The knives are out for Brown...

[Hom3r]

Originally Posted by Osem

Well it's nice to come across such well reasoned argument...

My point was not to offend, but state the tory have in the past screwed this country.

When I was first out of work, under the tory rules I wasn't unemployed so unable to get any benefit.

I would never vote for BNP .

[Scarlett]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

When I was first out of work, under the tory rules I wasn't unemployed so unable to get any benefit.

Under the labour rules I was told I am not unemployed (Nor have I been for the last 6 months apparently) so unable to get any benefit. (and even then it would only be stamp because my wife works 40 hours a week and I paid the 'wrong' type of NI (as opposed to the huge amount I paid in corporation tax))

They should just get rid of him and be done with it, the quick we have an election, the quicker someone can start digging us out of the mess that Brown and Co. got us into.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

My point was not to offend, but state the tory have in the past screwed this country.

When I was first out of work, under the tory rules I wasn't unemployed so unable to get any benefit.

I would never vote for BNP .

Well I'm glad you cleared that one up...

Of course there aren't almost 3m (officially, more unofficially) unemployed people out there right now who're suffering greatly.......

What gets me is that having come to power on a pledge to be better than the Tories they replaced, they've proven themselves just as bad and just as sleazy as the worst Tory fat cat. Evidently no matter how horrendous a state New Labour get this country into, it'll all be the fault of the Tories and you'll carry on voting for more of the same. If/when another party gets in power, I assume everything they inherit and all the tough decisions which have to be made will be their fault and nothing whatsoever to do with the inept bunch who preceded them and threw our money around like so much confetti. It's odd how your lessons from history refer back so vividly to Thatcher's time yet stall abruptly at 1997 and the appalling antics New Labour have been up to ever since.

[Dai]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

..but state the tory have in the past screwed this country.

And precisely what have Labour done for us recently that's any different?

At 41 you really should have developed a better perspective. It's all a game really. The (nasty) Tories get us back on track and balance the books so the country can actually pay it's way. Once we're back on an even keel the public get tired of living within their means and re-elect the (generous) Labour party, who then proceed to give generously to all and sundry until we're down on our uppers again. Wash, rinse, repeat..

Originally Posted by DaiNasty

And precisely what have Labour done for us recently that's any different?

At 41 you really should have developed a better perspective. It's all a game really. The (nasty) Tories get us back on track and balance the books so the country can actually pay it's way. Once we're back on an even keel the public get tired of living within their means and re-elect the (generous) Labour party, who then proceed to give generously to all and sundry until we're down on our uppers again. Wash, rinse, repeat..

You forgot the part where Tories under fund public services and Labour increase their funding drastically. Benefits to either and it depends on your outlook which you prefer. (Although it doesn't seem like there are many differences between them now).

I don't like it when someone gives a 'better perspective' when what they mean is 'my personal political view'. A better perspective would be a fair assessment of the two .

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

My point was not to offend, but state the tory have in the past screwed this country.

When I was first out of work, under the tory rules I wasn't unemployed so unable to get any benefit.

I would never vote for BNP .

You say the tories screwed this country, Pray tell what do you think Brown and his bunch of muppets have been doing the last 10 or so years ????.

Labour no chance i would sooner waste my vote on the Liberals

Originally Posted by Damien

You forgot the part where Tories under fund public services and Labour increase their funding drastically.

No he didn't - that was the part about balancing the books and making us live within our means, versus stealth taxes and cash splurged on the public sector.

[Dai]

Originally Posted by Damien

I don't like it when someone gives a 'better perspective' when what they mean is 'my personal political view'. A better perspective would be a fair assessment of the two .

I rather thought that *was* a fair assessment of the two. Personally I'd rather see a party in power that managed to find a halfway path between the two extremes. At the moment we're treading a path that cannot continue, simply because a country is no different to any family. You basically can't spend more than you earn. It's nice to have all the extra services but eventually it has to end in tears when the bills have to be paid.

As I said, a central path that could combine caring and financial responsibility would be the ideal but I fear that is too sensible for either party to ever embrace.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by DaiNasty

I rather thought that *was* a fair assessment of the two. Personally I'd rather see a party in power that managed to find a halfway path between the two extremes. At the moment we're treading a path that cannot continue, simply because a country is no different to any family. You basically can't spend more than you earn. It's nice to have all the extra services but eventually it has to end in tears when the bills have to be paid.

As I said, a central path that could combine caring and financial responsibility would be the ideal but I fear that is too sensible for either party to ever embrace.

I think it's more a question of unwilling than unable. Many continental countries manage better public services than the UK without being much richer. It does mean higher taxation particularly for higher earners. That will never happen in the UK though.

[Hom3r]

Well the only cabinet that these will ever work on will come from MFI.

Originally Posted by Chris

No he didn't - that was the part about balancing the books and making us live within our means, versus stealth taxes and cash splurged on the public sector.

It's a rather negative spin on it. If you look at the investment in Health Services across Europe we are still not near the levels of, say, France and that's after Labour poured vastly more money in. Labour may have taken one extreme in their spending but it seems the old Tories took the other extreme in their lack of spending.

Besides I don't think that's the case anymore. Labour know, admit it or not, that cuts need to be made in some places and the Tories know that the NHS must be well-funded and supported otherwise they will lose public support.

I don't much will change regardless of who will win (although Labour may well be paralysed and unable to do anything if they win).

[Osem]

I may have missed some of them of course but I don't recall hearing many ringing endorsements of Brown's leadership qualities. Milliband in particular damned Brown with extremely faint praise...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...tatement-brown

Yet there they all are pretending to be right behind the PM and lying to us all yet again. If only these people were as good at running the country as they are at being duplicitous...

[Flyboy]

Originally Posted by DaiNasty

And precisely what have Labour done for us recently that's any different?

Are you really just asking "recently," or the whole twelve years?

At 41 you really should have developed a better perspective. It's all a game really. The (nasty) Tories get us back on track and balance the books so the country can actually pay it's way. Once we're back on an even keel the public get tired of living within their means and re-elect the (generous) Labour party, who then proceed to give generously to all and sundry until we're down on our uppers again. Wash, rinse, repeat..

And how are they going to do "balance the books?"

Just like anyone else - spend the money on the priorities, and spend less on the lower priority things.

How are Labour intending to balance the books?

[Flyboy]

Originally Posted by Sirius

You say the tories screwed this country, Pray tell what do you think Brown and his bunch of muppets have been doing the last 10 or so years ????.

Labour no chance i would sooner waste my vote on the Liberals

Okay then, what have Labour being doing for the last ten years that was worse than what the Tories did, between nineteen seventy-nine and nineteen ninety-seven? Remember, of course, that the recession we are in is not solely down to policies followed by this government. In case you missed it, it was a world-wide thing.

---------- Post added at 20:44 ---------- Previous post was at 20:42 ----------

Originally Posted by foreverwar

Just like anyone else - spend the money on the priorities, and spend less on the lower priority things.

How are Labour intending to balance the books?

You mean like raisng the IHTthreshold for the rich?

How exactly will they "spend the money on the priorities?" Oh forgot, they don't know either.