John Major on UK's terrible public sector debt (05July09)

[boffinme80]

What's with the hate on John Major?? He was a decent PM! The good thing about him was that he wasn't aggressive like Thatcher and Blair. He's been one of the best PMs since the early 70s after Harold Wilson. He did his best to put the economy back into shape. I know many people who hate Thatcher and Blair but I've never known anyone to hate Major. The best thing is that we weren't in debt when he was the leader. Many people liked him so why are you lot being so rotten?

[zufgh]

Incredibly intelligent man and a highly underrated PM.

[NewDayStudios]

@zufgh i agree with you zufgh, major was an epic pm

[ukipwarrior]

Mass-trick treaty!!!

[optionsupdate]

£262million each day in interest and that sum is set to double

[xkunx]

When people say, conservatives brought down the economy .. both in the UK and US,

They do this every single time. Anyone in power will "bring" down the economy for the masses, while they themselves profit.

Wake the fuck up people,

Anarchy in the UK and US

November 5 2012

The world needs a V FOR VENDETTA

[mariafreddiebeccamur]

smart guy. probably one of the best PMs in history. so much love for you man :)

[firepyro2]

John Major - the man who delivered the highest % growth in the last 2 decades

[sircharles2012]

There was a Prime Minister who learned from his mistakes. Yes, "Black Wednesday" was a mess, but Lord I'm glad the UK isn't in the ERM anymore.By 1997 the economy was booming, unemployment was falling rapidly, government spending was under control and interest rates were at a comfortable level. He knew that the government cannot control the economy directly, and if you just leave things along, they'll get better faster,

[SkullOfYorick]

I don't think anyone is arguing that Labour created the recession. A legitimate criticism is that public spending was far too high even before the recession, and public services did not necessarily improve as a result of this. It's also interesting how everyone knows about Thatcher and Blair, but people often ignore Major, even though he was PM for the seven years between the two.

[AidanLunn]

@SkullOfYorick It's probably because Major was much more of a collegiate prime minister rather than a presidential-style prime minister like Thatcher or Blair.

[SuperTruth77]

The trouble with Cameron & Osborne is that they’ve talked to too many CEOs.

Talk to 1000 CEOs & they’ll all give the same spiel about making money in the razor-sharp “competitive” Private Sector, unlike those on the Public Sector “gravy-train”.

Total nonsense. Most private companies are heavily reliant on State contracts & subsidies at some point (customers, customers’ customers etc) & will go under when the cuts bite- the CEO just won’t admit it, as it hurts his/her vanity.

[owlsrace]

How can a failed Tory MP come on TV and blame the workers for buying houses, when they sold off all the council houses that we wanted to rent. They forced us into the house owning dream, now they blame us for doing it. If they were honest and blamed the banks for lending to those who could only afford to rent council houses, Then force the banks (Barclays etc) and other businesses (Arcadia etc) and the rich (Lord Ashcroft etc) to pay their taxes that would be a start to solving this chaos!

[hablerz]

Taxation is theft, once you understand this paradigm then you can see the charade of government.

[duracellaltoids]

Finally, someone speaking sense

[baronessvondengler]

what's up with the pink socks?

[optionsupdate]

how much interest will we pay each day on the debt?

[DreamerDigital]

@optionsupdate £491,573,034

[optionsupdate]

@DreamerDigital each day ?

[optionsupdate]

@DreamerDigital when during this video does Major mention the amound of debt per day ?

[DreamerDigital]

@optionsupdate He doesn't does he? You asked, I just gave you an answer.

[optionsupdate]

@DreamerDigital UK pays 262mill/day in interest on gov debt, the interview in which major mentioned that figure is being suppressed. why?

[DreamerDigital]

@optionsupdate When was that interview recorded? That figure is probably outdated, you do realize the national debt and the deficit are growing exponentially?

[hablerz]

@optionsupdate The interest on the debt is the wizard hiding behind the curtain, its tacitly censored by the mainstream. They discuss the branches and the fruits of the problem but never address the root. You can cut spending and raise taxes all you like but until debt free money is issued there will always be a national debt.

