If it is a matter of faith with you that Gordon Brown is mad, terminally dithering, responsible for all the ills you suffer while entirely innocent of all the benefits you enjoy, sub-Stalinesque, constitutionally unable to empathise with your plight (whatever that consists of) and utterly incompetent, it may be better if you move straight on to the column below. Because my argument is almost premised on the idea that this weird consensus is no better grounded than was the perception, current last July - do you remember last July? - that he walked on water.
As a young and very vulgar Marxist I tried to get to grips with the prophet's notion of base and superstructure. As I understood it, economic conditions would determine political and social movements. Taking modern Britain, for all that any country is beset by problems (lost discs, bingers, drug takers or Scottish Nationalists), the underlying facts were - are - that mortgages had become cheapo, unemployment was low, crime was, in general, falling, the economy was performing better than in most other similar countries and there were huge infrastructural improvements, as evidenced in new school buildings and hospitals. So one might expect that the unspectacular Mr Brown, even if not loved and occasionally maladroit, should be at least be moderately respected.
Of course, there is a deal of nervousness around. All this talk of negative equity is alarming, as are recent increases in the cost of oil and food. But even as the furore has developed about the fate of the losers from the abolition of the 10ptax band, there has been almost no notice taken at all of the winners from the impending cut in the basic rate. It isn't true that, under Mr Brown, the poor have got poorer, but it is the case that the very rich are very much richer. We have not yet devised a system that cuts them down to size without jeopardising wealth creation.
But the facts that constitute the “base” seem to mean little. Different groups in society compete with each other for status as Brown's victims. This leaves a lag between the story that is being told and the underlying reality - a lag that really ought to be filled by those people that wish the Government well. Then at least there could be an argument.
Fat chance. You get a better write-up in The Guardian if you are Fidel Castro or the leader of Hamas than if you're the Labour Prime Minister. Despite them rooting for Mr Brown when the hated Blair was in power, they now seem to concur that GB ought to be someone else, someone able to emote over the plight of mortgage-holders, someone as decisive as Tony Blair was over, say, Iraq. They adored Mr Brown for being Mr Notblair (“look, no grandstanding”) in the summer, but the moment that things got rough, they plunged into the water and made for their nests on Purity Island.
Take the NUT. The years of Labour rule have meant a rise in real terms in the pay of the average teacher of something just short of 20 per cent. There are smaller classes in primary schools, more time for preparation built in, thousands more teachers, a huge capital programme. The lion's share of the extra money spent on education went on improved conditions for staff. This couldn't go on for ever, and you can understand that some teachers might - albeit unjustifiably - be disappointed. Even so, they would recognise what has been achieved, wouldn't they? They would agree to go along with the award made by the independent pay review body, you'd think? The NUT's response was to organise its first strike since 1987, locking out children who it claims to care about in order to secure an even greater proportion of education spending for teachers' salaries.
So what does The Guardian say? Does it explain the Government's case and urge the NUT not to be so bloody selfish? Get out. “This strike was not whipped out of thin air, but born of genuine resentment,” blah, blah. “Tony Blair used to claim education was his first, second and third priorities, and teachers feel that Labour should be treating them better...” equivocate, bleat. This stuff lacks the necessary resolve and character that would have elevated it even to pusillanimous.
It's no better in the Parliamentary Labour Party. The creatures who moaned about Blair and bigged up Brown are whingeing again. Anything difficult, like 10p, and they don't see it as any part of their job to explain or defend their own Government. Much easier to bend the ear of a passing hack about the hard time they had back in the constituency. And they thought politics was all about cutting the ribbons on new hospitals.
It isn't just the 20 licensed super rebels, specific only to Labour (the Tories don't have this hard core of perpetually oppositional MPs who get in on the party's coat-tails and then spend all their time trying to defeat it), but now the moaning, hoary-lock-shaking chorus of ex-ministers, a decade's political detritus, upset that their questionable sagacity and their undoubted impatience seem never likely to be rewarded. Together these groups drag like rusty anchors along the political sea-bed as Labour's vessel tries to inch through the swell.
