Its going to get MUCH better under the tories.

[Platypus]

Yeah right "Labour wrecked the economy" - and they also wrecked the US, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and Greece's economies.

So was it some 'global crisis' that led to the UK's massive budget deficit and national debt?

No. Don't be an idiot.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

So was it some 'global crisis' that led to the UK's budget massive deficit and national debt?

No. Don't be an idiot.

FFS I bow to your genius - Labour ruins everything and the Tories make everything glorious and shiny for us. I will report for retraining immediately.

[DodgyAgent]

Yeah right "Labour wrecked the economy" - and they also wrecked the US, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and Greece's economies.

We are so tighly wedded to the Septics that when they tank, so do we. It's true that Labour wrecked the Economy, but the only way not to have done so would have been a radical move away from the basically Thatcherite consensus of leaving things to the bankers. Unlikely to happen. Anything else is just tinkering. Most of the stuff that Labour did would have been done by the Tories. Don't forget the last time VAT went up it was because John Major had wrecked the economy. The idea that one party ruins an economy and another can mend it is old fashioned, dogmatic and frankly thick. All/any party pretends they can fix things but they don't.

You are not getting away with that abrogation of responsibility.

When labour were in power at the time of the collapse Gordon Brown was spending and borrowing for several years as if there was no tomorrow. You lefties want it both ways. You want high public spending but do not want to take any responsibility when things go wrong. And using your own argument that the collapse was due to external factors, then labour inherited a very strong economy from John Major and Thatcher-that they did not create. And also by your own argument the boom that preceded the "bust" was down to the entrepreneurial spirit of British business rather than the job prevention policies of the labour government. During these boom years labour were first to claim that the strong economy was down to them and them alone. Well if they are going to do that then they can take full responsibility when it all goes "ti*s up". It works both ways.

[DodgyAgent]

FFS I bow to your genius - Labour ruins everything and the Tories make everything glorious and shiny for us. I will report for retraining immediately.

As a matter of fact the Tories made life absolutely wonderful for IT contractors. Their policies enabled you to work as a low tax paying freelancer, and then they handed business to you on a plate by freeing up the banks and energy companies, and through privatisation of nationalised industries. You ungrateful hypocrites are so tied up in your own leftie guilt you are utterly blind to how you have got so fat and comfortable.

[Churchill]

As a matter of fact the Tories made life absolutely wonderful for IT contractors. Their policies enabled you to work as a low tax paying freelancer, and then they handed business to you on a plate by freeing up the banks and energy companies, and through privatisation of nationalised industries. You ungrateful hypocrites are so tied up in your own leftie guilt you are utterly blind to how you have got so fat and comfortable.

Sorry Dad.

[DodgyAgent]

Sorry Dad.

next time it is a spanking

[Peoplesoft bloke]

As a matter of fact the Tories made life absolutely wonderful for IT contractors. Their policies enabled you to work as a low tax paying freelancer, and then they handed business to you on a plate by freeing up the banks and energy companies, and through privatisation of nationalised industries. You ungrateful hypocrites are so tied up in your own leftie guilt you are utterly blind to how you have got so fat and comfortable.

Bollocks.

The guilt thing - I thought we'd done this. I am not gulity about earning more cash than others. Neither do I feel any gratitude to Labour, Tory or any other politicians for anything to do with my work. I make my own way in this world as I get the lucky (or otherwise) breaks - I don't consider contracting is some paradise created for me by any politcian. If they change the rules, I'll do something else - it's no picnic anyway.

Unlike you, I'm not so blinded by party dogma that I can't see the bigger picture. Sure El Gordo spent too much, but to keep on claiming with the mock righteous indignation of the Daily Wail that we're all going to hell in a hand cart as a result of his awful crimes is missing the point about why things all went wrong in the first place - which is that a few people considerably richer than any of us wrecked up the banking system using a model created by Thatcher and Reagan and not significantly challenged by any subsequent politician.

You can pin the 20% VAT rise on Gordo - fine - no arguments - I reckon that Labour would have done the same, but it only got to 17.5% because John Major wrecked the economy - and just for the record, in 1997 the Tories handed over a deficit - yes that golden economic miracle of increased taxes yielded a deficit - so let's get a bit of perspective.

[lilelvis2000]

Yup, they have complained about all of GB's tax increases in the past...but they're keeping each and every single of them. That's pretty typical of any government (except may the American's), once the sheep-like public get used to paying a tax, the govt. of the day gets used to paying it...it stays.

Pretty normal stuff there.

With Pints in pubs now so expensive I fully expect the two pubs which managed to open in my area to close again soon. One has already put its lease up for sale.

[DodgyAgent]

Bollocks.

The guilt thing - I thought we'd done this. I am not gulity about earning more cash than others. Neither do I feel any gratitude to Labour, Tory or any other politicians for anything to do with my work. I make my own way in this world as I get the lucky (or otherwise) breaks - I don't consider contracting is some paradise created for me by any politcian. If they change the rules, I'll do something else - it's no picnic anyway.

Unlike you, I'm not so blinded by party dogma that I can't see the bigger picture. Sure El Gordo spent too much, but to keep on claiming with the mock righteous indignation of the Daily Wail that we're all going to hell in a hand cart as a result of his awful crimes is missing the point about why things all went wrong in the first place - which is that a few people considerably richer than any of us wrecked up the banking system using a model created by Thatcher and Reagan and not significantly challenged by any subsequent politician.

You can pin the 20% VAT rise on Gordo - fine - no arguments - I reckon that Labour would have done the same, but it only got to 17.5% because John Major wrecked the economy - and just for the record, in 1997 the Tories handed over a deficit - yes that golden economic miracle of increased taxes yielded a deficit - so let's get a bit of perspective.

So you contractors (and we agents) did not prosper under the Tories then? How did John major "wreck the economy" exactly? The thing I remember about the last years of the Tories leading up to 1997 was the vast amounts of money being paid to contractors by the likes of London electricity. And whilst we are at it, who opened the floodgates to immigration? and when did off shoring take hold of IT?

It is all very well criticising Thatcher for freeing up the banking system, I suppose their mistake was to realise that it would be used as an excuse for the failure of a future labour government. I will also bet good money on you not complaing about the high wages you made during the nineties.

[pacharan]

Yeah right "Labour wrecked the economy" - and they also wrecked the US, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and Greece's economies.

We are so tighly wedded to the Septics that when they tank, so do we. It's true that Labour wrecked the Economy, but the only way not to have done so would have been a radical move away from the basically Thatcherite consensus of leaving things to the bankers. Unlikely to happen. Anything else is just tinkering. Most of the stuff that Labour did would have been done by the Tories. Don't forget the last time VAT went up it was because John Major had wrecked the economy. The idea that one party ruins an economy and another can mend it is old fashioned, dogmatic and frankly thick. All/any party pretends they can fix things but they don't.

Nonsense. The fact of the matter is that Labour frittered away billions while times were good. The Tories would not have endorsed such high levels of spending so, when the sh!t hit the fan, we'd have been better equipped to have dealt with it.