Back to the future

It is quite fitting this week that George Osbourne should shed a tear, unemployment is up by 70,000, youth unemployment stands over a million and is higher than total unemployment when Mrs Thatcher came to power in 1979, sadly Osbournes tears were not for these millions of people, but one at her funeral.

It has become obvious to anyone that this governments economic policy now is in tatters. The OECD some time ago said Osbourne needed a plan B and now even the IMF has called for changes to the economic policies of her majesty's government. Although it must be said that the IMF has only recently changed it approach.

The Labour market continues to be more flexible, we are seeing the spread of zero hours contracts moving from the supermarkets into the service industries such as catering. There are also many people in part time work.

Osborne has lost his last piece of statistical safety as unemployment rises. Exports tumble, despite a 20% fall in sterling. RPI inflation runs at 3.2% while wages have fallen 10%, not back to pre-crash levels until 2020, according to the Resolution Foundation.
With all this poor economic news where is growth going to come from? The government has to breath life into the economy before the situation gets a whole lot worse.


We have also seen lower high street spending have underlined the fragility of the economy.


It is becoming obvious that Osbourne has no solutions to our economic wows, he has played his hand and he has failed, no one but the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats believes in Osbournes plan.

All the old divisions of the 1980s are resurfacing, we live in a country that is economically failing and becoming increasingly socially divided, a more brutal country, where fear rules, I fear that as the general elections approaches the governing coalition will focus on social division as a way of diverting the focus from their economic failure.

Labours job must be to produce a genuine alternative, tinkering is not enough, neo liberal economics has failed, we need to rebuild the economy around production and skilling the workforce, the current policies are working, we need an alternative that grows the economy, that retrains the workforce and invests in new technology.

Frankly, It looks like history repeating, this time North Sea Oil will not pay for welfare.