Miliband turns Brownite
David Blackburn 12:15pm
Well done David Miliband, for writing an article in the Guardian that is free of wonkery and abstractions. Miliband deserves applause for being the first Labour
leadership contender to address public spending cuts with reasoned analysis, not ideological retorts. Also, he is right to urge George Osborne not to sell the public stakes in RBS and Lloyds at a
bargain price. But his central thesis merits censure. He perverts recent history to fit an avowedly left-wing analysis of public spending. Miliband writes:
The deficit long pre-existed falling tax receipts and global economic meltdown. Gordon Brown predicted that borrowing would fall in 2005-06 from £39bn to £36bn. What actually transpired was an overspend of £32bn. At the beginning of 2008, the deficit had risen to £43.6bn. This, as the table below (click to enlarge) illustrates came during a sustained period of growing tax receipts.‘Let's take the deficit argument head on. We need to remember what the Tories want the country to forget: it was falling tax receipts – not rising spending – that primarily caused the deficit to rise. We would not be in this position if there had not been a global economic meltdown.’
There is a structural deficit, the direct result of 10 years of fiscal irresponsibility and unsustainable spending. Global financial meltdown was a significant but late contributing factor to the deficit's growth.
Miliband’s article is an obvious pitch to the left, his hand forced by the rise of Diane Abbott and the resurgence of Ed Balls and Ed Miliband. David Miliband now argues that Labour can only oppose the Tories if it defends its record in government – all that ‘record investment’. Such an analysis explicitly condones the financial policy that ushered Britain into this mess. There’s nothing substantively new about Miliband’s analysis; it’s profoundly Brownite, and it assumes that all spending is objectively ‘good’.
There is a debate to be had about the depth of cuts, but Miliband's stance (and that of his rivals for the leadership) should be discarded. The last three years prove that overspending and debt are ruinous. Ultimately, borrowing is restricted by means.
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chris as usual
June 18th, 2010 12:30pm Report this commentHe ranted about this on Newsnight last night - a clear pitch for his leadership campaign, however misguided. The BBC again showed its leftist credentials. Wonder what the other 'candidates' thought about this?
John Stapleton
June 18th, 2010 12:39pm Report this commentHe's half wrong, as you suggest, but not all wrong. The massive deficit is a combination of over-spending by Government during the boom years, the recession and the banking crisis. He is half wrong but you are half wrong too.
Hugh Janus
June 18th, 2010 12:50pm Report this commentYou think he actually wrote it??
2trueblue
June 18th, 2010 12:59pm Report this commentAmazing how much airtime Liebore are still getting. Old habits hard to break. Lots of time on their hsnds. Mandy very quiet,Brown out of town, lovely.
Fox in a box
June 18th, 2010 1:06pm Report this commentJohn Stapleton:
Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked.
Warren Buffett
Tom Freeman
June 18th, 2010 1:24pm Report this commentIn 2007-08, the deficit was 2.4 % of GDP (structural deficit 2.6%). In 2009-10, the deficit had grown to 11.1% (structural deficit 8.8%). The lion's share of both the current figures has arisen as a result of the recession. Yes, Brown serially overspent/undertaxed for several years, but not by nearly as much as is suggested.
David Booth
June 18th, 2010 1:29pm Report this commentWhat a choice we have in the candidate's who wish to lead the Labour Party;
Two brothers still attached to their mothers apron string.
Mad eyed Ball.
Diane (private education is fine for my son but not yours) Abbott.
Oh and the one who has the face of a baby
and doesn't appeared to have started shaving yet.
God help the Labour Party if any one of them gets elected.
Cuffleyburgers
June 18th, 2010 2:21pm Report this comment"Miliband deserves applause" - NO HE DOESN'T.
He deserves to be locked up for his part in the most disgraceful government in our history.
He deserves to be ridiculed for his appalling faux-estuary glottal stops and inability to speak English and above all for his banana.
He deserves to lose the absurd election for the patronising and cynical way he wangled Abbott onto the card.
He deserves a slap on the head for his gurning approach to cameras.
Most assuredly he deserves many things, but applause comes some way down the list...
Noa
June 18th, 2010 3:29pm Report this comment"..We need to remember what the Tories want the country to forget: it was falling tax receipts – not rising spending – that primarily caused the deficit to rise..."
A statement that comprehensively capsulates the dogma, arrogance and stupidity of the rancid brand of neuveau socialism Gurner Dave epitomises.
DM. "Gosh, the economy is in a bad way and tax receipts are falling. Given that every penny I spend as the government has to be taken from earnings of the private sector, shall I; a). cut public expenditure to live within my income and put something aside for a rainy day or, b)minimise or reduce taxes to encourage growth? c)maintain or increase tax and borrowings and spend both in the best principles of Gordonomics? Whats that you say Alaistair, you've got the printing press working? So c) it is then!".
A socialist politician; one who taxes one working man to in order to buy the votes of two or more non workers, whilst telling the worker him of his great fortune in doing so.
Fabian the Fabulous
June 18th, 2010 3:40pm Report this commentavid Booth: God help the Labour Party if any one of them gets elected.
Why would he - God's a Tory, didn't you know!
HJ
June 18th, 2010 4:35pm Report this commentJohn Stapleton:
"He's half wrong, as you suggest, but not all wrong. The massive deficit is a combination of over-spending by Government during the boom years, the recession and the banking crisis. He is half wrong but you are half wrong too."
David Blackburn didn't suggest that the deficit is wholly due to government overspending. He merely pointed out that there is a structural deficit and that the government was running large deficits before the recession - both of which are wholly true.
Miliband is also being deliberately misleading when he says that it was the recession which primarily caused the deficit to rise. It is true that probably the majority (not all) of the rise in the deficit in the last two years is due to falling tax receipts caused by the recession, but this is not the same as saying that the majority of the deficit is caused by the recession for the simple reason that we were running a large structural defict before the recession began.
Tom murphy
June 18th, 2010 7:02pm Report this commentfabian the fabulous, If God's a tory i sure as hell dont want to go to heaven!
Paddy
June 18th, 2010 7:22pm Report this commentCuffleyburgers: Well said - "with knobs on"
R2-D2
June 18th, 2010 7:37pm Report this commentSo, everything was well until it started raining, and therefore they should not be blamed for not fixing the roof.
Of course the deficit goes up in a recession. That is why you have to run a surplus in the good years, so that you don't go bust when the recession comes. But, of course, they had abolished boom and bust, so there was never going to be a recession again.
Ruby Duck
June 19th, 2010 1:41am Report this commentWell said, R2-D2.
Not a profound point, but I am wondering if asymmetric bro major will live to regret nominating Diane Abbott. She may be a leftie, but she's by far the prettiest and most charismatic of the contenders.
Major Plonquer 1
June 19th, 2010 5:58am Report this commentDavid Milibanana is 100% correct. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with government borrowing. It's paying it back that's difficult.
Paddy
June 19th, 2010 5:24pm Report this commentYou've got to admit they are all on message.
"The deficit isn't as bad as expected".
"It all started in America".
"No need to cut this year - we had a 4 year plan" and ...
"I am surprised at the Libs going along with these cuts".
They must be mad if they think we are that stupid or if they think the public will forget the damage they have done to the country.
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