Who hasn’t done something we’ve come to regret after a few drinks? A late-night karaoke session; a forgettable romantic encounter; dropping £45,000 on a bottle of champagne signed by Margaret Thatcher …
No? Well a reveller at this week’s exclusive Tory summer party had more than a hangover to contend with the morning after having shelled out nearly twice the UK median salary on a bottle of bubbly. In many ways, such a grotesque spectacle is emblematic of the economy under the Conservatives: easy money in the hands of a tiny minority inflating the value of an asset far beyond its intrinsic worth while ordinary people are left outside in the cold. As chequebook stubs were being ruefully inspected in the cold light of Thursday, a different crowd was gathering at the Science Museum to discuss how to actually tackle Britain’s economic problems rather than merely embody them.
The list of people slated to speak at Policy Network’s Inclusive Prosperity Conference was so impressive that Ed Balls was largely reduced to using his opening address to point out where the fire exits were. David Sainsbury spoke immediately after, talking about the long-term challenges of competing in a global economy and Britain’s ‘frankly awful’ levels of R&D spending (referencing several of the themes from his book, Progressive Capitalism), but the centrepiece of the conference was a speech from Ed Miliband. The core of Miliband’s message was that the United Kingdom’s economy suffers from a range of structural weaknesses that predate the financial crisis, weaknesses that won’t be resolved by the unbalanced recovery that is currently under way. A Labour government would instead tackle these structural problems through an industrial strategy, an emphasis on skills, and measures to promote greater long-term decision-making.
Beyond Miliband’s address, the aforementioned stellar cast of speakers echoed his concerns about weak productivity, low skills, and the need to innovate. Indeed, there was a remarkable degree of consensus from panellists that included the secretary general of the Trades Union Congress, the chair of BAe and Peter Mandelson: in that sense, it’s a huge plus that allying economic efficiency and social justice remains a relevant strategy for Labour that can garner broad support.
Two personalities in particular stood out: Richard Lambert, former director general of the Confederation of British Industry, threw down the gauntlet to politicians to build a better capitalism because ‘that’s what politicians are there for’, while Keith Cochrane, chief executive of the Weir Group, produced an engineering component from his jacket that was manufactured by 3D printing in one and a half days (having previously taken 10 days to make) as a visible demonstration of the power of technology to radically boost productivity.
Of the conference, I have only the following criticisms. First, the perennial problem of people abusing Q&As sessions to make long-winded and largely irrelevant points: a future Labour government should start a competitive bidding process to prioritise the development of a microphone capable of administering non-lethal electric shocks to tedious audience members (a Labour business policy surely everyone can support).
Second, and more worryingly, the Tories’ spin operation was quick off the mark in trying to paint the CBI as criticising Miliband’s speech (neglecting the fact that the CBI’s deputy director was on one of the event’s panels). On this point, I tend to agree with Damian McBride and John McTernan: we need more spear-chuckers and people who ‘love the sting and clash of battle’ in the thick of the fight as our comms efforts at the moment is just not robust enough (which is a shame given how positive the conference was). Put simply, the well-heeled Tory summer party-goers benefit massively from the status quo and will continue to pour money into the Conservative party’s coffers to defend their wealth: we therefore have to better deploy talent to respond to the coming onslaught.
The positive news is that, as one conference-goer remarked, ‘it’s like Labour has woken up and realised there’s an election to win.’ They’re right: there is. Now, where did I put my spear?
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Andrew Lomas is deputy leader of the Labour group on the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea. He tweets @AndrewLomas