James O'Brien asks: who is most to blame for the current state of Britain? | LBC

As Rishi Sunak calls a General Election for 4th July, James O'Brien asks his callers: Who is to blame, over the last 14 years, that has led to the current state of Britain?
1:18 - Learning from the lessons of the last 14 years, caller Ben advises James O'Brien's listeners ahead of the election: 'Please do your homework, and don't get taken in by the snazzy suit even if it’s a bit damp.'
2:00 - Caller Richard believes that ‘Nick Clegg’ is responsible for the downfall of Britain.
4:55 - Caller Dawn says the blame lies with ‘Rupert Murdoch hands down’.
6:45 - ‘George Osbourne was the architect of Britain's downfall', caller Hetty tells James O'Brien.
8:42 - Caller Connor tells James O'Brien that Gordon Brown is the 'accidental contender' for who has contributed to the current state of the country.
12:01 - Caller Matt blames 'Nigel Farage and the Brexit fallout'.
Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have launched their election campaigns ahead of July 4th, with Sunak telling Britain to ‘choose its future’, and Starmer saying ‘it’s time for change’.
Listen to the full show on Global Player: app.af.globalp...
#jamesobrien #election #conservatives #labour #LBC
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[@LongDarkTeatimeOfTheSoul]

The biggest contributor to the downfall of Britain, Thatcher. If she’d not sold off oil&gas we’d have £1trillion pension fund like Norway, we’d have cheaper electric & gas, water would be clean…..

[@jungleboy1]

everybody would have a home without thatcher right now. She gave everyone a home in the 80s but forgot to replace them.

[@garagenigel]

​@@jungleboy1 I don't think she forgot though!

[@jungleboy1]

@@garagenigel planned all along then!

[@johnrussell3961]

Norways wealth fund now generates a greater income than its dwindling oil and gas.

[@davidgreen6490]

@@johnrussell3961 Yes, but they will face the same problem we have when they have used 70% of the oil. Their oil field is much bigger than ours..

[@ZachBobBob]

Murdoch. That man has almost singlehandedly wrecked the entire planet. He's Emperor Palpatine in real life

[@NigelQuintyne]

Murdoch is the devil

[@markwalker2627]

The truth right here.

[@chrishughes3405]

On the world stage, either murdoch or putin for palpatine incarnate.

[@timthegallant]

Murdoch has had such an insidious influence on our country.hes not even from our country yet he panders to the intolerant,judgemental and those that lack compassion for those that deserve our sympathy.i know evil is a very strong word but i think there is an argument for it.

[@minui8758]

Yes! Absolutely! 100%! The worst thing to happen to Britain and America! All of our institutions, monarchy, church, judiciary and constabulary, our parliament, our international relations with Europe and the commmonwealth, our political parties, the trade unions, all the dozens and dozens of families his hacks have persecuted… all of them, the whole fabric of society, have been irreparably damaged by the sensationalist prurient culture he brought in! Awful unspeakable man!

[@JuneStephenson-c2d]

Wealthy businessmen running this country feeding their wealthy mates to build their businesses whilst making the poor poorer.

[@LA-fr7fx]

Spot on! An entitled elite. Labour are no better, look at champagne socialist Tony Blair!

[@robwakelin5559]

That, right there.

[@2fold.80]

Isn't that what humans want though? Look at any age, the majority of people have always been ruled by the toxic few. Its the natural order of primates.

[@JamesLochridge-u1h]

I'm an OAP and as a consequence of Brexit we are still suffering the worst pension in Europe.

[@johnrussell3961]

Who said it would be better? Farage?

[@manvbees]

Haha not even close to the worst actually.

[@darlik1]

I hear Mexico has a higher pension.

[@lervish1966]

Liar

[@chatham43]

@user Doubt you are...and the pensions always been poor in comparison to the rest of Europe. So none out of two!

[@williamoram6969]

All of this can be traced back to Thatcher who was unfortunately successful in changing both the political & the economic philosophy. Before Thatcher we had council houses, now we have nothing , which apparently is not a problem. That’s just one example out of thousands.

[@Mitjitsu]

Even if that's true you should be blaming who created the conditions which allowed her to come to power.

[@johnrussell3961]

@@Mitjitsu. That was OPEC!

