Labour Public Expenditure 2000 - 2010
The 2017 election campaign exhibits concerns over Labour's manifesto when it comes to proposed expenditure. This is after all concerned with tax payers' cash. It might be helpful therefore to review how a far less radical Labour party than today's led by Jeremy Corbyn had exercised "prudence" managing the UK's public finances when in government.
The table below illustrates how much each major principal government department cost the nation (in £Bn) over ten years from 2000.
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
| Pensions | 65.7 | 73.4 | 78.3 | 79.9 | 81.8 | 86.4 | 89.9 | 93.9 | 98.8 | 108.5 | 116.4 |
| NHS | 49.6 | 54.3 | 60.0 | 66.2 | 74.9 | 83.0 | 89.5 | 94.7 | 102.4 | 108.8 | 116.9 |
| Education | 42.7 | 46.4 | 51.1 | 54.7 | 61.0 | 65.1 | 69.7 | 73.0 | 78.6 | 83.0 | 88.5 |
| Defence | 27.8 | 29.9 | 28.3 | 30.0 | 32.4 | 33.4 | 35.3 | 36.7 | 38.4 | 41.0 | 42.6 |
| Welfare | 59.1 | 57.7 | 59.2 | 65.5 | 74.0 | 78.0 | 81.5 | 83.5 | 90.4 | 99.6 | 110.7 |
| Protection | 18.3 | 20.2 | 22.9 | 24.2 | 26.1 | 28.5 | 29.3 | 30.2 | 31.5 | 33.9 | 34.1 |
| Transport | 8.7 | 9.3 | 11.3 | 14.9 | 16.2 | 16.0 | 17.0 | 19.8 | 20.5 | 20.9 | 23.0 |
| General | 9.9 | 8.7 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 12.0 | 14.2 | 16.3 | 16.8 | 16.9 | 16.0 | 15.9 |
| Other | 33.1 | 39.2 | 44.1 | 52.5 | 53.9 | 63.1 | 68.7 | 72.6 | 74.3 | 90.9 | 94.5 |
| Interest | 25.3 | 26.4 | 22.4 | 21.2 | 22.5 | 24.3 | 26.2 | 28.1 | 30.7 | 31.4 | 30.7 |
| Total | 340.2 | 365.5 | 389.1 | 420.6 | 454.8 | 492.0 | 523.4 | 549.3 | 582.5 | 634.0 | 673.3 |
How Key Components of the Economy Performed
The following table illustrates the levels of average earnings and other measures that relate to the state of key components of the economy.
| Av. Earnings £ | 21,719 | 22,448 | 22,788 | 22,843 | 23,147 | 23,541 | 23,883 | 24,041 | 23,958 | 24,036 | 23,504 |
| GDP £Bn | 1,262.6 | 1,290.2 | 1,319.8 | 1,371.9 | 1,415.5 | 1,461.3 | 1,501.5 | 1,553.0 | 1,541.0 | 1,461.4 | 1,485.6 |
| Public Debt £Bn | 349.3 | 316.7 | 323.1 | 356.2 | 391.0 | 446.5 | 487.2 | 523.6 | 557.2 | 767.1 | 1010.6 |
Public Sector: Av. Earnings: GDP and Debt
The following table compares the accrued percentage growth of UK public expenditure under Labour over the ten years to 2010, with the growth of earnings, GDP and Debt.
| Public Sector | 0.0% | 7.4% | 14.4% | 23.6% | 33.7% | 44.6% | 53.9% | 61.5% | 71.2% | 86.4% | 97.9% |
| Av. Earnings | 0.0% | 3.4% | 4.9% | 5.2% | 6.6% | 8.4% | 10.0% | 10.7% | 10.3% | 10.7% | 8.2% |
| Public Debt | 0.0% | -9.3% | -7.5% | 2.0% | 11.9% | 27.8% | 39.5% | 49.9% | 59.5% | 119.6% | 189.3% |
Inflation 2000 - 2010
The final and equally telling comparison is that between the inflation of the cost of public services that took place under a Labour government and the economy's real inflation.
| Accrued Inflation | 1.0% | 2.0% | 3.0% | 4.1% | 5.2% | 6.4% | 7.6% | 8.8% | 10.0% | 11.3% | 12.7% |
Copright May 2017.