Feeling sorry for Gordon - why|

Over the past few weeks I've found myself feeling sympathetic towards the Prime Minister, government and the Labour party in general. Much of the bad press they have had of late has not really been their fault: MPs expenses are the fault of all parties, the banking crisis and resultant recession is largely the fault of incompetent, greedy and irresponsible bankers and so on. I'm naturally left leaning but have found Labour very difficult to support, especially during the Blair years, as so many of their policies have been damaging to the working classes. Yet with all that has been going on of late, my feelings on these issues had lessened and I have felt supportive of this government, after all many of the problems we are currently experiencing are the results of policies enacted by the former Prime Minister, one Tony Blair.

Partially of course my liking of Gordon is just "thank God Tony's gone" with Gordon Brown seeming a much more straight-forward individual than his predecessor, the snake oil salesman who would say one thing then do another. The economic recession is likely to be reasonably short lived and there already signs of recovery, low key though they are.

And yet, and yet.... as a person I can see in my payslip just what harm this government has done to me and mine. Higher taxes are the least of the problems caused by this government: think student loans, think pension taxes leading to the closure of most final salary pensions, think higher energy costs caused by so called 'green' policies. Thanks to one government policy I now own HMRC around GBP1280 in overpaid tax credits and I am far from alone in this, despite having filled in every form honestly and handed them in on time: it's a flaw inherent in tax credits and has caught out millions of people.

If you've had or are planning to have any involvement in higher education this government's stupidity and greed have or will soon cost you several thousand pounds. If you're saving for retirement and do not have a public sector pension you're going to have to pay more into a pension in order to retire later on less money again thanks to this government's incompetence. If you're trying to buy your first house you're going to face an over-priced and undersized, jerry built box because this government has restricted the building of desirable homes while encouraging tatty rabbit hutches and demolishing good quality old houses.

Many of their policy decisions you can forgive as genuine mistakes that anyone could have made, but their decisions around higher-education, pensions and housing demonstrate a flagrant disregard for the people of this country. An attitude of "I'm all right Jack, pull the ladder up!" that has put the needs of working people behind the whims and desires of a few in the government and management classes. They need to be removed from government and replaced with someone who can cater for the needs of working people. I find I now feel little sympathy for Gordon and company, who are largely responsible for a long list of problems.