Demolition Man

Political nerds love conference season. This autumn's round of composites and resolutions will be different not least having Tory and Liberals unable to attack each other. And to top it all the climax of the Labour leadership contest.

But traditionally we start with the TUC and the familiar barking of rotund unions lads and lasses. The tone this year is nothing short of seething anger. Even the mild-mannered Chair, Brendan Barber, described Tory Britain as a "dark, brutish more frightening place" and adding the coalition was more like "a demolition."

Of course RMT chief, Bob Crow, is well experienced in unleashing bilious anger at Conservatives. But Bob is a bit underrated intellectually, he seems to have softened his style a little and his words are beginning to resonate as quite sensible. Can it be true? When the cuts in public services are felt personally to millions in the ensuing months he may find himself almost liked. Even Boris Johnson agreed with Bob ("he's got a point") that the crisis was borne of reckless behaviour at the top of most of our banks.

The most striking theme about the speeches today was the lack of comment by the media about the role of banks and how the public had been mugged into thinking the annihilation of many vital services was in some way necessary pain. Perhaps there is something masochistic in the British nature. But at last we heard the genuine voices of the ordinary men and women who have had a stomach full of Coulson fed stories about "benefit scroungers" and "gold-plated public pensions."

The gap between the media misrepresentation and the rights of workers to protect their jobs was caught perfectly when Andrew Marr was asking Bob Crow about NOTW calling unions threat of strikes as "industrial suicide".

"That newspaper would say that as it doesn't recognise Trade Unions," a sticky pause ensued.

However even co-ordinated action from all parts of the membership will not reverse the disaster to come as one leader said, Thatcher started the attack on public services, "this lot mean to finish the job."