We had to go cap in hand to the USA for a mahoosive loan, if I recall. Britain was all but bankrupted by the war. We only finished paying the loan back in the last decade or so.

Yup, indeed we did. That also why I found it odd that we still basically jumped when they shouted about Iraq. Before we basically did what they said as we owed them cash, once we'd paid them off I thought things would be different.

I know, I'm a fool.

Labour are not at fault for the recession, but the parlous state of our finances. That other countries were as profligate with their spending during years of boom does not let them off the hook.

Yes but who created the selfish generation? Not Labour.


Yes but there have been the advent of computers and automation since then. Also power generation was privatised deliberately because of the abuse of power by the union. By breaking the generators up it destroyed the power of the union.

I agree about get rid of the non jobs and slimming down the bureaucracy but these cuts will do little against that. It will either cut pay or jobs so you could still have useless scrotes just on lower pay or shorter hours. These cuts will mean that any of you single people who are made redundant will have to move home as well, as they will cut the housing benefit to a level so that you will have to move into shared accommodation. Also there are non jobs in the NHS and these will be protected. What should have happened is efficiency savings first, getting rid of non jobs in all departments and then work out the cuts. Even the NHS could do with some serious slimming, far too many administrators to start with, even though they were created by the Tories.

Er, remember who created Quangos in the first place?

As to say people weren't as selfish around the 50's after the war is rather nonsensical TBH. History is always viewed with hugely rose tinted glasses, hence why every generation seems to regard the younger generation as being troublesome and violent whereas our childhoods were so lovely where the sun always shone, people skipped to work and the ice cream never melted...

Why are they keeping the winter fuel allowance for everyone BTW? Lord Sugar still can't stop his...

This coalition is as logical as a paper fire guard.

Doesn't matter who created them - Labour was in power for 13 years yet did nothing to reign in the burgeoning public sector - it used the classic ostrich approach and buried it's head in the sand and just expected the money to keep pouring in, making no attempt to keep the finances balanced.

My point is is that it doesn't matter. Labour handled it badly and the Tories are doing no better. The disappointing thing is the LibDems are also in the same pot now.

They've been very clever in refocussing discussions to be about the welfare state. The MPs expenses, the bankers, the money spent on pointless conflicts and so on are just pushed into the background while they get the public to bicker amongst themselves, be it between which party is worse or who takes most from the State.

I mean, come on, people dieing of cancer on incapacity benefit are scared to leave the house, on a good day, because they're worried that they may be spotted and have their benefits withdrawn. A society that creates that sort of angst amongst its people is not a society worth having.

I started a reply, and also used the word “mahoosive” . It was huge, and it was a Conservative government that landed us with it too. Politicians of every hue like to play fast and loose with the truth to fit their own ends and to keep “on message”.

The Tories love to keep their rich pals happy, so I would not be at all surprised if Osbourne kicked a beggar on his way to his club after delivering the spending review yesterday.

I thought it was the Labour Atlee government that had to take the loan.

Anyway, it's all history now. We've got a financial crisis to fix.

Yeah, be nice if somebody got round to doing that at some point, rather than using it as an excuse to push through a bunch of changes based around dogma as much as logic.

He was (my mistake). The loan was taken out post WWII as a result of various agreements made during the war being terminated.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4757181.stm

Been said already, there's a lot more automation now.

I didn't write that BTW. Although, strangely enough, my dad worked in a power station.

Yes there has been no real financial reform at all so we will still be at risk of the banks crashing again. And not before long if the government carry on. The banks need to be broken up, with a tax on transactions which will seriously reduce the bonus pool anyway, so no need for a bonus tax. If mortgages were restricted to building societies only who are denied access to the money markets it would keep mortgages simpler and stop the housing bubble getting out of hand again which is one reason why housing benefit is so high.