ToryDiary has reported on the Party's six pledges. As the Editor says, though not perfect (what is?) they are good. However, there is one important weakness. None of the pledges calls to mind the failings of the government in contributing to the recession or identifies a way we would be different. In particular, I preferred the Editor's formula in the ten-point plan:
This election is a choice between decline and recovery. The choice at this election must be presented clearly: Brown doubled the national debt by wastefully spending too much taxpayers' money. His failed system of banking regulation meant we have had the longest recession of major economies. Immigration is still increasing. Voters can elect a strong Conservative government that will bring borrowing, immigration and regulation of banks under control or it can choose the chaos of a hung parliament and Britain could go the way of Greece with much higher interest rates.
Brown's incompetent regulation of the banks has contributed to economic disaster not only in Britain but across much of the developed world. And that is not simply a cheap political point or the hysterical over-statement it may at first appear. It is the blunt reality of what he has done, and my guess is that most City journalists would tolerate the thought. And, although the Conservative alternative is neither totally clear nor totally coherent, it is certainly an alternative.
We should not be afraid to call Brown on this. This recession was not simply the result of problems imported from America, as Brown has tried to paint it from the start. It is a problem that Britain, the world's dominant financial centre, the international thought leader in financial regulation and the role model for countries such as Ireland and Iceland that have been enticed into disaster, has created for the world. To be sure, Conservatives complained only mildly about what was being done in certain dimensions at the time, and perhaps in some of the key ways we did not complain at all (though we are no less guilty regarding that in terms of Brown's excessive spending, either), but at the end of the day we weren't in charge.
Too late now to amend the six pledges of course. But perhaps we could supplement the Six Pledges with Six Critiques? Here's my first draft:
- Brown's banking regulation failed, contributing to economic disaster in the form of the worst depression for nearly ninety years.
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Brown spent far too much, creating the worst deficit ever, leaving us in serious danger of our international standing being irreparably damaged if we are forced to call in the IMF.
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Brown's spending was squandered on public services he failed to reform, with productivity in the public sector incredibly declining over the New Labour era.
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Whilst squandering money in other areas, Brown sent our brave soldiers into wars that he didn't properly resource.
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New Labour squandered the opportunity the greatest and longest boom in history should have offered to heal our broken society.
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New Labour achieved little positive in Europe, whilst at the same time cynically breaking its promise of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
I wonder whether the Editor might like to host a ConservativeHome "wiki-critique" of New Labour, perhaps taking the six critiques above as a start-point?
