Summary
Alistair Darling was handed a poisoned chalice by Gordon Brown when he received the keys to Number 11 Downing Street. Compared to the state of the economy when Mr Brown took over at the Treasury a decade ago, Mr Darling has assumed stewardship of the nation's finances under very different circumstances.
Critics of the last ten years of Labour rule will say - with some justification - that it is all Gordon's fault and we are now facing the impact of public spending profligacy and too much personal debt. The crunch - when it came - was always going to be painful and it is Mr Darling's unhappy responsibility to steer a tricky course through the stormy waters ahead, at least some of which was of Labour's own making.See the full content of this document
Extract
Hard Times Will Hurt West Most
That may well be true. But for ordinary people, particularly those in our largely rural region who never got their fair share of the "fat" when it was being spread around, the lean ye...
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