These characters, all of them, essentially agree with the bullish Tory commentators about something. It is that the inversion of the natural order, represented by Labour rule and Conservative opposition, should come to an end; that the long exile of the ruling classes from their birthright should be terminated, to the relief of all.
Mr Brown, damaged by his own treatment of his predecessor, has made several tactical mistakes and one strategic error. He didn't realise how quickly one dominant narrative can be replaced by another, and he failed to hold the election that could have saved him. The result has been that, for six months, no one has asked the Government anything but the most hostile questions, and no one has asked David Cameron any difficult ones. The next election is being won and lost by default.
The question that centre-left progressives like me will have to answer is whether we're bothered. Tony Blair's mission, unexplained even to himself perhaps, was to make it not matter whether the Tories came back, as they would be hemmed in by Blairism just as Labour was by Thatcherism. Today, strangely, I find myself less complacent about this than the Guardianistas.
Paying more to teachers and bankrupting the country - an achievement???
timothy cassel, kirtlington, uk
David,
Are you sure we both are living in the same country, the UK?
Prabhat, UK,
I think Gordon is doing a good job.....very badly !
David, Swindon, UK
Like the USA, welcome to our post-christian neo-communist times. Politicians have succeeded in seperating our "melting-pot" society into disaffected groups. Each promised an ever larger portion of their "fair share" of the pie. Why? For votes. Our democratic societies are split and we let it.
William, atlanta, USA
Gordon Brown wasnt elected.
Dave B, kelso, scotland
Was not elected by us, true but neither was Tony Blair or qany other Prime Minister for that matter. We don't vote for our Prime Ministers in this country, we vote for our local MP who in turn votes his/her choice of Prime Minister.
Martin, Reading, Great Britain
New teachers are paid more, but they've got student loans to pay off. And they can't afford a house, because property prices are excluded from the inflation calculations.
Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK
You just do not get it. A prog about people moving to Spain summed it. Half moved back to their comfort zone. Others had money but not enough to replace or renew. She made money running kennels, needed 1000s to make it legal. He could not work when van broke. No money for roof on 200 yr old house
ged, manchester,
If anyone needs convincing to keep Labour in power, just watch a couple of episodes of WebCameron.
Keith. Nichol, London, uk
Andy, London - please release the details of your calculations which show only "young single men and early retirees" lose money over the 10p tax. Anyone with an income of less than £18k who doesn't qualify for tax credits loses out. Including poor people with grown up children who haven't retired.
Louise, London,
1. 10p tax - yes, lots of winners. At £36k+ you're £700+ better off. Poll Tax had lots of winners too. Like 10p tax, winners were wealthier & losers poorer. But why would LABOUR want to do this?
2. Tories had plenty of rebels in 90's- the 'whipless wonders'. More feature of govt than party I think
Martin Pierce, London, UK
Excellent article David. I too found it hard to believe the headlines bleating that scrapping 10p, 'made the poor poorer' because young single men and early retirees lost out - failing to mention the poor families, children and OAPs who gained substantially.
Andy, London,
Of course Gordon Brown was elected, he is an MP for goodness sake. If you mean he was not elected Prime Minister then that would be because in Britain Prime Ministers are not elected. Parties are elected and the party choses its own leader. Learn how Government works before posting comments on it!
GM, Brisbane,
the strength of the economy never had anything to do with brown. he failed to plan for a downturn, taxing and borrowing, whilst wasting the proceeds. sure, there are some new schools. but have we had value for money? no! we've had total mismanagement from a smug thief. prudent? incompetent!
jem, london, uk
Are you sure its the rats who are sinking Brown's ship? I thought Brown was scuttling it himself.
Neil, Gloucestershire, England
of course the poor have got poorer.the tax on my annual income of 7400 has doubled
david corke, colchester, uk
The Welfare State is a wonderful, if expensive, ideal, that should be held up as an example of genuine social advance.
