Boris Johson his good points

[albie]

There have been lots of governments since 1979.

Yes, Hound.....but all following the neo-liberal economic formula, in one form or another.

That's why many voters think "they are all the same", and disregard policy differences.
 
They weigh those policies against the business as usual economic orthodoxy, and fail to see how their interests are protected.

Johnson is actually promoting a new feral interpretation of the free market, one which is unconstrained by public interest in any real way.

Survival of the fattest, you could say!

[BillyStubbsTears]

I wish I could find a definition of "neo-liberal".

But if I did, I doubt it would cover the sort of massive Keynesian reflation policies of the Brown Govt in 2008-10.

[albie]

Here you go, BST;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism

Do for starters, anyway.

The point I was making is that the political damage was done prior to the attempt to reflate after the banking crisis.
Broon had already soiled himself by 2008, and was a busted flush leading into the 2010 election.

The events of 2008 led to the political opportunity for the austerity zealots to make claim on a new direction.

Johnson is defining himself outside the austerity frame, but re-basing the Tory Party on a new alignment, as you can see with the clean sweep of the old guard. Cummings has always been an advocate of changing the system, root and branch, to own the political culture going forward.

Sad thing is, it seems to be working, because some of the stuff they are doing is way beyond the pale, even in the recent past.

Take using the civil service as a blame sponge for the incompetents in Cabinet. Ministers are there NOT for ability, but for blind loyalty. Serve to be discarded, as soon as they cease to be useful cover.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Thanks Albie.

Kind of makes my point for me.

"Neoliberalism constituted a paradigm shift away from the post-war Keynesian consensus which had lasted from 1945 to 1980."

But Brown was always a Keynesian. Blair insisted with very seriously deleterious effect on public services, that we run a balanced budget in his first term. Brown won and internal battle to shelve that approach, and ran Govt deficits with positive impacts on growth pretty much every year after that. So I simply fail to see how he can be labelled "neoliberal" if the term is to be used in order to mean something, and not just as a scattergun insult.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Brown also, from 2001, massively increased Govt spending on education, health and transport. Again, I fail to see how that gels with the "Neo-liberal" tag.

[BobG]

Mmm Hound. Yes. And of the 41 years sinced 1979, all bar 13 have been Tory governments.  Are you claiming that the Conservative Party has been completely ineffective in the 70% of those 41 years that they have been in power?

BobG

[drfchound]

Mmm Hound. Yes. And of the 41 years sinced 1979, all bar 13 have been Tory governments.  Are you claiming that the Conservative Party has been completely ineffective in the 70% of those 41 years that they have been in power?

BobG

No Bob. I am not claiming anything.
You are putting your own thoughts into that.
Just in case you don’t know, I have no political party allegiance.

[belton rover]

Mmm Hound. Yes. And of the 41 years sinced 1979, all bar 13 have been Tory governments.  Are you claiming that the Conservative Party has been completely ineffective in the 70% of those 41 years that they have been in power?

BobG

No Bob. I am not claiming anything.
You are putting your own thoughts into that.
Just in case you don’t know, I have no political party allegiance.

Hound, one thing I learned very quickly on here, a while back, is that if you question many of the individuals on here, you are instantly tarred with the blue Tory brush.

Billy thinks I’m a Tory supporter because I expressed a wish not to dance on Margaret Thatcher’s grave, singing ‘ding dong, the witch is dead’.

[Filo]

Mmm Hound. Yes. And of the 41 years sinced 1979, all bar 13 have been Tory governments.  Are you claiming that the Conservative Party has been completely ineffective in the 70% of those 41 years that they have been in power?

BobG

No Bob. I am not claiming anything.
You are putting your own thoughts into that.
Just in case you don’t know, I have no political party allegiance.

Hound, one thing I learned very quickly on here, a while back, is that if you question many of the individuals on here, you are instantly tarred with the blue Tory brush.

Billy thinks I’m a Tory supporter because I expressed a wish not to dance on Margaret Thatcher’s grave, singing ‘ding dong, the witch is dead’.

I hated Thatcher with a passion, but what I’d give today to have her PM instead of the clown we do have