Un-employment, crime, healthcare?
Unemployment is higher today (and rising) than in 1997 when it was falling. The recession of the early nineties was caused in large part by our membership of the
Exchange Rate Mechanism. This was supported by Labour and the Libs and we only went in against Thatcher's wishes - she was right!
Crime is perceived to be higher today (but we'll never know because nobody believes government statistics any more). The courts frequently dish out pathetic sentences to criminals whilst punishing people who defend their lives and property. And the police have to fill in endless forms instead of doing real work. If you get burgled today, all you'll likely get is a crime number - there's not much chance of fingerprints being taken etc. anymore.
The healthcare budget has increased by about 30% but the only real improvement is shortening of waiting lists. Whilst Labour would like to claim all the credit for this, the reality is that such things as improved surgical techniques account for much of this. And let's not forget just how bad hospital acquired infections got under a target-driven NHS that's been reorganised, on average, once every two years or so (and that's not cheap).
Let's also not forget that in 1997 we had an annual trade deficit of around £12 billion which is currently somewhere in the region of £50 billion (rather more I think). How long can that be supported? To put that in perspective, it means that the UK is spending about a thousand pounds more than it earns every year for every man woman and child.
By absolutely every meaningful measure, things are far worse today than in 1997. However, things seem better in large part because of improvements in technology that make our lives easier. Any improvements that this Government can claim credit for have been at vast expense and these improvements will vanish due to the need to reduce expenditure (whoever wins).
Gordon is fond of claiming that he saved us from a far worse recession. There may be some truth in this but he printed £200 billion and borrowed even more to achieve this - payback is inevitable. In reality, Gordon has merely spent all this money to postpone the worst effects until after the election.
There is much discussion about whether the UK will loose its Triple-A credit rating - this is rather nonsensical since we have already lost it in all but name. The last I heard, it cost three times as much to insure a loan to the UK against default as it does countries like Germany. If Gordon remains in power (with the help of the Libs) you can expect interest rates to go up to at least 7% fairly quickly and inflation will probably do the same. The pound will fall further and fuel prices will rise further.
Sadly, whilst all this is as clear as crystal to those of us that follow these things (and understand them) the Tories are hopeless at explaining this stuff and the Libs are more interested in opposing the Tories than the Government.
Kaled.
