What did Labour do for me when spanking all our money away?
Discussion
Serious question.
I was thinking last night that we as a country are in the sh!t together due to Labour's out of control spending, and so everybody should be bearing the pain of the cuts/higher taxes etc together too.
But, that got me thinking more: given that Labour spent soooooo much money while they were in power, where did I actually see the benefit of this spend? Some people must have but I honestly cannot think of anything they did to improve my life (I was 15 when Tony arrived) or that of my close family from what was present when the Tories were in power (And if there was no benefit for us why should I/we have to pay? But that is another question
)
I (nor any of my family) have never claimed benefits of any sort, so nothing doing there
My parents were retired (on private pensions and their own saved money i might add) etc by 1997, so no tax breaks etc that I am aware they benefited from
My parents didn't have faith in my local schools so forked out their hard earned to educate me in schools of their choosing
Ditto with healthcare, so everything over the odd (once every couple of years) trip to the GP was covered by health insurance they paid for
At uni i paid the fees like everyone else
As far as police/crime goes, we were lucky enough to not have any dealings with them
I'm genuinely struggling to see how they did anything for me. Is it really that bad or am I missing something? I'm not after a Labour bashing (as much fun as they can be), but some tangible thing i can put my finger on so that the sting of the next few years is reduced because I can think "if they hadn't spent eleventy billion, i would not have X"
I was thinking last night that we as a country are in the sh!t together due to Labour's out of control spending, and so everybody should be bearing the pain of the cuts/higher taxes etc together too.
But, that got me thinking more: given that Labour spent soooooo much money while they were in power, where did I actually see the benefit of this spend? Some people must have but I honestly cannot think of anything they did to improve my life (I was 15 when Tony arrived) or that of my close family from what was present when the Tories were in power (And if there was no benefit for us why should I/we have to pay? But that is another question
)I (nor any of my family) have never claimed benefits of any sort, so nothing doing there
My parents were retired (on private pensions and their own saved money i might add) etc by 1997, so no tax breaks etc that I am aware they benefited from
My parents didn't have faith in my local schools so forked out their hard earned to educate me in schools of their choosing
Ditto with healthcare, so everything over the odd (once every couple of years) trip to the GP was covered by health insurance they paid for
At uni i paid the fees like everyone else
As far as police/crime goes, we were lucky enough to not have any dealings with them
I'm genuinely struggling to see how they did anything for me. Is it really that bad or am I missing something? I'm not after a Labour bashing (as much fun as they can be), but some tangible thing i can put my finger on so that the sting of the next few years is reduced because I can think "if they hadn't spent eleventy billion, i would not have X"
Labour pissed away billions on the NHS but some of it did lead to improvements and reduced waiting times. The NHS was certainly underfunded under the Conservatives.
My small list of the good things labour did would be.
1. Let the Bank of England control interest rates.
2. Blair in the good friday agreement and involvement in Kosovo.
3. The cycle to work scheme.
4. Child tax credits.
My small list of the good things labour did would be.
1. Let the Bank of England control interest rates.
2. Blair in the good friday agreement and involvement in Kosovo.
3. The cycle to work scheme.
4. Child tax credits.
el stovey said:
Labour pissed away billions on the NHS but some of it did lead to improvements and reduced waiting times. The NHS was certainly underfunded under the Conservatives.
My small list of the good things labour did would be.
1. Let the Bank of England control interest rates.
2. Blair in the good friday agreement and involvement in Kosovo.
3. The cycle to work scheme.
4. Child tax credits.
Freedom of information act?My small list of the good things labour did would be.
1. Let the Bank of England control interest rates.
2. Blair in the good friday agreement and involvement in Kosovo.
3. The cycle to work scheme.
4. Child tax credits.
You can decide for yourself which of the following were worth having. A google returns the following:
Introduced the National Minimum Wage and raised it to £5.52.
4. Over 14,000 more police in England and Wales.
5. Cut overall crime by 32 per cent.
6. Record levels of literacy and numeracy in schools.
7. Young people achieving some of the best ever results at 14, 16, and 18.
8. Funding for every pupil in England has doubled.
9. Employment is at its highest level ever.
10. Written off up to 100 per cent of debt owed by poorest countries.
11. 85,000 more nurses.
12. 32,000 more doctors.
