Contra Hopi Sen On Cameron

I have been reading the very brilliant Hopi Sen as I always do and commenting on his grumbles about Cameron`s Progressive shtick .Probably inexplicable as I am commenting on a thread but anyway ...

Aha a huddle of the New Conservatives getting all sentimental about teh 1950s , how very amusing . Some of objections you come up with could have been used to defend the Soviet Union from the waste of advertising duplicating supply . Its endearing , human even , but wrong .
Has The State Grown ?
Yes, Government spending from May 97 to April 98 increased by 55% in adjusted terms and even Gridiron has all but admitted that the structural deficit during that period was a huge mistake in retrospect ( yup we noticed kinda …). The State employ 6,0000,000 directly and 8,000,000 by a wider definition From 1998 public sector employment rose every year to 5,846,000 in June 2005. This was 680,000 higher than in June 1998 and then onwards by leaps and bounds to the current Leviathan.
The Real Question
What have we got for our extra Trillion, much of which it turns out we never had ,and will be paying back for the next two decades ? Ask that question and join the voting population .Cameron is pushing an open door because everyone knows doing more with less is not optional . Those of us obliged to make a living in competition are well used to the idea ;why aren’t you ?
On Frank Field
Frank Field was mugged by Gordon Brown and the left wing back benchers , not dismayed by Tony Blair’s vagueness (what you on about Hopi ?) , hence his abiding love and respect for the great awk. Here is any irony though , when he wrote about ,”form of permanent serfdom” and accused New Labour of “ripping out the mainspring of society , which is to improve ones own lot and that of one’s family “ It was as Gormenghast Brown delivered his 2002 budget showering the NHS, in particular ,with cash without any of the reforms Frank Field wanted . Despite headlines like “ The Gord Giveth” the additional £21 billion promised was illusory . The IFS calculated that health spending increased under New labour by 3.6% pa over the first term ,it had been 2.5% under Major . Da Broon was constrained by Tory spending plans you see , Tone had signed up to them . On this occassion he was lying to the left ,if only it had gone on that way .
The Left have a Point on Social Mobility
Social mobility in the 60s was caused by entrance into high jobs a trend which had started in the late Victorian period ,delayed by the war . Lefties justifiably point out it has not been New Labour`s fault entirely that social mobility has stalled comparative to that period ( This exceptional effect also explain s the size of the state relative to GDP). What social mobility there has been has been assisted by the spread of capital though the population through mortgage saving ,a trend Hopi wishes to stop with IHT at low levels . Parents tend think of their own offspring not primarily in terms of their benefit to society , (you`ll find out )The attempt to punish the children of the prudent was viscerally loathed hence the leap in the Polls for Dave
Its Just The Stuff They say ....
. Oh I agree some of this is just the stuff politicians say … “ The biggest question.. Is why our constitution is over centralised , over secretive ands over bureaucratic , and why there is not more openness and accountability ..The real alternative is a bonfire of the quangos and greater democracy “
Who do you think said that ?
Twas Gordon Brown