A little bit of politics

We’ve heard from Labour and the Lib Dems, and now it’s the turn of the Conservatives who gather in Manchester this week for their annual conference.

Gordon Brown last week suggested that the Tories’ brand of free market capitalism would spell further disaster for the economy, so it will be interesting to see what they have to say about the big infrastructure projects and investment in manufacturing that is surely essential for sustainable growth.

Shadow business secretary Ken Clarke will be sketching out his blueprint for industry tomorrow afternoon, while this afternoon’s fringe debate 'Keeping Britain Moving: The future of our transport networks' might also provide an interesting perspective on what the conservative party thinks of high speed rail.

Meanwhile, tomorrow will provide further proof of whether the policies of the current administration are helping things, when the SMMT releases the latest set of UK car registration figures. Last month's figures revealed a second successive month of growth which has been attributed in part to the impact of the car scrappage incentive scheme, extended last month by an extra £100m.

Jon Excell, Deputy Editor