The beginning of the end

[kerstina]

The Maggie Thatcher thread has got me thinking about all that has gone wrong with this country. Even having a Labour government. I have learnt a lot on this thread from a lot of you who are very knowledgeable. Thank you !
In my opinion a few things that have happened in recent years that i have found utterly depressing. Just naming a couple.
Call centres being operated overseas because it is cheaper ,Cadburys being taken over by an American company using money borrowed from our banks. What could have stopped this was it all started in Maggies government and how can we ever revert this climate ? I just think so much damage has been done even Labour cannot heal it. Can anyone cheer me up ?

No. Labour did a lot of damage. Took away many civil liberties, orchestrated mass immigration, took us into two wars, nearly bankrupt the country and left us with billlions of debt, that's for starters!.

On the bright side we do live in a relatively free country and in my opinion things can only get better. However your life may become a lot better if you emigrate!

'even Labour cannot heal it'... I'm sorry but the word 'even' made me smile. :) Labour are good at spending money, not making it.

Maggies government is not the root of all evil and, whatever else the Tories did or didn't do, the economy was in pretty good nick in 1997 when Blair got the reins.

If your concerns are related to commerce (call centres and Cadburys) then the party that traditionally puts business development, free trade and entrepreneurship at the front of their thinking are the Conservatives.

It's a non-starter to try combatting cheap labour in developing markets directly but a government can put measures in place (tax breaks, incentives etc) that will attract new businesses to Britain - especially the sort that need well-educated, skilled workers rather than just 'bodies' like call centres. Labour put their faith in the financial sector, deregulated it (rather too liberally as it turned out) and used the hefty revenues from it to pay for their social programmes. If the coalition have got any sense they'll not penalise the banks too heavily but get them back up to speed at the same time as making conditions more favourable for commerce generally.

Well said Chil1234-I agree. (Even if it is several months later!!)

Thanks Minerva. I suppose the update to this would be to point at things like ad giant WPP thinking seriously about returning their tax base to the UK post measures announced in the budget. If they are persuaded to relocate, others will as well.