Ten Labour smiles.

There are good reasons for renewed Labour optimism today.

* A highly significant, but ignored,  poll in the Independent shows a highly plausible cut in half of the Tory lead. The LibDems has been artificially low and the poll shows a modest increase in Labour support and a large switch from Tory to LibDem. This reflects previous election results.

* ‘Embittered’ Charles Clarke was trounced and humiliated by John Prescott. Clarke did not have a single supporter in the audience of party activists. Prescott drew repeated rounds of applause for damning Clarke’s divisive attacks. When will Charles realise that he is outnumbered twenty to one in the parliamentary party? The other dozen rebels are getting an icy reception from grassroots Labour activists this week.

*  Gordon Brown has confessed to full personal responsibility for the 10p tax calamity. There is ar great way of making amends in addition to the £60 that most victims will receive this month. He could jack up tax to the over rewarded and free many of those on low pay of income tax altogether. Even better would be to introduce NI payments for those who are working past retirement age. They can afford and it would raise £2 billion.

* J.K Rowling has sprinkled some stardust over the Labour’s campaign and a very useful £1million. For once we have got the presentation right. Here is the authentic voice of a struggling single mother who benefited from Labour’s policies. Her gift also highlights the vindictive spiteful moralising of the Tories.

* Sarah Brown has proved herself to be Labour’s secret weapon. She charmed the conference fringe today. Her public reticence is respected but she is doing a sterling job behind the scenes in helping many worthwhile causes. Her value to the Labour party will increase in the coming months.

* Gordon Brown ran rings around Andrew Marr in today’s interview. His self-confidence and expertise dominated the exchange. It was refreshing change to hear an analysis of the economic tempest that is based on long experience in global financial affairs. Few would disagreed that Gordon is the best person to pilot Britain safely through the tumultuous days ahead.

* Summer has arrived in Manchester. The coming week’s warm weather will boost the optimism of consenting comrades united in their mission to ditch the blues.

* Obama has picked up in the polls after the freak Palin bubble. The economy will continue centre stage until Election Day helping to expose the vacuity of the Bush McCain economic failures that have plunged the world into crisis. A victory for the Democrats and their ideas will boost their sister party Labour which will be pushing similar measures to restore stability.

Pollster Deborah Mattinson highlighted some at a Unite union meeting on yesterday's fringe. Voters, especially floaters, are rightly obsessed with the "three F's" - food, fuel and financial services - and don't want a lightweight in charge right now. Focus groups like Cameron, she said, but they don't trust him. They think he's out of touch and shallow, not a man for this moment.

Gordon has them laughing according to David Cornock.

The Abyss

Are we on the brink of a great slump?

None of us has ever lived through an economic earthquake on the scale of the present one. We can only guess its outcome. We were assured by economists that the days of depressions were past. We were too gullible in believing that the casino economy would produce everlasting growing prosperity.

The collapse’s unpredictable victims are likely to be the already poor and alienated. The differences between the parties seem superficial compared with their shared devotion to the heresy of un-regulated market.

The nationalisation of the banks was a socialist dream that had become unthinkable. Now the temple of free trade has taken banks into public control. All we know for certain  is that more turmoil is ahead and the future economy will never be unfettered again.

Comments

[Johnny Boy]

So much misinformation. So many stupid ideas (ideals), weasel words and vacous content I don't know where to start Paul!

Truly your Socialist dream needs shattering with some basic reality (remember that?).

Firstly you seem to think Socialist ideals bailing out risky loans in rotten businesses by robbing taxpayers "stabalises the market". Do you practice being stupid for a living?

Does shifting a smelly fish from the kitchen to the lounge change the smell?

So why do you think the public, already over -taxed by Labour (on income, more with VAT on goods, 2 taxes on petrol, new 2nd time tax on pensions) and struggling, bailing out risky business makes anything more stable? It just blows more money chasing bad business. Got it?

Similarly passing a rotten asset from private sector to public sector doesn't change anything whatsoever or make the asset 'good' or less bad. Try shifting the deckchairs on the Titanic if you like acts of total Socialist futility.

Capatalism works. Capatalism would have carved up the carcass of Northern Rock for a fraction of the £80bn Labour has p*ssed down the drain. And capatalism would dispose massively more efficiently than Labours £30bn extortion of public finances to prop up this lame duck.

We do not need Socialism, or regulation, to "save" capatalism because there's no magic wand to change bad debts or bad loans or bad business into good. Let the market work.

