Big GDP growth...can Labour try and hide their disappointment

So the figures are in...the UK economy grew by  1% in the last quarter at first estimate beating the 0.7-0.8 predicted by most forecasters....this must be excrutiating figures for Labour. They'll be in the TV studios doing the usual 'We welcome these positive figures, but...'

There are no 'buts'. It's good news! The ONS estimate the boost from GDP tickets as 0.2% of that growth but they didn't seem to make note of the lost productivity while the Olympics was on. Also these figures are posted despite the continuing weakness on the continent and slowdown in other major economies.

Ossie, if you're watching feel free to upgrade yourself to first class this weekend...and have some champagne while you're there! Just don't charge the taxpayer for it...but then again, unlike Ed Balls you never have.

Unemployment Down...again

So unemployment fell by 50,000 in the 3 months to August and unemployment is now below 8%. And 75% of those jobs were full time permanent roles. Which means Ed Miliband will go for one of two things in PMQ's....either an independant public inquiry into the Saville fallout or an independant public inquiry into #Gategate. Utterly vacuous tosh from the blank sheet of paper. And he still hasn't got back to me on #Catgate either.

Cameron's Speech

 He stood behind a lectern, he used notes, but how did it fare and what  did it contain?

The speech itself started slowly and I was wondering when it was going to get going but as he revved it up he proceeded to demolish Miliband's vacuous rebranding attempt from last week.

Content-wise was a good speech and spoke to what most conservatives (and most of the country) believe in...making the most of your opportunities in life for yourself, your family and the country at large.But almost as important as the content was the manner and the gravity in which he delivered it.

He took on the attacks on his upbringing which Labour love to use. What is so shameful about being the son of a stockbroker whose parents decided to pay to send him to the most renowned  public school in the country? It's not as if he had a say in the matter anyway so it's a daft attack. He didn't pretend he didn't have a privileged upbringing but instead aspired that every child should recieve as high a quality education. He rightly backed Michael Gove's reform to the hilt and gave tacit approval for Gove to step on the accelerator. He also lauded IDS's work on welfare reform. Most importantly he reaffirmed his commitment to dealing with the deficit, not from a wish to slash the state or break the public sector but instead to free up the private sector. He was also unapologetically beating the drum for our exports in a changing world (We're all Bucanneers together!) and highlighted the drastic growth we're seeing in exports to the BRIC countries and other developing nations.

Some people would have liked more on Europe, me included but with the changes coming in the EU a referendum is all but inevitable so it's pointless throwing your toys out of the pram about it. In fact, the public strength for a referendum does strengthen the UK's hand when it comes to clawing back powers and loosening our ties with the continent. It's Britain's trump card, to be used at the right moment.

On balance he did well, he reminded the audience in the hall why they liked him in the first place and spoke to the television viewer (or internet browser) in a manner that was candid, positive and straightforward...and not at all like a Policy Wonk (Miliband's greatest failing). I'm not  sure about the 'Aspiration-Nation' tag though...sounds a bit like the Thick of It. But a lot of what he was saying will chime with the public and it progressed into an upbeat blueprint for the country with a dash of Churchillian bulldog in the message to fight through and work hard to achieve. It wasn't the best speech he's ever made (His 2005 pitch to become Tory Leader was) but it was pretty damn close.

All three Leader's speeches were viewed as successes by the media but of the three it's Cameron who is still streets ahead as a leader. And in light of recent events across the pond can you see Cam freezing in the headlights of a TV debate? I can't...but Miliband? I'm not so sure.

Osborne's Speech - no magic bullet but some new policy

Well, I've just finished watching Osborne's speech to the Tory conference and he's probably never been under as much pressure as he was before this one. 6 months of negative headlines over pasties and caravans and other such trivia have not made him popular. Some argue he's cutting too fast, the Redwood's of this world argue he's not cutting fast enough. I'm an arch pragmatist...given that unemployment is coming down steadily and the private sector job market is also growing apace I think he's judeged it about righr.

What else did he talk about? Well, he took a bazooka to Miliband's 'One Nation' tanks and got them off the Tory lawn but he didn't concentrate on making it an overtly party political attack on the labour party. Unlike his shadow chancellor he actually concentrated the bul on the economy and played on the recent press headlines that the Tories would be seeking to do things for the strivers in Britain...all good red meat for the natural supporter of the Tories and the sort of people who gave Thatcher  their vote in the 80's, which is good because they're still out there. He also nixed the disastrous idea of a wealth tax or mansion tax (and anything that blunts a Vince Cable proposal is welcome). There were two proposals which really caught my eye and I'd love to see some more detail on them.

Firstly this 'Employee Ownership' voluntary scheme. In exchange for less employment rights and regulations employees would receive shares in the company they work for. Now this scheme has a few things that make it worth exploring.

1. It will make it far easier and less risky for an employer to hire people. If it doesn't work out then the employee can belet go.
2. It gives the employee more incentive to make the business a success, they have a stake in the future of the company...they'll work to ensure it's future as theirs is tied in to it...meaning the company would be less likely to sack them anyway.
3. The Treasury would put a 0% rate on any capital gains from these shares.

Personally I thinkEmployee ownership is a great thing, It's like John Lewis writ large. My uncle was one of the Miners who bought Tower Colliery in the 90's and ran it as a successful profitable coal mine for 13 years, in a far better way than the NCB ever managed. I love employee ownership so I think this could be something potentially huge for the workers of Britain,

The second item that caught my eye was the tax relief for Shale Gas. It could be as important to us now as North Sea Oil was to the 80's recovery. And it would also reduce our reliance on overseas oil as well as acting as a stabiliser from increased energy prices. And it indicates that Ed Davey will not be permitted to torpedo it.

He got the tone of the speech right, he's not going to be easing up on the cuts (this is a good thing, the markets will have appreciated that speech and will instead harass the French), he didn't make it a gag a minute but the few jokes he made were well-timed and Mandelsonian (And that is a compliment) in their barbed nature. All in all, while the speech didn't blow the roof off it was a solid outing with a few moments which may prove significant for the future.

This follows on from Solid Speeches by Shapps, Hague and Hammond yesterday. It looks like the Tories have had enough of rope-a-dope and are up for the fight....about bloody time!