Summary
THE Economist's poll showing that six out of 10 people think the Government has failed to deliver on its promises will send a warning to ministers as they gather in Brighton this weekend for the start of the Labour conference. Our balance sheet (see Page 6) of the Government's record illustrates the problem - and the difficulty for any reforming government of keeping up the momentum of change without getting bogged down by events.
Labour has helped deliver solid economic growth, and has also made some progress on education. Success on health and on crime has been more mixed, but Mr Blair can claim to have invested in the NHS and point to successes in some areas. But elsewhere the record is less impressive: Labour has raised taxes and has not always delivered value for money in spending them - the public sector is still too large and under-productive. On transport, its promises have proved almost worthless, as commuters know to their cost. But there have been disappointments in other areas where in 1997 and even 2001 it looked as though Labour were poised to make bold changes. Constitutional reform has been muddled: the Human Rights Act is a thoroughly mixed blessing and while almost all hereditary peers have lost their voting rights in the House of Lords, there is as yet no decision on what to replace them with.See the full content of this document
Extract
Blair's Unfinished Business
Meanwhile, the Government has wasted larg...
See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
