Although I am not intending this to be anti labour political,- but how can Blair and Brown sleep at night knowing what they have done to this once great country. In the past we had the a top class motor industry, top class National Health, a top class Royal Navy, Military and Air force all of which have been decimated.
How many Billions of pounds have the PAIR cost us chasing the ' Weapons of Mass Destruction ' : how many young lives etc etc.
Please, please, please can someone remind us of some possible good either of the pair have done for the UK . . . . or even the world. I can not now recall all the promises the pair made to get elected but I sincerely hope someone can reveal any honest good the pair may have done for the United Knigdom. At the moment Gordon is letting Tony take all the blame but surely it is in their case a shared responsibility.
2007-02-08 05:00:35 · 18 answers · asked by Whistler R 5 in Politics & Government ➔ Government
I love Mojo's naive enthusiasm for all things Labour, but the reality is rather different.
Funding for the Health Service has been wasted on huge amounts of agency nurses, new tiers of management accountability and by employing contractors who do not come up to scratch. Waiting lists have been cut by sleight of hand for the most part and local hospitals closed in favour of "centres of excellence." Many hospital trusts are now severely in the red and the system is close to collpase.
The minimum-wage is a poor-relation to effective trade-union collective bargaining, and has become the target-figure to which employers now aim.
The Bank of England has overseen the biggest leap in personal debt in lving-history, and has been responsbile for failing to rein-in exscessive mortgage-lending; thus rendering property beyond the reach of many people. No recession.....yet.
Low interest rates have shadowed those in America, because there is no alternative when the major-players use high personal-credit as a means of boosting domestic consumption.
the tax-credit system is in complete disarray, due to it being over-complicated and unworkable.
There are less infants in the classrooms because there are now less infants.
There may be hundreds of new school-buildings, but in the rush to impose targets, the government has encouraged educational standards to fall dramatically, and now seems to want to impose the lowest common denominator on higher-education.
A sensible defence review whcih includes replacing Trident with expensive new hardware, whilst the military are short of basic-equipment?
I'm not certain what "Sure Start" is, unless it is to do with car-batteries.
Devolution is the Labour Party response to everything....no personal leadership meaning no personal responsibility, and a faith in the idea that politics is nothing better than a 6th form debating society. Mr Prescott dropped many of his plans in that direction; possibly because the cost/benefit relationship simply couldn't be justified.
The Northern Ireland Peace Process is something of an achievement, but of course, both Northern and Souther Ireland are now members of the EU, and must be seen to comply with EU legislation. EU money has probably done more than anything to bring negotiations about.
More police officers? We now have a lot of community-officers, a lot more funding for specialist departments playing on computers rather than policing the streets.
The "positive approach to Third World Debt" probably has it's origins in Scottish Presbyterianism, and a desire by the predominantly Scottish leaders of Britain's parliament to get re-elected..
The Labour Government had little option but to equalise the age of consent, due to human rights issues and the threat of action in the European Courts. It is, of course, a good thing, but not one that the Labour Party can rightly take the credit for. The real action came from "Stonewall" and visible protest.
Civil Partnerships have probably been a victory for the Labour Party, and one which has gone through smoothly by and large.
The House of Lords has proved to be the one moderating influence on so many bad pieces of proposed legislation, and yet the Labour Party has sought to undermine it, simply because it has challenged the government.
Proportional Representation for some elections may be a good idea, but I can't actually say what they are, so I cannot offer a view..
The EU Social Chapter is probably a good thing overall, but it does increase expense to business, and does tend to encourage enterpreneurs to move labour abroad, to places where no such legislation exists. The adoption of the charter is also the main reason for the massive and unexpected influx of migrant workers, which is both good and bad. Bad in the short-term, but probably good in the long-term. As usual, the government were taken by surprise.
I am quite an enthusiast for Europe, so I have welcomed better relationships with Brussels, but that probably hasn't brought any great benefits to the UK, and may yet undermine the workings of the vitally important financial and banking sectors.
Social housing is largely an admission of failure, which results from excessive house-prices; thus pusjing up the cost of privately-rented accomodation. Labour have made a total mess of housing, by permitting speculation to distort the market.
The railways have been a cinderella industry for decades, and require a virtually bottomless pit of money and public subsidy. In all other respects, goverment transport policy has proved to be ineffective and unworkable.
Labour may have outlawed fox and stag hunting, but fox-hunting continues and the government do not seem to take it very seriously.
The NHS was probably better run in the 1950's, when local hospitals took pride in their work, and in which the management structure worked to the benefit of patients.
Our economy appears superficially stable, yet we are in a state of decline in industrial and production terms. The stability is possibly more to do with gearing taxation to the goal of full-employment, which takes money out of general circulation, and re-invests it in the expansionist Keynesian belief of stimulating growth by means of public-spending.
England still has a first-class motor-industry, but the first-class designers now work for foreign companies abroad. The residue of that engineering and production pedigree is demonstrated day in and day out on the race-tracks of world motor-sport, where British design totally dominates.
2007-02-08 12:02:43 · answer #1 · answered by musonic 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
They've made a royal mess of it - too many prohibitions, too many laws, too many regulations - making the Home Office just break down with the strain and unnecessary complication of it.
