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  Mark - yes indeed the long period of growth we experienced was entirely due to benign international circumstances and the 'golden legacy' not Gordon Brown. The depth of the problems we have now stem from this Governments actions and inactions during that period and therefore I am being entirely consistent.
  
  The examples of where Brown went wrong are numerous with the most obvious being his failure to prepare for the bad times by repaying Government debt in the good times. When should a Government be expected to reduce its level of debt then Mark, during an economic downturn? No thats when debt levels should be allowed to rise, the answer is when the economy is growing of course. As soon as the restraints Brown imposed on himself in 1997 of keeping to Ken Clarke's spending plans finished, Brown went on a spending binge when he should have carried on repaying debt.
  
  I could go on to the changes he imposed on the regulatory framework that directly led to interest rates being kept too low for too long, feeding a consumer debt binge. Then there is the discouragment of people to save and invest for their future. There is more and I have mentioned that many times.
  
  All these are issues I have raised and discussed well before the crunch. This is not hindsight. There is just one issue that I did not raise before and that was the mistake Brown made over his brief to the Bank of England. That I admit I did not spot as a problem at the time.
  
  Incidentally - I state here my views and have frequently differed from the official Conservative view and in fact recently I did say that the Conservatives have not been bold enough in levelling with people about the scale of public spending cuts that need to be made. They are starting to correct that though but still have a way to go.

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