Left Alternative Strategy

Ed Miliband says Labour will be the public's ‘‘first line of defence’’ against the Tory/Liberal Coalition Government's spending cuts, ‘‘Cuts designed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg are coming direct from Downing Street to your street’’ going on to say ‘‘If you look at what we did after 1945, when we also had big debt’’. Without getting into a discussion about the merits of Ed M or his opposition front bench what can be said is last week’s march organized by the TUC and attended by 500,000 people has changed the political landscape, so will the Tory/Liberal coalition now produce arguments for a ‘‘U-turn’’ on the worst of the cuts against the sick, disabled, unemployed and pensioners or in local authority spending. We are already hearing the Tories saying that the economy is more fragile than they realised in December of 2010 and that a second recessionary dip would jeopardise their economic strategy for cutting the public deficit. Economist like Noreena Hertz have been arguing that the government cuts are based on a "false argument’’ back in the beginning of February on the BBC Question Time. Now’s the time for the Broad Left to push the argument for a Left Alternative Strategy for sustainable development and investment in jobs the reduce energy consumption, More public transport, investment in solar energy and wind turbines and a move away from reliance on oil, gas and nuclear energy, more investment in quality social housing and away from reliance on the housing market to generate economic growth and consumption. What’s needed is a Robin Hood Tax on big business and the super-rich and closing loopholes that allow tax evasion and avoidance which loses Billions in revenue to the government that would finance all the social requirements in health, education and welfare benefits for the people of Britain.