End of New Labour

Yesterday's budget truly marked the end of New Labour. The branding exercise that made the Labour party electable has been terminated. New Labour was built designed to allay the fears of the public that Labour could be trusted to run the economy and in a series of high profile pledges, to not increase the rates of income tax.

Darling's plans for a new super-tax of 45% on earnings over £150,000 and the latest borrowing projections showing that the country is heading for debt levels of a trillion pounds have proved the old saying that all Labour chancellors run out of money, and all Labour governments bring the country to the edge of bankruptcy.

I personally never believed that New Labour extended far beyond Tony Blair. It certainly never included Gordon Brown. As chancellor, he persistently increased taxes on everyone during the last ten years. From the stealth moves - fuel duty, stamp duty, the appalling removal of the tax credit on dividends which has destroyed private sector pensions, to the more brazen moves, such as the increase in NI rates for everyone above the upper earnings maximum some years ago, here was a man who clearly believed that the state was the best spender of your money.


We all want better schools and hospitals. But the bonanza that has been delivered to the NHS and the state school system has not brought about measurable improvements. Survival rates of cancer in the UK are still well-below comparative countries in Europe. The UK has fallen down the world league table of educational attainment.

The great disappointment of Tony Blair's time as PM was that he did so little to reform public services. Oh, the money poured in. But as it was not matched by reform, much of it has been wasted.


I do hope the public wake up and realise how much has been spent, how much they have paid, and how small the improvements have been. It's time for a change and I'm looking forward to seeing Brown booted out of office.