The state would be prioritised over everything else. Taxes would be constantly, if stealthily, raised. Spending would be reclassified as investment, and shifted off the balance sheet wherever possible. And macro stability would be out-sourced to the Bank of England, while the Treasury would take total control of domestic policy. A quarter of a century ago this weekend, as New Labour was swept into power in a landslide election victory, Gordon Brown, then a relatively fresh-faced Chancellor, completely overhauled economic policy. In a whirlwind week, he put in place the most far-reaching reforms in a generation. And yet, 25 years on, that consensus is still in place. Twelve years of Conservative rule, either alone or in the coalition, has barely shifted it. Surely it is time to move on, and try something different – after all it is not as if the results have been that great.
It is surely time for a complete overhaul
Brown was, without question, the most significant Chancellor of the post-war era.
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