[@chatham43]

@william You actually took time out to post that?😂

[@blazzz13]

@@chatham43 can you try to actually string together a coherent counter argument 🥴

[@thejdemon]

So no leader since thatcher is responsible for the lack of building new council houses? Strange how not a single leader after thatcher put a foot wrong, every single blunder is her fault and hers alone, there hasn't been 30+ years since she left leadership to correct anything. 🤔

[@Thorkil9]

Thatcher - she laid the groundwork

[@stretfordender11]

Blair laid the ground work. He destroyed this country beyond repair. Look at London.

[@nuxkamina]

Lol, so 34 years of no leadership since?

[@jannenreuben7398]

No, she just inherited a backwards obsolete economy. She tried - and failed - to modernise it.

[@GeoffV-k1h]

There are many things wrong with this country but every single one of them has been made worse by the Troy Party and the Brexit dead end the country chose to go down.

[@stretfordender11]

Most normal people would say Blair

[@johnrussell3961]

@@stretfordender11. Your most….is now a dwindling minority. .

[@GeoffV-k1h]

@@stretfordender11 Blair had 40 consecutive quarters if economic growth.

[@stretfordender11]

@@GeoffV-k1h Blair also ruined the country beyond repair. What he did was irreversible for any future PM. His policies are directly related to the housing crisis, NHS crisis and the issues of the on going mobs in London we currently seeing every weekend

[@stretfordender11]

@@johnrussell3961 all on going issues relate to Blair and all routes lead back to them. NHS and housing crisis is caused by the population increase no matter what your little sensitive head thinks.

[@Shellewell]

Murdoch, surely? His influence may have waned, but it set the course.

[@jeffsimon9594]

🥱

[@tamhunter5025]

The blighty brigade are to blame them and them alone

[@1porter]

​@@jeffsimon9594wakey wakey

[@amcc5887]

Absolutely sure didn't he finance brexit, of course he did,,,torie loving Australian, the mind boggles,,,

[@RoofLight00]

Murdoch and thatcher.

[@56postoffice]

Has anyone mentioned George Osborne? He seems to have been forgotten, bearing in mind he was Chancellor during David Cameron's premiership. Evil.

[@stephanguitar9778]

It was spoken about.

[@johnrussell3961]

They had failed by 2015. So they distracted us with a Brexit.

[@monty6491]

6:50

[@stephfoxwell4620]

Tories in power for 32 of the last 45 years. 72% of the time.

[@dotty1774]

Yep and Only 3 Labour Leaders have ever won a General Election, we need to change the system

[@chatham43]

@steph We need a democratic vote in the UK!😂😂

[@petefl1818]

Yes, but don't forget Tory Blair ample time to reverse much of Thatcher's harmful legislation, like the right to buy, which he could have repealed but didn't.

[@HistoritorJimaldus]

Thanks to the antidemocratic system called FPTP

[@stephenmurray8559]

And that's exactly why labour, when they came in under Blair, set about destroying the country. So it could be rebuilt in his image. This is all Labours doing.

[@geraintevans6360]

Media has an Awful lot to answer for

[@Dynasty1818]

LBC is a dumpsterfire of Labour bias.

[@iala2058]

YES. End of.

[@luke7708]

George Osborne. Without a second's hesitation. And he has gotten away with it

[@woodngames]

Osborne and Cameron , couldn't agree more . They should be held accountable for there ''FLEX'' to europe that went so very wrong .

[@dean9235]

And he's been getting away with it all his life.

[@luke7708]

@@dean9235 ...I now have 'Getting Away With It by Electronic in my head

[@cjmillsnun]

Yup, Gideon is one of them along with Cameron.

[@dean9235]

All cast from the same distorted and masonic mould.

[@dandybean]

I blame the people unable to think critically.

[@goonerbish]

I blame the people who think they can think.

[@clacton17]

Austerity and Brexit the Silent Killers in our Midst. End Off.

[@chatham43]

@clacton Not forgetting lockdown!

[@manvbees]

Austerity literally means the country paying off its debt and not living beyond its means. Do you think its a mistake to have responsible public spending?

[@jcookec]

Austerity when you're spending less than what's coming in, we haven't had that.

