What does worry me is that when the UK economy melted down before there were still other productive sectors besides the City, even though their interests always been subordinated to the City by government (see Cain and Hopkins "British Imperialism 1688-2000" for a brilliant analysis of so called 'gentlemanly capitalism'). What's left now? The traditional, and even most of the newer, manufacturing and extractive industries have been pretty much gutted. The IT industry is dominated by multinationals who have outsourced most of the jobs to south and east Asia. What has really shocked me when I have visited the north of England in the last 20 years is that there isn't much there anymore beyond tourism and government. What used to be the Workshop of the World has been turned into Clogland; a post industrial theme park. It really scares me and what scares me just as much is that current shadow ministers who I knew back in the day as intelligent and committed people seem completely lost for alternatives. It goes without saying that those Labour bigwigs who were complete bastards when young haven't got any better.