I just rediscovered this post on my phone but it still seems relevant, perhaps even more so now:

What has New Labour ever done for us?

Today I’m travelling the length of the country again. From fog bound Scotland down to the sunny plains of the Home Counties. In the right light Britain’s not a bad looking place you know.

Come the next election it will have been thirteen years since New Labour came to power. Their grip seems to be slipping of late and while it’s difficult to predict it looks likely that next year will be Brown’s last in Number 10. So what then, does Britain have to show for more than a decade of centre left rule? More than that, from a decade of unparalleled riches?

I’m perhaps a little too young to make a perfect ‘before and after’ comparison, but what follows are some of the things I think Britain can be proud of, and for which we should be thankful to the New Labour duo of Blair and Brown. Please add any you feel I may have missed out and understand that this is me making the list – and I have a somewhat distorted sense of priorities

Of course I need not remind anyone that were I to compile a list of Labour’s shortcomings, I may discover I’d need extra bandwidth with which to post it. Also, and this really goes without saying given the current economic climate, Britain has yet to pay a penny for any of Labour’s work. Once again the ugly business of balancing the books will doubtlessly fall to The Conservatives.

Labour’s achievements:

1. Minimum Wage. Without doubt this policy has led to the loss of some jobs (and reduced staffing and therefore customer service levels), but by underlining the income of the vast majority of people it has been highly beneficial.

2. Remained faithful to EU expansion. Unlike our French and German friends, Britain to its enduring credit (and benefit), has been very welcoming to the EU accession states. In doing so it unleashed one of the largest and rapid waves of immigration in history. That it has occurred with relatively few problems is astonishing.

3. Overseeing an explosion in university graduates. While this would have probably happened anyway given the financial boom it’s encouraging to see millions of first generation students graduating. Of course massive problems have arisen. Most new graduates have gone through watered down courses in utterly redundant fields. Even so it has still been a worthwhile endeavour. Fortunately Labour have also been brave enough to safeguard these gains by increasing fees and ensured the UK remains globally competitive for a bit longer. This has all been far from perfect but it’s a good stab in the right direction.

4. Minority rights. Labour have published several rainforests worth of legislation regarding the rights of (among others) women, children, homosexuals, single mums, ethnic minorities, new mothers, new fathers and full time carers. None of it is perfect, most of it results in perverse legal scenarios and all of it disproportionately punishes small businesses. I’d argue that in an ideal world this sort of law making wouldn’t be necessary, but of course this isn’t a perfect world and Labour (or rather the EU) should be given credit for backing up minority rights. Civil Partnerships and Paternity leave are probably two of the most important to have been passed. Also anything that helps out full time carers is a bonus, the ones I have met have all been heroes.

5. School building. Millions upon millions have been pumped into school building projects. Gone are the days of porta cabins and drafty Victorian school rooms. Every town is now dotted with funky looking multi-coloured school buildings. Of course this scheme has two big flaws. Firstly not a penny has yet to be paid for any of it because it was mostly done under the PFI which cleverly excludes the figures from the main budget and delays payment for decades to come. Secondly in no way do better buildings ensure better teaching. The right teaching methods will work in almost any setting and so standards, I believe, have remained static. Yet the new buildings remain a welcome addition to our towns and a good long term investment.

6. Foreign debt. Better late than never I suppose. After an unusually high surge in public interest (or rather that the world’s media had jumped on board), a lot of pressure was put on Western politicians to forgive third world debt. This was finally done in 2006 with large chunks of the debt cancelled. Of course by no means all of it was and I’m sure corrupt African regimes have already racked up further debts – but that’s not the point. It was a good sign of intent and of at least some practical use. So well done Labour.

7. Bank of England independence. An idea pinched straight from the Tory manifesto and one which had supposedly helped Gordon banish ‘boom and bust’. A round of applause goes to Mr Brown for that one. As we all know it wasn’t quite the magic bullet it was made out to be but that shouldn’t detract from the achievement. Politicians simply shouldn’t be trusted with important things like the interest rates. The more independent high profile institutions are the better. The NHS should follow suit (vote Conservative for that one. . .).

8. NHS Direct. Many billions were ploughed into the NHS from around 2000 onwards when New Labour backtracked on its spending promises and gave Brown the cheque book. Most of this went straight into additional ‘management’ and making marginal wage increases. Which made for happy unions but little increase in output. Services have improved, but no way near enough to justify the money spent. However, one notable new feature has been NHS Direct, a good first port of call for all would be hypochondriacs which frees up surgery time.

9. Freedom of Information Act. It took them long enough to deliver on this manifesto pledge but thankfully the law is now in place and reaping dividends (mostly for opposition parties and journalists). It’s not perfect, what with some of the more juicy stuff still under lock and key and the fees involved, but it is a welcome addition.