[@syriacchristianity9007]

We now have 3x as much debt than before Tories got into power, you must speculate to accumulate

[@SimonFrack]

@@manvbeesAt no point did we ever begin paying off the debt under the Tories.

[@GaryV-p3h]

Anyone who voted Tory &/or for brexit.

[@davidgreen6490]

Brexit? LOL, that has nothing to do with the problems this country has..

[@melluques8475]

Agreed🙏🏻🥺🕊

[@turnerdali4676]

Agreed!👍🏼

[@gumboson1974]

We still don't have Brexit, we never got it. The Torys are responsible for it all, including delivering a Brexit that isn't.

[@GaryV-p3h]

@@gumboson1974 Thank you gorgeous your contribution comrade. Tell Putin to give you a few extra Rubbles for all your hard work.

[@trevormj]

Other than Thatcher for selling off the utility companies, I also blame Blair for not introducing PR whilst he had such a vast majority - all this brexshit would not have happened under PR.

[@chatham43]

@trevor You obviously prefer the EU variety of bs.

[@trevormj]

@@chatham43 - simply put - yes it would have been better than 14 years of tory misrule..

[@Lynnefromlyn]

@@chatham43the EU is not responsible for the BS in our waterways and on our beaches. Give your head a wobble!

[@blackdogbarking]

I agree with first caller people will vote for Trump and Tories to avoid tax

[@davidgreen6490]

Not really, in most European countries people vote just to keep out the left. If there had been a credible third party in Britain, the Tories would have gone years ago..

[@ray-wm7yd]

You won't avoid tory stealth taxes

[@ne-ht4zx]

Haha! Vote tories to avoid tax! How high are taxes now?

[@manvbees]

You think taxes are high now. Wait until labour need to fund their multi billion public sector and public housing plans 😂 you think money is free?

[@Jdsfbgfvbvxv]

@@manvbeesmoney is free to those who already have plenty

[@dsf6045]

get tory exit done

[@lervish1966]

Votery

[@amcc5887]

Yes 💪💪💪💯

[@oliverprain7613]

Get Texit done ✔️

[@JD-eq4dp]

To be replaced by that Labour shower ? Are you mad ??

[@missizaskun]

Best comment of all: Get Tory exit done. Love it!

[@Thorkil9]

Or - the influence of American think tanks and the creation of UK-based American-style think tanks - e.g. the Heritage Foundation

[@darlik1]

The ERG

[@ferret9800]

The blame lays at the feet of the tory voter.

[@chatham43]

@ferret And they should remain tory voters. They deserve each other!

[@danmayberry1185]

Powell > Thatcher > Osborne > Murdoch/Bannon > Farage > Johnson

[@DeanWickett-i2o]

WHAT HAS BARRY BANNAN DONE TO CAUSE THIS? Leave the scottish footballer alone.

[@RoofLight00]

Accurate list.

[@sijcalv]

Deluded left wing nonsense.

[@btj-oo8xc]

Murdoch should be after Powell

[@lcg8220]

I still see people going on about how they don't trust any politicians because [insert long list of broken TORY promises], I also personally know people who blame "duh librul eleet" for tory policies, these people deserve our contempt at this point.

[@chatham43]

@log We certainly don't want them voting Labour!

[@marksykes1191]

I have absolutely no compassion for the conned , they were completely willing participants !

[@johnrussell3961]

You cannot con an honest man.

[@chatham43]

@mark We certainly don't want them returning to Labour that's for sure!

[@MarkInOxford]

I blame Stanley Johnson, for inflicting Boris on the nation.

[@chatham43]

@Markin And your Dad shouldn't get off scot free either.😊

[@rogerphelps9939]

Stan's Mrs had a lo o do wih it as well.

[@PaulK-ve1pu]

Margaret Thatcher. She's still in power.

[@nigelsynnott7344]

From beyond the grave? Really???

[@PaulK-ve1pu]

@@nigelsynnott7344 Yep.The most important and influential peacetime PM in British history. I hated her but she changed Britain in ways that still loom large today.

[@JohnHollyoak-vx6pn]

@@nigelsynnott7344 True evil never dies!

[@MsSmokeandmirrors]

​@@PaulK-ve1pu with her pal Reagan. Rot set in with them

[@jogriffiths5766]

@@nigelsynnott7344 Yep. Sunak gets his ouiji board out to get 'advised'...wouldn't surprise me.

