Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Original poster

to say.....bring back Gordon!

173 replies

MangoMonster · 14/12/2011 21:11

Gordon Brown that is, at least he was qualified and knew what he was doing... Ok, I do have a bit of a crush, but I am trying to be objective...:)

Cameron, Clegg and Milliband are a joke...

OP posts:

Thruaglassdarkly · 16/12/2011 02:55

No Poppy. No government cuts for the hell of it. That'd be political suicide.The cuts are to stop us going the way of Greece.

MrsWembley · 16/12/2011 02:57

Some cuts may have happened whatever the situation, but only because TB/GB's way out of a problem was to throw money at it. Massive overspending in the public sector may have meant jobs for everyone for a while, but it was always unsustainable with the amount of borrowing going on.

niceguy2 · 16/12/2011 10:01

...do you not feel that most (if not all) Tories' cuts were based on ideology

As a Tory, I have to say that the answer to this is "Yes and no"

Firstly turkey's don't vote for christmas and MP's given the choice will always go for the popular option. Cuts are never popular. Spending money is. So a MP will always want to woo voters rather than turn them away because otherwise come the next election, they'll be out of their cushy job. Tory/Labour/Lib Dem/UKIP, it doesn't matter. Given a choice you can bet they'll do whats popular.

So that's why it's so important that there was no choice when every single mainstream party has said they will cut. The only difference was how much and how fast.

So No, the cuts were not just because of ideology.

But then when cuts are inevitable, then yes I expect the Tories to cut services/stuff according to their ideology. I don't expect them to make cuts like a lib dem or Labour because that's not who they are. People didnt think the Lib Dems would vote for the student fees increase. They did and look at what happened.

redexpat · 16/12/2011 12:06

Why is it always proclaimed that the whole mess is Gordon's fault? He had no influence over the subprime mortgages being sold in the USA!

Don't quite get the crush thing though. Tony Blair, maybe. David Milliband definitely!

Tanith · 17/12/2011 15:30

Re: the gold reserves sell-off.

And who was it that sold off our oil, our steel, our gas, our water, our telecommunications, our railways...?

That's right - the Conservatives under Mrs. Thatcher!

yellowraincoat · 17/12/2011 15:37

Anyone who thinks Gordon Brown was wholly responsible for the crisis is looking at things a bit simplistically. He was PM for 3 years. That is not enough time to destabilise an economy.

If we didn't rely so much on the financial sector and were more able to rely on material production, in the way that Germany is, we'd be a lot more stable right now.

But we can't rely on material production, because the Tories sold everything.

clam · 17/12/2011 17:50

yellowraincoat PM for 3 years, yes, but Chancellor for a whole lot longer before that. And therefore in charge of finances.

yellowraincoat · 17/12/2011 17:51

So, you think in 5 years time then, the economy will be better again, because George Osborne is a better Chancellor than Brown?

MoreBeta · 17/12/2011 18:06

Well apparently the Labour Party are very disappointed in Ed Miliband according to the recent gossip and the opinion polls show that very few people in the country see him as having leadership qualities - so yes I DO hope they will bring back Gordon Brown.

It would sink the Labour Party for years in trench warfare between New and Old Labour!

coldwed · 17/12/2011 20:44

Have met GB, he is a great chap. Sarah is wonderful as well.

niceguy2 · 17/12/2011 22:50

Yellow Nope, i think in 5 years, we'll be lucky if the economy is starting to grow at more than the current anemic rate.

I doubt the deficit will be balanced although I pray it will be. The reason I don't think it will be is because I don't think the people can stomach the real pain of what has to happen to balance the books. All this means is another 5 years of cuts and low growth. Brilliant.

takingbackmonday · 18/12/2011 01:31

I blame Sue

takingbackmonday · 18/12/2011 01:33

VivaLeBeaver · 18/12/2011 01:48

I think brown was an overspending prat who did our economy a great disservice.

I think osbourne is out of his depth.

Vince cable would probably be the best bet.

However saying that I suspect that o a great extent decisions on the economy are made by unelected professional treasury types.

luvviemum · 18/12/2011 11:11

I think Dave is the most sincere and capable Prime Minister we've had in years. He has had to make some tough choices and we're all going to have to tighten our belts but the alternative of Gordon and co driving the country into the gutter would have been far worse.

I'm sure Gordon is a nice chap personally but he was a total fence-sitter and terrified of making the big decisions that are necessary for our country. I feel far more confident in Dave - he's very likeable but he doesn't take any nonsense. I admire him for standing up to that prat Sarkosy as well.

luvviemum · 18/12/2011 11:13

Also, Ed Milliband has the charisma of a plank. Labour can kiss goodbye to any chances or re-election with him in charge.

takingbackmonday · 20/12/2011 00:48

I always quite like you viva despite that fact you appear to be a LibDem.

Vince Cable 'foresaw' the financial crisis. As did most politicians and bankers. He's still a condescending twat.

I've met David Cameron a stupid amount of times because of the job I do. I don't agree with him most of the time but I really, really think he believes he is doing the right thing and his decisions are not driven by ideology.

F*ck Sarkozy. Doesn't the world seem more aligned when we are fighting the French

VivaLeBeaver · 20/12/2011 08:30

Never thought of myself as a libdem, certainly never voted for them and can't see myself ever doing so. . The only reason I think vince would be good for the job is as he has a degree in economics or something.

I agree that Cameron is probably convinced he's doing he best thing for the country. But then I think Blair was the same even when he was taking the country into illegal wars, etc.

MrsWembley · 20/12/2011 16:35

The thing about Blair that wound me up was his 'I know what's best for you' attitude, but then, that's what being left wing is all about, eh! Whereas at least with the Tories you get a... well, not a choice as such, but at least they leave more personal liberty stuff alone and let more stuff get decided at a local level.

takingbackmonday · 20/12/2011 17:25

There's a painfully offensive article about George Moonbat today massacring the meaning of Libertarianism.

Blair did some seriously awful things - stealth taxes, ingraining tax credits etc into the system so any attempt to simplify tax appears to attack vulnerable groups, obviously the wars, banning hunting but for some reason I sort of always liked him despite crying when Labour won in 1997 (I was 9).

JamieComeHome · 20/12/2011 17:28

AHEM. just want to point out I am not Jamiesmagictorch

corlan · 20/12/2011 17:36

I admire Gordon Brown. I believe he feels a real sense of responsibility to the weak and vulnerable in our society. I will always be grateful for what he did as Chancellor to bring in Tax Credits which meant that as a single parent I was able to afford childcare and get back to work.

DeckTheHugeWithBoughsOfManatee · 20/12/2011 17:51

YABU. I don't love everything the coalition does, but I would rather stick pins in my eyes than go back to Gordo's special version of market Stalinism.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Swipe left for the next trending thread