Party Conference Season

From Bournemouth to Brighton, the conference season rolls on. This week, the Labour Party will meet for its annual conference. I expect Gordon Brown's speech will be stuffed full of statistics about how he's saving the world. But here are the facts which really matter in Britain today.

This country is in the worst mess it's been in for a generation. Unemployment is rising and youth unemployment is at its highest level since records began. Violent crime has increased by 70 per cent under Labour and there are more than 100 serious knife crimes every day. The poor are getting poorer, social mobility has stalled, and four in ten children are leaving primary school unable to read, write and add up properly.

And while all this is happening, the Government is borrowing money at a rate of around £6,000 every second. That's something to think about when Gordon Brown delivers his speech. Last year, Gordon's conference speech lasted 58 minutes. If he speaks for as long this year, we'll have wracked up about another £20 million of debt in the same time.

These are the facts and this is the record of twelve years of spin, irresponsibility and top-down state control. And increasingly, it's clear: if you want to see a real long-term plan for change in this country, and a Party with the guts and the determination to see this crisis through, you'll have to wait for our conference in Manchester next week.