I Am A Bit Of A Lefty

I Clearly Believe A Lot More Than Some Of My Coalition Colleagues - Tories - In Redistribution And Using The Tax System For That Purpose. I Also Believe In The Government Having An Active Role In The Economy, Which Is Having An Industrial Strategy. I'm Not A Believer In Laissez-faire.

The Fact That John Prescott Is Being Paid Large Sums Of Money To Do Little Or Nothing Adds To The General Malaise Surrounding This Government And The Feeling That Ministers Are Incapable Of Tackling Serious Issues.

Fundamental Renegotiation Is Very, Very Unlikely To Produce Any Significant Change

Banks Operate Like A Man Who Either Wears His Trousers Round His Chest, Stifling Breathing, As Now, Or Round His Ankles, Exposing His Assets. We Want Their Trousers Tied Round Their Middle: Steady Lending Growth; Particularly To Productive British Business, Especially Small Scale Enterprise.

My Job Is To Support Businesses, That Means Promoting British Commerce In The Big Emerging Markets That Have Been Neglected In The Past. It Means Keeping Britain Open To Inward Investors, Trade And Skilled Workers. It Means Cutting Red Tape Which Is Suffocating Growing Companies Which Create Jobs.