Jim Murphy

There are indeed many close links with the UK and Spain. It will be interesting to see how the new government deals with 10 per cent unemployment; the major bursting of the housing bubble; lingering threats of sectarian terrorism; and rising consumer costs and household debt. One thing I do think the UK Government can learn from Spain is in the effective and visible meeting of the pressing needs of the populace, particularly economically. Increasing concerns of how millions of Spanish citizens could not meet their morgage repayments and consequently face home repossesions were assuaged with the timely announcement that the government would provide the necessary support to homeowners and establish a grace period for the repayments. This is in stark contrast to how the UK government has gone about meeting the needs of low income households and people with the threat of negative equity - with dithering and a shambolic annoucement to cut the 10 pence rate of tax. What's more, the government have been in denial about the demage this would cause to the low paid, until they are face to face with the electorate.

Posted by Sudeep on April 29, 2008 at 04:45 PM BST #