 A MANCHESTER PARLA GORDON BROWN
L'intervento alla Conference del Labour Party
(pagina 7)
... ation. And the conservative policy would mean that at this very moment, there would be no regulation at all to protect homeowners. We are the party of protecting of homeowners rights. Do you know what their Shadow Chancellor really said? In the week that banks were collapsing the man who wants to run our economy not only said: this is not a problem caused by the financial markets but went on to say and, I quote, "that it's a function of financial markets that people make loads of money out of the misery of others." Just imagine where we'd be if they'd been in a position to implement their beliefs - no rescue of Northern Rock, no action on speculation, no protection for mortgages, doing nothing to stop banks going under. What has become clear is that Britain cannot trust the Conservatives to run the economy. Everyone knows that I'm all in favour of apprenticeships, but let me tell you this is no time for a novice. But I believe in giving credit where it's due. The Conservative leader's team are smart - they've got a plan, and they are implementing it ruthlessly. Their strategy is to change their appearance, to give the appearance of change, and to conceal what they really think. And when salesmen won't tell you what they are selling, it's because they are selling something no-one should buy. But I'm a man for detail and I've discovered some clues about what would be in store in a Conservative Britain. They want us to believe that, like us, they now care about public services. But when Mr Cameron actually talks to his party about their spending plans he says the difference between Labour and Tory levels of public investment will be "dramatic" and "fundamental". They want to tell us we're all progressives now but the day that Hazel Blears and Caroline Flint were announcing a one billion pound package to support millions of homeowners, the Conservatives were confirming that their first tax priority is to take that one billion pounds from hard working families and hand it over to the 3,000 richest estates in Britain. And they want to tell us they now believe in investing in education, but they are committed to slashing 4.5 billion from the schools building programme, axing the educational maintenance allowances that help poorer students stay on and opposing the raising the education leaving age to eighteen and stopping training programmes. And yes friends, they would even take away Sure Start from infants and their parents. One of our greatest gifts to the future - one of the first priorities for Tory cuts. The Conservatives may want to represent the future, but whether its Europe or energy, planning or tax credits, university places or 42 days, whenever they are tested on substance they have nothing to offer to meet the big challenges of tomorrow, because they are prisoners of their past. If you look beneath the surface, you'll see that the Conservatives might have changed their tune, but they haven't changed their minds. The Conservatives say our country is broken - but this country has never been broken by anyone or anything. This country wasn't broken by fascism, by the cold war, by terrorists. Of course there are problems, but this is a country being lifted up every day by the people who love it. We've got 4 million people helping neighbourhood watch, 6 million sports volunteers and over 5 million people doing amazing work as carers. And just as we celebrated our national triumph when we won the 2012 games for London, so too were Andy Burnham, Tessa Jowell and I, along with all of you, filled with pride this summer as our Olympic and Paralympics heroes showed British brilliance at its best. That's why for all the challenges, I don't believe Britain is broken - I think it's the best country in the world. I believe in Britain. And stronger together as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland we can make our United Kingdom even better. And ours is a country full of heroes. And we pay special tribute to the heroism of our armed forces, as Des Browne said yesterday - to their service and sacrifice in Iraq and in Afghanistan and in peacekeeping missions around the globe. Quite simply the best armed forces in the world.
The whole lesson of the new world I described earlier is that we must work together to meet the great shared challenges vital to our future. And unlike the Conservatives who are extremists and isolationists on Europe, we will work with our partners in the European Union and we will work with America not just to deal with the immediate security challenges in Georgia and in Iran. And I tell you that what we do together for the poor and vulnerable is an act of compassion, but it is more than that. It is what will determine whether this new global society succeeds or fails. ...
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