[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by Livia

I know you think I'm stupid but I am actually not.

Yes there was a world-wide recession... and we were hit particularly hard in this country because the Labour government couldn't then, and have never been able to, balance the books.

Books were pretty balanced tbh before the global recession. Also banking crash would have hit us even harder had the Tories been in at the time as they actually wanted less regulation on the banks.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/...s-8601390.html

Spoiler:

The overall picture is of a pre-recession Labour government whose borrowing and spending were sustainable and a post-recession Labour government that made more or less the right moves to stave off an even more calamitous downturn.

This is not to say that Gordon Brown et al got everything right. The Labour government presided over an era of irresponsibility in UK banking. However, the numbers show that their approach to spending and borrowing was actually sound. The irony is that Labour gets a lot of criticism for a crime of which they are innocent (spending too much) and hardly any at all for one of which they are guilty (not regulating the banks).

Reckless government borrowing and spending can indeed pitch countries into an economic crisis. But to co-opt this narrative to explain the UK's current situation is economically illiterate. The striking figures on leverage in the UK banking system show that the ones taking historically unprecedented risks with their finances were not politicians, but banking chiefs.

Excessive government borrowing did not get us into this mess. Falsely believing that it does covers all manners of sins when it comes to government spending cuts. Understanding the real causes behind the recession frees our political conversation. No longer should we be arguing about how deep the cuts should be, but whether we should be cutting at all.

Borrowing more and spending more are not the kamikaze strategies the Government would have us think. More government borrowing and spending now won't make things worse. In fact, the numbers suggest, there's a good chance it's the only thing likely to make things any better.

It gets rather annoying seeing Labour be blamed for something that happened worldwide. As if Labour are that powerful

Only real criticism I have of Labour is the war. And thats not even a labour thing, its a Blair thing. And Blairs 'New Labour' was closer to the tories than anything tbh. Labour is finally left again IMO. Other criticism thinking about it is not building more social housing, as thats caused a lot of the problems we have today. Selling off council houses (hen not replacing them) was ridiculous, though not sure which party actually started that.