Tough times ahead His attack on spin doctors who were using the issue as a political football received cheers and whistles from delegates. Mr Mandelson told the conference there would be tough months ahead on the road to building a more successful economy in his speech. Labour had inherited a far from golden economic legacy from the Conservative government. But the government would combine fairness and competitiveness to create a world leading economy. Mr Mandelson told the conference that tough times were ahead.
Unemployment is never a price worth paying.
He said he had one clear ambition for the country - Britain must start building things for itself again. Labour would build an economy which combined the vitality of United States and the productivity of Germany but to succeed it was necessary to overcome the legacy of a country in relative industrial decline. Mr Mandelson also addressed conference on need to encourage enterprise. But it was on the treatment of the unions that created most reaction from the floor which led to calls on assurances that the Fairness at Work white paper would not be watered down. And we are not making these changes just because the trade unions want them.