I have a problem with this. Ed Milliband showed a good deal of flair in the way he brought Labour’s view of the economy to the fore, without being too specific about how to do better than the coalition. Balance means borrow more, in the hope that revenue goes up quicker. Unfortunately the eye watering debts already piled up make such a proposition little short of reckless. If we were starting from a sound financial base such an idea could be valid, even wise.
So this blog continues to lack faith in the opposition’s grasp of our economic difficulties. Unfortunately, the British Promise casts doubt on its social comprehension. That is worrying because good government requires a good opposition. It is impossible to promise that each generation shall have it better than the last, not least because all the time some are rising while others are falling. In a world of finite resources the endless chase for more and better creates huge inequalities and gaps between the haves and the have nots. Moreover it tends to inform a culture of me first and it is my right to have anything I can grab.
This is partly why, under New Labour, the gap between rich and poor grew wider, the underclass balooned, there was a borrowing binge and housing costs reached economy crippling levels. This is not an improvement on the lot of the previous generation and if it is described as the fulfilment of some kind of promise, it is one which should never have been made.
What we should aim for is, as each generation passes, to create a more equal society, in which improving outcomes are evenly spread, where there is no underclass and where good housing, education and health lead to good job prospects for all. It has to be on a green road where less of the natural earth is plundered for the benefit of the few and were natural and finite resources are conserved, not exhausted. I should have thought there were few in the Labour Party who would disagree. Unfortunately their leader seems to be singing another song, which, to the well tuned ear, sounds remarkably like meaningless spin.