The fact is it is good capatalism that bad socialism needs to live off to survive. As we saw with centralist controlled Russia all the bad decisions get repeated until capital is worthless and the country goes bankrupt. The only solution for bad capatalism is capatalism. Socialism just throws good capital after bad (eg. Northern Rock and Brad&Bing).

[Huw O'Sullivan]

Those who would praise unfettered capitalism would do well to learn how to spell it.

[Hen Ferchetan]

A but late getting to this one, but how did the struggling single mother JK Rowling benefit from Labour's policies?

The first Harry Potter book was released in June 1997, barely a month after Blair came to power!

[paulflynn]

She remained a single mother, Hen Ferchtan, and retained an understanding of the plight of those in similar position to hers- even after the £millions dropped into her bank account.

[Graham Marlowe]

I think Ms Rowling would have been better advised to give her million to a charity, such as one dealing with cancer, or third world poverty, rather than give it to NL: After all Lord Sainsbury is always good for a few million for NL (at least he was when he was a government minister), so Harry potter money could have had more worthy recipients. For NL "The Lord will provide"

[Hen Ferchetan]

"She remained a single mother, Hen Ferchtan"

But that's not what you said Paul, you said she was a "STRUGGLING single mother who benefited from Labour's policies".

Not one of Labour's tax credits, child benefits or any other benefit available to single mothers benefited Joanne. Since she is not employed in the usual sense she did not need childcare places etc and would not have been eligible for any means tested asistance anyway (since everything in Labour's Britain is means tested).

There's a big difference between:

"retained an understanding of the plight of those in similar position to hers"

and

"a struggling single mother who benefited from Labour’s policies."

Instead of trying to bluff your way out and lying about what your point was, how about just saying "yes I got that one wrong, I thought the first Harry Potter book was much later than 1997, clearly JK Rowling was not a struggling single mum benefiting from Labour policies. Having said that she does know the struggles poor single mothers go through and can appreciate the good our policies are doing for them".

Or aren't Labour MP's allowed to admit fallacies at all these days?

[paulflynn]

The point of the comment, Hen Ferchetan was that the contribution came from someone who hasw had the experrience on living on benefits in recent years. She acknowledged the value of labour's work to help those that in her position.

That gives his gift a greater significance that cash given to Tories by people who have been billionaires for most of their lives.

[Graham Marlowe]

Paul you wrote "the contribution came from someone who hasw had the experrience on living on benefits in recent years."

What a good job for Ms Rowling she doesn't need benefits now, because David Freud and James Purnell would do their best to make sure she didn't get them - the millionaire and his pal would have her sweeping the streets or clearing up graffiti, perhaps?

[Hen Ferchetan]

"he point of the comment, Hen Ferchetan was that the contribution came from someone who hasw had the experrience on living on benefits in recent years. She acknowledged the value of labour's work to help those that in her position."

Then wh didn't you say that, instead of saying that JK was a "struggling single mum who benefited from Labour's policies", something that is clearly untrue.

I'm not arguying that JK is in a relatively good position to comment on policies for single mams, although I'm sure people who are still struggling single mums will be in an even better position, I'm just pointing out that the point you originally made was that she was a stuggling single mum who benefited from Labour policies, and that's just not true.

Is it really that hard to admit that you just got your facts wrong on a single small comment?

[Graham Marlowe]

I have in the past said some harsh things about James Purnell, but at least he appears, all of a sudden to have entered the real world, and left Planet Freud.

Forgive the source, but it is the only direct quotation I can find - it isn't even on the BBC site as yet:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/3166706/Financial-crisis-Rising-unemployment-on-the-way-as-recession-looms.html

Any fool would have been aware that unemployment has been rising for many months now. What is the point of persecuting the sick and disabled just so you can look "tough" (given his soft background I don't think he could really be tough with the skin of a rice pudding!), knowing this.

I wonder what his millionaire mentor, David Freud will have to say? After all Purnell would look even more stupid now if he mithered on about getting disabled people into work when, by his own admission, many able bodied people will be out of work. Perhaps Freud will be too busy with his accountant seeing how many millions he has lost this week to notice, but if I were Jimmy I would try to avoid Frank Field - Field has been so obssessed for years it will be handbags at ten paces - especially as I read yesterday that Field is about to start his own blog called "Frankly Speaking". I bet Gordon can hardly wait for that to appear!