The Benefits system is nothing short of a disgrace It is the perfect.example of greed, irresponsible liberalism, "pork barrel politics and a sop to middle class guilt.
Peter Bolt, Redditch, UK
I am deeply shocked David.
I find myself agreeing with you.
I hope the NHS have a cure for this.
How teachers find the time to go on strike with their 14 weeks holiday is beyond me.
John Tuohy, reading, UK
100% correct. this government needs someone at the top to remind people what it was like under the tories and will be again if cameron gets in. on another point i have just been down to london and every lamppost cyclists about £30 fines. why was cameron not proscecuted?
watson, taunton, uk
strange, i dont recognise the wonderful country created by Labour as described by David in his article.
Dr Kevin Law, Dundee, UK
Great. The poor have to go cap in hand to an expensive inefficient benefits system for some of their taxes back, and no hope of owning their own house. How are they better off? The last ten years of Labour spending with little to show will take us another 10 years, maybe more, to pay off.
Kevin, aylesbury,
For goodness sake, posters on here act as if there hasn't been the longest sustained period of economic growth in 200 years since Labour came to power..
You lot are a bunch of spoilt children, you've never had it so good and you still want to kick the government out.
Owen, London, UK
Gordon is OK but how do we try to save him from himself?
Ian cheese, London, UK
." Do you remember interest rates at 15%? Inflation at 18%? I do and it wasn't under a labour government.
Charles, Reading,
I do as well and it was because of a previous labour administration bankrupting the country. Do you also remember under labour when the rate was 25%? check it out
mikev, Bath, Uk
I agree with Graham. At the end of the day, the past ten years were prosperous due to a housing boom that this Government had no real part in creating (unless you count the tidal wave of wanted, unwanted and illegal- immigrants as a contributory factor).
Mark T, London, UK
As ye sow, so shall ye reap. People only have these unrealistic expectations of Brown because he went out of his way to encourage them when he was busy acting as the "Anti-Blair" and briefing against his boss a way that used to be vilified when it happened in the Tory party.
Matthew, London,
Nu Labour plundered company and individual pension funds, failed to regulate Equitable Life and failed to compensate its investors, stole railtrack from its shareholders, sold the Nation's gold reserves at precisely the wrong time etc etc. Okay, I'll go on - lumbered the country with dumb PFI deals
William, London,
Political leaders can be destroyed by ostensibly small things: like a 10p tax band. People who are affected adversely by this change may feel that their very real plight is incomprehensible to their PM, who, after all, can spend a whopping £250 of their money without a receipt.
anne, bournemouth,
He doesnt need defending...........Gordon Brown has guided this country as Chancellor for over a decade..................its insulting to say the least to hear these childish outbursts from Osborne.............They may be ok at a Bullingdon Club gathering but reality is a different matter
Eric, Southwick, Sussex
A good and capable man,being attacked by a herd of power seeking distortive, egotistical self interest chancers......this is how I see the attacks on Gordon Brown...........................the country will wakeup to the distateful smugness of Cameron and Osborne before the General Election
Eric, Southwick, Sussex
Like it or not he is in power for two years and he is going to have to do the work that Maggie left undone, ie 90% of it. ALL the special interest groups will have to be tackled and Brown had better just get used to the idea. "Special" teachers, lawyers, doctors, police etc always want more for less
John Sinclair, Dundee, UK
This article is worthy of Big Brothers Newspeak where we mere Prols have to reprogram our minds in order to see what the states version of the truth is. Marxism at its best
David Cartright, Birmingham,
Please, no more defending Brown, he needs to step down and hand the job over to somebody who is capable of doing it. Is there anyone in the Labour Party? Time to call a national election and let the people decide who they want to be in the top job.
John, London,
Why would anybody want to label himself 'centre-left progressive' ? What does it mean ? Progressing towards what ? A totally dependent society perhaps ? You might as well wear a Mickey Mouse badge.
roger sykes, christchurch,
David, from the tone of most of your respondents, I think a return to the good old days of the Thatcher/Major years can't be far off. And Cameron's just the man for the job.
