It has been a tough year for those of us who voted for a Labour Government, to bring some fairness and sanity to a country exhausted and depressed by 14 years of Tory failure. Every time we open our newspapers, or switch on our TVs, there has been another disaster looming from the headlines. Whether it’s the economy, or the colour of Keir Starmer’s tie, every omen has been a bad omen. “Don’t do that”, cry the Jeremiahs of journalism, “or the world might end, right here, right now”.
Are they correct? This week there have been small indications that the doom-merchants might just have overplayed their hands. There’s some good news and there’s some refutation of the depressive tendency in an overwhelmingly right-wing media.
Let’s have a look, starting with the economy…
The UK has the fastest growing economy in the G7
Now that’s not a headline you would have expected to read after all the gloomy predictions and attacks on the Chancellor in the last year – remember “Rachel from accounts”? Nasty, misogynist and wrong. In fact, it’s not a headline you will have seen if you read most of our leading newspapers, or watch or listen to our broadcast media who all led with “it’s only 0.3% growth for the month“. Although some, including the BBC to be fair, changed their tone for the later newscasts. But it’s true that the UK is currently the fastest growing economy in the G7, although you wouldn’t realise that from the headline on this piece by the BBC. My advice is: ignore the headline and read the text.
Millionaires fail to leave the UK
You may have read the dire predictions that rich non-doms would flood out of the UK after changes to their tax status by Labour. Well, those predictions have turned out to be unfounded. In fact, initial data from HM Revenue & Customs payroll shows the total number of non-doms leaving the country is in line with, or even below, official forecasts. The policy is predicted to bring in around £4-£6bn annually. This will be a welcome addition to our public funds, a benefit for everyone, including those millionaires sensible enough to remain in the UK.
Family farms remain in family ownership
Another tale of doom and gloom from last summer was the carnage predicted on small family farms when a 20% inheritance tax was applied to some of their assets. Well, you’ll be happy to know that, according to the Financial Times, this ‘fire sale’ of small farms has failed to materialise. It’s almost as if it was a story made up by posh, rich people who had bought into farms as a way of avoiding paying taxes.
Private schools flourish after the imposition of VAT
Despite predictions of a bloodbath in the private school sector after they were subjected to VAT in the October budget, there has actually been a small increase in the number of private schools in the last year. Is this a good thing? Not necessarily says I, but that’s a different argument. However, it is in direct contradiction of all the right-wing journalists and Tory politicians who saw the death of education, as we know it, in the request that their alma maters actually pay a fair share to the public purse.
Decide for yourself whether the media coverage is fair
Every one of these stories has been used by the printed and broadcast press to attack Labour: schools would close; millionaires would leave in droves; family farms would have to be sold off; and the economy would collapse under the weight of Reeves’ red lines. None of it has proved to be true. But the impression has been created, and remains, that the last year has been one of dereliction and disaster. In fact, it has been a year of considerable achievement by the Labour Government. Progress has been made domestically and on the international stage.
The question remains: will the press, both print and broadcast, ever admit they were wrong? Will they give credit where credit is due? Labour, let’s remember, took over a country where the very budget was a lie and designed to fail, addressed that problem and knuckled down to reversing the mess left in almost every arm of government and segment of society.
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