However, Balls was set to tell delegates at the conference that he will not make any promises of what policies Labour will institute if elected in 2015, because it is so unclear what the state of the economy will be at the time.
‘We’re just one of two G20 countries in recession - the longest double-dip recession since the Second World War. And because we are in recession, the deficit is now not going down, it’s going up - up by 22 per cent so far this year," Balls was set to tell the conference.
"There is nothing credible about a plan that leads to a double-dip recession, thousands of businesses bust, a million young people out of work, billions wasted on soaring benefits bill, and borrowing going up not down. Rising borrowing not to invest in the jobs of the future but to pay for the mounting costs of this government’s economic failure," he was due to say.
"With 119,000 construction jobs lost in two years and a 68 per cent fall in the number of affordable homes being built, we need bold and urgent action now," his speech said. "The government is anticipating a windfall of up to £4 billion from the sale of the mobile phone spectrum. In the good times, Labour used every penny of the £22 billion from the sale of the 3G licenses to pay off national debt. But in difficult times, we urgently need to put something back into the economy."
The speech came after an announcement at the conference that grassroots Labour members have voted housing as one of the top issues they want to debate at the conference. Constituency Labour groups will now negotiate to produce a housing motion which delegates will vote on later this week.
Most delegates voted that they want to see a large-scale, publicly funded affordable housing programme. A number of constituency parties have also asked that the motion sets out concern about the recent government proposals to allowing developers to appeal to renegotiate section 106 agreements.