"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard". (H.L.Mencken)
Ken Leyland, Liverpool, U.K.
Gordon Brown wasnt elected.
Dave B, kelso, scotland
It IS true that the poor have got poorer! I earn about £8,000 a year, and that is half of our household income. We do not qualify for any of the offsetting measures after the 10p fiasco, our food, power, council tax, fuel etc have rocketed in price and we ARE poorer, whatever Brown chooses to think.
Emilia, North Yorkshire,
Well doesn't all this show that DA was right? Most of the Left in this country knows how to do nothing but whinge, and they are only happy when they are in opposition and can whinge with impunity. The people they purport to defend deserve better.
Andy Rooney, London,
Yes, Mr. A., but what about the people who lose out over the abolition of the 10p tax band being (oddly enough) the same kind of people as the ones for whose benefit it was invented? Isn't there a real question of principle there? Are you content to be richer in part because they're poorer?
Andy Jones, Durham, UK
they was deserting that ship ages before the rats got involved.
Tony Winchester, Essex, G.B.
Actually, Scotland is beset by the problem of British nationalists. The tax revenue per day from the Forties pipeline (closed down by the Grangemouth dispute) is enough to pay for the annual Scottish government budget in four months. Just showing you the view from the other end of the telescope...
Gordono, Aberdeen, Scotland
I have done quite well under labour, tax credits,child benefit
and tax. My area in leeds is looking better and safer than 15yrs ago,all these will get worse under a tory government that is one thing i can assure you of.This is not the time for the working class to start loosing faith. KEEP T FAITH!
Charles, Leeds, UK
Having the same government in power does not do a country any good. They become complacent and that is why the Tories got voted out in the last election. Now it is Labour who have been in power far too long and with disasterous consequences to this country. The alternative isn't much better.
Gil, Bristol, England
Mr. Aaronovitch
My blessings and thanks to you.
tooter, Leicester, UK
Gordon Brown has always been the 'honest Iago' of modern British politics. A tragedy for all concerned.
Philippa Pirie, London, England
Nobody (sane) wants the wealthy "cut down to size" but I see no reason to stamp on the poor either.
Which Brown did well by removing the lower tax band.
Employment isnt low, its raging at 8million.
They just arent called unemployed anymore, they're "in training" or "not economicaly active"
Dominic, Manchester, England
Couldnt agree more. To read the comments here, and in most similar vox-pops, and you'd think that they were talking about Zimbabwe, not the UK. On 2nd thoughts though, these arnt Zimbabweans - this brand of "woe-is-me" whining is the exclusive trademark of the western middle classes.
Mark Minogue, London, UK
Retreat from your typewriter and prepare for opposition David. Some of use have been against this clapped out Government for sometime.Thankfully Brown is a useful conducter.
By the way he has denied me a promised say on Europe and for this alone I damn him
ps he really does not have the character.
robert everitt, wolverhampton,
Excellent comment (as usual). What I really like about Davids writing is that - unlike so many other commentators' - it is grown-up, realistic and rational. Not pure Daily Rail-style emoting.
Please keep it up!
Scott Davies, Swiss Cottage, London
So, either you don't read your own newspaper with its long-published warnings that Brown was walking an economic tightrope and losing his balance, or he's invited you to tea next weekend and you don't want it cancelled.
Big Spend = Big Government = Big Debt.
You do the math.
KR, Stockport,
Yes, I agree. Nothing Blair or Brown have done is unexpected, nothing that intelligent people didn't expect them to do. People who voted Labour have only themselves to blame if they don't like what the Government is doing and that they didn't vote for a proper opposition before it was too late.
tony, rochester, uk
Graham, Oxford wrote "The only way to have avoided this economic mess would have been to not vote Labour in 1997. Simple as."
Do you remember interest rates at 15%? Inflation at 18%?
I do and it wasn't under a labour government.
Charles, Reading,
I know the tax system is complicated but for Brown to say "No one will lose out" (before he was forced to "get it") shows a level of misunderstanding of his own byzantine creation that is unforgivable.
