Summary
IN JULY 1957, the then Tory prime minister, Harold Macmillan, uttered a phrase that summed up the emerging post-war affluence: "Let us be frank about it - most of our people have never had it so good." Macmillan was correct. Twenty years of depression, war and austerity had given way to full employment, a TV in every living- room, the family car and (courtesy of new hire-purchase agreements) a consumer society.
At the time, Macmillan's confident assertion struck a cord. Indeed, barely two years later he went to the country on the slogan "You've never had it so good!" and won a landslide victory over Labour. However, half a century later, politicians find it much more difficult to persuade the electorate to be grateful for their lot.See the full content of this document
Extract
Leader: It May Not Feel It, but We've Never Had It so Good
A case in point is the Defence Secretary, Des Browne, who has run into a hail of criticism for daring to suggest that Scotland "has never had it so good", especially in terms of its share of public spending.
From any rational look at the evidence, Mr B...See the full content of this document
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