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For gods sake he was in charge of the treasury all through the Blair years :S jonrover wrote:[. He has been burdened with a messy financial situation, which wasn't of his doing, and burdened with another American instigated war, which will never be won and will win Britain more enemies than allies.
For gods sake he was in charge of the treasury all through the Blair years :S
To go back to the theme of the thread (and answer your point Boomstick in my usual rapier-like way) we have a serious issue with how we treat our politicians these days. We want them to be celebrities. We want them to be saints. We want them to be ordinary family guys. We want them to be dressed by Versace, but not spend any money. We want their shit to smell of CK1, for them never to scratch their arse, pick their nose or fluff a line.All because, in general, we are too fcuking idle and thick to actually connect with the difficult, real issues that politicians are supposed deal with. So it's easier to snigger about their personal character.I wonder what we'd make of Churchill these days? A warmongering, borderline alcoholic and fully fledged bigot, who was prone to massive bouts of depression and had a face like a bulldog licking piss of another bulldog's ring piece after it had been repeatedly kicked in the knackers by Giant Haystacks. And he called his wife \"Pussy\". I suspect he wouldn't last two minutes these days before the press were mocking his style sense and some clever t**t was posting YouTube videos of him sticking his V-sign up the wrong way.
What about 'no more boom and bust'?.
How can 10 years of growth be good if it was debt fuelled, and ended in an almighty crash to end up worse than when we started.
Or the fact that manufacturing has declined SIGNIFICANTLY more in the last 10 years under Blair/Brown than during the thatcher years.
The argument about GDP is not a very strong one. Yes, GDP is higher than it was in 1997. However, in 1997 it was significantly higher than it was in 1979. By those yardsticks, the Tory Government was a success. You can't have it both ways!
What is of more concern is that GDP is actually forecast to FALL in 2010 for the first time in living memory. That didn't happen in the 80s and 90s, despite two (at least) bruising recessions. Now we can argue until the cows come home about who's fault that is- the bankers, the Thatcher government, the present administration- but it is not a pretty picture.
In addition, National Debt as a % of GDP is on course to reach its highest levels since the late 60s (when we were still paying off the ruinous costs of WW2). So whoever is in power after the next election will have to deal with an economic mess.
NorthNorfolkRover wrote:QuoteFor gods sake he was in charge of the treasury all through the Blair years :S jonrover wrote:[. He has been burdened with a messy financial situation, which wasn't of his doing, and burdened with another American instigated war, which will never be won and will win Britain more enemies than allies.Did the credit crunch happen during Blair's years as PM? So what's your point exactly?Granted, Brown and Charles Darling were left to pick up the pieces after the financial meltdown thanks to the banks taking stupid risks, but what exactly could they have done differently? Leave them to rot and take peoples savings and properties down with them? The only thing I don't agree with is every single penny any of the bailed out banks make in profit should be ploughed straight back into the government's coffers to pay off the debt plus interest, even if it takes 200 years. Instead our public sector face savage cuts regardless who is in power come May. I think things are going to get pretty messy...
Brown was one of the causes of the credit crunch
\"The Brown government has shown itself willing to think clearly about the financial crisis, and act quickly on its conclusions. And this combination of clarity and decisiveness hasn’t been matched by any other Western government, least of all our own. The British government went straight to the heart of the problem — and moved to address it with stunning speed. Luckily for the world economy, Gordon Brown and his officials are making sense. And they may have shown us the way through this crisis.\"
Well said that man. Gordon Brown has to be the worst Prime Minister in living memory.