Normal Lamont Articles

Responsibility Agenda: Accepting the Osborne cuts is not the way forward, but grasping the public’s view of them is if we’re to re-establish Labour’s reputation for fiscal responsibility

Though it is the call for a temporary cut in VAT making the headlines, Ed Balls’ thoughtful speech today will reward more attention. It was welcome in that it addressed the differences in policy between Labour and the Conservatives.

Bill Clinton’s immortalised axiom ‘it’s the economy, stupid’ was more than a sharp soundbite; it was a pithy and aggressive encapsulation of his broader economic attack on George Bush Sr’s administration. Bush had been accused of prioritising foreign policy over the issues of middle America: jobs, mortgages and wages. Clinton’s phrase framed the debate perfectly.