FFS, can you not get out of the if you don't support the Tories you must support Labour argument? Most of the ideology behind the last administration was born of Thatcherite thinking.

Thats the problem, they can't, its football supporter politics and they'll never shake it off while the actual politicians behave like petulant kids in debates and in leadership.

If you brought out a new footbal style shirt every year for the parliamentary party's the fools would buy them...

FFS will you please refrain from giving Gideon tips to kick-start the economy

It'll come, and they'll change the design every six months.

Indeed.

As it is 2013, three years since a Labour government, it will be interesting to see who the Tory supporters blame for the current state of the economy.

We know how much they like to go on about the Labour government that replaced Ted Heath in 1974, and had to go cap in hand to the IMF two years later in 1976, as a warning of what happens when you get a Labour government. Of course Ted Heath's Tory government would have had nothing to do with this.

On the other hand I've noticed another pattern.

Margaret Thatcher comes into office in 1979, we have a recession from 1980-81.
John Major comes into office in 1990, we have a recession from 1990-91.
David Cameron comes into office in 2010. Guess what happened from 2011-12.

Strange how it's only 'footballer supporter politics' when it's people defending Tories and attacking Labour. Not the other way round.

To be fair it's not like the tories come into office and instantly plunge the country into recession, the seeds are sowed by previous successive financially inept (usually Labour) governments.

I hold no kind of allegiance with any particular parties though, I just see who's looking the best bet at election time and go with them.

No, it can easily be football supporter politics the other way around and I saw enough of it the other way around when I lived in the north east for some time where you'd still be a brave person to go canvassing wearing a blue rosette, certainly in the cities anyway.

Although that wasn't the case with at least two out of three of those example dates.

There is one serious, major flaw in your observation: John Major tookover from Thatcher. Are you now asserting that her government were financially inept?

There's also the fact that the deficit was lower in 2007 (prior to the bank bailouts) than it was when Labour took over in 1997