To ask what the country was like under a Labour government?

[user6776]

I'm too young to remember a proper Labour government. I was 12 when the Tories got voted in back in 2010 so that's all I've ever really known.

How much better was it than it is now? Why did Labour lose the election back then anyway?

Interested to hear people's opinions.

Apologies. He was born a few years later, I was (clumsily) trying not to out myself.

Most things were better under New Labour. They were not perfect but they were better then the current Tories in most ways. They were voted out because the Right Wing media barons knew they could make more money under a Tory government so messaged hard to get them voted out by blaming the global financial crash on them.
It's great that so many people seem to have woken up to the lies they have been fed for the past 14 years.

The irony of this post. Part of the global financial crash was due to 100% mortgages being doled out…

There is no social housing available to those who might need it now because it went to people ‘who fancied one’ back then - with no obligations to hand them back. And despite Labour’s protestations about Thatcher selling off council housing, in 10 years they did nothing to replace the stock.

Doctor’s did used to come to your house then for some inexplicable reason Labour redrafted the GP contracts that gave them both an enormous pay rise but did not ensure they continued to deliver the same service in the same way. So funnily enough, the GP’s took the money and subbed out coming to your house to some poor sod who had to cover 000’s of houses overnight. Around the same time for some inexplicable reason, they then fucked over the dentists so they got paid less than they did before so they decided not to be NHS dentists anymore. That’s why you can’t get to see your own doctor for an out of hours appointment or an NHS dentist easily.

Sure start services were great, but who used them? Mostly the MC educated people ‘gentrifying’ areas. Child trust fund anyone? Who actually added to those other than the same people who used the sure start centres. I could go on.

Labour went on an unprecedented spending spree (not least by funding wars started on flimsy premises) which meant when the shit hit the fan in the global crisis we had nothing left in the coffers. There was no resentment because there was no incentive to work and the jobs none of the people born here wanted to do were filled by migrant workers. Tony Blair was happy because he wanted to be a global politician- not one looking after the UK. After the global crisis and labour bailed out the banks (without ensuring there was an obligation to repay the debt to society) the new coalition government had no choice but to reduce the welfare state spending levels. That was where the resentment started - which led to migrant workers being demonised and ultimately the own goal of brexit.

If anyone wants to know what’ll happen next I’ll tell you - the wealthy will get wealthier by acting like seagulls following a dustcart - following labour’s policies and investing in the same areas Labour throws money at. Last time it was PFI, care homes and the manufacturing of polluting cars no one on the motor industry thought were better for the environment (impossible for diesel ever to be ‘clean’) to name a few where everyone thought this was bonkers but took the government’s money before anyone noticed the ideas were the emperors new clothes and kept quiet.

Meanwhile, Blair sailed off into the sunset, remains unaccountable for the shit show left behind, let Gordon Brown take the flack and now heads up his own Institution (which at the last count had more than 700 employees) having made the most amount of money ever by an ex-prime minister.

Believe what you like, but history tells us that Labour is not the answer to the issues that exist today - except to explain how they’ve arisen.

there were plenty of not MC people using sure start
it was great
early learning is such an important age

They took us to war on a lie. Just ask David Kelly and all those armed forces personnel how good it was. Oh that's right you can't.

Labour is not the answer, I have no idea what is but Labour isn't it.

@Therichgetricher You re not entirely accurate.

I couldn't get an NHS Dentist in 1999 for me or my DD, we didn't train enough Dentists and still don't, Brexit made it worse as we stopped recognising EU Dentist qualifications and EU Dr's and Dentists don't come here.
Contracts had to be altered, but the issue is that no one has increased the NHS fees in line with inflation/costs.

We haven't been training enough GPs either, Cameron recognised this in 2015, as did Hunt but neither did anything about it... they use 'private, so why should they?

GPs still come out and visit the very ill & rightly so but with so few GPs per capita in many areas, its extremely difficult for them, they are also an aging workforce, so it'll only get worse.

Yes 100% on council housing, Labour had 13 years to change this but didn't.

Then again, neither have the Tories, so thats 27 years of very little social housing, no wonder we have a self made housing crisis plus the Tories are allowing 750k migrants in each and every year

I wont vote Conservative because nothing, not a single thing, has improved since 2010, Covid and Ukraine didn't start until 2020, so what were they doing for the previous 10 years???

Didn’t the labour chancellor leave a note for the incoming tories which just said : there’s no money left.

we would be even more fucked long term.

Labour left Debt to GDP of 65%...

Under the tories, Debt to GDP is 99% and set to increase.

Who has left the country with no money?

@Therichgetricher
sums it up well.

PFI was off gov books, but not for the taxpayer sadly. We’re still paying it back.

Great for the gov figures, still a heavy tax burden

Waiting times for operations was a matter of weeks in most cases. Within months of the Tories getting in A&E’s were being closed and people had to travel further although the government tried to tell us that these were improvements.

We didn't have lots of local,authorities in near bankruptcy so
Potholes were filled
More police funding
Higher per pupil spend in schools
Commercial rates were lower so more local shops open
Community centres funded so lower youth crime
More libraries open so higher literacy rates
Parks and play parks maintained and cleaned properly.
Millions didn't need to use food banks, and most had never even heard of them.
4.2 MILLION children weren't living in poverty.

All the things that make for quality safe neighbourhoods

And NHS waiting lists were far shorter.

Benefits for people who really need them were t slashed all the time
PIP didn't exist.
We were members of the EU and could travel and work where we wanted.

We didn't ship asylum seekers to far off countries, shirking out responsibility under international law.

I'm no massive fan of the Labour Party and they have a lot of,faults but we have to get this current corrupt inept bunch out of power before this country slides further into disgrace, disjunction and massive inequality.

