Tories borrow more on average than Labour

[Feedback]

Isn't this more to do with the fact we had a deficit of 157bn in 2009 which, when the Tories came took office in 2010, meant the debt was always going to rise rapidly until the deficit was brought under control?

[Rjk]

Isn't this more to do with the fact we had a deficit of 157bn in 2009 which, when the Tories came took office in 2010, meant the debt was always going to rise rapidly until the deficit was brought under control?

Is that the defecit that the Tories said they would get rid of within 4 years.
8 years later and we are still 4 years away from achieving that and they have laid waste to our public services in the meantime.

[LordKenwyne]

This exact article is dragged up all the time.

It is pointless really. The economy is never a level playing field. It is never the same.

A comment under it:

In your analysis you acknowledge that whoever was in power post 2008 was going to have to borrow more. You also acknowledge that this would distort the results of your analysis and adjust the data to make for a fairer comparison.

However the conservatives were in power for most of the post WWII (1951-1964) rebuilding period. Another period when whoever was in power would also have had to borrow lots. How come you have made no attempt to adjust for this? The impact of rebuilding the country post WWII will have had an impact on government borrowing that was very similar in magnitude to the Global Financial Crisis.

Doesn’t this possibly lead to the classic mistake of assuming correlation = causation. The Tories happened to have been in power when the economy required massive amounts of government borrowing, rather than the Tories being a party of higher government borrowing.

[the other bob wilson]

This exact article is dragged up all the time.

It is pointless really. The economy is never a level playing field. It is never the same.

A comment under it:

In your analysis you acknowledge that whoever was in power post 2008 was going to have to borrow more. You also acknowledge that this would distort the results of your analysis and adjust the data to make for a fairer comparison.

However the conservatives were in power for most of the post WWII (1951-1964) rebuilding period. Another period when whoever was in power would also have had to borrow lots. How come you have made no attempt to adjust for this? The impact of rebuilding the country post WWII will have had an impact on government borrowing that was very similar in magnitude to the Global Financial Crisis.

Doesn’t this possibly lead to the classic mistake of assuming correlation = causation. The Tories happened to have been in power when the economy required massive amounts of government borrowing, rather than the Tories being a party of higher government borrowing.

Spoken like a true Tory Chancellor .

[LordKenwyne]

Spoken like a true Tory Chancellor .

What the truth?.

On a side note, someone I know was talking about "what if" a labour victory on the weekend.

Whether it would be good or bad long term I don't know, but imagine the state of the £ that morning.

I looked at tickets for an event on a holiday I am due to go on in the summer. 75 euros it costs. Comes out to over 60 pound sterling. Jesus wept!.

[Feedback]

Is that the defecit that the Tories said they would get rid of within 4 years.
8 years later and we are still 4 years away from achieving that and they have laid waste to our public services in the meantime.

it sure is the same deficit. this just goes to show how wildly inaccurate such forecasts can be and when faced with a general election, voters should give such predictions limited weight.