al4x Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Minimum wage, better funding for the NHS and education, including loads of new schools, decreased unemployment, oversaw 10 years of growth with low inflation........but then he went and ballsed it all up by invading Iraq. he employed most people himself which is what has snowballed and ******** everything up and that is the legacy he left. Starting with a decent balance sheet and the country balancing its books to completely trashing it and jumping ship so Gordon got most of the blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vipa Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 these are all public sector and increasing the size of the public sector DOES NOT contribute to growth, it has exactly the opposite effect. Minimum wage, better funding for the NHS and education, including loads of new schools, decreased unemployment, oversaw 10 years of growth with low inflation........but then he went and ballsed it all up by invading Iraq. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keg Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Thanks al4X and Vipa, beat me to it whilst I was away. Minimum wage whilst good in some ways puts costs up everywhere. New schools using PFI which has now shown to be a waste of money. The ten years of growth and low inflation they inherited from the Tories. The Tories inherited inflation at 10.9, it went up to 11.3 in 1980, not suprising really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fallowbuck Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 The minimum wage was the best thing Tony Blair achieved in his time in Office.The fact that working people could expect a reasonable return for a fair days work was a triumph! After all its about a gallon of petrol an hour(If your lucky!) Obviously some grasping, unscrupulous employers would not agree !They complain about immigration and unfair competition and then go and employ those very people to undercut the Home work force??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86inch Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Its partly the minimum wage and peoples expectations of lifestyle that have ensured all our manufacturing and now lots of the service jobs have moved overseas. People moan that everything is made cheaply in China, and that we "don't make things here anymore" but we don't want to live their lifestyle either. The only thing we can do to improve manufacturing output now is invest in high-tech specialised industries where special skills and educated workforces are in demand (think Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, Mclaren etc etc). I didn't see much investment in those industries from Mr Bliar and co during their terms in office. They instead focussed on increasing the public sector, at great cost to those who do work for the private sector now.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keg Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 We had the same discussion 86inch, some teaching friends were complaining about the plans to change their pensions etc. When I said that that was life they were not happy. I also added that I did not hear them complain when Gormless raided the pension funds... They then started about hours so we did a comparison and they are better off vs hours worked. My choice and I am not complaining but neither should they.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalconFN Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Thanks al4X and Vipa, beat me to it whilst I was away. Minimum wage whilst good in some ways puts costs up everywhere. New schools using PFI which has now shown to be a waste of money. The ten years of growth and low inflation they inherited from the Tories. The Tories inherited inflation at 10.9, it went up to 11.3 in 1980, not suprising really. My answer was partly young in cheek as I've never been a labour voter, but saying building schools was a waste of money is ludicrous. I was in school all through thatchers era and the buildings were falling down, under funded and we had no equipment. I have to visit my old school, and others, for my job and during the labour era the schools have been transformed and improved out of all recognition. I do also believe the minimum wage was a success. As I've said before, you need a balance between growth from capitalism and equality through social reform for society to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Its partly the minimum wage and peoples expectations of lifestyle that have ensured all our manufacturing and now lots of the service jobs have moved overseas. People moan that everything is made cheaply in China, and that we "don't make things here anymore" but we don't want to live their lifestyle either. The only thing we can do to improve manufacturing output now is invest in high-tech specialised industries where special skills and educated workforces are in demand (think Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, Mclaren etc etc). I didn't see much investment in those industries from Mr Bliar and co during their terms in office. They instead focussed on increasing the public sector, at great cost to those who do work for the private sector now.... when you look at that and also think about Maggies de regulation of the banking sector she was quite ahead of her time in promoting the financial industry as the way forward. Ok it has gone a bit Pete tong but took a long time to get there, but it has provided the jobs and lifestyles people wanted and also generated a lot if income for the country over the years whichever way you look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Those that have wanted to make some sensible comments have had every opportunity . We are spending too much time removing the unsavoury stuff , so its time this thread was closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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