Labour in Conference

Gordon Brown in his first confernce as Prime Minister did his best trying convince us that they are doing a great job. Difficult to do with the mess we see them making of everything. One typical moment from his speech is when he praised his deputy Harriet Harman for her campaigning for equality, if there was any inequality what about there failure to sort it out in the last 10 years? He announced he wouldn’t decriminalise drugs, but prisons are full and crime on the streets a deadly problem, most of it drug related (1). Some drugs are less harmful than alcohol, which he has made accessible 24 hours a day. Why let facts get in the way of a good story, especially as they did a trial on decriminalisation in London that wasn’t mentioned.

He said he would do something about Gun crime, but it has trebled in 10 years, with some big headline cases recently. He said education was his passion, but thanks to his parties policies focusing on schools competing with each other education is whats missing from schools now. Schools will score more if they pick better pupils and easier subjects, so science is out (2). Indeed some teachers are cheating, writing work to improve marks as this reflects on themselves and their school. And students now get heavily into debt, so fewer from poorer backgrounds study.

He talked about reducing the paperwork police need to do to allow them to spend more time on the streets, not mentioning how they have increased the paperwork in the last few years. I spoke to a policeman a few months ago, he had to fill out a form to report on every conversation. The big story though is the election, will he call it soon or not. I think Gordon is a cautious man, who has wanted to be PM for most of his life, and doesn't want to be remembered as the shortest serving PM for 40 years. He will probably wait till 2009 or 10.

1. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2341351.ece
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4780017.stm