UK slump 'is worst for 28 years'

[PM-Junkie]

I think his actual words were 'No return to Tory boom and bust'.

He never said anything about no Labour bust and, boy, is this ever one!

Er, hello? There are two posts showing that is definitively not the case. Or did you just not read them?

[Call Me Arbuthnot]

It would be amusing if Mr Brown really did refer to "Tory boom and bust", as if a Tory one was bad and a Labour one is somehow better. Don't you think?

Evidence suggests that a "Tory boom and bust" would be viewed as utterly benign alongside the one that Mr Brown is now conjuring up. Ho ho!

But I can't have that. He's lying. 99% of the time he didn't distinguish Tory at all. As recently as the 2006 budget, he said: "No return to boom and bust". No Tory in there at all.

Who's call is it for drinks?

[OwlHoot]

Er, hello? There are two posts showing that is definitively not the case. Or did you just not read them?

The "he" in my post referred to Gordon Brown, not to a previous poster in this thread!

It was a joke (although after posting I noticed that thunderlizard had nipped in first).

Actually, on second thoughts I'm not so convinced it is a joke. I think GB really did use the word "Tory" in that phrase, although obviously not in the comical sense that he expected a Labour bust in due course.

[TimberWolf]

According to http://www.parliament.the-stationery...t/80521-02.htm Brown said:

"...are determined to avoid a return to boom and bust..."
"...and of the creation of stop-go and boom-bust in the late 1980s..."
"...determined to avoid a return to the boom-bust, stop-go conditions of the late 1980s..."

So, ignoring the first quote, we have indeed avoided a repeat of the boom and busts of the late 1980s.

[OwlHoot]

Thanks Timberwolf. "in the late 80s" = "of the late 80s" = "Tory", so point proved

[PM-Junkie]

Well, you folks carry on swallowing the spin. Those of us with the capacity to think for ourselves will do otherwise.

[TimberWolf]

Well, you folks carry on swallowing the spin. Those of us with the capacity to think for ourselves will do otherwise.

The capacity to think for ourselves doesn't appear to be in any great short supply (especially here)

[thunderlizard]

Just three examples, and there are numerous others. Funny, I can't see the word "Tory" in any of those, so would you care to rephrase or withdraw your claim now?

Crikey, that's a bit barristery. I was thinking of this, from 2000 Labour Party Conference.

"We will not put hard won economic stability at risk. No return to short-termism. No return to Tory boom and bust."

Blair was quite fond of that phrase too.

but top marks for being able to recall 3 speeches that weren't even on the telly. You must be Gordon Brown's number 1 fan!