the result is the same.

Funkii Munkii

Right on queue

I lived it of course I believe it

Labour inherited a much better country than the one Thatcher had to clean up and Blair and Brown proceeded to screw it up big style, how much do we owe now ?.

I could compile a list also, but I would agree with your last sentiment, Cambo is no Thatch

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

You must have lived it in a parallel universe to me then, Thatcher's Britain was a miserable place to be.

And yes Brown and co. have made a lot of mistakes and are part way responsible for the state of the country's economy, but we are also in the world's worst recession since the 30s a fact that seems to be forgotten by the SN NSR massive.

Oh and the expression is 'right on cue' btw That's a 70s Labour education I had too - amazing isn't it

Devildog

To give some balance, I lived Thatcher's Britain too, and would suggest a possible reword of your comments thus:

Two recessions from which we emerged in a stronger economic position than we are in now, record unemployment due to harsh decisions becasue the pain had to be suffered or Britain was doomed, record interest rates which were brilliant for savers, high inflation but with corresponding wage rises for most, riots on the streets because the pond life didn't like the thought of paying their own way, a war we fought because sovereign territory was at risk, a whole industry put out of work because it was not financially viable long term and simply untenable that the unions could continue to dictate to government. Selling off nationalised industry that was seriously underperforming and in many cases produced bag of ****e products compared to the competion, and encouraging people to work for what they wanted.

I'll give you the ERM fiasco, and the North Sea oil should have been given to Scotland, but no one is perfect

Two sides to every story. Much of what Thatcher did was necessary however unpopular it may have been at the time.

But I agree that they are all as bad as each other in their own way.

Xx-IAN-xX

Nope I think it must have been you living in a parallel universe

Gordo

f1 fan is right, but this just re-inforces that we need change. Rewarding the current incumbents for their disastrous term in power would give them the mandate to do the same all over again. We need change to provide balance.

It's unthinkable that, after years of prosperity and the 'end of boom and bust' that these clowns have managed to:

- increase public sector spend by more than 20% (52% of GDP is now public sector spend - not exactly healthy!)
- achieve the highest level of public borrowing for over 40 years and still climbing (what happened to reducing debt in good times - oh no, these pillocks merely increased it, and 'invested' (i.e. pissed away) every extra pound in tax take on long term structural liabilities)
- destroyed our pensions with their tax raids (over £150bn impact to date and still growing)
- created what is now one of the highest taxed countries in the western world with populist 'tax the rich' moans - masking the innate poverty they've created and damaging the long term growth for the economy

I'm struggling to think of any big positives that have come from the time Labour has been in power, but I do know that they have messed up our public profit & loss account - any shareholders in a company would have fired this management team years ago, but the masses still think it's a good idea to let them have another go. Pitiful (and don't get me started on the silly bint from the green party who tried to collar me this morning!).

Sigh - it's a shame that neither the Tories nor the Liberals have the bottle to talk about hte geunine cuts and belt tightening that are required to redress the Labour excesses.

Gordo

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

How old are you? Serious question btw.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Look we can go back and forth here at will, but just as a for instance the gas, electricity, water and phone companies were not seriously underperforming. They provide a service and should never have been allowed into the hands of private investors/companies. They were sold off for a fraction of what they were wroth to boost the economy short term and buy the vote of the electorate with 'overnight profit' share issues. Remember how it all fell apart during the BP share issue and Thatch had the public so brainwashed that they were still applying for shares despite the fact they were certain to devalue by nealy half on the day of issue.

We are only now reaping the long term pain of allowing that to happen with record energy prices controlled by companies operationg solely for profit.

This country needs proper leadership by someone who really cares, not by a succession of power crazed career politicians from both parties.

Xx-IAN-xX

Thats personal but old enough to have been around in the 70s

boomer

+1

mb

Jaybird-UK

So they've only just caught up with the Tories of 1994 then is what you are saying?

I dont believe there was the same economic downturn we are experiencing now when the Tories were in in 1994.

Devildog

Different issue though mate.

And don't forget that there are different methods of recording "unemployment" and Labour have artificually created hundereds of thousands of jobs in the public sector which the UK neither needs nor can afford.

Chip

And not forgetting the 2.5 million on so called incapacity benefit the vast majority of whom could be working.

Chp