They have just taxed and spent and now the money is all gone and the country gets steadily more uncompetitive.
Living costs have gone through the roof - as they stealth taxed their way through to offset their wasteful and indulgent spending.
They've had a whale of a time spending our money on all of their daft schemes! So much for our pension system - it used to be one of the best - Gordon Brown has been off with the pensioners money though.
It is alright for them though and the people whose votes they bought with public sector jobs and pensions which are just bankrolled by the state!
In other words the unfunded liabilities that they have created that will be a burden on the state for the next 50 years!
2007-02-09 21:23:53 · answer #2 · answered by LongJohns 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I completly disagree with the rantings of 'Mojo'.
We now have a Armed Forces that cannot do the job they are supposed to do because of lack of funds from the Government.
More Police Officers. More crime and red tape.
Positive approach to third world debt. Wipw it all clean and then give more money - regardless of where its going to go. Hardley any of it will reach the actual needy. Most of it will go to curropt cronies.
Civil Partnerships - undermining the family unit.
Pondered to every EU leader - giving more and more power and money to the unelected EU.
Other things which Labour has messed up.
- Dumbed down education.
- Messed up the Prison service
- Corruption, gay sex on Clapham common. Cash for peerages.
- Crime up.
- Introduced the Human Rights bill.
- Transport.
- 64 new taxes by stealth.
- Underfunded our armed forces.
- Teenage pregancies at an all time high.
- Created Asbo's which are now a status symbol rather than a deterent.
- Made Britian the Binge drinking capital of the world.
- Created Multiculturism or rather created more Islamic terrosits.
-Pumped Billions into the NHS only to waste 2 / 3 rds of it ans still have ward closures, and unclean MRSA infested hospitals.
-Wasted Billions on Quangos and image consultants.
-Stolen millions of pensions from Working men and women.
- Thatcher took the milk of the kids. Blair went a thousand times further and charged students to go to Uni, now many leave date thousands of pounds in debt.
- Mass immigration.
Should I go on. Musonic is right. Mojo you are very very wrong.
2007-02-09 07:40:44 · answer #3 · answered by Nelson 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I think that they have done good in some areas and bad in others like all previous bodies of power. As a Londoner i think that certain things affect me. The health service is not what it was originally set out to be. It is overwhelmed by funding in wrong areas and it cannot cope with the population growing as it is. These people of power have not controlled the influx of immagrants and that has left the rest of us having to make do with what the NHS has time for. This country is easy and a gift to anyone that wants it. It is time to shut our gates and tighten up our security before we have cant cope. Culture isn't everything.
2007-02-08 14:26:03 · answer #4 · answered by stevecgfb 1 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Funding for the NHS has increased: more and better paid doctors and nurses, waiting lists cut.
the minimum wage.
Independence for the Bank of England to set interest rates - no recessions in the last 10 years.
Low interest rates.
Child Tax credits, Working Families Tax Credits.
Smaller infant class sizes.
Hundreds of new school buildings.
Sensible defence review to restructure our Cold War based military towards the new world order.
Sure Start.
Devolution.
Northern Ireland Peace Process.
More police officers.
Positive approach to Third World Debt.
Equalised the age on consent.
Civil Partnerships.
Started to reform House of Lords.
Introduced Proportional Representation for some elections.
Adopted the Social Chapter.
Engaged positively in the EU.
Enabled a much needed social housing construction programme after years on inertia.
tried to sort out the mess of rail privatisation.
outlawed fox and stag hunting
I'll probably think of some more in a minute. But can you tell us:
1. when the NHS was ever better than it is now.
2. when was our economy ever this stable?
3. when did we ever have a first class motor industry?
2007-02-08 13:11:55 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋
Ficking starting me off aint ya. I am so ficked off with this Blair and all the others, I've ad enough. They've screwed the country and the people. Do they care... Nah, cause they don't have to struggle like the normal people. b.a.s.t.a.r.d.s. I can't think of anything great or good this government has done, unless you're a sadist of course.
2007-02-11 19:57:12 · answer #6 · answered by Curious39 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ive just read david miliband`s reply ,sorry i mean mojo,after a right good laugh(i had to bring the wife in to read it to)i had to read it again and i have come to the conclusion that mojo lives in the same UK as the Govornment whilst the rest of us "plebs" live in the real world.Tony Blair has taken this country back 100 years and big sulking Gordon is guilty of being a political coward,not the right credentials for a UK PM.
2007-02-08 16:24:36 · answer #7 · answered by bigplops 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
They gave Britain the minimum wage, they made the Bank Of England independent, they gave the NHS a most needed cash injection and reduced waiting lists. They did everything they could to make sure public services were not under-resourced. Unfortunately the war in Irak has made all this pale into insignificance.
2007-02-08 13:20:12 · answer #8 · answered by Helios100 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Not only have they not done any good, on the contrary, they have destroyed it. They, and the meat heads who voted them in. Sorry, but this is too important an issue to afford any politeness to these people.
2007-02-08 15:26:26 · answer #9 · answered by Veritas 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
No good at all in the final analysis.
2007-02-08 16:53:40 · answer #10 · answered by K. Marx iii 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