[@fig1115]

the rich and there minions ,on both sides of the aisle.

[@gavinsmith9564]

Cameron, he was too much of a coward to stand up toi the far right.

[@poplife123]

Defo Cameron ..... he's the architect of this dreadful mess we are in .....never vote Tory

[@wrestlingp]

Oh my, where do we start? Cameron, Osborne, Clegg, Gove, Farage, Hunt, Dacre, Murdoch, Truss, Sunak, May, Johnson, Keunssberg, IDS, Hancock, Braverman, Dorries, Anderson, Rees Mogg. Just to name a few! 12 minutes is too short for this video!

[@wrestlingp]

@@Denis.Collins Denis you're out of touch mate, there's been 14 years of decline in this country since then. 2024 calling.

[@chrish961]

I agree...people should be more pro active in looking into the manifesto..I wish I had a pound for every time people who voted for BJ over corbyn...only to realise later that tory policies favoured the rich and corbyns manifesto contained more of what they wanted

[@totalvoid6234]

Kind of true, but also political manifestos are works of complete fiction.

[@goonerbish]

Power of the mainly right wing media. The are tge ones really in control.

[@jayr9952]

The media are to blame

[@darthmali]

I have colleagues saying they will still vote for Cs. It baffles me considering we work with children living in poverty and deprivation

[@chrishughes3405]

Regarding the op I see similar thing. Care home staff constantly struggling because of the massive underfunding to social care but they simply hate labour party. I genuinely believe most are gullible, inundated by right wing media social or otherwise and unhappy with their lives.

[@Majorcorvo]

​@raymondo6665 Does it matter how large the wide-screen tv is? If its say 50" are you more poor or less poor? You also forgot to mention "mobile phone". Like you I'm sick of hearing about people less fortunate than me having access to windscreen entertainment and food.

[@Majorcorvo]

@raymondo6665 Ahh, "officially," gotcha. Maybe add "fact" at the end of the statement as well? That way, it can't be mistaken for an opinion.

[@Majorcorvo]

@raymondo6665Nope. You were defining what you see as poverty. OP was questioning voting for the Tories.

[@Lynnefromlyn]

@raymondo6665don’t be silly. You obviously don’t know anything about anything.

[@liamfox1981]

Margaret Thatcher, end of

[@jannenreuben7398]

The UK's problems started decades before Thatcher.

[@blehblehorama]

David Cameron is 100% at fault for everything

[@janetpazio9992]

I agree with the caller who said George Osborne. What a wicked wicked policy is austerity. The rich certainly didn't suffer from austerity, in fact they gained from it. It's all just too disgusting and blatant cronyism

[@BlaizeV]

Brown not going to the Polls with an 11% lead is a massive what if moment, if he does the next election would be 2012 and with the feelgood Olympics I think Labour could've won that too. Then you are looking at 20 years of Labour and I trust Brown to of kept the UK finacially stable and thriving in that period. No austerity and No brexit. What a wonderful world that would be.

[@woodngames]

I remember the English newspapers around that time ''scotsman ruling westmister ,not in this country'' (that is me putting the headlines modestly) NOW LOOK at what you got for a PM and the one before him and the one before her and the one before him and one before her then the really dodgy one before that who has managed to weasel his way back into the corruption parties top honchos again. While Osbourne sits in the BBC telling the masses ''war is great fun ,nothing to see here''

[@totalvoid6234]

Ignoring that Brown was 110% an austerity PM.

[@SimonFrack]

@@totalvoid6234It’s all relative.

[@JohnHollyoak-vx6pn]

Nigel Farage.

[@jogriffiths5766]

Dangerous 2 header.

[@georgefrancis8602]

Sir Nigel!

[@scottfarrell1906]

I thought alot can be blamed on Ed Miliband stabbing his brother in the back and Davids exit from British politics.

[@chatham43]

@scott Wonder if they're on speaking terms yet?😊

[@glenncraig8825]

Def Nick Clegg. He enabled the Eton Boys, wiped out the LibDems, supported austerity. If he’d gone with Labour, this would be a totally different country.

[@chassidyswann8951]

What Nick Clegg did broke the trust of a lot of young people in politics and politicians.

