People are questioning the face of "compassionate conservatism" and the front man of David Cameron. At the end of the day whoever forms the next Government will have to make real inroads to reduce the public deficit so that the pound is not too weak against the strong currencies such as the euro, dollar and Japanese Yen.

We need to be able to sell bonds to ease quantitative easing as it were. Unfortunately , Mr Brown always seems to fall down in presentation stakes and often seems to be dragging his party behind him rather than leading from the front.

The real danger is that the Tories form a Government and focus so much on Public Debt that they drag the economy back into recession just when it was beginning to crawl out. My belief is that the Tories always take care of the most fortunate in Society and quickly forget who it was who put them in office. Unemployment never seems to be a concern to the Tory Party. Under Thatcher , there was never any attempt to reduce unemployment and its destructive effects on the community.The Tories always seem able to blame the unemployed for being unemployed, even though no matter how skilled a person is, an individual is necessarily constrained by the economic realities  of the market and the seen and unseen forces which direct it. 

 If  a   person has no access to capital or the means of production they are necessarily required to submit to employment. They are therefore powerless to make a living when the macro economic environment is contracting and uncertain.

The Tories tend to rationalize the state of the unemployed by  the immortal words of Norman Tebbit telling them to move to places of employment and ".. . get on yer bike..." They completely miss the point that closing a mine or a factory destroys the local community and the social fabric which energizes and enables  people to function and perform useful role. In short , unemployment dehumanizes and demotivates .

I honestly predict that under Cameron the unemployment figures could well rise to 5 million and beyond. Young people coming out of university this year , saddled with debt from tuition fees and living expenses, now find that their three or four years of investment does not even qualify them for a basic job.

At the other end of the scale the loyal worker will be expected to extend their working life in order to contribute towards the National debt. It is difficult to feel valued and dignified in the workplace when the traditional contracts of employment are being torn up in order to prop up those who never seem to be touched by their own mistakes namely, the bankers and the hedge fund managers.

Let us not despair though, as there is great scope for innovation and development in the green economy which must surely be put to the forefront  of any government agenda. It is no longer an optional "do gooder" muesili eating recycler or odd ball who must concern themselves with energy saving ideas and recycling .

The green economy must become main stream and urgent. Perhaps if this unfortunate mess which has led to the global financial meltdown  forces the realization that monetarism  and the associated financial structures are failed institutions due to the flawed assumption that growth no matter what the cost, is necessarily good.

The truth is , however, that  we have limited resources on this small blue planet and we need to manage these limited resources with due reverence to the life affirming mother earth which sustains us , but desperately needs respect and careful stewardship.