RSS

Contact us

Monday 9 November 2009

Brown must admit his errors

Brown and his critics must admit their errors

The PM should learn from his mistakes

There is little doubt that when New Labour took over from an exhausted Tory party the nation’s infrastructure had been starved for too long, the public services neglected, the nation’s economic policy in need of refreshment. Nor is there any doubt that Labour’s inheritance included the enormous asset of the Thatcher revolution: a largely privatised economy, trade unions finally obliged to defer to the will of Parliament as expressed in its legislation, and a robust private sector operating in a society in which success and wealth were no longer considered signs of criminal or at minimum economically predatory behaviour.

Enter Gordon Brown and his intelligence in the service of his vision of a society in which children would be rescued from poverty, entrepreneurs would be encouraged to create businesses by changes in the tax code, benefits would be distributed to offset some of the harsher consequences of the market, work would replace welfare and society’s social ills would succumb to a variety of programmes from state-provided early-childhood care to means-tested pensions for the elderly. One might say cradle-to-grave care from the state, had that term not taken on a meaning that colours the debate.

Some of the Brown programmes worked. Healthcare improved a bit, although nowhere in line with the £43 billion of extra cash Brown showered on the NHS, as Sir Derek Wanless’s recent report makes clear. The City became a contender for the title of world’s leading financial centre, a place to which the globe’s financial moguls flock (although not necessarily to become domiciled!). The Bank of England was freed of some (not all) of the political control that had contributed to periodic bouts of inflation. The economy grew steadily. Sterling was retained as the nation’s currency, and with it the possibility of fiscal and monetary policies far more sensible than those in euroland.

More articles from: Irwin Stelzer | this section

Print this article  |  Email to a friend  |  Permalink   |   Comments (1)

Post this entry to:   del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit

Post comment

Back to top

Advertisement

Spectator Business | Apollo Magazine

Corporate | Advertising | Privacy | Terms

Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP

All Articles and Content Copyright ©2009 by The Spectator | All Rights Reserved