[@ExSquaddie]

The fathers of Thatcher, Blair, Osbourne, May, Sunak. The option to pull out was there, but they didn't.

[@paulwebster4499]

The lady was absoultey corrcert. Brexit,was voted in due to the financial malaise of the working and middle classes. Carmeron and Osbourne are 100% to blame for Brexit

[@johnrussell3961]

That was like saying you had Indigestion so you sawed both legs off, Voting Brexit was never a cure..

[@paulwebster4499]

@@johnrussell3961 absoutley, but for lots of people it was the only protest vote available

[@divinity176]

The electorate.

[@ffsytube]

The uninformed electorate

[@JruTxAgnt]

Osbourne and Cameron

[@jakeblair4215]

Privitisation and lack of written constitution, plus fptp

[@dawnlynch6300]

Started with Thatcher in eighties then made worse since 2010

[@thetramp]

I could see an argument for Nick Clegg. He said that they'd sort student debt, which split the labour vote between lib dem and Labour. So that caused either labour to not get in, or gave LD enough seats that a coalition with the conservatives was possible that in turn gave them a "majority" because LD and Nick Clegg was too spineless to push back on things, which in turn allowed the conservatives to do what they wanted.

[@bahriboy]

Centrists, media & Labour HQ are most to blame, for denying us a Corbyn govt that would have started the real transformation of this country desperately needed.

[@mwd331]

It’s over. Move on.

[@SlowhandGreg]

we've had a Right wing - then Centre Then Right wing government for 50 years and you wanted to reverse 50 years of policies in 5 do you not know how silly that sounds and why you lost by a lot in 2019?

[@K_Ri-mw4hr]

Corbyn would not have fixed this country. Not necessarily because I disagree with the policies. I haven't had a proper look into them, but some I disagree with. Some I agree with. But moreso the political reality of Britain. Corbyn is very left wing, compared to the wider UK. There was no realistic prospect of Corbyn winning and being able to deliver the changes to the nation whilst still being able to effectively govern. It's the same reason why a lot of modern-day Labour policies have been watered down. Reality is, we do need to cater to the right wing & the centrists, because to effectively govern, you need to compromise.

[@susannahhunt100]

I am a Corbyn fan, but feel scared to say it. Well I just have.

[@ecaeas4439]

😂😂 Yeah sure! it was definitely Labour HQ and not corbyn himself that lost him the election in 2017 when the tories were very unpopular due to the state of the NHS.

[@Martinbeef]

I agree about the Gordon Brown. If he had called his election earlier, things might be very different. I remember before 2010 being so much better on so many ways. My life has been changed for the worse by the Tories and I’m still fighting to get the healthcare I need which was taken away. I might have been able to return to work. Instead, given drug after drug (now on 20 drugs a day) as the NHS isn’t geared up for healing, just treating. It’s a massive difference.

[@Torstenn-b3x]

Hmm maybe it is true that it was a monumental mistake on Gordon Brown's part that he didn't run the election when he could have won it, but I wouldn't put the blame at his door for all that followed. After all, nothing _made_ the Coalition Government and the subsequent Conservative Government do what they did; they _chose_ to do so, and that choice was theirs and not Gordon Brown's. They could have made different choices, choices in Britain's best interests and _they_ chose not to.

[@jimmyjones9780]

Your country is in an irreversible mess .... You voted them in, so blame yourselves.

[@jaxcoss5790]

Errrrr..... not all of us!

[@matthewrotherham1]

''I don't see how tuition fees helped the breaking of Britain'' ...Gatekeeping learning and trying to stop the commoners going to Uni isn't an issue to you James? Seems a bit of an obvious issue!

[@mrbearbear83]

That's a huge issue.

[@DerIchBinDa]

Education is one of the few equalizers in modern society and tacking a price tag to it means the less wealthy are more hindered in getting education. This is something I am actually proud of here in Germany that there are no tuition fees (with a very few exceptions)!

[@Stew661]

Most unis in Britain provide an almost useless higher education anyway with the caveat of if you do a vocational programme like medicine or engineering, or else want to be a professional academic. Its a relic of a bygone age of scholarship, digging into some arcane study on how Henry 8th dismantled the church in history, or in economics trying to figure out if inflation and employment are connected, etc etc. Its become a big industry over the decades and doesnt produce the skills which are actually needed in business or in the public sector. On the question specifically of fees, if the taxpayer pays for higher education what happens is an electrician in Manchester ends up subsidising the daughter of a property developer in knightsbridge to read Jane Austin novels in English literature class when not going out for drinks with her friends in the student bar. Should the person receiving the benefit, perceived or real, not pay the cost for it? Isn't that real social justice?

