Did the last Labour government leave this country in a financial mess ?

At least the country was kept out of the Euro , full marks all round on that issue

Twice in the past 36 years, Labour has left the country close to bankruptcy through its economic and social illiteracy. Will it be 3rd time (un)lucky? God forbid.

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Originally Posted by Mick the Miller wrote on Mon, 13 April 2015 19:32

Croesy Blue wrote, on Mon, 13 April 2015 19:50

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With accompanying arguments either way please.

What are your views on the handling of the economy in 1992 ?
This is a question for you jackrabbit

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Originally Posted by Mabinogion wrote on Mon, 13 April 2015 16:25

given the state of the economy I'm not sure the Conservatives would have adopted a different tack either.

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Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee wrote on Mon, 13 April 2015 16:23

They said at the time they endorsed Labour's spending plans.

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Originally Posted by The Local Boy wrote on Mon, 13 April 2015 15:59

I think that whichever party ends up in a coalition government for the next 5 years they'll spend similar amounts. This whole idea that the Tories will slash everything or Labour will spend too much is far fetched from both sides.

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It's like comparing chalk and chalk in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by jackrabbit wrote on Mon, 13 April 2015 20:54

Twice in the past 36 years, Labour has left the country close to bankruptcy through its economic and social illiteracy. Will it be 3rd time (un)lucky? God forbid.

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This time we've had the rich boys squeeze.

Yes they over spent , and lots of it was hidden in PFI schemes (thanks to Gordon Brown and Balls)

The problem is the money has been spent - and what is now impossible to fix is getting the yearly deficit down.

If that doesnt come down - then the Govt ends up borrowing more - and that also means more interest to pay each year - rather than spending it on things we would all prefer - education , transport, health , welfare etc.

Trying to dig ourselves out of this mess is just about impossible. The only way to increase the tax take (without fecking the economy) is to grow the economy and the only way you can do that is by exporting to other countries.

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Originally Posted by purple haze2 wrote on Mon, 13 April 2015 15:35

Did Labour leave this country in a financial mess ?

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I can't see how anyone can suggest that the entire term of the previous Labour Government was something associated with overspending. Gordon Brown run a surplus for longer than any other post war Chancellor.

Ray

That's a little disingenuous as the UK was on its way to surplus in 1997 - the hard work turning the economy around had already been done.

During the first term labour showed fiscal restraint but from 2002 onwards they abandoned such fiscal conservatism And as a result the government wasn't as able as it could hAve been when the downturn arrived.

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Originally Posted by The Local Boy wrote on Mon, 13 April 2015 21:43

Ray

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My own personal view is that the state did get too big under the latter years of the Labour Government - and it is this rather than the levels of debt that cause me more concern about any potential Labour Government under Miliband.

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Originally Posted by Jimmy Jimmy wrote on Mon, 13 April 2015 21:20

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Well done jimmy , keep it up.