I Don't Know Anything About Economics, But If...

[sandyRoe]

...but if Labour have a period of austerity in mind what did the Tories do to make it necessary?

[ToraToraTora]

you're not really looking for the actual answer are you. The judge has explained the last 5 years in detail many times. Hopefully he'll be along soon, he has the patience.

[sandyRoe]

I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want an answer.

Labour wouldn't be doing what they're talking about if there wasn't some poisonous legacy they needed to deal with.

[ToraToraTora]

the tories did nothing, multiple crises caused huge costs and QE. We overreacted with lockdown etc so it could have been cheaper.

[Rosetta]

Sandy your use of the words "poionous legacy" suggests you are not asking the question with an open mind, but wanting answers that accord with your own political  leanings

[douglas9401]

I wouldn't say they did nothing. In  the time-honoured way they more or less did what everybody else was doing in true sheep mode.

I believe they called it following the science at the time.

[ToraToraTora]

18:22 Yes they reacted to crises as advised. When I said they did nothing I mean none of it was policy, it was all prescribed by "experts" and circumstance. The OP is just looking for a way to assuage the mess that is about to happen and that IS policy.

[New Judge]

Labour don't have a period of austerity in mind. They plan to continue spending at the ridiculously high levels of the past few years and to enable that by additional taxation and extra borrowing.

[ToraToraTora]

in the year prior to the election the economy was recovering well. Labour inherited the fasted growing economy in the G7.

[davebro3]

//Labour don't have a period of austerity in mind.//

They do - but only for the plebs. Tighten your belts, it's for the good of the country! We will see...

[Canary42]

Remember Liz Truss.

[ToraToraTora]

a lefty myth canary, she did nowt her mini budget was not implemented. City spivs used it to clean up.

[davebro3]

Why? Truss made some proposals which spooked the horses. No saying if they could have worked in the longer term.

[New Judge]

You have it wrong, dave.

Labour’s idea of austerity is when public spending is reined in. They won’t hear of it. They see success in the amount of other people’s money they can burn. It doesn’t occur to them that if they spend it somebody else (from whom it was appropriated) cannot. Doesn’t matter – they can spend it far more wisely.

So everybody who pays tax will see a period of austerity – just so that the Labour government can say there was no such thing.