Chancellor Philip Hammond challenged the UK public, during his ‘Spring Statement’, to
Judge me by my record.
Mr Hammond should be careful what he wishes for.
When Labour entered government in 1997, it inherited a national debt of around £350bn. After thirteen years of Labour government, according to Office for National Statistics figures, at the end of the 2009-10 financial year just before the Tories moved into Downing Street, the debt had risen by just over £700 billion.
Sounds bad, right? But this figure includes the cost of bailing out the UK’s banks to prevent their collapse during the huge, global financial crisis.
That cost? £850 billion.
In other words, during thirteen years of government, including a period of huge investment in the NHS that took the health service to record performance and patient-satisfaction levels, Labour reduced the ‘ordinary’ national debt by around one hundred and fifty billion pounds – or around forty-three percent of the Tory ‘mess they inherited’.
In less than half that time – up to the end of the 2016-17 financial year, during a period of draconian cuts to benefits and our social infrastructure – and resource-starvation that has pushed our NHS into a state of collapse and have sent A&E performance to its worst levels ever in spite of the advance cancellation of over fifty thousand operations in January – the Tories made took not a single pound off our national debt.
On the contrary, they added almost £700 billion to it:
And let’s not forget that ‘Spreadsheet Phil’ once told the BBC ‘There are no unemployed people‘ – and reeled off stats to a heartbroken nurse in anguish about being able to feed her family:
Painful listening to out of touch Hammond robotically citing stats at this nurse worrying about feeding her family. https://t.co/4Esm4ZAfl6
— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) May 17, 2017
And Hammond has just taken back over £800 million that was supposed to be spent building affordable homes.
How’s that record looking now, Phil?
Comment:
In thirteen years of government, Labour invested billions of pounds more in the NHS, set up Sure Start centres for children and conducted a massive investment programme in our national fabric – and reduced the underlying national debt by almost half.
In half that time, while cutting everything they could get their hands on and degrading everything from our healthcare to our road services to our humanity, the Tories increased the debt by about seventy percent – and were so incompetent that they had to cancel or push back their promised financial performance milestones.
And all Hammond can offer now is misdirection, bluff and bluster about ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. It’s not a tunnel, Phil – it’s a pit.
Judge you by your record? Yes, we’ll take that bet.
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In addition, due to the 2008 economic crisis private investment fell significantly. This gap was filled by Gordon Brown’s borrowing which, within 2 years of the worst economic crisis in modern history, delivered 1.7% growth.
Under the Tory government, 10 years after the crisis, growth is projected to be less than 1.7% for the next three years.
At the same time the national debt is fast approaching £2 trillion.
These statistics indicate that austerity has restricted economic growth and exponentially increased the national debt.
These trade figures tend to show that Britain is not booming.
Office of National Statistics
Main points
Things you need to know about this release
The total UK trade deficit widened by £3.4 billion to £8.7 billion in the three months to January 2018
The widening of the trade in goods deficit was due to increases in imports and decreases in exports, from and to non-EU countries, in the three months to January 2018
The total UK trade deficit widened by £3.4 billion to £8.7 billion in the three months to January 2018
The figures for ten year period can be obtained here:
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/balance-of-trade
Just click on the relevant button from 1yr to 10 years.
We have trade deficts going all the way back to Thatcher’s years where she decimated our manufacturing base.
Anyone considering voting labour in the future ought to take considerable notice at how many labour mps sided with the TreasonMay government in Russia bashing yesterday and are still calling for sanctions against Russia, banning Rt and not going to the world cup – these vile hypocrites are no better than tories and make up a large proportion of current labour so-called but not that obvious opposition. They are appalling and continue to hinder any progress toward ousting the present dictatorship – something that needs doing pretty quickly before the country disappears up its own arse
Is Hammond’s most effective argument for austerity, “we mustn’t burden our children with our generation’s debt?”
It’s clearly a crock but presumably it appealed on an emotional level to focus groups.
There are more than enough counter-arguments to convince anyone able to weigh actual facts but convincing the rest might take a similarly emotive soundbite.
If I wasn’t completely lacking in emotion (every ex-partner can’t be wrong) I might be able to think of something more than a list of all the other burdens the Tories are creating for this generation and all those to come.
Anybody?
Entirely a smoke screen for the public, to take their minds off Brexit and a complete cockup “MAY’S” making of it!
If this had been an attack on the public the perpetrators would be behind bars by now!
Instead, we get “MAY’S GOVERNMENT”, pussyfooting about with the ifs and ands, taking a whole week before telling the general public in Samlesbury to wash their clothes!
Then, the fiasco from the right, condemning their leader Jeremy, because he’s taking a diplomatic approach, not a kneejerk one!
Those on the right in our party (on the back benches) would love!
Watched DP earlier, with Jack Straw and one of the above, both of em having a go, with all the bollocks Straw dropped, you would think he would keep his trap shut!