Potholes weren't filled so much under Labour, it was more that road mtce was done in a more timely manner and they didn't occur in the first place.

ATM we are spending huge amounts on squirting a bit of tar into a hole, which then washes out a few weeks later.

People banging on about the relatively small amounts paid back on PFI (compared to NHS budget/ 2 Trillion economy) don't have an alternative to how these new facilities would have been paid for? & borrowing still has to be paid back.....

We are also paying back 100s of billions extra in interest on the amounts the Tories have added to the book since 2010 - Austerity has added to the amount we borrow, not reduced it.

It was so much better for my DS and I personally and the country.

I can remember feeling the relief when Labour got in. I felt a surge of hope.

I was a single working parent earning very little. Within 2 weeks my top up benefits tripled. Every deprived area in my city had support centres opened up. Of course with additional personal money the economy started to move. Our social housing development had more money so it replaced all the bespoke windows and doors which reduced my heating bill. Unused homes in the city were either upgraded or bought by the council to be upgraded and then rented out. The city's parks had huge investment and we would often spend whole days there. My DSs school had funding for an after school club and there were so many affordable holiday clubs.

I started to save to buy my own home. Labour introduced a scheme to kind of pay you to move out of social housing to free up stock so I bought my own home. My mortgage was a little cheaper than my rent so we started going abroad on holiday which increased my DSs horizons and expectations.

@jlpth Finally! I have found someone else that remembers the lie about tuition fees! (He got away with it because my generation were of the mind that the Tories and Lib Dem would have introduced them anyway)

the next government will have a mountain to climb as will inherit the legacy of problems and self-serving decisions made. I doubt handover will be managed in a positive way . It’s going to be tough to turn the ship around and I expect mud will be thrown.

It always makes me laugh when people gloss over this. They then cut funding for universities. I didn't pay as I went as a mature student but had to pay for my accommodation through student loans which I'm still paying off 18 years later.

People look back with rose tinted glasses and forget the shit that they did.

People also forget the shit of tax credits. Part of of the reason debt is increasing as we now have a top up dependent nation.

working tax credits and tax credits were a life saver

Totally this. And it’s a shame more people don’t recall this - especially the debacle over the fee scales where the possibility that all universities would try and charge the same tuition fees as the elite establishments had not been considered.

I don’t think anyone would suggest that our economy is in great shape but We have a 99% debt issue due to a lot of factors though - The financial crisis of ‘08 and the pandemic being two major ones.

I won’t dismiss the part the tories had to play in Brexit, but at least DC gave the country the right to choose. The same with the Scottish determination question. However, When it mattered for the nation, Labour did not find its backbone to join forces with the opposition and argue for the remainers. And they won’t find it if they are elected either. Labour’s mantra will be to do anything that gives them power at any cost and fuck the nation.

My prediction is that if labour is elected, it’ll be for one term. Keir Starmer will be the new James Callaghan while the tories reunite under someone more populist and more electable than Rishi.

Haven't read it all yet but don't know if anyone has posted this? Sorry if I'm duplicating.

Foodbank usage is rather higher now than pre 2010. What a disgrace it all is.

@Papyrophile i asked because your recollection of Labour reaping the benefits of the end of one recession seemed to have precluded you remembering a more recent one.

I assumed we’re a Tory because of that but thanks for the run through of your beliefs so that I’m aware you’re not one of those nasty ones 😉

My politics? I’m a card carrying member of the Labour Party and have been for nearly 40 years. Probably more Blairite than Corbynite. HTH.

@BitOutOfPractice and I'm a cynic! A despairing one right now, and politically homeless. I think I shall deface my ballot with "None of the above".

I am so old I lived under both Harold Wilson's Labour and New Labour. Michael Foot returned as Jeremy Corbyn. Only a kid for HW but things seemed pretty dour and we did not have much, he certainly had a charisma bypass but as a kid you don't know any different. I never felt I did without though.

As an adult under New Labour, there was discontent that there was little point in working as you would do nearly as well on benefits. Resentment towards single mothers grew and our Labour Councillor said there were second generations on a local estate who had never worked.

As for policies, they were often well intentioned but poorly legislated. For example my dd was a very young single mum who benefitted from Care to Learn, who funded a nursery place she could continue in education. Unfortunately it was abused in that some simply stayed home and did not turn up at college.

They also introduced the GP contracts, good for GPs not so good for patients. This allowed them to opt out of after hours care.

Posters mention SureStart. I worked for an organisation who under the Government "managed" organisations such as this. It was the only local organisation the CEO ever handed back with the resulting loss of revenue for a multitude of reasons.

I don't think we will notice too much difference when Labour inevitably win the election simply because there is no money. I think KS will be roundly despised within twelve months of his winning the poisoned chalice. I think the Tories will then install Penny Mordaunt or move to the right. It is cyclical in politics, Tories in for 2/3 terms then Labour returns.

We ve a 99% debt issue due to the tories inability to grow the economy even by a tiny bit.

The global f/c didn't add much to debt, we got much of the bail out money but sure Covid did & the Tories messed that up too, 100s of billions poured away on fraudulent loans and companies claiming furlough for staff that otherwise wouldn't have been laid off.

Labour’s mantra will be to do anything that gives them power at any cost and fuck the nation

This^ made me laugh, the Tories, ever since 2015, have consistently put party before country or rather the rightwing of the party.... they should never have allowed a Brexit vote, leaving the EU should have been put in a manifesto at a GE... we don't have referendums on NATO/UK/Trident etc EU should have been no different.

Even now the Tories & Cameron bloody fools, stating Ukraine can launch UK missiles into Russia, does he want WW3 ? he should keep his big mouth shut but have no restrictions on what Ukraine does, then we can then deny all!!