Austerity has failed the UK. The Moody's downgrade is evidence of that.<\/p>\n
Austerity is proving to be bad politics: Italy's election is proving that.<\/p>\n
Labour's lead of 12% without, as yet, \u00a0offering any significant policy alternative to the Coalition is also proof of that.<\/p>\n
And yet austerity lives on. Sunny Hundal may taunt those in Labour <\/a>who are wedded to austerity, but that won't end their commitment to the policy of\u00a0bankrupting\u00a0this country in the interests of a few.<\/p>\n When will we see a commitment from a major\u00a0political\u00a0party to the\u00a0policies\u00a0we need? I argued some time ago<\/a> that this would revolve around\u00a0closing\u00a0the tax gap, creating an industrial strategy and reforming pensions to release money for real long term\u00a0investment. Nothing has\u00a0changed\u00a0since then, except the need for action.<\/p>\n When will a new politics based on the need for positive action rather than the fear that drives\u00a0negative\u00a0reaction be offered to the people of the UK, and elsewhere? So far there's not enough of a hint of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"