LABOUR'S DEBT CRISIS

Writing in the Barnet and Potters Bar Times this week, MP for Chipping Barnet, Theresa Villiers, reflects upon the real cost of Labour's debt crisis...

Right across my Chipping Barnet constituency, people are deeply worried about the economic situation – about their businesses, their jobs and paying the mortgage.

On Monday of this week, David Cameron unveiled a poster of a baby, with the caption “Mum’s eyes, Dad’s nose, Gordon Brown’s debt”, to highlight the real cause of today’s economic woes.

Gordon Brown likes to say our economic problems all came from America. But our record budget deficits didn't come from America. They were made right here in Britain, and Gordon Brown is responsible for them. That is why Labour can do so little to help people right now – they have run out of money because for years they have been borrowing far too much. In 1997, Labour inherited one of the strongest economies in the world and they have squandered it.

And Gordon Brown's recession policies are not working. The banks still aren’t lending. Unemployment is still going up. Repossessions are still going up. The number of businesses going bust is still going up.

It’s taken him months to even get near catching up with our plans to get vitally needed credit flowing again – the life-blood of the economy – by extending the Government guarantee scheme to cover much needed lending to business.

His key policy - cutting VAT - is totally misguided. It cost retailers a huge amount to implement and will cost them again when they are asked to dismantle it in just few months time. It undermined the confidence just at the point when the banking crisis meant consumer confidence desperately needed a boost. And it still hasn’t worked. Even retailers - who were supposed to be the people who benefited from the policy - have attacked it. But worse than that, Mr Brown is paying for the VAT cut by adding to our national debt - a national debt we will all have to pay back in higher taxes down the road. 

Every child born in Britain this year will be staggering along under Gordon Brown's debt - £17,000 each - which will take them decades to pay off. This Labour Government is sacrificing tomorrow for the political convenience of today.