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The Economy

I am sorry, but I will make some progress. Conservative Members do not understand that if we do not act, it will cost us more. If, in the early ’90s, the Conservatives had provided something similar to the fiscal boost that we are providing, they could have saved 300,000 jobs. If they had done something similar in the early ’80s, they could have prevented an entire generation from being scarred by long-term unemployment. It is worse than that: they do not want simply to do nothing—they want to make things worse. They want to cut £5 billion from public spending at the end of next month. That means cutting spending on housing by at least £800 million from next month, just when the construction industry is in real difficulties. That is the equivalent of 10,000 new homes for social rent. They want to cut the budget for training and science. They have said that they would restrict it to 1 per cent. That means cutting it by at least £900 million from next month, at a time when young people need extra support. That is the equivalent of cutting 220,000 apprenticeships. They want to cut investment in transport infrastructure just when we need to invest in the infrastructure for the future. That is complete economic madness. In the words of the winner of the Nobel prize for economics, Paul Krugman:""Renouncing a fiscal stimulus when private spending is contracting is strange. Governments have very few tools at their disposal, and Cameron does not want to use them.""