Reference:Bolton Fan
Well I was under the impression this was a worldwide problem, not just a British one so I think Gordon Brown played a part but certainly not to the degree the Tories are trying to imply! How could be be responsible for a global recession? Yes, my husband is MOD civilain staff and at the moment is in a job that may not last beyond next March so its not looking good for us
I agree. New Labour fell in love with capitalism and Thatcherite ideology to a certain extent and relished being the bankers' preferred government of choice. The light touch regulatory policy was as a result of the post-Thatcherite consensus that really did believe that as long as the city of London was attracting inward investment then the British economy could be a dynamic capitalist powerhouse of Europe. New Labour believed that we could run a robust, deregulated Thatcherite economy and channel the fruits of that economy into social welfare rather than tax cuts mainly for the rich.
In that sense IMO they ran capitalism better than the Tories. No one could have predicted that the banks would screw up as badly as they did and create the 'perfect storm'. Only around three years ago
experts were still speculating that house prices could double in five years but something had to give eventually.
The brakes should have been put on the economy before the property market became so overheated and the economy might have had a safer landing but the recession is global and there's little the government could have done to prevent most of it IMO. The thing is, we got caught out in the early 1990s recession for more or less the same reasons as we got caught out in this one.
The Tories never suggested dampening the economy nor did they suggest more City of London banking regulation. The Tories argued for even less regulation and more stimulus for the property market. Cameron can't say "we told you so" because they didn't.