[@michaelnobbs5028]

You only pay it back if you earn enough and it’s out of your tax you can even resit a year and get funding

[@DerIchBinDa]

@@michaelnobbs5028 Still worse then just fund it upfront as lot of studies showed that putting tuition fees on higher education has an chilling effect especially for kids from poorer background.

[@Ukandy19]

Let’s not forget that O’Brien is the man who spends most of his time crying about how biased everyone else is…incredible

[@harryfieldson]

The likes of Johnson and Farage obviously sicken me for what they consciously did, but they were acting in their own self interest and it's kind of in their nature. The one who really frustrates me is Jeremy Corbyn. At a time where we needed a Keir Starmer and a rock solid labour party, we had an ideologue who refused to put electability above his personal passions. To allow him to sit there ruminating on socialism whilst for years people were telling him "Dianne Abbott is a liability", "the antisemitism business NEEDS sorting out", "the general populace who aren't young adults do not want this socialist rhetoric, they want sensible social democratic liberalism and they want you to give them a reason to swing red as opposed to blue" - it makes me want to blame him for letting us continue rolling on past him down the hill, even if he wasn't the one who gave us the push to begin with. What a waste of an opportunity to stop this carnage his campaign was.

[@ThaigressWhisperer]

Well said. I would only replace "frustrates" by "infuriates", but other than that, my thoughts exactly.

[@garagenigel]

To be fair if the client media didn't destroy Ed Miliband over a photo of him eating a bacon sandwich we probably wouldn't be in this mess now! But you are right Corbyn should have done what Starmer is doing now.....play the long game and when in power you can start talking about more socialist things!

[@colinmack8655]

So you want Sir Kid Starver rather than a man of principal

[@garagenigel]

@@colinmack8655 the man of principle lost an election because he sat on his hands over Brexit!

[@ThaigressWhisperer]

​@@colinmack8655 You're confusing principles and dogma. Doesn't come as a surprise, given the fact that you seem only capable of conjuring a gratuitous trumpian-level insult that better suits platforms like X.

[@matthewcook9404]

It can’t be denied that Nigel “Man of the PayPal” Farage played a crucial role in Brexit and the UK leaving the EU. His name will forever be synonymous with the success, the year on year improvements in the quality of life, living standards, economic prosperity, health and welfare, environmental standards, and international reputation and influence of our wonderful country since Brexit. We can only thank the Lord that he wasn’t successful in getting his German / EU passport ( unlike his children, who did, via his German ex wife )and moving to Germany.

[@JC-un4bg]

After Brexit trades man wages actually went up

[@shahdrah]

Blair! When he followed and pushed to war in Iraq and subsequently many after. Started a spiral of a wider conflict could have been avoided. Since then the “Special Relationship” and then Brexit has affected us badly and a Tory government for far too long.

[@robinmcara793]

This is all our faults. We as a nation, all stood by and watched it happen. The media enabled it all. We watched them lie every single day. Can't blame anyone else.

[@ohtheirony7723]

The caller regarding Nick Clegg has a point but from a different perspective. The thing that broke Britain is absolute majorities, whips and spineless MPs who go with the party no matter what. Lib Dem’s had a sizeable contribution to politics as the 3rd party and were key in removing this binary 2 party chaos. But since Nick Cleggs pathetic performance, Lib Dem’s have been decimated and therefore, the polarisation and further push to total binary parties is absolute chaos. The next election, I fear a huge majority Labour Party. No healthy democracy functions with huge majorities and strict 3 line whips. We need MPs to vote with their beliefs regardless of party.

[@dotty1774]

Osborne has said Rachael Reeves is the heir to David Cameron and has praised her fiscal policies.

[@PercivalBlakeney]

"If you want better politics, you don't need better politicians… you need a better electorate." - Christopher Hitchens.

[@derekarnold3665]

The solution to Britain's problem is to rejoin the Single Market.

