If Labour remains in power, will the UK go bankrupt like Greece?

[Berberis]

Hasn't resulted in 20 odd percent inflation this time round has it?

 

Not yet no, but that’s because the government keeps printing money, which devalues our currency and pushes up the cost of EVERYTHING!

[Wildcat]

Harold Wilson, Labour Prime Minister - 1974 to 1976

1976: UK bankrupt, borrows money from IMF

 

James Callaghan, Labour Prime Minister - 1976 to 1979

1978 -1979: Winter of Discontent

 

Hardly averted a crisis. More like presided over them.

 

Wilson and Callaghan are the very reason why Thatcher came to power. They screwed the country and the population was crying out for someone to clean up their mess. Hang on, I’m having Déjà vu moment.

 

IMF dealing with the crisis left by Heath.

 

Winter of Discontent, workers striking over pay because of years of pay restraint no longer justified by an improving economy.

 

The evidence you have cited is of Callaghan averting a crisis left over from a Tory administration. The fact Thatcher made the early 80s feel like a crisis, was due to her ridiculous policies increasing taxation and destroying our industries because she was more concerned with inflation figures than people's livelihoods.

[Wildcat]

my bold

 

Wasn't this a Global Crisis? now who have I heard say this before?

 

Edward Heath? Thatcher?

[Rupert_Baehr]

Hasn't resulted in 20 odd percent inflation this time round has it?

 

Not yet .

[Longcol]

Not yet no, but that’s because the government keeps printing money, which devalues our currency and pushes up the cost of EVERYTHING!

 

Not yet? More likely never those rates again - unless of course George Osborne becomes Chancellor and does something stupid - thankfully he hasn't anything to squander like Lawson with North Sea Oil revenues in the '80's which triggered the house price boom.

[Longcol]

we're bankrupt.

 

 

The so must be Canada, the USA, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Singapore.

 

http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/economics/list-of-national-debt-by-country/

 

Funny how some people seem to imagine this crisis is only happening in Britain.

[Greybeard]

The so must be Canada, the USA, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Singapore.

 

http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/economics/list-of-national-debt-by-country/

 

Funny how some people seem to imagine this crisis is only happening in Britain.

 

But as has already been pointed out, the figure for the UK in that list doesn't include liabilities arising from PFI and public sector pensions.

 

And trimming down the public sector will involve hefty redundancy payments and lots of pensions becoming immediately payable.

[TeaFan]

Cutting back the public sector may not be a vote winner, but neither is bankrupting the country.

 

Of course, as we've seen before in the early 80s, people never blame the politicins who cause the bankruptcy. They reserve their bile and hatred for the one who has guts enough to perform the reconstruction. Is it any wonder that few, if any, candidates are brave enough to say they'll actually fix the current problems?

 

Some people may even be far-sighted enough to realise that it's not politicians who cause crashes, but that it's endemic to the capitalist system. Politicians simply react.

[Longcol]

But as has already been pointed out, the figure for the UK in that list doesn't include liabilities arising from PFI and public sector pensions.

 

And trimming down the public sector will involve hefty redundancy payments and lots of pensions becoming immediately payable.

 

Neither do any of the other countries as far as I know - countries only borrow to meet current spending - not spending 10 years or so down the line.

[mj.scuba]

How are they going to do this without cutting the huge oversized, flabby, wasteful public sector that Gordy and co created to encourage people to vote Lab.

What a con

 

I always found it a little ironic when Labour have critiscised pay of private sector "fat cats" which is after all from privately derived revenue whilst at the same time continuing to feed their own "fat cats" with taxpayers money.