Economy, Conservatives, Flamboyance. It's the end of September!

I cannot deny that I feel a little smug in my correct prediction that the House of Representatives would vote down the Bush Rescue Bill. It’s not technically good news. I personally enjoy the days that Wall Street gets a kicking, simply due to the fact that they have far too much of a say over the politics of the Western civilisation. They’ve given themselves a kicking, and rightly so. As of writing this, the FTSE 100 has fallen 150 points and then jumped 175 points in barely 3 hours. Now it’s on the way back down to the starting value of the day. That’s not a healthy market. The marshmallows are at the ready.

The Conservatives have apparently offered the hand of friendship to Brown over this economic problem. Taken at face value – like most things the Tories propose are intended to be taken – this seems like a gesture of unity. It isn’t. What this hand of friendship is isn’t intended to be helpful or pleasant. It is, you could argue, a little like the class bully helping the nerd up so they can get away with a stomach punch whilst the teacher isn’t looking. It’s yet another flawed announcement. Council Tax freeze? I don’t see a promise not to raise taxes elsewhere. A greater commitment to the economy? No proposals to back it up. They keep mentioning the poor family on incomes of £12,000 or £20,000 a year, especially in regards to Council Tax. These people don’t actually pay Council Tax (they’re exempt due to their financial position) so who is this intended to benefit? Simple. It’s intended to benefit the Middle Classes whilst being marketable to the poor, and at the expense of the local Councils. A Typically Tory proposal. The Sceptic inside me is thinking that maybe this is a tax proposal in disguise. Maybe the reason that George Osborne was talking about Working Class households paying Council Tax because he will make them pay Council Tax. Somehow that doesn’t seem like a policy that the Tories would want to talk about if it were true, though. But the complete lack of concrete promises worries me. Clegg – whilst being vague on the details – came out and said that he’d slash £20,000,000,000 off of government expenses by decentralisation and the ending of various unpopular projects. The Tories have muttered something about finding £1.5bn.

This conference is just reminding me more and more of Tony Blair’s Labour in its prime. Every conference we read in the newspapers of big proposals and counter proposals that have no substance, and monumentally long standing ovations. The Tories do not seem intent on giving up on this tradition.