Why didn't he do what said?

On 17 March 1998 Gordon Brown the new Chancellor set out his stall in his first proper Budget. It is worth reviewing some of his then statements and the consequent reality.

"The Chancellor is above all the guardian of the people's money." - if only.

Scolding the Conservatives opposite, he said: "Last year, spending exceeded revenues by £23 billion, and when we came to power we inherited not only a cyclical deficit but also a structural deficit in excess of two per cent of national income." It sounds pretty grim doesn't it?

This year, government borrowing will be about £200 billion and our structural deficit (the overspend that has nothing to do with recession) has reached 10 per cent of GDP.

We are in this mess because at the peak of the economic cycle, 2005-2007, Mr Brown ran a sizeable deficit (borrowed) so that he could spray money around willy nilly.

In his last three years at the Treasury, Mr Brown borrowed more than £100 billion, most of which went to unreformed public services, funding an explosion of administration costs and salaries. The public sector's pay bill rose by 30 per cent in the five years to 2008/9 and at roughly £158 billion accounts for almost a quarter of government expenditure.

"To balance the Budget for one or two years and then let it run out of control in the years that follow is simply to fail." - so that's a fail then.

It is a fact that no Labour Government has left office with the deficit or unemployment lower than when it came to power. This tradition is most certainly not a noble one and it seems ridiculous that Brown has taken it so much to heart. He has destroyed our economy.