TheDanold
Unimatrix
I had to post this scathing article of how far left Britain has gone since the Labor party took over and how bad things have gotten. There is sometimes a presumption that because Labor abandoned it's old far left policy of trying to control the market that they are now more "moderate" or even right wing (I admit I believed this years ago).
The stats bear out how wrong that view is.
1. More Welfare:
In 1971, only eight per cent of the working population was on benefits. Today the figure is 18 per cent, and some economic think tanks estimate that one-third of British households rely on benefits for at least half their income.
2. Much Bigger Government:
In 1997, for instance, spending on the National Health Service was £33 billion ($71 billion), rising to £90 billion ($194 billion) last year. Although critics of the NHS would argue for negative productivity, the most generous estimates point to a productivity increase of just 9.9 per cent between 1998 and 2004 -- a period during which spending doubled.
3. Much higher taxes:
Taxation has risen to a 20-year high to cope with funding the state and the public services. Since 1997, the amount raised through personal taxes has risen from £175 billion ($376 billion) to nearly £370 billion ($796 billion). The OECD says that over the past four years, taxation of working families has risen in Britain, but fallen across Europe.
4. More health spending, worse results:
In 2005, 41 per cent of patients waited four months or longer for elective surgery, compared with 33 per cent in Canada, 19 per cent in Australia and less than 10 per cent in Germany and America.
5. Far more things illegal:
The Home Office, which handles crime, immigration and security, has put no less than 3,000 new offences on the statute book since 1997 -- on issues from detention without trial to the correct use of cellphones in cars.
6. Giant increases in education spending, terrible results:
Despite a doubling of spending from £29 billion ($62 billion, using current exchange rates) in 1997 to £64 billion ($138 billion) projected for 2008. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development last year claimed a quarter of the British population aged between 25 and 34 are "low skilled" in terms of educational attainment, five times the numbers in Japan.
An OECD report also said that Britain lags behind in literacy rates among developed nations, and the U.S. Institute for Education Sciences says 14-year-olds in Britain are outperformed by 17 other countries in the developed world in terms of mathematical ability. Recent statistics showed that fully one-half of state secondary schools are failing to provide pupils with a good standard of education, and 40 per cent of 11-year-olds are leaving primary school without having reached an appropriate level in reading, writing and math. Grade inflation, through which the government stands accused of covering up low achievement, is endemic. In 1989, for instance, a grade of 48 per cent was needed to get a C in GCSE math. By the year 2000 it was 18 per cent.
http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20070611_106150_106150&source=srch
The stats bear out how wrong that view is.
1. More Welfare:
In 1971, only eight per cent of the working population was on benefits. Today the figure is 18 per cent, and some economic think tanks estimate that one-third of British households rely on benefits for at least half their income.
2. Much Bigger Government:
In 1997, for instance, spending on the National Health Service was £33 billion ($71 billion), rising to £90 billion ($194 billion) last year. Although critics of the NHS would argue for negative productivity, the most generous estimates point to a productivity increase of just 9.9 per cent between 1998 and 2004 -- a period during which spending doubled.
3. Much higher taxes:
Taxation has risen to a 20-year high to cope with funding the state and the public services. Since 1997, the amount raised through personal taxes has risen from £175 billion ($376 billion) to nearly £370 billion ($796 billion). The OECD says that over the past four years, taxation of working families has risen in Britain, but fallen across Europe.
4. More health spending, worse results:
In 2005, 41 per cent of patients waited four months or longer for elective surgery, compared with 33 per cent in Canada, 19 per cent in Australia and less than 10 per cent in Germany and America.
5. Far more things illegal:
The Home Office, which handles crime, immigration and security, has put no less than 3,000 new offences on the statute book since 1997 -- on issues from detention without trial to the correct use of cellphones in cars.
6. Giant increases in education spending, terrible results:
Despite a doubling of spending from £29 billion ($62 billion, using current exchange rates) in 1997 to £64 billion ($138 billion) projected for 2008. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development last year claimed a quarter of the British population aged between 25 and 34 are "low skilled" in terms of educational attainment, five times the numbers in Japan.
An OECD report also said that Britain lags behind in literacy rates among developed nations, and the U.S. Institute for Education Sciences says 14-year-olds in Britain are outperformed by 17 other countries in the developed world in terms of mathematical ability. Recent statistics showed that fully one-half of state secondary schools are failing to provide pupils with a good standard of education, and 40 per cent of 11-year-olds are leaving primary school without having reached an appropriate level in reading, writing and math. Grade inflation, through which the government stands accused of covering up low achievement, is endemic. In 1989, for instance, a grade of 48 per cent was needed to get a C in GCSE math. By the year 2000 it was 18 per cent.
http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20070611_106150_106150&source=srch