Neil McF, Southampton, England
I'm enjoying watching the left tear itself apart trying to blame an individual when their real problem is that socialism rarely works and always costs a fortune.
The only way to have avoided this economic mess would have been to not vote Labour in 1997. Simple as.
Graham, Oxford, UK
Even if the real pay of teachers has gone up by 20% in 11 years, and my wife's real salary is several %age below this, this only equates to 1½% to 2% per annum. How does that compare to other professions over the same time and with their own long term trends. Teachers do have a genuine grievance.
Richard, West Midlands,
"No one has asked David Cameron any hard questions". I heard John Humphrys on Today this morning do just that. I also heard David Cameron say that when he is PM, government will grow more slowly than the economy. Three cheers for that core policy that will benefit all, especially the poor.
Jane , Surrey, Surrey
I am disgusted by the way in which Labour has gone out of its way to reduce social mobility. Exams have been dumbed down & university admissions engineered to hide the fact that state educated students have no basic skills, and will be unable to achieve their potential in life. It is highly cynical.
VB, London, UK
Brown has made many mistakes some of which the press and media refuse to cover, important issues, so if the mdia won't cover the real issues then we (the people) will get rid of him another way.
The bigest issues are :
1. EUROPE REFERENDUM
2. He has no mandate
3. He has ruined the eccomomy
paul wilcox, berkshire, UK
There's a strange irony here. The AronovitchLabour/Lefty supporters are all from Sussex, and the Anti's are all from the North and Scotland. When exactly did this North/South divide occur?
Neil, Glos,
"do you remember last July"
Yes, we do. Brown came to power on a wave of unwarranted optimism and has run the country into the ground.
Nobby Clark, Perth,
No, Aaronovitch, it is not a matter of faith, it is a matter of knowledge. Succinctly different.
Brown, and Blair before him have completed the transformation of a party that once had core ideas to the "staying in power party". They have simply lost their way.
Agent 99, Dunbar,
Very good article. My feeling is that the electorate wanted to like Blair whereas they and many Labour MPs want to dislike Brown (possibly a reluctance / inability to create allies has caused this). I will leave it to students of psychology to look into the subject in more depth...
Michael Pagan, St Albans, UK
I think you should read your colleague Gary Duncans's piece from yesterday about the complete breakdown in social mobility brought about over the last twenty years from too much meddling by the State. I include the last couple of Tory administrations in that criticism but Brown wants praise for it.
mike gore, london,
Frankly, are there any politicians we can truly respect?
Ian cheese, London, UK
I don't remember thinking Brown walked on water. I remember thinking that maybe as PM he would bring some humanity back to government.
I was wrong.
I remember thinking that he was a poor chancellor, getting the country dangerously in debt.
I was right.
Mike Poulsen, Reading, Berkshire
Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish to paraphrase Blair. Education for the poorest in our society has failed condemning them to a life sentence of poverty. Violent crime has risen inexorably under Labour, whilst petty crime is not counted properly. Terrorism prospers under the cloak of multi-culturalism.
Richard K, Nottingham,
>>Gordon Brown was the worst Chancellor this country has ever had<<
Ha, ha, ha. This is a joke, right? Do the names "Norman" and "Lamont" mean anything to you? What about that fellah "John Major" who took us into the ERM?
And if we go further back there is always winston Chruchill...
Adrian, London,
Nonsense
Ben Moss, London, England (Used to be Britain) Ta Gordon
There are quite a few of us Labour voters (since 1997) who didn't think that Brown would make a very good PM in July 2007. Nothing has changed, he's still rubbish. I doubt I'll vote Labour next time.
David Leslie, Perth, Scotland
It is arguable that Brown's, matra-esque use of the word Prudence, was a cover for his imprudence, Allowing the national & personal debt to rise to astronmic levels together with the spend philosphy, of selling gold reserves at their lowest price, all indicates that his and Labour's incompetence
Sturathandside, Highland, UK
A lousy, barrel-scraping defence of a lousy, barrel-scraping administration.
