During the Brown/Blair years the private sector has not grown at all but the public sector has grown by 63%. That is the conclusion of research by former CentreRight contributor Andrew Lilico - now of Policy Exchange - and reported in The Sunday Telegraph:
"The economic output of the private sector next fiscal year will be around £706.1bn – lower than the inflation-adjusted £708.9bn it amounted to in 1998/99, the first full fiscal year of the Blair government. The figures, calculated by the Policy Exchange think tank, show that in that same period the size of the public sector ballooned by some 63pc."
Devastating. So-called New Labour have socialised the British economy at least as effectively as so-called Old Labour. Debt and dependency are at levels that should make every Bennite smile.
On the debt front... congratulations are also owed to another 'CentreRightie', Charlie Elphicke - the Tory candidate in Dover - who has been trying to turn the national debt figures into easily understandable amounts. His efforts are rewarded with a big story in the News of the World:
"A BLACK hole in the taxes collected from British businesses means the nation’s debt is growing by £5,700 A SECOND... Tax expert Charlie Elphicke, of the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, said: “Borrowing like this is totally bonkers. It’s not just mortgaging our kids’ future it’s going to hold back our chances of a job or a pay rise. The Government is wrecking things for everyone.” The debt run up by the Government this year would pay for an Emirates Stadium in every town in the UK. And the mind-boggling sums are enough to feed every single family in the country for the next three years."
