Obviously. I assume his next argument will be that Labour "overspent" and that's why the economy failed.

Well they did build up a deficit in boom years.

Since all governments run deficits, they were just following the likes of Maggie. Thus you should approve.

Not the Labour government from 1998 to 2001.

They did indeed.
To about the same level that the Major government left them with.


That's also true.
TBF the Conservative government also briefly ran a surplus 1988-89.

But, generally speaking, Mintball was correct.

She had the income from North Sea Oil (to begin with) and then the funds from selling-off British Gas, British Airways, British Aerospace, British Airports, BP, Britoil, Enterprise Oil, British Steel, the Docks, British Telecom, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls Royce (aero engines), Cable and Wireless, 10 Water Boards, Electricity generating, Electricity distribution and Amersham International ... plus more.

And still ran a deficit.

Well, it took a lot of money to create benefit dependency in entire communities.

On the deficits – taking your point. I also remember Sally C posting some really excellent stuff on how governments in general have run deficits. He also gave (or provided links to) stats etc. Unfortunately, I don't have them.

I do have a PowerPoint presentation by a specialist in local government on data or over a century plus, but I wouldn't have the first clue about how to host it somewhere. If I work it out, I'll post a link.

It's also always worth reminding some people (not you) that when Labour took office, there was a lot of disrepair in schools and hospitals that needed dealing with.

Yes it does. It was introduced by the last Labour government. HTH

What has Lehmann bros got to do with anything? There wasn't a global financial crisis.

The TUC collected information & PROJECTED what they THINK MAY happen. They did not gather then present actual facts.

Just another knee jerk reaction from the left to a cut in public spending.

The spare room subsidy is already in use in private housing, what's the issue with extending it to save taxpayers money?

Correct, well done you. Assert? Nope, I deal in facts, not emotive scare tactics

Brilliant.

Was there no North Sea Oil revenue pre Thatcher? If yes, what was it spent on? How much was it per annum?

What was the deficit pre Thatcher?

All these industries you mention. How profitable were they? What level of subsidy did they require? What were they worth? How much were they sold for? How do they compare now to then?

Unfortunately it doesn't matter what the facts are.

If a biased Sin Binner says something abut the economy it is true no matter what anyone else says. It doesn't matter if the Governor of the Bank of England disagrees, or the British Chamber of Commerce or anyone else that has vastly more knowledge and experience of the economy than said Sin Binner, Sin Binner is always correct.

After years of zero policies by Labour the first policy they come up with is to spend more on Welfare, you really couldn't make it up.

Edited for accuracy.

Thanks, but it's common sense really. Lehmann Bros didn't cause the financial crisis. There wasn't a global crisis either. HTH

Just imagine how simpler it all could have been if, as an example, interest rates had risen as they normally would to dampen borrowing & prevent the market overheating.

Which entire communities saw benefit dependency created? How was this achieved?

Brilliant, I'm going to start a thread about the holocaust and I want you to be my first contributor.

And there were no world wars either.

Who did cause the crisis if not banks taking unjustifiable risks with other people's money?
Oh yes, sorry, it was that nasty Gordon Brown wasn't it, who created the US housing bubble that burst and led to the need for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to be taken into Federal Ownership, it was Gordon Brown who lent immense sums in sub-prime mortgages across the US, it was Gordon Brown who packaged them up into financial instruments and sold them on, it was all his fault.
It was Gordon Brown who created property bubbles in Spain and Ireland.
It was all Gordon Brown's fault.

Except it wasn't ... and you and I both know it wasn't.

Gordon Brown was indeed guilty of not regulating the banks [usufficiently[/u in the UK ... but let us not forget that it was not he who deregulated the banks in the Big Bang. Let us also not forget that he was roundly criticised by the Tories that he was [uregulating too tightly[/u, the same Tories who, now in power, have done feck-all apart from a bit of cosmetic shuffling to improve that regulation.

You say there wasn't a global crisis ... I would agree that wasn't a crisis in global banking (i.e. only Western banking and institutions failed or needed bailing-out) ... but it was quite definitely global in its effects ... even China's growth rate was slowed by it as its greatest exports markets in the West bought less from them.


As you only deal in facts

would you care to expand on what you mean by "[iif, as an example, interest rates had risen as they normally would[/i".

Just that earlier you said, in one of your "facts", that Gordon Brown took control of interest rates away from the BoE.
I'm just wondering whether I dreamed the handing over of interest rate control TO the BoE, by Gordon Brown, back in 1997.
I am also wondering whether I dreamed the existence of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee and its regular meetings to decide the interest rate.

Tell me, oh mighty sage, when was that responsibility taken away from the Bank of England?


Oh, and could you let Mark Carney know, he thinks it's his job.

Don't be ridiculous, in 1997 he was only two years old how could he be expected to know any of that ?

You got any details of this global financial crisis? How many countries are there & how many were left in crisis by those nasty people at Lehmann Bros who seem to be the cause of absolutely everything. The Margaret Thatcher of the banking system?

I'll look out for it

I like you, you're very funny.

But every time you post something I think of this moment...



...and I like to think of you as being about the same age, and just as precocious - I'm right aren't I ?