Not Out The Woods But On The Way.

[youngmafbog]

http://news.sky.com/story/1251406/uk-economy-grows-0-8-percent-in-first-quarter

Will this help Cameron or is it too little too late?

It certainly takes the wind out of Balls' sails. He can bleat on about it could have been quicker but that of course can never be proved.

But will it be enough to woo the voters back given the other issues Cameron seems hell bent on ignoring such as the peoples wishes on the EU, HRA and immigration?

[emmie]

Balls will say that it isn't nearly enough, forgetting that its unlikely had they been in power, they could have done much better.
it still might be too late.

[jno]

America's economy turned round years ago, which suggests it could be done given the right policies.

This chart's a couple of years old now but you can see what's happening

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/maps_and_graphs/2012/4/25/1335376593571/GDP-Recovery-chart-001.gif

[youngmafbog]

The Australians didn't have a problem because their Government had not spent all the money on a great multi-cultural experiment and right-on policies.

You simply cannot compare one country with another. Its classic apples and pears.

[scooping]

A while to go before the general election. Daft to make predictions now.

[cassa333]

Considering the debt Labour left the country in I am surprised we are doing as well as we are.

I would rather the recovery were steady than an unsustainable burst.

Labourites will constantly say it isn't enough or soon enough but as long as it continues in broadly in the right direction I would rather trust the green men of Mars than labour to be able to run the country.

Not forgetting of course that Labour was forever cosying up to Brussels.

[jno]

how did the Australians get in here? The graph shows America, which certainly did have big problems (and is multi-cultural too) - and fixed them years before we did.

[Gromit]

The Australians spent £3.3 Billion bailing out their banks. (they did it in secret).

The UK spent £1,247 Billion on the UK bail out.

[youngmafbog]

America is muti-cultural but it happened 'naturally' in a short space of time with all side adopting each others cultures not as a left wing experiment.

I gave the Australians as an another example of a country that got out of it differently, again due to different reasons.

[youngmafbog]

Not totally up to date but from the NAO last year

//As at March 2013, the total outstanding support stood at £141 billion (down from the total a year before of £242 billion and a peak of £1.2 trillion). Of the £141 billion, £115 billion was provided as cash and £26 billion constitutes outstanding guarantee commitments.

In return for providing the support, the Treasury has charged fees for the financial guarantee schemes and received interest on the loans. //

[Canary42]

The economy was actually growing when the Coalition took over and continued to do so for a couple of months until Osborne's first budget sent it plummeting again. It is mainly this plummeting we are beginning to recover from (after nearly four years).

If you look at the graph accompanying the report below, you will see that apart from the Credit Crunch Crash of 2008 (nothing to do with the government in power - and a dire situation from which Labour recovered much better than so many of our contemporaries - Greece, Spain, Iceland, Ireland spring to mind) that Labour's record on economic growth was marginally better than the Coalition's.

Osborne has "generated" this growth by first suppressing it for four years to give a fifth year "glow" - a strategy of bust then boom much employed by Tory Governments to create a (falsely-based) feelgood factor prior to a General Election. The short-memoried electorate often fall for it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27203433

[Gromit]

// America is muti-cultural but it happened 'naturally' in a short space of time with all side adopting each others cultures not as a left wing experiment. //

No it didn't. History is not your best subject ymb.

[youngmafbog]

No, I meant to say 'not in a short space of time'

D'oh !

[Gromit]

I made an error.

The UK government's support for the banking sector was £1,262 Billion.

[dave50]

Ive said it before and I will say it again, Labour is the party of benefit claimants and public sector workers only ie those who rely on tax payers for their income. Anyone not in these groups who vote Labour must be mad.

[emmie]

lots of mad people out there then

[emmie]

America's transition was dragged bloodied and screaming into the country it is today, it didn't happen peacefully, it never does. You virtually kill off one set of indigenous folk, then add in a few millions slaves, what have you got, a country built on large scale brutality.

[scooping]

Let's be grateful for some good news on the economy, leave partisan afflictions aside, be grateful that more people have jobs and hope for even better news tomorrow. Is that so difficult?

[Gromit]

Beware looming deflation. Could knock the the economy off the rails in a years time.