13. Brought back matrons to hospital wards.
14. Devolved power to the Scottish Parliament.
15. Devolved power to the Welsh Assembly.
16. Dads now get paternity leave of 2 weeks for the first time.
17. NHS Direct offering free convenient patient advice.
18. Gift aid was worth £828 million to charities last year.
19. Restored city-wide government to London.
20. Record number of students in higher education.
21. Child benefit up 26 per cent since 1997.
22. Delivered 2,200 Sure Start Children’s Centres.
23. Introduced the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
24. £200 winter fuel payment to pensioners & up to £300 for over-80s.
25. On course to exceed our Kyoto target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
26. Restored devolved government to Northern Ireland.
27. Over 36,000 more teachers in England and 274,000 more support staff and teaching assistants.
28. All full time workers now have a right to 24 days paid holiday.
29. A million pensioners lifted out of poverty.
30. 600,000 children lifted out of relative poverty.
31. Introduced child tax credit giving more money to parents.
32. Scrapped Section 28 and introduced Civil Partnerships.
33. Brought over 1 million social homes up to standard.
34. Inpatient waiting lists down by over half a million since 1997.
35. Banned fox hunting.
36. Cleanest rivers, beaches, drinking water and air since before the industrial revolution.
37. Free TV licences for over-75s.
38. Banned fur farming and the testing of cosmetics on animals.
39. Free breast cancer screening for all women aged between 50-70.
40. Free off peak local bus travel for over-60s.
41. New Deal – helped over 1.8 million people into work.
42. Over 3 million child trust funds have been started.
43. Free eye test for over 60s.
44. More than doubled the number of apprenticeships.
45. Free entry to national museums and galleries.
46. Overseas aid budget more than doubled.
47. Heart disease deaths down by 150,000 and cancer deaths down by 50,000.
48. Cut long-term youth unemployment by 75 per cent.
49. Free nursery places for every three and four-year-olds.
50. Free fruit for most four to six-year-olds at school.
Introduced the National Minimum Wage and raised it to £5.52.
4. Over 14,000 more police in England and Wales.
5. Cut overall crime by 32 per cent.
6. Record levels of literacy and numeracy in schools.
7. Young people achieving some of the best ever results at 14, 16, and 18.
8. Funding for every pupil in England has doubled.
9. Employment is at its highest level ever.
10. Written off up to 100 per cent of debt owed by poorest countries.
11. 85,000 more nurses.
12. 32,000 more doctors.
13. Brought back matrons to hospital wards.
14. Devolved power to the Scottish Parliament.
15. Devolved power to the Welsh Assembly.
16. Dads now get paternity leave of 2 weeks for the first time.
17. NHS Direct offering free convenient patient advice.
18. Gift aid was worth £828 million to charities last year.
19. Restored city-wide government to London.
20. Record number of students in higher education.
21. Child benefit up 26 per cent since 1997.
22. Delivered 2,200 Sure Start Children’s Centres.
23. Introduced the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
24. £200 winter fuel payment to pensioners & up to £300 for over-80s.
25. On course to exceed our Kyoto target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
26. Restored devolved government to Northern Ireland.
27. Over 36,000 more teachers in England and 274,000 more support staff and teaching assistants.
28. All full time workers now have a right to 24 days paid holiday.
29. A million pensioners lifted out of poverty.
30. 600,000 children lifted out of relative poverty.
31. Introduced child tax credit giving more money to parents.
32. Scrapped Section 28 and introduced Civil Partnerships.
33. Brought over 1 million social homes up to standard.
34. Inpatient waiting lists down by over half a million since 1997.
35. Banned fox hunting.
36. Cleanest rivers, beaches, drinking water and air since before the industrial revolution.
37. Free TV licences for over-75s.
38. Banned fur farming and the testing of cosmetics on animals.
39. Free breast cancer screening for all women aged between 50-70.
40. Free off peak local bus travel for over-60s.
41. New Deal – helped over 1.8 million people into work.
42. Over 3 million child trust funds have been started.
43. Free eye test for over 60s.
44. More than doubled the number of apprenticeships.
45. Free entry to national museums and galleries.
46. Overseas aid budget more than doubled.
47. Heart disease deaths down by 150,000 and cancer deaths down by 50,000.
48. Cut long-term youth unemployment by 75 per cent.
49. Free nursery places for every three and four-year-olds.
50. Free fruit for most four to six-year-olds at school.
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