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"
From fittser's post, i reckon the following have had a direct impact on my life so far:
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.
36. Cleanest rivers, beaches, drinking water and air since before the industrial revolution.
45. Free entry to national museums and galleries.
That's pretty slim pickings
ETA: and I haven't listed the many things on that list which I think directly impacted my life in a negative way or were a complete waste of everyone's time and money, which probably outline the number above 2 to 1
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.
36. Cleanest rivers, beaches, drinking water and air since before the industrial revolution.
45. Free entry to national museums and galleries.
That's pretty slim pickings
ETA: and I haven't listed the many things on that list which I think directly impacted my life in a negative way or were a complete waste of everyone's time and money, which probably outline the number above 2 to 1
Edited by Mario149 on Tuesday 1st February 13:11
Fittster said:
why with all his private sector upbringing he can't look the issue up himself I don't know
Haha! V good point! Thanks for posting the list, it was pretty much what I was after 
As an aside, maybe my private sector upbringing taught me that why do something yourself when you can get others to do it for you for free?!
Just teasing
Edited by Mario149 on Tuesday 1st February 13:19
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