[KingsWorld2010]

He looks like he's wearing no socks.... tramp

[jak1428]

sir john sure has some fashion sense.

[hammys123]

major was a corrupt pm and remains today an absolute swine of a man , he stinks and is a total wanker.

i hope he chokes on his own bullshit.

[simonhaytack90]

I don't know what it is, but does anyone else find John Major's voice so relaxing and easy to listen to?

[GoldenLegends]

check out those pink socks !

[no1knowledge]

The £3.5 billion that black wednesday cost Uk was chicken feed compared to the debt that labour has handed over .Labour inherited a booming economy with low interest rates and falling unemployment. One of their first acts was to screw the private pensions for an extra £5 Billion a year in taxes and flog off half our gold reserves at record low prices desite Brown being warned not to . Also now we have a massive trade inbalance and vast overspending on the public sector, all on borrowed money .

[no1knowledge]

@no1knowledge

I made a typing error and put INBALANCE instead of IMBALANCE ,but I have not got the time to cancel the article ,SORRY !!

[hlimkb]

similiar ferris wheel in singapore aka background scene

[tomsega]

I'm very sceptical of those who reduce everything to being a "scam to take taxpayers money". Traditionally they're conservative Daily Mail types who politically only care about low taxes and little more, everything from poverty to global warming just elaborate propaganda dreamt up by some reptilian leftist race of Commy Jewish bureaucrats.

[KeyToTime]

Good old John Major.

[samedge89]

luvin em pink socs!

[Oneandoneself]

he took the words from my mouth, this man deserves to be ruler of the world. especially as he talks so much sense concisely and has UBER COOL SOCKS!

[TopGearrules]

Aha this is soo ironic. A man who made more people unemployed than now complaining about the nation debt. Has he heard of a global recession, not his nation recession in the 90s? Its actually better off running a deficit as you need the money stimulation the economy, and can easily be paid off in a short time after. A bust country you can never recover from! Btw, I dont like either gordon brown or david cameron

[rodx69]

yeah deep but not as deep as it was when you were pm mr major

[tomwuk1]

Tie x socks = Former Prime Minister chic :D

[silversynth]

any party could never have stopped the recession but Labour were the worst to have in at the time with their failure to regulate banks. They made it much deeper and longer than it needed to be.

What is worse is the current Labour manifesto to impose a high job tax is the worst idea and will likely pull us back into the recession. You CANNOT repair an economy from a recession by raising job tax.

[jivio]

It's a shame John Major isn't Prime Minister anymore, because the way he speaks of the situation seems to be the best way to get out of this dreaded recession (which of course started in america and quickly made it's way to the uk).

[sparrowhawk07]

Some very honest, sober and sensible words.

[Chriseycarlyeah324]

major looks younger now than i rember him as prime minster

[AndrewJM70]

At least he tells it like it is unlike Mr Stalin "No more Boom and Bust" Brown.

[aceflashheart]

Christ. I hated Major in the day, but i'll say this: nothing improves a politician like no longer being in goverment. When they no longer have an election to win they tell real, stark truth.

[johnfox3]

Major's great :-D

[impressionsbysimon]

Northern Rock didn't cause the recession. I'm assuming you're not really suggesting that. And why did it collapse? Because of the problems in America.

And I don't think anyone can deny that Cameron was calling for even less regulation of the banks.

Brown was also right to bail Northern Rock out and right about the fiscal stimulus.

[impressionsbysimon]

Worse than Black Wednesday, John?! When the Conservatives single-handedly brought down the British economy!

And who was advisor to the treasury at this time? Oh yes, our Dave, aka David Cameron.

[liarpoliticians]

What are you on? Black Wednesday cost the UK £3.5Bn and a kick out of the hated ERM. That is chicken feed in comparison to New Labour costing the UK £2500Billion, and counting (upwards), and the worst recession in the UK's history created by New Labour.