[@andrewelder8212]

Maybe the solution, but will the EU swallow it!

[@FizzzieCat]

I think it is the wrong question; it’s not who, but what is to blame. This isn’t one person’s fault.

[@andyfalcon5163]

Tony Blair, shifted Overton window by shifting Labour right of center took Britain from boom to bust and made the current tories swing far right.

[@mathieuleader8601]

I guess James ignores the fact that even though George ruined the country Reeves fiscal rules is just a continuation of Osbornes policies.

[@effinjamieTT]

At the end of the day, the Libdems enabled the Tories. It was the coalition’s policies of austerity that led to Brexit.

[@RoofLight00]

Thatcher - privatisation/right to buy Murdoch - privatisation Cameron - Brexit Gove - Brexit Farage - Brexit Osbourne - Brexit May - Brexit DePfiffel- Brexit Truss - budget/crashing the pound Crispin odey/hedge fund billionaires/ultra rich Sunak - Brexit

[@robertcoleman6153]

Anyone considering voting Tory needs to remember that this is not the conservative party of pre 2016. The centrists like Rory Stewart etc have been purged and what remains is something completely different. To be honest, the current labour party is nearer to what the old Tories were pre '16.

[@robh8814]

Clegg has an awful lot to answer for. Without Clegg then Cameron wouldn't have got in. He also wouldn't have won 2015, Brexit & the rest is history..

[@James-ld2jc]

So much of the chaos started with Thatcher

[@jannenreuben7398]

No it didn't. Britain was overtaken economically by Germany in the 1870s and has been playing catchup ever since.

[@james970027]

I'm not that old (30) but i honestly feel this decline has been happening for the last half a century based on datasets and statistics on factors in healthcare and the housing market:- For example in 1970 you could buy the average home on the average wage in around 4.2 years salary (fully paid off) while by 2020 this had effectively doubled to 8.4 years. In healthcare on the other side, there has been a continuous decline in hospital bed capacity year upon year (statista for reference - cant share links on YT anymore it seems). The health of the local population appears to have been continuous devalued in the view of many politicians while we have seen an increase in people out of work and difficulties accessing NHS services. I'm confident there are a lot more factors involved which are clear but the point I make is that the country has not kept wages fairly in line with essential costs and those with ill health struggle more now to get support and treatments they require. When you make it so difficult to survive for many, people lose hope and stop looking after themselves which leads to a deadly combination of ill health with a system that can't effectively deal with it. Politicians in this country effectively need to bite the bullet and begin to look at balancing wages fairly in line with the cost of essentials or they can go for what economic outcome they want but the reality is businesses will continue to struggle to get quality workers, particularly with the housing crisis and pushback on reliance of foreign workers whom historically they have been able to pay less than uk minimum wage.

[@soviet700]

Thatcher. By a mile. Many links. James Buchanan. Edward Bernays. John Nash.

[@SimonProctor]

On thing Nick Clegg did was give Cameron a taste for referendums with the AV referendum. And because it was a referendum for something the Lib Dems didn't want they didn't campaign that hard. Cameron got to see just how neat referendums could be and how some creative story telling coyld help you get the result you want. So arguably it led to the later Tory majority (when a bunch of Lib Dems stopped voting in disgust with the coalition) and the Brexit referendum... That's my argument for why Nick Clegg should be on the list.

[@SimonProctor]

But very low down on the list.

[@ilikehorses57]

Haven't watched yet but being 12 minutes long, I bet at least one person says Corbyn

[@muaythaimarkthailand]

This is one of my favourite segments James has actually done.

[@djmartin5240]

The media

[@danmayberry1185]

What .. all of it?

[@welliamd2463]

@@danmayberry1185 who is *most* to blame. Not all of it, *most* of it.

[@AntonSmyth-od6rc]

*Meedja

[@Dynasty1818]

Most people get their news from social media which is a cesspool of bias and misinformation

[@OrcusMaximus]

Gordon Brown didn't contribute to bringing the country to its knees? Have we forgotten the 2008 global financial crash, of which GB was one of the main architects with his encouragement of the house price boom?

[@matthewstrange3778]

Don't talk about the truth like that!

[@timhandley7408]

Forgot to mention that George Osborne collected more tax revenue than anyone before him !

