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Overall, though, I am sceptical about Brown and the Labour Party's credentials to deliver against their promises - old and new. The focus has always been in the wrong place and that has led to mismanagement and overspend - I dread to think of the final cost of the NHS computer system, and countless other IT projects that have spiralled ever upwards. Then there's all those PFI construction projects that have resulted in over-priced and under-utilised public buildings.
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I think some of that is very fair. The PFIs in particular are an appalling mistake. As, I think, are Academies, for very similar reasons (massive cost to the tax-payer, despite the small contribution from sponsors, the loss of what was previously an asset owned by the local people (i.e Community school) and a reduction in legal protections for both children and parents involved. I cannot, with all my loyalty to the party defend either of these initiatives. Nor can I defend the drive to spread the system into every area before a decent amount of time has elapsed to test the first tranch. Another thing i can't defend is the pressure brought to bear on local authorities by central government. When the choice you are given is no new school/hospital/investment to improve -v- an Academy/ PFI hospital you find yourself between the devil and the deep blue sea.
The Tax Credits system is deeply flawed and the reason for that (imo)is that it should have been delivered through the benefits system not the tax system. My reading of it is that it was Gordon's idea and the only way he could ensure it going through undiluted was to make it a treasury issue. Bad as the delivery has been in some cases, the majority of claimants don't have the nightmare scenario of massive repayments. I personally know of many families for whom those tax credits have made a real difference. The system needs fixing, but the idea itself has helped a lot of people.
Poverty levels in this country when Labour came in ten years ago were appalling in some areas. 1 in 3 children in Yorkshire lived below the poverty line. There are still pockets we haven't got to. But we've lifted over half a million children out of the worst of that poverty. Part of that has been through the tax credit system.
The NHS is in a bad way. But, I don't think it's as bad as it was. Financially, it's got serious fundamental issues. Part of that comes from the willingness of my party's government to continue the trend of privatisation which began under the conservatives. What we should have done, imo, is reverse that trend. When each hospital was run as single unit, with cleaning and domestic staff employed directly by the NHS and the specific hospital, and laundry services done in house, we did not have the problems we now have with infection rates. We also would not be paying agency rates which then translate to exploitative wages by the time they reach the cleaner.
That said, there seems to be a disparity between people's perception of the NHS and their actual experience of it. Though there are plenty of people who do have an unpleasant experience of the NHS, many people who express dismay at the state of the NHS, when asked what their own personal experience of their local hospital, or GP, has been will report very positively.
The one thing I am absolutely certain of, is that the conservative party would dismantle whatever is left of the NHS within a very short space of time, given the chance. And, just like the Network Rail fiasco, they'll sell what is ours to a few business moguls, for a fraction of what it's worth.