'Sorry We Have Spent All The Money' - Labour's farewell letter

1. 93

   CMHypnoposted 8 years ago

   Probably the most honest thing anyone in the Labour government said in 13 years in power!
   
   http://bit.ly/9uMgYb

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      EmpressFelicityposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      LOL. I'm no fan of Labour but in fairness, our national debt has been growing for decades and is due in a large part to factors that are beyond party politics.

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      1. 93

         CMHypnoposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Trouble is no government has tried to reign in public spending in decades, and now we have a huge 'client' state of public employees, and benefit claimants who all expect to be paid.  But the private sector, who are expected to cough up for all this, is dwindling and tax receipts are going down.  It's time that wealth creation, business and job creation (real jobs) was encouraged and rewarded.

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         1. 71

            EmpressFelicityposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Exactly - if you look at what our national budget is actually spent on, by far the biggest slice of the pie is benefits/pensions. Not to mention the mushrooming number of meaningless public sector jobs (anyone want to work in Brighton as a teenage pregnancy reintegration officer?*) It worries me that somewhere down the line we're going to end up like Greece, going cap in hand to the IMF.
            
            
            
            *http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2003/ … s.politics

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            1. 93

               CMHypnoposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               'May you live in interesting times' was an old Chinese curse, and I think that we may be in for very interesting times in the UK

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      2. 67

         TMMasonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Unions and socail welfare programs?

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         1. 71

            EmpressFelicityposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            
            
            ...both of which might have been brought in by left wing governments, but they weren't dismantled when the "other side" was in office.  As this link
            
            http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/faq.html
            
            (which talks about US rather than UK national debt) shows, the debt trend has always been up, regardless of who's been in power.

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         2. 60

            Mark Knowlesposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Central banks. They sure do love the sheeple. Baaaaah! Attack the socialists! Baaaah! LOLOL

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   2. 83

      2uesdayposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      It should have had a postscript that said
      
      p.s.
      
      Do n't forget we sold off much of the gold reserves at rock bottom prices too.

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      1. 93

         CMHypnoposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I'm actually surprised that they left a desk behind to find the letter on!
         
         It remains to be seen if Camclegg can do any better!

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2. 77

   MikeNVposted 8 years ago

   What you mean you can't just borrow, tax and spend your way out of Economic Collapse?
   
   Has anyone told this to Obama?

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3. 87

   IzzyMposted 8 years ago

   Didn't Maggie sell off the family silver when she privatised our major industries?
   We can't have it  both ways - lower taxation and higher public spending. It's a difficult balancing act.
   Maggie reduced the higher rate of income tax from 83% (which OK was a bit ridiculous - but those with that kind of income paid accountants to get them out of it!) to what? 40%?
   But you know it's always been the case that higher paid workers paid less, and the middle and working classes paid more.
   Trouble with New Labour is that in a lot of ways they were more right wing than Maggie (and that's saying something!) Tony Blair should have been called TORY Blair! They kept taxes artificially low while sneaking in indirect taxation which hit the consumer more. This type of tax is insiduous, it treats everyone the same, no matter your income, so it actually cost the lower paid workers a lot more proportionately than the rich. Good socialist policies eh?
   If Britain is in trouble, why have they not shut the doors to the so-called asylum seekers who get housed, fed, educated and coddled until a decision is taken either way on whether or not asylum should be granted? These people crossed God knows how many countries in Europe to get to our shores. Was there no free assistance in the other countries? Probably not. But hey if their lives were in danger, that wouldn't have mattered.
   
   Anyway, what was the question again?

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4. 72

   Mishaposted 8 years ago

   Does not surprise me a tiny bit. More, long expected - and not only in Britain but all over the place. Eastern civilization is bankrupt...

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      figmentposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hey Misha! Did you check your email?

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         Mishaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         My last one to you was at 3:24 EST. I don't have anything from you since

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5. 81

   Uninvited Writerposted 8 years ago

   At least they were honest, unlike another former government...

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