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Gordon Brown, Labour party & Government

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
What should PM Gordon Brown do?

How can Gordon Brown save the Labour party? some respect him for soldiering on despite all the bad words said, others say Labour needs a new leadership, and then who reckons the country needs a general election and possibly the Conservative party in government?

Labour has been the ruling party for 12 years now, very popular at first but deeply unpopular recently. London is one of the last strongholds for Labour and with local elections there in May 2010, should Gordon Brown wait till next May or call an early general election?

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hey it doesnt matter how god a government are, they all go stale after a while. People think its time for change and the way things are looking at the minute, unless the conservatives get involved in some big scandle, I dont think Labour are going to win at the next election. It might be a lot more tighter than people might think, but still doesnt bode well for labour.

    What is interesting, despite the mass cock ups that labour have overseen, the bad times and the mistakes, they still did some good for some people. Im not supporting the labour party by posting this, but its more of a reminder than when things are going right, people dont care in politics, so you are never too sure of what public opinion really is like. When it goes wrong, everyone seems to be an expert.

    Introduced the National Minimum Wage and raised it to £5.35
    Record police numbers in England, Scotland and Wales
    Best-ever primary school results
    Funding for every pupil in England to double by 2008
    Written off up to 100 per cent of debt owed by poorest countries
    85,000 more nurses
    32,000 more doctors
    Brought back matrons to hospital wards
    Devolved power to the Scottish Parliament
    Devolved power to Welsh Assembly
    Dads now get paternity leave of 2 weeks for the first time
    NHS Direct offering free convenient patient advice
    Gift aid was worth £625 million to charities last year
    Restored city-wide government to London
    Record number of students in higher education
    Child benefit up 25 per cent since 1997
    Introduced the Disability Rights Commission
    £200 winter fuel payment to pensioners & extra £100 for over-80s
    On course to exceed Kyoto target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2010
    Negotiated the historic Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland
    Over 30,000 more teachers in England schools
    All workers now have a right to 4 weeks’ paid holiday
    A million pensioners lifted out of relative poverty
    800,000 children lifted out of relative poverty
    Introduced child tax credit giving more money to parents
    Scrapped Section 28 and introduced Civil Partnerships
    Brought over 1 million social homes up to standard
    Free school milk for five, six and seven-year-olds in Wales
    Free TV licences for over-75s
    Free local bus travel for over-60s
    New Deal - helped over a million people into work
    Over 1.5 million child trust funds have been started
    Free eye test for over 60s
    Free entry to national museums and galleries
    Overseas aid budget more than doubled
    Cancer death rates down by 12 per cent, saving 43,000 lives
    Free nursery places for three and four-year-olds in England, Scotland and Wales
    Free fruit for all four to six-year-olds at school
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Plus peace to Northern Ireland and a buoyant economy in the Blair years. It wasn't the UK government which caused the recession, but a global credit crunch. Unfortunately people find it easier to moan about things than remember what a ruling party achieves. People want things to be good and better and it's difficult for a government to satisfy them. Except a party vieing for power, can easily exploit government failings and make itself popular and win power
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The political event I am looking forward to more than any other is seeing Gordon Brown's face when he emerges from Downing Street for the very last time, having seen Labour annihilated at a general election.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    But SG, if Labour lose AND Brown loses his seat, he gets a generous retirement package doesnt he? He will be smiling all the way to retirement.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    MrG wrote: »
    But SG, if Labour lose AND Brown loses his seat, he gets a generous retirement package doesnt he? He will be smiling all the way to retirement.

    But no politician goes into politics for the money. They could spend their time being CEO of some company making hundreds of thousands a year, instead they opt to be in the public eye etc.

    I would suspect anyone who went into politics just for financial motivations is a bit of an idiot.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    MrG wrote: »
    But SG, if Labour lose AND Brown loses his seat, he gets a generous retirement package doesnt he? He will be smiling all the way to retirement.
    Oh, don't worry about that. I'm sure that Brown will follow his "moral compass" (which, incidentally, was last seen on eBay having been sold to some deluded nutter for £5.50 - had to be collected in person as well, apparently) and do what he practically harrassed and bullied Fred Goodwin into doing, and that is to give up his enormous pension.

    Mind you, Cuntwin told him to fuck off and doubtless when voters are telling the the psychologically flawed one to give up his, we'll get much the same reaction.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    KiwiFruit wrote: »
    It wasn't the UK government which caused the recession, but a global credit crunch.

    The British government may not have 'caused' the recession on their own but they are one of the two main countries responsible for it. Brown likes to try and deflect opinion by stating that it was a 'global credit crunch' but we all know that a 'crunch', like any downturn, has to start somewhere and Brown chose to rely too heavily on the UK financial systems and not on our industry.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Teagan wrote: »
    The British government may not have 'caused' the recession on their own but they are one of the two main countries responsible for it. Brown likes to try and deflect opinion by stating that it was a 'global credit crunch' but we all know that a 'crunch', like any downturn, has to start somewhere and Brown chose to rely too heavily on the UK financial systems and not on our industry.

    What industry?
    The credit crunch as people like to call it is really the pulling of credit to banks by central banks ...owned by the same international banking families who flooded the U.S with cheap money in the twenties and then pulled the credit without warning ...causing massive collapse and making them even more rich and powerful cos it all conveniently collapsed into their hands.
    The last twelve years ...more so the last two ...has seen the biggest movements of wealth in history and it is continuing right now.
    The wealth of the world is being cornered into fewer and fewer hands.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    stargalaxy wrote: »
    The political event I am looking forward to more than any other is seeing Gordon Brown's face when he emerges from Downing Street for the very last time, having seen Labour annihilated at a general election.



    Even better will be seeing the look on your face when you realise the answer to this country's problems isn't the Tories.:rolleyes:


    Labour might not be brilliant, but they're certainly better than the alternatives. Cameron's already telling us all how he's going to cut public services, and he isn't even in power yet. And you're lapping it up. Fantastic.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whowhere wrote: »
    Even better will be seeing the look on your face when you realise the answer to this country's problems isn't the Tories.:rolleyes:
    So the Blunkett's Bobby thinks I'm a Tory supporter? Wonder how me calling David Cameron "a dishonest cunt" recently fits in with my alleged enthusiastic cheer-leading for the Conservatives....

    Cuts in public spending are going to be needed no matter who wins the election. Call Me Dave, despite admitting to a tiny number of cuts that he's going to make, is not being honest about what he'll do. Still, it's an improvement on the line our printer-smashing Prime Mentalist is taking - that spending will continue to grow forever and ever. Gordon claims he abolished boom and bust - he's certainly managed to abolish the bust!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    stargalaxy wrote: »

    Cuts in public spending are going to be needed no matter who wins the election. Call Me Dave, despite admitting to a tiny number of cuts that he's going to make, is not being honest about what he'll do. ..............................................
    Governments have to always look for places to cut back in spending- its the restraint needed to balance the books. Whatever the economic climate or national revenues- money available can never satisfy all demands
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Teagan wrote: »
    The British government may not have 'caused' the recession on their own but they are one of the two main countries responsible for it. Brown likes to try and deflect opinion by stating that it was a 'global credit crunch' but we all know that a 'crunch', like any downturn, has to start somewhere and Brown chose to rely too heavily on the UK financial systems and not on our industry.
    The move in the British economy away from manufacturing to more lucrative financial sector has happened in the decades Post-War. It's not something Gordon Brown has overseen- his government has been saddled with the same problem that has hit all developed nations and the PM will be judged on how well he manages an economic recovery
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