Iceni Projects recently sponsored the Birmingham Labour Party annual dinner.  The event was chaired by Jack Dromey (Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington and shadow Housing Minister), and ahead of the party conference season the event was used by Ed Balls (Shadow Chancellor) to detail a number of Labour’s key economic policies. We provide an account of the event and the key messages.

The promise was a key announcement on how Labour’s policies will seek to recover the economy. The message? That the next general election will be won by the party with the policies to secure a strong and fair recovery, that works for the many and not just a few, and which is built to last for the long term.

Both Mr Balls and Mr Dromey are openly behind the recent recommendations of the IMF which has urged the UK to act now to support recovery by bringing forward £10 billion of infrastructure investment. They believe that this should be focused on facilitating the provision of 400,000 affordable homes, and creating more than half a million jobs and thousands of apprenticeships to make the economy stronger and more balanced for the long term. One of their dominant concerns is that the Government is boosting housing demand while doing nothing about the supply of housing which has fallen to its lowest level since the 1920s, essentially pushing house prices continuously up and leaving those who most need help in a more vulnerable position. They queried how securing stronger growth and investment could be achieved in the face of planned cuts to infrastructure investment after 2015, especially since – in their opinion – the Coalition Government has allowed the economy to flatline and underperform for too long.

Essentially the direction and rationale behind Labour’s proposed policies to achieve long term economic recovery were made clear. Labour want to lead the way in putting housing centre-stage, building safe, decent and affordable homes, to rent and to buy, whilst also ensuring that the current housing stock is fit for purpose. Jack Dromey has openly voiced his support for the National Housing Federation’s ‘Say Yes to Homes’ campaign which seeks to address the current housing crisis.

Labour believe that infrastructure spending is key to securing this recovery and that the provision of housing, the creation of jobs and apprenticeships should be inclusive for everyone and not just a minority.  It remains to be seen how much this message diverges from the Coalition’s own position.  Ed Miliband clearly put his own perspective on the Country’s housing crisis in his keynote speech to the Labour conference in Brighton, and the unions have been quick to suggest that this puts daylight between Labour and the Coalition.  We await the Conservative’s response with interest…

The Birmingham Labour Party Annual Dinner was held on Thursday 11th September at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Birmingham City Centre and was attended by over 200 people including a number of national and local political figures key midlands-based businesses, Iceni Clients and colleagues. Many thanks to Cllr Penny Holbrook and Jilly Bermingham for their assistance at the event and Green Alliance for the image.

Ed Balls (Shadow Chancellor)