5 new economic messages for Labour in 2012

The Guardian today highlights a little anxiety among the Shadow Cabinet about the difficulty in finding the right language for economic policies. Here are five suggestions to chew over that could resonate with the public and tilt the terms of debate our way.

1. Hammer home the difference between spending and investment. Evoke the spirit of Dragons Den. Our motto should be careful with spending but shrewd with investing. Explain we expect a return on investment in people and businesses for the country. Spell out what that should be so that people can measure success. Argue that unlike ‘the other lot’ we have great faith in people’s ability help our economy grow and prosper economy. We won’t let good opportunities for growth to sail by.

2. Explain how the Government is implementing crude cuts when what we need are smart savings. Economically illiterate ministers abolished the UK Film Council which delivered an enormous £24:1 return for the taxpayer. They are closing Regional Development Agencies which generated £4.50:1 return throughout the English regions and they scrapped the EMA which created a net annual benefit to the country of £1 billion through increased earnings, improved skills and a greater tax take. Damn these moves as ‘false economies’ which will cost and not save the taxpayer money. Instead we should highlight where we’d make genuine savings from areas that do not generate a worthwhile economic or social return. It’s essential.

3. Develop greater economic patriotism by insisting on an industrial policy that’s centred on ‘what’s best for Britain’. This does not mean protectionism but taking far greater thought and care about the consequences for British industry by Government decisions. Awarding preferred bidder status the Thameslink contract to Siemens and Bombardier was by no means what’s best for Britain – so we need ensure future procurement opportunities of this scale take into account of wider industrial factors. Now let’s challenge the Conservative’s selective Eurosceptism by urging them to move away from a rigid interpretation of Brussels procurement rules that not even France and Germany follow. Leading international authority on procurement Professor Chris Bovis explains how and why.

4. Rewire the debate on tax. Pledge that every additional £1 saved from cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion will be ring-fenced and go to targeted tax cuts and direct investment in British industry and jobs. Let’s invest in and transform HMRC so that it becomes a national asset. We can create a website and giant electronic sign outside showing how much has been rescued for the taxpayer each month and challenge the Government to go further and faster. Let’s ask why David Cameron is so loathe to do more now while at the same time apologising for doing too little when in office. We should then call for Sir Philip Green to be dismissed from his Government role on the grounds his tax affairs are both unpatriotic and disadvantage decent taxpaying British businesses. There’s been plenty of attention on the so-called ‘work-shy’, we desperately need to hear about the ‘tax-shy’.

5. Finally talk a lot more about growing the UK’s income as well as expenditure. It’s the only way to get a balanced view of what needs to be done and appreciate the direct relationship between deep cuts and flat growth when coming out of recession. Few think in terms of GDP. They want to know what’s coming through the nation’s till and how it compares to before the crash.

Ed Balls’ 5 point plan for jobs and growth is right and if presented in just slightly different terms and acknowledging the growing disgust at tax avoidance then it could gain further traction and increased support for Labour in 2012.