Dr Madsen Pirie tries to work out, just what is the worst Labour policy?

President of the Adam Smith Institute, Dr Madsen Pirie, was trying to decide just what was the worst Labour policy in City AM this week.

Dr Madsen Pirie, founder and president of the Adam Smith Institute, says plans for an "interventionist state".

Should investment be decided by people using their own money to back the future goods and services that people might want to buy, or should politicians use other people’s money to decide what industrial support might win them votes?

Should we invest in the future, or pour money into supporting the present status quo? Labour has made a catastrophically wrong choice. Intervention raises prices and living costs. It uses taxpayers’ money to subsidise industries that cannot make it on their own in world markets, or it sets tariffs against foreign goods to make domestic consumers and producers pay more. It makes UK goods more expensive and less competitive on world markets.

Governments talk of “picking winners” but they lack the expertise or motivation to anticipate the future. Instead they support declining industries to gain the support of those involved in them, and divert investment from the up and coming industries that will yield tomorrow’s growth and jobs. Governments always pick losers.

Read the opposing side here.