Viewpoint Thurs July 22 Is Britain Broke?
THE simple answer to this is yes. Moreover the system that allows an overall deficit of a trillion plus pounds to be racked up is also broke. The measures which the Coalition Government is endeavouring to implement to address this untenable position may make them unelectable in the future, but let us hope that people will not forget that the previous Labour Government managed the country's finances so poorly and created this situation. More importantly Labour should never be elected again!
It would appear Labour got their figures wrong by predicting future growth too high upon which they set their budget. They borrowed too heavily when the economy was doing well, sold off gold reserves at an absurd price to pay for services the country could ill afford and never saved for the downturn that always occurs - ask any student of basic economic history. Then they blamed the world wide recession and an easy target in the form of bankers who they failed to regulate.
Is it just the sheer size of the deficit that people cannot get their minds around are they in denial? If you don't save for the bad times when things are going well you suffer - as people who have lived beyond their means are now finding out for themselves. Prudence not only deserted Gordon Brown it has also deserted a lot of other people who racked up debts they are now struggling to pay off because they did not put money aside for the bad times.
If the out going labour treasury minister leaves a note on his office desk saying sorry there is no money left' or words to that effect, then I think you might be able to safely conclude that the UK is indeed bust and the Labour experiment over the last 13 years has not been a resounding success. Sadly someone has to clean up the mess and someone has to pay for it. Even if you taxed all the wealthy to death you still would not pay this deficit off - it is too huge and apart from that they would just leave the country.
It is a brave government that makes unpopular decisions sadly popularity was Labour's driving force and their nemesis.
Andy Pratt
Palma
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