It has always been the case that the left have a desire to control and manage peoples life’s at a more micro level than those that are more liberal or conservative. As a result the policies and legislation, when enacted, can have longer term impact. When done well, that can be good. When done badly, it is bad and, worse, is difficult to undo. The ones that didn’t have delivered long term damage that have held us back, in some cases for generations. I fear we are seeing more of this right now.
The last Labour government did some things that delivered long term change for good, but it also did some that didn’t. Mainly because it didn’t think through the detail. Massive expansion of higher education, even though it was to manipulate the unemployment figures, could have been good. But they didn’t invest in business, techology, defence or any other sector that would absorb all these extra graduates. Result, career and as importantly salary progression destroyed for several generations, along with growth and productivity.
The introduction of in work benefits to encourage employers to take on more part time employees (again, to manipulate the unemployment figures) could have been a positive change for good, but instead it has transferred hundreds of billions of pounds from the public to private sector since its inception.
Now the obvious thing from an incoming government of a different persuasion to do is change it, but areas like education and benefits are disproportionately sensitive to press and public opinion, and so are often kicked down the road.
And so the UK continues to flail around economically, while the politicians, of all colours, have less and less impact. And, in the case of this government, seem less and less politically savvy. How on earth has the UK of all places ended up with an anti-corruption minister being investigated for corruption for example…?