From our Swindon Correspondent:
From The BBC
Jeremy Corbyn says the government’s response to coronavirus proves he was “absolutely right” about public spending at the 2019 general election.
Really? Let’s remind ourselves what was in Labour’s manifesto from 2019:-
We will bring rail, mail, water and energy into public ownership to end the great privatisation rip-off and save you money on your fares and bills.
so how would spending money to nationalise rail be helping us now, when most people are working from home?
We will deliver full-fibre broadband free to everybody in every home in our country by creating a new public service, boosting the economy, connecting communities and putting money back in your pocket.
OK, that *might* have been useful, although from what I can tell, most people are managing fine with their ADSL connections, phones and if they don’t have internet, volunteers helping them.
You can’t just say “spending huzzah”. It isn’t a magic bullet. What you spend it on matters. Now, had St Jeremy had his manifesto focussed on the NHS being ready for a pandemic, he might well have good reason to be smug, but no-one was talking about that for the past few years as a political priority.
And we have to consider that spending destroys opportunities elsewhere. That’s not to say that sometimes, government spending isn’t the right thing to do, but which turned out better? Leaving money in Mrs Miggins pocket to go out and buy an iPad, leaving money in Mr Jones’ pocket to invest in Zoom, or pouring even more money into renewable energy?