The Conservative Party

[Len Rum]

Sorry but you're talking crap. The deficit was never £2bn in 2015, it was more like £80bn:

In the calendar year 2015, the UK government deficit was £81.7 billion, equivalent to 4.4% of GDP; a decrease of £23.4 billion compared with 2014. This represents the lowest annual deficit (as a percentage of GDP) since the calendar year 2007 when it was 2.9% of GDP (£44.5 billion).​

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/gove...debtanddeficitforeurostatmaast/julytosept2016

Here's how the Tories have been reducing the deficit:

Note the crock of crap they were handed, and what we've spent the last 10 years trying to sort out.

Three small points which might improve your analysis.
1. It's probably worth mentioning the global financial crash which caused the 2010 deficit.
2. The Tories were meant to eliminate the deficit by 2015 and then move into surplus and as you can see from your graph they failed and failed miserably ( hence why total debt currently stands at 1.8tn compared to 1.2tn had they achieved their surplus plan).
3. It's puzzling given their failure in achieving their key economic goal of eliminating the deficit by 2015, that four more years down the line of continuing this failure they now intend to slam everything into reverse and have a borrowing binge.
Hope this helps.

 

[jay_mcfc]

You're getting a lot wrong with you're blinkered posts.

And you're contributing nothing, as always. Have a nice day, Darren.

 

[Fame Monster]

Well three things.

1. WTF were Labour doing running a persistent deficit throughout a period of very strong worldwide (and UK) growth from 2002 to 2007? Fucking madness. If they couldn't get the deficit under control in times of plenty, they were NEVER going to get it under control.

2. And this mismanagement of the economy was from one of the most economically prudent Labour parties we've seen in the last 50 years. The hard left Labour governments have all been much worse.

3. According to the ONS, the deficit for the year ending March 2019 was was £25.5 billion, equivalent to 1.2% of GDP

In summary, you're still talking crap.

A lot of the money Labour spent was going on public services. Something you said that we need to spend money on if we're going to reduce the strain that immigration and more people puts on our public services. I don't understand how you could criticise over-spending today, but under-spending yesterday?

 

[Banned Tosspot]

And you're contributing nothing, as always. Have a nice day, Darren.

You too Jason x

 

[Chippy_boy]

A lot of the money Labour spent was going on public services. Something you said that we need to spend money on if we're going to reduce the strain that immigration and more people puts on our public services. I don't understand how you could criticise over-spending today, but under-spending yesterday?

I get your point, and let me respond to it in broad terms. My comment about planning to ensure our infrastructure could cope with projected numbers was not a party-political one. We should have been planning for this for the past 30 years. Also, it's about priorities and what we should/should not be spending our money on. And yes also in the final analysis sometimes you just don't have the money available, and things will be tough. No-one would argue that the last 10 or 11 years have not been tough whilst we've been trying to get the deficiit down. Now it is down, hopefully we can start to reinvest again.

 

[Chippy_boy]

1- Your own graph shows the Cons early 90's as running a similar or worse deficit to most of the Blair years. Labour invested in the welfare state and public funding. Some deficit is controlable and acceptable, as John Major shows.

2- Yawn.

3- Keep up to date, March is old news.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50137772
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...pound-euro-dollar-boris-johnson-a9165971.html

You might well yawn mate, but if you opened your mind instead of drinking in the Labour clap trap all the time, you mind begin to understand why Labour ALWAYS fucks up the economy and ALWAYS leaves office with more people unemployed than when they came into power.

It's the easiest thing in the world to appeal to people by just spending more on them. That's what Labour do, every time. They inherit a reasonable (or good) economic backdrop, spend, spend, tax, spend, tax, tax, tax and spend and fuck the whole thing up. Then Tories come in and sort the shit out, making cuts and generally being unpopular. Usually they just about get us back on track and then Labour come in and fuck it up all over again.

 

[Chippy_boy]

Hope this helps.

It really doesn't.

 

[jay_mcfc]

You might well yawn mate, but if you opened your mind instead of drinking in the Labour clap trap all the time, you mind begin to understand why Labour ALWAYS fucks up the economy and ALWAYS leaves office with more people unemployed than when they came into power.

It's the easiest thing in the world to appeal to people by just spending more on them. That's what Labour do, every time. They inherit a reasonable (or good) economic backdrop, spend, spend, tax, spend, tax, tax, tax and spend and fuck the whole thing up. Then Tories come in and sort the shit out, making cuts and generally being unpopular. Usually they just about get us back on track and then Labour come in and fuck it up all over again.

You really should go for that job I mentioned yesterday.

Deficit already expected to be at 50bn by year end, debt 1.7 trillion and with Brexit, 40 new hospitals, raising the minimum wage and 10,000 new police officers (and new stations) I cannot wait to see your graphs in 2023.

 

[Ifwecouldjust.......]

Can I borrow that graph for the next time my kids ask me why I vote Tory? ;)

As long as you tell them that they stole 5 years worth of pensions from women and also trousered the contributions made to state pension of every one who dies before retirement age .... then yes

 

[Chippy_boy]

You really should go for that job I mentioned yesterday.

Deficit already expected to be at 50bn by year end, debt 1.7 trillion and with Brexit, 40 new hospitals, raising the minimum wage and 10,000 new police officers (and new stations) I cannot wait to see your graphs in 2023.

You still haven't understood the debt/deficit thing, have you. (Or else why do you keep mentioning the debt?)

And we'll have to see. The Tories are the party of financial prudence and will cut our suit to fit the cloth. Unlike your lot.