Neil, Scotland,
You will be saying next that Brunel was responsible for the sinking of the Titanic. Brown is no leader and no economist.
If he was a leader he would have challenged his junior, Blair, in 1994 and if he was an economist he would have seen last year the imminent "credit crunch" and held an election.
Tony Gee, London,
'Purity Island'? No location is offered but it clearly must be a near neighbour of Fantasy Island from which this particular tosh originates.
Buggins is everything his worst critics warned of and more. If his tenure in high office is deemed a success, what must failure look like?
m collins, Leeds,
What a load of rubbish! The "successful" economy was based on a tax and spend bubble, unpaid for off balance sheet hospitals and schools and geerymandering with the democratic process so that the maximum number of the electorate depend upon the government for their income and pension.
PETER CLOSE, BERWICK-UPON-TWEED, UK
I can only assume that the commenters here are bitterly disappointed with their own lives and view the government as a scapegoat. Much of the criticism leads me to the conclusion that for many, the perfect British state would be out of the EU and run by a dictatorship.
sid, london,
'The very rich are very much richer' - because of ASSET PRICE INFLATION. And who let that out of the bag...
DoTW, Tunbridge Wells,
An angry article, and quite rightly. The way Brown's own party and supporters have deserted him is truly vile. What, precisely, do they think that he has done so wrong?
Chris, Lewes,
I think the author of this piece is just trying to wind us all up - he can't be serious! This is the worst government I can remember in 60 years.
Oxford Don, Oxford, UK
"Tony Blair's mission, unexplained even to himself perhaps" ... in other words Blair was just an empty headed political opportunist.
You say Brown has cut poverty. Ha, only by his carefully chosen criteria. Reality has about as much place in your world as it does in Browns. ie, NONE.
TrevorH, OXON,
David the Guardian editorial has been Camerons cheerleader from day one,they think he is a liberal conservative.The Guardian have not once put him under pressure on his policies.The Guardian think they represent "Middle Englanders" not the Daily Mail.
Bill Rees, Truro, Cornwall
Achievements?
Need more people so bring about mass immigration but too many people so many people so minimum wage needed?
Say country getting richer so more on benefits?
Road death toll falling slower than rise in car safety alone could explain?
Taxes up on all but the super-rich?
Edward Andrew Green, Upminster, England
Well written, Sir. These are the facts, and I can't believe the press & public are so stupid as to continue to let themselves be taken in the risible Cameron. The media love-in with this empty, self-regarding potato head has got to stop.
Jack, Bexhill-on-Sea, England
Any mind with a track record of"determined undermining of a good government" willfind fault and actually create fault where non exixts.................Your article is based highly on speculative imaginitive negativity towards Labour..........................The reality is different.
Eric, Southwick, Sussex
Sensible rats never went onboard.
Simon Marshland, Bath, UK
No the poor haven't become poorer, but they have become totally dependent on benefits and are less able to escape from the benefits straightjacket. Brown represents everything wrong with Socialism - means testing, complicated tax, benefits dependency and lack of individual responsibility.
John, Manchester,
The greatest achievement of this Labour Government is to provide a steady stream of poor people from all over the world to enable it to promote poverty and to subvert the whole country in addressing it. Poverty top-up may give Labour Browny points but it has wrecked the NHS, wages rises, education.
Malcolm Turner, Alsager, England
Great to see that there is an apologist for all of our money that has been spent on waste, AND propaganda...Hutton report clean ups, WMD, doctored reports such as Stern, idiot advisors sending a meaningless initiative a day, leading to piles of paperwork and the deaths of thousands from C diff...
Danny, Manchester,
Right old "Navy lark" - Left hand down a bit skipper !
wills, soton, uk
Well David,
It is precisely this premise that you and other labour and marxist thinkers cling to, " cutting the wealthy down to size" that is driving more and more people to leave the UK. Does anybody remember "Gold Reserves?" That I think gave a true indication of the stewardship of Gordon Brown.
