One of the problems was when times were good we never saved for a rainy day and carried on spending.
Always makes me laugh that we are told to save for our future and put money away, invest into pensions, ISA's, ect and yet the Government continues to spend, spend, spend.
Who ever was in power was going to sell off Royal Mail as it was a drain on the economy. I know they sold it on the cheap however it was worth it just to get rid.