Quote:
Originally Posted by jfman
It’s been nearly ten years. By that rationale everything that happened in the period you describe is a hangover for the Major years. Which, as you know, is an utterly ridiculous notion.
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The policies of the Major years resulted in Labour starting off by continuing to reduce the deficit and paying off the national debt. Until they ripped those spending plans apart and went on a big spending splurge, eg extra £20bn/year on Welfare by 2006. Before 2002 and the ripping up of spending plans, welfare spending was either going down or remaining fairly stable. It can't have been unemployment related because at that time the economy was supposedly doing well.
Just look at the graphs.
Spending on tax credits alone shot up after 2002. The local Housing Allowance rules of 2008, were too generous, and allowed landlords to up their rents and know Housing Benefit would still cover it. The HB spending shot up after 2008.