 

[Ban-jani]

You might well yawn mate, but if you opened your mind instead of drinking in the Labour clap trap all the time, you mind begin to understand why Labour ALWAYS fucks up the economy and ALWAYS leaves office with more people unemployed than when they came into power.

It's the easiest thing in the world to appeal to people by just spending more on them. That's what Labour do, every time. They inherit a reasonable (or good) economic backdrop, spend, spend, tax, spend, tax, tax, tax and spend and fuck the whole thing up. Then Tories come in and sort the shit out, making cuts and generally being unpopular. Usually they just about get us back on track and then Labour come in and fuck it up all over again.

Again, I know we constantly go on about this but from 1997-2007 unemployment went down. The global financial crash ensured that going up to 2010 for unemployment figures, is an unfair and inaccurate way of judging their policy results.

 

[Saddleworth2]

As long as you tell them that they stole 5 years worth of pensions from women and also trousered the contributions made to state pension of every one who dies before retirement age .... then yes

Pity the poor men of Blackpool whose life expectancy is almost exactly the same as the planned Tory pensionable age.

 

[Chippy_boy]

As long as you tell them that they stole 5 years worth of pensions from women and also trousered the contributions made to state pension of every one who dies before retirement age .... then yes

You SERIOUSLY have the bare faced cheek to criticise the Tories for "stealing 5 years worth of pensions..." Seriously???

The Office for Budget Responsibility has provided an insight into the impact of Gordon Brown’s 1997 tax grab on pensions through the abolition of the tax credit on dividends. The extra income for the exchequer is expected to be £9.7bn this year. From July 1997 to 2014 the Treasury enjoyed a £117.9bn boost. So that is almost £118bn that has not been invested in pensions since 1997.
A back-of-a-matchbox calculation suggests investors may have lost £230bn with investment growth.

https://www.ftadviser.com/2014/05/0...ions-raid-WTQAjLW5DSRp9HUxwNZN7K/article.html

That article was 5 years ago. The amount stolen is even higher now.

 

[Ifwecouldjust.......]

You SERIOUSLY have the bare faced cheek to criticise the Tories for "stealing 5 years worth of pensions..." Seriously???

The Office for Budget Responsibility has provided an insight into the impact of Gordon Brown’s 1997 tax grab on pensions through the abolition of the tax credit on dividends. The extra income for the exchequer is expected to be £9.7bn this year. From July 1997 to 2014 the Treasury enjoyed a £117.9bn boost. So that is almost £118bn that has not been invested in pensions since 1997.
A back-of-a-matchbox calculation suggests investors may have lost £230bn with investment growth.

https://www.ftadviser.com/2014/05/0...ions-raid-WTQAjLW5DSRp9HUxwNZN7K/article.html

That article was 5 years ago. The amount stolen is even higher now.

You're talking about Private pensions ... im talking state

 

[Chippy_boy]

Again, I know we constantly go on about this but from 1997-2007 unemployment went down. The global financial crash ensured that going up to 2010 for unemployment figures, is an unfair and inaccurate way of judging their policy results.

I know, it's just something I find quite amusing about the *Labour* party. In reality the world-wide economic backdrop plays a huge part in the fortunes of any government and Blair was fortunate enough to preside during a period of strong world-wide economic growth, which certainly helped him. And he was one of the eminently more "sensible" Labour PM's. Certainly the most successful. Which makes his vilification by the lefties even more ironic. He just never wore a donkey jacket nor yelled "Out brothers out". That was his downfall.

 

[Chippy_boy]

You're talking about Private pensions ... im talking state

The point stands. It is galling to hear someone criticise the Tories for stealing money from pensioners, when Brown was the very worst of the lot.

 

[Ban-jani]

I know, it's just something I find quite amusing about the *Labour* party. In reality the world-wide economic backdrop plays a huge part in the fortunes of any government and Blair was fortunate enough to preside during a period of strong world-wide economic growth, which certainly helped him. And he was one of the eminently more "sensible" Labour PM's. Certainly the most successful. Which makes his vilification by the lefties even more ironic. He just never wore a donkey jacket nor yelled "Out brothers out". That was his downfall.

I think a lot of the hatred comes from the fact that he was able to heavily invest in public services, kept the economy strong and improved living standards, all at the same time, using a capitalist system.

The resent him for that and for doing it in what they think is their name (Labour).

 

[Chippy_boy]

I think a lot of the hatred comes from the fact that he was able to heavily invest in public services, kept the economy strong and improved living standards, all at the same time, using a capitalist system.

The resent him for that and for doing it in what they think is their name (Labour).

I can well imagine that does stick in the craw for someone convinced such policies are evil. Personally, I could tolerate Blair, him being "Labour lite". Nevertheless he and brown did tax and spend too much IMO. Running a decifit in the early 2000's was unforgivable.

 

[Ban-jani]

I can well imagine that does stick in the craw for someone convinced such policies are evil. Personally, I could tolerate Blair, him being "Labour lite". Nevertheless he and brown did tax and spend too much IMO. Running a decifit in the early 2000's was unforgivable.

I don’t wish to go over old ground and I do have criticisms of that government too but I agree mostly with their economic policies. It was sustainable and they wanted to improve livelihoods but anyway it’s besides the point of the thread and we’ve been over this and just disagree.

 

[jay_mcfc]

I can well imagine that does stick in the craw for someone convinced such policies are evil. Personally, I could tolerate Blair, him being "Labour lite". Nevertheless he and brown did tax and spend too much IMO. Running a decifit in the early 2000's was unforgivable.

It’s like major world events just go over your head. Looking at your graphs Labour eradicated the deficit in the late 90’s but then something must have happened, maybe 2001/2002. Any idea?