It's Not True to Claim the Tories Want to "Do Nothing"

By Jonathan Walker on Sep 30, 09 09:47 AM in Politics

I think we gave Gordon Brown's speech a reasonably warm reaction in today's Post. It did contain some interesting ideas, including reforms which might save post office branches from closure and a promise that the elderly will no longer need to sell their homes to pay for care (although Labour's account of how this will be paid for is laughable).

But clearly, not everyone agrees. In today's Sun, even the page three girl says she supports David Cameron now.

What I failed to mention in today's Post is the propaganda film which preceded the great leader's speech.

Shown on a big screen in the conference hall, this gave Labour credit for "18 UK Oscar winners in the past four years" and the "best Olympic performance for 100 years".
More seriously perhaps, Labour's message all week has been that the Conservatives wanted to "do nothing" about the recession.

This is based largely on comments made by Stratford MP John Maples in the Commons, when he said the recession must be allowed to "run its course" - a phrase you'll sometimes hear repeated by Labour figures.

The problem is that Labour suggests David Cameron or George Osborne said this
.
That's simply untrue.

Mr Maples has an important internal role in the Conservative Party overseeing the selection of new candidates. But he's a backbencher, and doesn't decide economic policy (he also apologised for his comment a week after making it).

It was actually the Conservatives who first suggested the Government should make cash available to firms like JLR. Their shadow business minister Mark Prisk said this in an interview the Post carried last year.

His use of the phrase "bail out" probably went down like a lead balloon, but the intention was clear. Conservative policy for a long time has been that the Government should set up a national loan guarantee scheme, which they say would get credit flowing to businesses.

This may be a good idea or it may be a lousy one, but it's not the same as doing nothing. When the Tories kick off their own conference next week, here's hoping we at least get some better propaganda.