Quizzes & Puzzles1 min ago
Uk National Debt Over £2 Trillion
More than 100% of GDP.
When Labour left office in 2010 the National Debt was less than £1 Trillion, so the Tories have managed to double it. Will the electorate ever forgive the Conservatives again for trouncing the economy?
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When Labour left office in 2010 the National Debt was less than £1 Trillion, so the Tories have managed to double it. Will the electorate ever forgive the Conservatives again for trouncing the economy?
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ZM: "The common acceptance of a trillion is 1000 million. In 1975 Chancellor Denis Healey announced that the treasury would adopt the US billion thenceforth. " - no the common acceptance of a Trillion is 1000 Billion, the common acceptance of a Billion is 1000 million. They are both wrong but that is what is used these days.
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The Treasury ought to have told Mr Healey where to go. The US presumably.
The Treasury ought to have told Mr Healey where to go. The US presumably.
//they could have opted not to close everything down.//
Personally I would rather that had been the choice - but imagine the outcry if they’d done that. People dying and a government that did nothing to attempt to prevent it. They were guided by science - the prediction, wrongly, that very many more thousands would die. No one wants disaster, economically or otherwise - least of all the government. They did what they thought was right - but they can’t do right for doing wrong - and oddly enough among their harshest critics are those who wanted everything shut down - and to remain shut down for even longer. There’s no accounting for folk - especially those with a political agenda.
Personally I would rather that had been the choice - but imagine the outcry if they’d done that. People dying and a government that did nothing to attempt to prevent it. They were guided by science - the prediction, wrongly, that very many more thousands would die. No one wants disaster, economically or otherwise - least of all the government. They did what they thought was right - but they can’t do right for doing wrong - and oddly enough among their harshest critics are those who wanted everything shut down - and to remain shut down for even longer. There’s no accounting for folk - especially those with a political agenda.
dannyk, I was referring to Gromit's post at 11:21. In fact the debt had not quite doubled by 17 months ago, but that was a year before Covid, so I think it's fair to conclude that the government had doubled it without spending on Covid at all.
(For what it's worth, I approve of Sunak's actions, he's the only one who seems to have a plan rather than making it up as he goes along.)
(For what it's worth, I approve of Sunak's actions, he's the only one who seems to have a plan rather than making it up as he goes along.)
We always knew the Tories would hide behind Covid to excuse their disastrous handling of the economy. The "Austerity" which was going to cancel the debt by 2015 had in fact nearly doubled it before Covid ever reached our shores.
A more robust economy would have been better fitted to fight the Cover effect, but as it is we're in for a very rough ride.
But all the Tory forelock-tuggers still believe in the benevolence of the Rich Masters.
A more robust economy would have been better fitted to fight the Cover effect, but as it is we're in for a very rough ride.
But all the Tory forelock-tuggers still believe in the benevolence of the Rich Masters.
// They were guided by science - the prediction, wrongly, that very many more thousands would die. //
It's a bit much to call a prediction "wrong" that was based on the Government and the people doing exactly nothing in response to the health threat. For my part I'd generally support the rest of the message of that post, ie that the Government was caught between a rock and a hard place, but that "wrong prediction" bothers me. It is unknowable whether the more extreme predictions were wrong.
Still, even if the big picture decision were forced, it's also a bit much to let the Government off the hook for anything that becomes a part of that. Should the Government have acted earlier? Should they have taken the impending threat more seriously in February? Has the testing strategy been correct? What in the hell were they thinking when they decided to send potentially infected elderly patients from hospitals back to care homes? And so on.
It's a bit much to call a prediction "wrong" that was based on the Government and the people doing exactly nothing in response to the health threat. For my part I'd generally support the rest of the message of that post, ie that the Government was caught between a rock and a hard place, but that "wrong prediction" bothers me. It is unknowable whether the more extreme predictions were wrong.
Still, even if the big picture decision were forced, it's also a bit much to let the Government off the hook for anything that becomes a part of that. Should the Government have acted earlier? Should they have taken the impending threat more seriously in February? Has the testing strategy been correct? What in the hell were they thinking when they decided to send potentially infected elderly patients from hospitals back to care homes? And so on.
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