Osborne Re-Mixed

I could give my reaction to the pre-budget report but George Osboure summed it up brilliantly. Almost as good is this trance re-mix created by Tory Bear.

UMCF tells Manchester how it really is!

By Will Palmer

UMCF members, along with members of Conservative Future from around Greater Manchester, were dispatched across Manchester last night telling people on their way home from work how they would be hit by Gordon Brown’s latest tax con. This was just hours after Darling delivered a pre-budget report which threw any respect Labour had for financial prudence well and truly into history’s rubbish bin. The leaflet entitled “How ever Labour wraps it up, it’s still a tax bombshell“, was handed out, informing Mancunians that Darling’s reckless borrowing binge will have to be paid back in the form of crippling tax rises. The operation was part of a wider effort by Conservative Future all around the country.

UMCF campaigning in Manchester

There’s plenty to be cheerful about, is there?

by Will Stobart

As Conservatives, we seem to have penchant for being miserable and seeing things in the worst light possible. At least that’s the spin that’s currently being put on us by the more vacuous members of the cabinet and the Labour Party in general. They accuse us of being “irresponsible” and “talking down” the pound/economy/Britain. Yet the aspect of this which is entirely disregarded by these various peoples and many media outlets is that our assessment of the problems that Britain faces may be real, and that a critical assessment rather than a rosy-eyed endorsement of our current status may be more appropriate. Tomorrow we will be given the Pre-Budget Report (PBS) by our Chancellor in which we have been told to anticipate tax cuts. Usually this would be a wonderful chance to pounce upon Labour’s policies and to hold them up for all to see. Osborne and Cameron could attack Labour on the state of the economy and the public finances and tell the country what a mess we’re in.

They can, should and no doubt will do so. But will the message resonate? So far, it would appear, it has not. Instead, the message that is being given out is that the economy will be safe with a fiscal stimulus and that we should all trust Gordon to get us out of this mess. Furthermore it is all the fault of the evil and greedy bankers in the US who were irresponsible, none of it was caused by anything to do with the UK. And the Tories are being horrid and are talking down the British economy which is fine, despite growth having been almost entirely based on a banking sector which is failing. Right?

Thus we are fed a constant stream of false positives. The fiddled figures for unemployment and debt are only the two most obvious examples to give. The difficulty for us is to find a way to combat it, and it would appear that we have missed several tricks here. There are several mistakes that have been made and several opportunities that have been missed, which could have easily kept us running on the high we were on just a few months ago.

No strong or consistent message:

There has been a clear problem in getting the Conservative view on the economy out into the public domain. This is the result of rather weak initiatives which have never been held down with enough conviction or determination. Rather, there has been a light-touch approach, while hoping that the general views expressed will turn out to be vindicated by the events. There is a profound need for a message that will resound with the people. Rather than promise some vague notions of like-for-like taxation reduction, why don’t we promise a cut in public spending? We’re apparently currently committed to growing the state at a lower rate than Labour. But in many areas this is unnecessary. Why can’t we promise, as we should, a destruction of the Whitehall culture? A removal of bureaucrats? A reduction of spending through a reduction in the size of government? These are the most basic of ideas, yet they are not being expressed as they should be (excepting John Redwood). Massive savings can be made by reducing some of the money departments spend on projects that don’t aid the economy? Cameron has pledged to have the shadow cabinet look at their individual areas to find savings, but this message should be a cornerstone of our economic policy. Instead it is used as a throwaway line and vague notions such as “sharing the proceeds of growth” are given priority.

Moving ahead of the events:

Another difficulty has been that the party has been seen to be reacting to Labour, rather than anticipating their actions. Some commentators have compared this period with the same time last year, where George Osborne’s speech at the conference caused the government to announce some panicky measures to reduce inheritance tax. We must look to move ahead of the government, not to follow in its wake.

Attacking the figures:

As I mentioned above, the government’s lines on the economy, the NHS or inflation never fail to be criticised by pundits or presenters (and even Rory Bremner). The party does finally seem to have followed suit on this, yet many of the so-called “Brownies” remain to be exposed to the public as a whole. We should work on that.

There are other small niggles, but most have been in some way been covered above. We could be doing a lot better than a 11% lead, and we can do so under Cameron and Osborne. However the party must be able to articulate itself properly. Soft words and spin won’t work in this recession, the people are annoyed. We need a strong message that gives people reassurance and hope. We need to lay down again what the party stands for and should stand for, what the Conservative principles are. We must ensure that if we are victorious in the next election it becomes one in a series of many.

Congestion Charging in Manchester: It’s just a bad idea

by Will Palmer

Ever since I started university in Manchester and first got involved in local politics the number one topic of debate has been congestion charging. I have been to numerous debates and heard an infinite number of arguments for and against the proposals. Whatever the rights and wrongs of these proposals, for me the argument boils down to one crucial fact: it is has been designed in such a way that it can only fail.

Forgetting the proposals for Manchester what is the main argument for congestion charging generally? Well you would think it would be to reduce congestion.

Coming back to the Manchester proposals, therefore, if THIS congestion charge achieves our number one objective it will fail. That is because these proposals contain a huge carrot in the form of £3bn worth of ‘investment’ into public transport (and probably a few hundred million into implementing the charging scheme itself). Hidden away , however, is the fact that £1.2bn of this money comes in the form of a loan which is to be paid back over the course of 30 years. It is proposed that this money will be paid back using the congestion charge. So, yes, in order for this scheme to work and pay back £1.2bn , we need congestion.

But I thought that was why we wanted a congestion charge, to reduce congestion? Obviously not in Manchester. It seems clear to me these plans have nothing to do with reducing congestion. In fact , as Rob Adlard argues, the whole scheme relies on congestion, if it is going to be sustainable. If its not sustainable then the loan will have to be repaid by increases in council tax. I would imagine before this happens, however, the vote inducing charging times will be increased – and then it will be much more than 1 out of 10 who pays.

I could list another 5 arguments here why you should vote ‘no’ but they pale into insignificance when you realise the whole scheme is a paradoxical mess that can only damage Manchester’s future.

We are being bullied (there is a very good example here) into putting another £1.2bn on the never never. I thought the follies of excessive borrowing would be clear by now but as we will find out on Monday some people never learn!

Welcome to the new UMCF Blog

by Will Palmer

It has arrived at last, UMCF members now have a place to share their thoughts with the world. The plan is to post regular political comment and report on the events UMCF members organise and take part in.

I hope this blog will primarily show students at the University of Manchester what we do and what we stand for. That in turn I hope will encourage students to get involved and attend our socials, events and campaign days which we will be holding throughout the year. So if you want to rid this country of a Labour government, which ran out of ideas years ago, turn up and get involved!