John's Jottings for December 2003

John Ward

Please note: these Jottings are purely personal comment, and do not necessarily or directly represent the policy of either the Conservative Party or the Conservative Group on Medway Council.

Let Go With Labour!

Are you old enough to remember a Labour Party slogan of the 1960s? It went Let's Go With Labour!

These days it's more like Let go...

I've been looking into what has been happening in Britain since Labour came to power in 1997, and these are some of my findings:

Since this Government came to power we have had seven Education Acts:

But truancy has gone up 15 per cent overall and 25 per cent in secondary schools;
And 30,000 young people left school last year without a single GCSE.

Since this Government came to power we have had no fewer than eighteen Acts from the Health Department:

But there are still a million people on hospital waiting lists;
And the number of people forced to pay for their own operations has trebled.

Since this Government came to power we have had a whopping thirty Acts from the Home Office:

But recorded crime is up by 800,000;
And violent crime is at its highest ever level.

Since this Government came to power we have had five Transport Acts:

But rail delays have doubled;
And we still spend longer commuting to work than anyone else in Europe.

Britain could be doing so much better. We are the world's fourth largest economy. We are a nation of (generally!) hard working, energetic and enterprising people.

We have great potential, but this Government, which promised so much and had so much going for it, with two large majorities and a strong and buoyant economy, has let our country down. They have simply lost their grip and let go of Britain. .

Next time: The Scrutiny Function