GORDON BROWN’S handling of the economy has not been as good as he claims and he could yet regret his confident assertion to have abolished “boom and bust”, according to the Adam Smith Institute free-market think-tank.
The report said: “The undermining of the competitiveness of the economy since 1997 could leave Britain particularly vulnerable.”
“Most important of all, recovery from any recession should not be based on greatly expanded public spending as planned by Gordon Brown. For that would be a true return to the boom and bust typical of Old Labour Governments.”
Under New Labour GDP growth had fallen to 2.6 per cent, while OECD countries averaged 3.3 per cent a year.
[…] data from respected international economic organisations, including the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, called into question whether the Government had taken full advantage of that legacy.
Britain’s inflation record had also been less successful than its EU partners.
Britain’s share of world exports had dropped sharply, from 5.1 per cent in 1997 to 4.5 per cent in 2000, reflecting a deterioration in Britain’s competitive position. Taxes had risen substantially.
Labour had introduced 45 “stealth taxes”, including the abolition of tax credits on dividends, which raised £6 billion last year, abolition of the Married Couples Allowance and Mortgage Interest Relief.
