Gordon Brown - bad for Britain and bad for Mid Sussex

Gordon Brown's management of the British economy has been a disaster, his time as Chancellor of the Exchequer sowed the seeds of the recession, light touch regulation of the banks and the building up Government debt even before the current recession. The banks continue to be let off the hook and measures to combat the recession have been half hearted - with government finances wasted on VAT cuts rather than real measures to help the economy.

Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman Vince Cable has led the attack, and first warned of the dangers of unsustainable debt and the potential for a "systematic collapse" in the financial system well before the current problems. Easy credit has been replaced with, in too many cases, no credit; leading to lost homes and lost jobs as banks continue to behave irresponsibly.

Labour have already spent the equivalent of a fifth of Britain's GNP on propping up the banks because of their international lending sprees, and continue to put failed bankers in charge of their financial policies. We need proper banking regulation, with a clear separation between risky lending practices and normal retail deposit and lending activity.

We need concrete measures to aid the recovery, with targeted government funding rather than a scattergun approach. For example proper investment in the green economy, with investment in insulation and renewable energy generation; and action to prevent youth unemployment, restoring spending cuts to sixth forms and colleges - to allow them to provide training to keep young people in education, rather than force them onto the dole. We need investment in social housing, and safeguards to prevent unnecessary repossessions, and specific measures to provide help to the unemployed.

With the coming general election we need the parties to clearly spell out when and how they are going to restore the national finances. Currently the Conservatives have been far too vague on what they will cut, they already have a shopping list of what they will spent - our local MP is willing to spend billions on an unnecessary updating of Trident nuclear missiles, rather than where the required savings will come from.

Haywards Heath Job Centre has already seen unemployment rise by over five hundred registered job seekers in the last nine months. We need the District Council to be proactive to the problems brought up by the recession, to respond creatively and review their policies to ensure they contribute to a recovery. For example opportunities such as the new South Downs National Park should be proactively taken up to ensure the area is best placed to respond to them.

See also http://simonhicks.mycouncillor.org.uk/2008/12/18/mid-sussex-employment-highly-vulnerable/ .