James Stuart, Inverness,
Yes I am a whingening former Labour voter and member. Now what achievements are you talking about David ? There is the Minimum wage, errrr, errr, errr, the dome, errrr, errrr, errrr, spin, errrrrrrrr, errrrr, now I am stumbling, please help me out here !!!!
Ian Payne, WALSALL,
The achievements? Hmm. Devolution to Scotland and Wales which has been completely unfair to England. The destruction of our private pension plans. A daft Human Rights Act which means we cannot deport undesirables. A bloated state and public debt. violent crime up. Education down. Mass immigration!
Richard, Worcester, England
I see no achievement other than to make us a benefit dependant nation and to dicourage those getting off benefit by high marginal rates of tax. Universal benefits taxed is a better solution..
William, London, UK
What planet are you from ?
Benzo, Nr Chelmsford,
The author must live on a parallel universe to the rest of us. Gordon Brown is an unelected control freak who has stolen my pensions, mismanaged state benefits to the detriment of all and to cap it off he's an embarrassment to Britain. Its time he was ejected and banished to whence he came.
Mike, Alicante, Spain
It is likely that ZaNuLabor will lose the next GE, rather than the Tories winning it. They have proven themselves to be totally incompetent at, well just about everything and they obviously no longer believe in anything other than clinging to the Trough of State.
Roger Davies, Aberdovey, United Kingdom
Does the author read from the same mantra as the rest of the Labour cabinet? You have never had it so good, things have got better etc etc.
If closing down hospitals, A&E's, Police Stations and Fire Stations is good then perhaps he has a point. Council tax trebled? Crime rampant? Move on Labour.
Roger, Surrey,
Brown was a terrible Chancellor. It gs taken time for that to show through. he made many strategic errors including extending Government borrowing during the good years leaving no fire power for the bad.
His personal characteristics have become clear in the last 12 months and the various memoirs ,
Charles Daniels, Lady Lake, Florida
Achievements?
I see no achievements other than robbing the most vulnerable to assist the better-off.
Robert Christie, Burntisland, Scotland
Well said, George Ball.
Mike Armstrong, Macau, China
If you really think that teachers have it good, you need to talk to some of them. And the reason why your Marxist analysis doesn't work is - duh - that Marxism is rubbish.
Alex Swanson, Milton Keynes, UK
The schools education agenda is driven by the desire of successive Secretaries of State for Education to make their mark by changing what is already in place. This has culminated in an arrangement whereby teachers are not valued for their professional skills. Their work is micromanaged from on high.
Malcolm Williamson, WGC, UK
Do I understand that you want to cut the wealth creators "down to size" by making them less wealthy? That should work.
Bill Peter, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The only thing I can agree with is that the boy Dave would make little difference. May the Flying Spaghetti Monster protect us all, because the electorate won’t.
George Ball, Diss,
Wow!.....................Spot on George Ball,......Spot on!
Regards,
GERONIMO.
GERONIMO, LONDON, MIDDLESEX
and now, for all of you who skipped to the column below,
the news.
Michael, Ipswich, UK
You miss the point as to why Labour is loathed by so many more now than a year ago.
Gordon Brown was the worst Chancellor this country has ever had, the complacent majority only now coming to see this, with the country mortgaged up to the hilt after years of global easy gain when we should have been paying back instead of spending. The 10p gimmick in his last budget was only the last straw to open many eyes after a decade of robbing hard working people to throw away on the feckless.
Teachers under Labour have gone from semi-professionals to semi-childminders. A profession is a body which elects from its distinguished peers a ruling council to determine standards. Teachers long ago relinquished that once proud standard and allowed themselves to be instruments of government interference, now no longer even able to discipline their charges; no wonder they have become disillusioned, despite higher pay. Falling standards means they have an interest in their pay only and no longer their subject.
It is the con that Labour was better for this country, the con that progressive means forward and the con that throwing the country’s wealth on socialist projects will improve anything for anybody.
The only thing I can agree with is that the boy Dave would make little difference. May the Flying Spaghetti Monster protect us all, because the electorate won’t.
George Ball, Diss,