Having clearly destroyed Labour’s record on managing the economy, let us look

Comment on Why I’ll Never Vote Conservative at a General Election by Charles.

Having clearly destroyed Labour’s record on managing the economy, let us look at David’s other arguments:
Firstly, I would call myself a conservative with a small “c” but I would not have wished the Conservative Government to have continued in 1997, in fact we would have been better off if they had lost the 1992 election.
What would the NHS look like today under the Tories after another decade plus of under investment? In the dying days of the last Conservative Government, they started bring in reforms to make the NHS more accountable. Unfortunately, Labour scrapped them and several years later brought in similar reforms. A case of “Not Invented Here”. It is total supposition as to what the NHS would have been like under the Conservatives. Certainly it would have been different and they would not have increase expenditure by as much but since over half of it has not result in any added value, would that have been a bad thing?
Would we have anything like a national minimum wage or would we still be aiming for sweatshop Britain trying to compete on price not quality? The real point here is does the minimum wage make any difference as to whether we compete on price or quality. At its current level it does nothing to quality. If that was the objective then one should look to better education. A shame that Labour did not fulfil their first 3 priorities: “Education, Education, Education”.
Would barbaric blood sports like fox hunting be banned? Agreed, the Conservatives would not have wasted Parliament and Police time introducing a ban that has as much to do with animal cruelty as Al Qaeda has to do with Islam.
Would we have any House of Lords reform? I doubt it but has it been reformed? The appointment of duffers like Michael Martin to the House of Lords hardly constitutes reform. Sounds like a step backwards.
Would the MPs expenses ever have been brought to the light of day (Labour passed the legislation to open the books so to speak)? Again total supposition. Although, I suspect the problem would not have been handled better as we would not have had Michael Martin as speaker. By the way passing legislation does not fix a problem. One has to manage it. I heard recently that the cost of the reforms cost £3M to save £1M. Was it worth it? Not that I condone the abuse.
Would we have something like Sure Start and so many Sure Start Children’s Centres? I suspect we would have something similar. Better maybe, worse possibly!
Would we have guaranteed job/training place for 18-24 year olds unemployed for 6+ months under a Tory government or would we be loosing another generation to long term unemployment like we had in the 1990s? A better measure of success would be the number of jobs created in the private sector over the last 13 years? Not that many and certainly not as many as created by the Conservatives over their tenure. By the way creating jobs in the public sector, which Labour has done with abandon, does not generate wealth.
Would we have winter fuel payments of £400 for pensioners over 80 and £250 to the over 60s? Who knows, possibly!
Would we have increased child tax credit, would we even have something like child and working tax credits under the Conservatives? More than likely if the exchequer could afford it.
Would we have been the first country to adopt legally binding long term targets for reducing our greenhouse emissions, do you really see the Conservatives as a green party? Adopting targets does not reduce emissions. Since Labour has failed to address our energy security, I suspect that we are in a worse position than if the Conservatives had been in charge. To be frank none of the Political Parties are addressing the problem.
Would we have offshore wind farms that provide the electricity for 2 million homes? Almost certainly, yes!
Would the Conservatives have helped insulate over 5 million British homes through a Warm Front like scheme? Probably!
Would we have legal civil partnerships (same sex marriage) giving same sex couples the same legal rights as married men/women? I suspect so. They certainly endorse that now.
Would the Conservatives have signed the Social Chapter resulting in worker rights like a right to four weeks paid holiday, a right to parental leave, extended maternity leave, a right to request flexible working hours and the same protection for part-time workers as full-time workers? Definitely not! This has created more regulation for the wealth creators and lead to a lower level of employment. David, I would be quiet about this. Not one of Labour’s finest moments.
Would the Conservatives worked with the rest of the world to provide a coordinated response to the economic downturn to help families and businesses through difficult times? Remember the Tories were against the economic stimulus package, they wanted to let the recession run it’s course (mass unemployment and massive public sector service cuts). Total supposition! Had the Conservatives been in power they would have behaved differently than in opposition. All parties do and I think it is a shame but the one thing that is certainly not in dispute is that the public finances would have been in much better shape going in to the recession so we could afford to bail out Banks, etc.
Would our rivers, beaches and water be the cleanest they have ever been (part due to EU laws)? More than likely. By privatising the water authorities enabled Government to enforce these regulations without having to pay for them. Well done Margaret Thatcher.
Would NHS waiting lists be half a million lower than in 1997? Quite possibly! The Conservatives had plans to reform the way the NHS was managed.
Would the Conservatives have guaranteed an under 18 week wait for hospital treatment? No! That is a nonsense target. Some treatments need to be done immediately and others can wait. We could spend the entire wealth of the nation on the NHS and there still would be further demand. It is an unfortunate fact that this is a service that has to be rationed as the resources are limited. Setting grandiose targets from the centre is unlikely to be the best way to forward as can been seen by the experience over the last 5 years.
Would the Tories guarantee that if your GP suspects you may have cancer, you will see a specialist within two weeks? Another irrelevant target! When will Labour learn?
Would the Conservatives aim for a wait in A&E to be no longer than 4 hours? Remember the stories of ill people on waiting room trolleys for over 12 hours because the NHS was so under funded under the Tories. Again irrelevant targets! We hear the same stories now. I am not sure that helps the debate.
Would the Conservatives increased NHS doctors by 44,000 and over 89,000 more NHS nurses since 1997? Possibly but they would not have increased the back office staff by over 100,000!
Would the Tories investment in the NHS be nearly three times what it was in 1997? No, but can we afford it? In fact they have foolishly pledged not to cut NHS funding. Current funding of NHS expenditure can not be done by borrowing. That just leads to a Greek scenario.
Would the Conservatives have brought in a smoking ban in public places? Probably!
Would the Tories have given free off peak travel on local buses anywhere in England for the over-60s and eligible disabled people? Probably!
I can not understand how anyone who would consider themselves a Labour voter would seriously consider risking the country to the Conservatives for 5 years! I am astonished at the number of intelligent Labour voters who plan to vote Labour this time. If you can not bring yourself to vote for the Tories then don’t bother. I did the same thing in 1997 when it was time for a change. I made a mistake in 1992 and I should have voted for Labour. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!