LABOUR'S recession is now almost a year old, and people in Manchester have every right to be asking why Gordon Brown's initiatives don't seem to be making a difference.

After all, over 9,000 jobs have been lost in Manchester in the last month, and unemployment has now risen for each of the past nine months. Unemployment in the city is now higher than when Labour came to power in 1997.

There's a simple reason why Labour's initiatives aren't making a difference - they haven't been implemented.

Take the scheme to help carmakers announced in January - it's still not operational. The same is true of the mortgage support scheme launched in December, as well as a host of other Labour policies. This is unacceptable, and it's businesses and families in Manchester that are paying the price.

With the Budget now just weeks away, Gordon Brown has an opportunity to end the dithering and delay, and take action. The Prime Minister could implement our plans for real welfare reform to tackle the root causes of poverty.

And with carbon dioxide emissions higher today than in 1997, and a market for green technologies worth billions of pounds, the government could follow our lead and introduce policies to fit energy efficiency equipment to millions of homes and build a 21st century smart grid for electricity.

And when it comes to taking action on the economy, it's clear what Gordon Brown needs to do. First, he needs to introduce a big, bold and simple National Loan Guarantee Scheme. We have been calling for this for months.

After first attacking our proposal, the government unveiled a smaller version back in January. But, two months later, not a single business has received assistance. At the Budget, the Chancellor must announce that this scheme is finally operational.

Second, action is needed to get Labour's debt crisis under control.

Today in Manchester, every child is born with £17,000 of government debt hanging over their head. Manchester's share of the national debt is a staggering £25bn, and that figure is rising. Gordon Brown should follow our lead, and bring in tough new forward- looking fiscal rules.

But most important of all, Gordon Brown should drop his plans for a second fiscal stimulus. It is deeply misguided to believe that the answer to Labour's debt crisis is to rack up even more debt.

Third, we need policies to help families and businesses now. Conservatives are calling on Gordon Brown to abolish the double taxation of savings for basic rate taxpayers.

And to help businesses stay afloat, we've called for a tax break for new jobs for the unemployed, a reduction in National Insurance contributions for the smallest companies and allowing businesses to defer their VAT bill for six months.

Have the Tories got the right formula?