Now is the time to fight
George Osborne to unveil his emergency budget
“So tomorrow, when George Osborne puts the fragile recovery at risk with his ideological onslaught on public services, by pretending the economy is worse than it is, and using the quisling Lib Dems as political cover, it will be up to acting leader Harriet Harman and shadow chancellor Alistair Darling to lead the Labour response. But it is also important that the David and Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham and Diane Abbott pile in, and do so with real impact. Not just as a way of highlighting the risk Osborne and Co pose, but as a way of showing party and country what they have by way of argument, strategy and fight.” Alastair Campbell Blog
“Labour leadership candidate Ed Balls warned: “A VAT increase would hit the poorest hardest – pensioners, the unemployed, those on lower incomes.” – The Mirror
“Leaderless they may be, but Labour MPs are able to agree on a common line to use against the Government’s deficit-reduction plans. They argue that the public expenditure cuts to be announced later today by the Chancellor George Osborne reflect not necessity but desire bordering on the sadistic.” – The Independent
“Yesterday Labour leadership contender Ed Miliband called on Lib Dem MPs to vote against the Budget. “I say to the Lib Dems very clearly that they should exercise their consciences and be willing to oppose this Budget, on issues such as VAT and fairness,” he said.” – City AM
“Alistair Darling, free at last of Mr Brown’s budgetary meddling, is almost a lone defender of his party’s economic legacy (which is not as grim as Mr Osborne pretends). While the leadership contenders have done some Osborne-bashing, none offers a coherent vision of how capitalism can be reconnected to the public good.” – The Telegraph
“Labour’s reply to the Budget in the Commons will come from the party’s stand-in leader, Harriet Harman. But Labour’s big hitters are already predicting tax rises and claiming they will hit the poor hardest. The shadow chancellor Alistair Darling told Sky News he would be “absolutely astonished” if VAT does not go up, probably up to 20%. “If you need money, income tax and VAT are the cash cows,” he said.” – Sky News
Darling defends his legacy
“Former chancellor Alistair Darling said a move from the RPI Index to the CPI Index, which he believed Mr Osborne would announce and which would save the exchequer £1 billion if he did, had been discussed when he was still in the treasury […] Unlike other senior Labour figures, Mr Darling, who is not a leadership candidate, sought to adopt a reasonable approach: accepting the need for some cuts, but disapproving of others.” – Irish Times
“Alistair Darling, not a man given to hyperbole, is on top form defending his economic legacy and attacking what he sees as ideological cuts from the Tory-led coalition. He has been a regular on the air-waves at a time when Labour lacks leadership, and this passionate piece in the Observer was a model Keynesian take-down of the Government’s fiscal plans.” – The New Statesman
Tories "gleeful axemen"?
“Ed Balls, a candidate for the Labour leadership, said: “If George Osborne tries to buy off the Liberal Democrats by raising personal allowances but at the same time puts up VAT the result will be deeply unfair, not only hurting low-income families but also pensioners and the unemployed, who don’t pay income tax.”’ – The Guardian
“The idea of the Tories being gleeful axemen – propagated by Labour’s leadership contenders – is particularly dangerous to Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne because they have not yet fully won the argument that cuts are necessary. Ipsos Mori research has found that the number of Britons accepting the need for cuts in public spending to pay off national debt has risen from 40 per cent last June, but still stands at only 58 per cent now.” – The FT
“When George Osborne says the UK is “on the road to ruin” he is trashing this country’s reputation to justify the cuts and tax rises he’s always wanted. He talks a lot about tax rises and cuts. He never has much to say about growth. So the test of the Budget will be whether his plans ensure growth. And crucially, if it is fair.” – Alistair Darling, The Evening Standard
Tags: Budget, Cameron, Darling, Osborne, public services, VAT