[@S-Ltd1000]

Anyone mentioned Tony Blair yet? Starmer just might top that w⚓.

[@jasonsmithy6822]

Without doubt Arthur Fowler from Eastenders

[@terencemeikle534]

Nah, you're barking up the wrong tree, squire. It's Roly who done it. It's him. I never trusted that poodle. Eyes too close together. 🐩

[@JimmyDreadNDMS]

Arron Banks, Richard Tice & Nigel Farage and their Brexit machinations, enabling that shitshow

[@pip1723]

For me it started with Cameron and his austerity and got progressively worse .

[@stephenjameslawley3731]

The human species and the British are to blame . change the system and educated the population

[@ukbuddhist]

Biggest downfall - Tory and Brexit voters.

[@rev.olution583]

Blimey Your not accusing Corbyn LBC wanted the Tories before Corbyn LBC have to take their share of the blame

[@RazorMouth]

Labour of course, havent they been in power for the last 14 years. Oh wait.

[@Dynasty1818]

Yeah Labour did so well when the Global economy in the 90s and early 2000s (best the World has ever seen) made it so hard for them to succeed, and they didn't leave a note to the Tories to say they ran out of money. Oh wait...

[@stepearceu2]

In a way, it's nice the incompetence and corruption has continued since Boris ran away in shame - we all have short memories and had there been even a few months of stability and tangible improvements, that may have all been forgotten and there may have been a real chance we'd have had another 4 years of the leavers who won't leave.

[@jordanwalker2804]

Peter Thiel - American tech CEO and venture capitalist who won the NHS IT contract. I feel like there was another one where the NHS were given software on the cheap/free but then the renewal cost was astronomical- as was the quote for moving everything over to a new system... Maybe it was the Thiel contract, maybe it was American healthcare... But anyone who goes into the NHS for a profit margin could justifiably go in an appendices, at the very least.

[@mrwidestrides4802]

Free cup of sewage water if you tick conservative

[@totalvoid6234]

Free cup of sewage water if you tick labour too.

[@v-4-vendetta]

Gordon Brown who dithered and lost to Cameron who then brought about Farage, Gove, Boris and Brexit

[@tombartram7384]

We've gone from 2.5 million unemployed in 2009 to "we need unlimited immigration" 15 years later.

[@mattyr40]

The medias lack of real journalism where it matters

[@gary1642]

Nick Clegg never seems to get a mention when these questions are asked. Clegg constantly complained he had fights every day with Cameron and Osborne over austerity cuts. Never forget it was Clegg that handed the keys of Downing St to the terrible twosome...

[@LA-fr7fx]

We have become a very lazy nation. Bosses/managers/employees laziness and incompetance are all to blame!

[@boris1066]

To blame David Davis for single handedly changed an Indicative Referendum into a legally binding vote to leave during a few moments speach in the commons !!!

[@murder13love]

The public are.

[@weezer5442]

England is living in the 12th Century. No Constitution, no bill of rights, just what? The Magna Carta, of rights and liberties put forth by King John in 1215. Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!

[@stevenovetsky3274]

George Osborne is most responsible.

[@lordnoodle2146]

I think Nick Clegg should maybe get a notable mention because at the time labour wasn't as strong of an opposition as it is today. When the Lib Dems went to bed with the Tories. It weakened their over arching appeal as another alternative and were seen as Diet Tory which meant people who didn't want to vote Labour didn't feel like voting Lib Dems were worth it so they voted Tory which was seen as the lesser of Two evils at the time

[@michaelsimpson4400]

Something happened in 1997... Blair. Cameron became the Tory Blair and Sir Kier is being advised by the same people as Blair.

[@shaun906]

he's working class like me, he has my vote.

[@michaelsimpson4400]

@@shaun906 who? Sir Kier? Lol net worth almost £8 million

[@garagenigel]

​@@michaelsimpson4400 he came from nothing and worked his way up to become the best in the country at his job and was awarded a knighthood for it as everyone in that job does when they leave the role! I don't see why someone doing well for themselves should be ashamed of it! Are you jealous? Just to add, your hero Corbyn is just as wealthy as him!

[@JamesRicketts-y7y]

Clegg said if he won he wouldn’t raise tuition fees and people are still blaming him for something he didn’t do because he didn’t win.