[impressionsbysimon]

Only a Tory or Tory supporters would have us believe that Labour created the recession! It started in America and has affected most countries and would have hit the UK just as hard whoever was in power.

Tell me, what was the Tory policy to get us out of recession when it first hit? Oh no, hang on, they didn't have any policies!

[liarpoliticians]

America caused the first run on a UK bank in over 110 years with Northern Crook? Give it a rest. Gordon Brown removed regulation from the banking sector, the banking sector made lots of money, and Gordon didn't care where or how it was made because he had votes to buy.

[johnfox3]

Every country failed to prevent the recession, point is is what Labour where doing. They failed regulation (I accept most countries did), and they wasted money - even borrowing when times where good!

[Oneandoneself]

@impressionsbysimon listen to him. the labour boom was created by loans and creation of debt. then naturally the bust happened and because of labour we will be the last out. PRUNE

[kkwillsaveus]

@impressionsbysimon Deficit of £6 billion when Major left office, deficit of £178 billion 13 years later, do explain how that isn't Brown's fault.

[kkwillsaveus]

@impressionsbysimon Labour didn't cause the contraction in growth, admittedly. However, they did caused the deficit to rise from £6 billion in 1997 to £178 billion, which means the economy can't be inflated via use of spending, as there is no more money to spend.

[saintee1000]

@impressionsbysimon

Labour did not start the recession, but they did send us into the recession with an already large structural deficit. We also have to deal with the legacy of the housing boom (something that inflated the degree to which Labour were able to preside over a growing economy). Look at Germany, they had no housing boom and will almost certainly recover quicker than the UK. Manufacturing is greatly reduced, higher education is and was a mess.....

[scottishlad1987]

@impressionsbysimon labour put us in massive debt even before the recession hit. and they smothered industry with huge tax, believeing that borrowing is the way to build a strong economy. it is blindingly obvious that it isn't. live within your means, invest in yourself and your business with your own earned profit. that's the key to a truly strong economy. people can only do that if the government take a step back and stop taxing businesses.

[jimjimjim1985]

LABOUR'S RECORD (EVEN BEFORE MENTIONING THE RECESSION / DEPRESSION) : spending continually considerably more than it could tax, taxing the poor/middle-classes to death, taking away basic freedom of speech, increasing parasitism in the lower classes, selling our nations gold reserves, invasion of two countries, extraordinary rendition, giving away our democratic powers to Brussels without even asking us, letting out criminals, mass immigration, resulting problems, debasing our savings, etc etc

[jimjimjim1985]

@impressionsbysimon LABOUR'S RECORD (BEFORE MENTIONING THE RECESSION / DEPRESSION) : spending continually considerably more than it could tax, taxing the poor/middle-classes to death, taking away basic freedom of speech, increasing parasitism in the lower classes, selling our nations gold reserves, invasion of two countries, extraordinary rendition, giving away our democratic powers to Brussels without even asking us, letting out criminals, mass immigration, debasing our savings, etc etc

[SuperDanielclark]

thats not what people are saying, what people are saying that labour should of put money aside not spending more money than the economy is growing, if that had been done cuts wouldent be nearly as bad

[harperonline]

@impressionsbysimon - I have to say that as a libertarian I should side with the Tories, but on this occasion I don't. However, I have to say that Labour are not gold plated roses either. Labour should have kept the brakes on regarding the size of the state and the size of debt to GDP. Labour were on course in 1999 towards less that 20% debt to GDP but they dropped into their usual channel of spending. If they had stuck to this path the tories would not be in power now.

[tescoskick]

@liarpoliticians it was the worldwide recession

[liarpoliticians]

@tescoskick No, it was a G20 recession. The other 190+ countries were not involved with the scams that the G20 politicians created to steal taxpayers money.

[WillismoEmpire]

@liarpoliticians Scams to steal tax payers money? What?

[napoleonbonarparte]

Most of my fellow economy students prefer the term 'White Wednesday' actually....the British economy did well in comparison with most european economies at the time.

[impressionsbysimon]

White Wednesday..... you must be a Tory?!

