Brown was wrong: Britain's economic growth only 1.75% not 3.5% | 13 comments (13 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

There is no hope. The UK is locked into a rightward spiral, likely for another 10 years.

When your "party of the left" is co-opted to the right by Mandelson et al. and it's a two party state, things start to look grim.

The Liberal Democrats could indeed be an alternative, but the odds are stacked against them, much like they are against a surfer who faces a tsunami.

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Mon Dec 5th, 2005 at 05:01:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: There is no light... (none / 0)

We must have some hope.. somehow... After all, the government is center-left on social issues...is there any way to change it in foreign policy, civil liberties and some aspects of the economy? It seems that the answer is no, but who knows.. what about a Gordon Brown government?

A pleasure

I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude

by kcurie on Mon Dec 5th, 2005 at 05:22:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: There is no light... (none / 0)

They are the kind of social left that I can't find any comfort in: intrusive, controlling, deeply illiberal. Their solution to every social problem is to judicialize and penalize.

Sure, they have restored part of the funding of social programs that the Tories took away under Thatcher, but their approach to government is terrifyingly authoritarian.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Dec 5th, 2005 at 05:31:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: There is no light... (none / 0)

Indeed. Would that change with a GB government?

I think foregin policy will not change, I think the economic policy is not that bad... so the question is if this illiberal component will be eliminated...with GB. Less authoritarian?

I have no idea if this would be the case or not.

A pleasure

I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude

by kcurie on Mon Dec 5th, 2005 at 05:43:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

My thoughts as well (none / 0)

On all accounts I experience(d) them, the rules for GB are getting messier and messier. Perhaps they were even worse than the Dutch, where you need to go thrice to the council house: first for enquiry what papers to bring, secondly to bring the papers and third to bring the papers they didn't tell you about to bring.

It was practically impossible to open a simple bank account in England for a foreign student...

Someone told me, "The Brits thrive only in one skill, and that is managing".

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Mon Dec 5th, 2005 at 07:18:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Brown was wrong: Britain's economic growth only 1.75% not 3.5% | 13 comments (13 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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