Who's weak now?

Any idea who said this? Could it be David Cameron talking about the current predicament Britain new finds itself? Oh dear me no. It was our wonderful prime minister Gordon Brown back when he was shadow chancellor in 1992 talking about the Conservative government. What a joke! A few weeks ago he was working feverishly to try to persuade us that Britain's economy going down the plughole was all part of the global slide. How, Gordon, do you now explain away the news from the International Monetary Fund that Britain "will suffer the worst recession of any advanced nation". I'll tell you, Gordon, why we're going to suffer more than any other nation. It's because back in the 1990s the British public were hoodwinked by the biggest political con-trick in decades '“ that New Labour was the best thing since sliced bread for the country. Since then we've seen this government do America's bidding, getting involved in two major conflicts that has cost our economy a fortune, in death, blood and cash, and still is. We've watched as the government has imposed one stealth tax after another bleeding us try. We've seen the government set up one quango after another so that we've now a huge, and still growing army of advisers on this that and everything else, all at our expense. We've seen billions poured into the NHS, much of it on increased administration and management, targets et al, yet we still hear stories of mixed sex wards, of hospital infections killing patients, and the NHS having to ration new drugs because of a shortage of cash. We've seen this government preside over the most rampant and unsustainable growth in house prices, and cheap credit, doing nothing to restrain spending, in fact encouraging it without any thought that we might hit the buffers. We've also seen the government sit back and fail to regulate the financial world '“ so much so they didn't see (there's none so blind as those who don't want to see) financial institutions taking ridiculous risks. Prudence? She went out the window! I'm sure that some of you Labour supporters (and I hope there are precious few left) saying that I am looking at all this in hindsight, and, of course, I am. But consider this. The government has spent an absolute fortune in employing experts, consultants and advisers, all at our expense, supposedly to keep the country and the eocnomy on an even keel. Remember this government (Blair I think it was) saying that New Labour would end the boom and bust of past Tory governments? We'll, they have presided over the biggest boom and now the biggest bust since World War Two. It frightens me that we have entered this recession (and I believe it is a Depression) with Labour at the helm. We need a Labour government in control in these times like a hole in the head. Not that the Tories are much better, because I'm sure that given power they would quickly revert to form and look after the richest (wealth creators they call them) at the expense of the rest. And the Lib Dems would be like a fish out of water. What we now need, more so now than at any time since the last war, is a government of national unity and one which will get us out of the EU and its appalling waste and bureaucracy. We're in a crisis the like of which no single political party can hope to control. This government appears to be leaping from one panic measure to another, pouring billions of pounds into a gaping black economic hole with no regard to the future. The IMF has said that Britain will suffer a deeper recession than any other advanced nation and it will take us longer to get out of it than others. Bring on a general election and some hope for a better future before New Labour starts printing funny money and bankrupts us. ------------------------------------- Click here to go back to Tony Mayes. Where are you? Add your pin to the Herald's international readers' map by clicking here. Email the Herald: tony.mayes@worthingherald.co.uk