[billybudd94]

A good decent man according to my parents... Why do Tories speak so much sense? Time to drop-kick the socialist scumbags running Britain in to touch. I hope Gordon Brown and his anti-British cabinet die slow and painful deaths.

[ThePAULOPABLO]

I wish we had higher interest rates. I will probably never get on the housing ladder as house prices are too high due to over low interest rates. What about savers?????? Obviously you like DEBT SOCIETY under Labour.

[ThePAULOPABLO]

Black Wednesday brought us out of reccession.

[makedoandmend2]

It is Tory MPs who have the same arrogant attitude as yourself who have given Labour twelve years in power.

If the Conservatives had shown the electorate that they had learnt from the terrible mistakes made by the John Major government and promised never again to play cat and mouse with mortgages they might have won the last election.

Instead Labour was given another chance to increase the National Debt.

[makedoandmend2]

John Major had only just been elected when he caused the Black Wednesday mess. Voters had to wait nearly five years before they could get rid of him.

His incompetence triggered a Labour landslide.

Tell those that lost their homes in the negative equity trap caused by Tory policies that the interest rates were not crippling.

Refer to John Major Black Wednesday to get your facts right.

[makedoandmend2]

It was John Majors Black Wednesday mess which brought the New Labour misfits to power. When he forced crippling interest rates onto mortgage payers he brought Labour in with a landslide.

[drunkenstooge]

I voted for him for MP so many years ago. I'd vote for him again.

[rsturbo4uk]

Johns a real talent! it's good now we can compare his legacy to nu-labour whos answer to everything is to throw money at it. I get a feeling he's holding back his true horror at the dire state that the economy is in!

[TheDukeofdorset]

Bring back Thatcher and Major.

As always labour have no ability on money or the economy

[lowestoftbus]

Glasgow North East Bedford HA HA

[cuteash98]

Credit Crunch

[makedoandmend2]

It was John Major's Black Wednesday mess when he forced crippling interest rates onto mortgage payers and small businesses in a disastrous attempt to keep the pound in the ERM that brought a landslide Labour Government upon us at the following election .

John Major's incompetence cost hundreds of thousands of families the roof over their heads and allowed Labour to gain power to run up such a huge national debt.

[cuttheraceistheads]

but crippling intrest today wil be good house prices are unafforable they are riseing again because of 0 percent intrest

[layne316]

If only this man was still running the country, guess we took him for granted :(

[sony8877]

fuck me an mp is talking a bit of sense BUT THIS IS ALL TALK

[theredraven]

He isn't an MP anymore.....

[fordeee2000]

Nice to hear a bit of logic coming from a former PM. In order to pay of this debt you need cuts in public spending and tax increases to fill the hole. This is a painful fact which overuns idealogical dogma between socialists, liberals and conservatives.

[tarpumpphillips]

i agree with your comments. However, i found him to be a weak Prime Minister, who was embroiled in the sleaze involving the share options issued to the CEA's of the then privatised stae enterprises in the 1990's.

[peterpaulparker]

You are a traitor to the UK Sir John. Once Thatcher worked out that it was in the British interests to get out of the European Union you all turned on her and then you became our Prime Minister and pushed the European agenda ahead, knowing full well our soveriegnty would go to the EU. You are obviously in with the New World Order, but always remember they can turn on you just as easily as they have turned on the population of the west.

[theredraven]

What New World Order?

The wrestling group with Hulk Hogan in it?

I don't think Major is the sort to do that.

[welshhibby]

nice socks John !!!

[Vinseneb]

PEACE TIME! what planet is this guy on.

[zonianfjb]

Peace time - the general population of Great Britain is at peace. The country is neither waging nor fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It did both in WW1 and WW2. It is now the government that is waging the war and the armed forces that are fighting it. Further, these wars are taking place abroad. It is wartime in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the fighting is going on. Simply, the wars do not affect the governance of Britain, or the everyday life of civilians, therefore we are at peace.

[Vinseneb]

Are you going to be an idiot for the rest of your life?