The Brown Government Must Govern

Help for Small Businesses

The help for small businesses announced today (14/1/09) must be welcomed, mainly because it will keep a few workers in jobs. But, regretably, it is a much smaller step than is needed.

While it would be a mistake to rely on the gloom and doom predictions of experts (almost all of whom got it wrong last year), unless we have government action on a much larger scale it is clear that thousands more will lose their jobs this year.

In my last Blog (Who Runs the Country?) I argued that the government, not bankers or financiers, must be seen to govern. The Brown government must get ahead of events and take action on a much larger scale. There is no danger whatever that too many jobs would be saved or created.

Tackle Inequality

There are claims by ministers that the action being taken aims to create a stronger economy and a fairer society. But, as I pointed out in an earlier Blog (Gloom and Doom: Kick It Out), there is a reluctance to tackle the unfairness issue.

A great deal more government spending (and, in the short term, borrowing) is required. However, the Conservative Opposition must not be allowed to get away with their 'saddling of future generations with debt' argument. The scale of national debt (incidentally a much lower % than other G7 countries) is the result of allowing the wealthy to keep too much money in their pockets or boardroom coffers.

The answer is to take action to demonstrate that the repayment will be from policies which (i) create a much fairer society and (ii) end damaging military intervention across the world. In other words, the money must come from wealthy individuals (eg the bonus gang); companies with excessive profits; drastic cuts in expenditure on so-called defence.

Intervention in, for example, Iraq and Afghanistan, and investment in Trident, have nothing to do with defence. They are to do with illusions on our world role, and individuals' world leader aspirations.

World Leadership

The £ Billions saved from the defence budget could not only repay debt but also make a major contribution to eradication of world poverty. This is where we should aspire to world leadership.