Conservative Parliamentary spokesman for Norwich South, Antony Little, has spoken out strongly against Labour’s handling of the economic situation, branding it a failure, whilst stating what the Conservatives would have done instead to establish a more responsible economy.
On the same day that figures were published showing that GDP had fallen by 0.5%, Councillor Little said that the Conservatives would do everything possible to help people cope for the difficult times ahead and promised that a Tory government would fix “our broken economy” with a responsible fiscal policy bolstered by independent oversight together with a renewed role for the Bank of England to formulate a responsible financial policy.
Speaking to a group of UEA politics students, Cllr Little said that the fall in output was a defining moment in Gordon Brown’s premiership and stewardship of the economy.
He said: “The country will not forget that it was this Prime Minister who stripped the Bank of England of its powers to supervise the City, that it was he who actively encouraged the risk-taking culture in our banks and that it was he who promised time and again that boom and bust had been abolished. It is now plain for all to see that these central claims made over ten years as Chancellor were completely false.
“The government should now try to help families and businesses but in a way that does not leave future generations to pick up the bill. Sadly it will be millions of families, pensioners and companies that will pay the price for Labour’s failure to prepare for this moment.
“The Conservatives understand that taxpayers’ money should not be thrown on a bigger and bigger state. We will deliver practical help to enable small businesses and families to survive the downturn.”
Cllr Little highlighted Tory proposals announced earlier this week to allow small companies to delay paying VAT and giving them a cut in National Insurance which should ease them through the difficult times.
Taking questions from the floor, Cllr Little acknowledged that that despite there being political consensus over the recapitalisation of the banks, the truth of Labour’s failed economic policy should not be hidden and that the Prime Minister had failed to regulate public and private debt in Britain.
He said: “We need a responsible attitude to economic development that fosters more balanced economic growth. Labour accuse us of talking Britain down, but it is this Labour government which has brought Britain down. Only the Conservatives are offering the change that Britain needs.”
