Labour Confidence Building Conference

Once again the Labour Conference is on, and for those on message its 'Gordo is the man with the credentials and experience to sort the problem out'. Hang on a minute, isn't he the man who got us into this problem in the first place? Some people are still clinging to the idea of Gordo as a financial genius, but he has been breaking his own rules and is to an extent responsible for the decline of British industry, selling off utilities and our vast debt. Many people think his unemployment would be a very positive statistic, including 54% of Labour members according to a recent poll.

Labour have been claiming that while they have abolished boom and bust, the financial crunch this time is entirely down to international pressure. Strange accounting practices perhaps.

New Labour still have some tricks up their sleeve, as long as you don't have much of a memory they almost seem sensible. Firstly spread the story that the recent troubles is the fault of short selling. For the last decade we've been hearing how 'the free market is the only way to go', now normal trading practices are clearly bad bad bad. Many have been calling for more financial regulations, and better regional planning; but its clearly easier for authorities who are not in control of the situation to in the short term blame their problems on anyone rather than themselves.

Secondly for the last decade we've been hearing how rising house prices are a big problem, prices rising so quickly that new buyers couldn't get on the market. They commissioned the Barker report (2004) to look into this, it recommended building millions more houses, happy times for house builders, disaster for the rest of us. There's the effect this has on the landscape, particularly the overdeveloped south east, and the empty properties left in other parts of the country. Then there's the strain on resources, water, roads, public transport, school places.

But recently house prices have been falling, instead of congratulating themselves on a good outcome, they are looking to a return to the increases. If this is the problem the solution would be reduce the number that can be built, but this wouldn't please the large building companies who may donate millions to Labour. One wonders who they are listening to. For years they've been saying leave all decisions to the free market, now they are looking at the price fall as a potential disaster. Labour would rather spend our money subsidising the better off in society, supporting failing companies and not the poorest.

Companies used to operate on the understanding that if they made a loss they were accountable, now we are seeing here and in the USA corporations bankrupted by their own incompetence being bailed out by the taxpayer. And the fat cats in charge getting ever bigger bonuses, so the poor subsidise the wealthy, a reverse Robin Hood.