The greatest achievement, in narrow political terms anyway, of the present Labour government is to have convinced large swathes of the middle class that it has nothing to fear from Labour. Certainly, the decision taken early on to make the Bank of England independent and set interest rates was a masterstroke. Pretty much every other decision, though, has been in the wrong direction, and after the usual early honeymoon period, doubts are setting in.
In a cogently argued piece for the right-leaning Daily Telegraph, columnist Daniel Johnson subjects the reign of UK finance minister Gordon Brown to a thorough bashing. At the core of the problem is Brown’s massive tax increases, which, coupled with a horrendously complex welfare benefits system, is fostering a corrosive dependency culture while at the same time retarding economic growth. For several years while world markets boomed it was possible for Brown to get away with the reputation of the ‘canny Scot’ who would take no risks with the economy. But his mania for new tax rises and sundry gimmicks, coupled with a barely concealed dislike of the middle class, is starting to get noticed.
The real question now is whether the opposition Conservative Party can make any gains from this. Judged by the complete lack of tax-cutting rhetoric from the Tories, they don’t look like making progress any time soon.
