Tougher talk on spending is Labour’s best bet |

Tuesday 8th September 2009 | 14:43

Tougher talk on spending is Labour’s best bet

Insiders recommend a change of gear in Labour’s spending rhetoric

Alistair Darling spoke earlier this afternoon on the need to rebalance the public finances, signalling that the government was ready to make ‘tough choices’ on public spending in order to do so. The speech was more nuanced and less dramatic than had been expected.

The strong advice of the Phi100 panel is to move further away from the old Labour line on spending, which pitted ‘Labour investment’ against ‘Tory cuts’, and towards tougher language on controlling public spending.

Eighty one per cent of the politically balanced panel - which includes frontbench MPs, senior political journalists, heads of think tanks and academics – believe that this strategy is the correct one for the Labour party to take.

Left and right leaning panellists are equally convinced in this view.

In a speech later today, Alistair Darling will pledge that the government "will not flinch" from "cutting costs" and making "hard choices on public spending". Is it the correct political strategy for Labour to start talking tougher on public spending and retreat from the 'Tory cuts vs Labour investment' line?

Risible

A significant number of panellists believed that the previous Labour position had become untenable.

A right-leaning strategist argued that ‘their cuts vs investment line had no credibility and was making them look dishonest.’

A non-aligned media panellist agreed, saying ‘Brown's strategy was risible - no one believed it.’

Operating at 2 rpm

Another media panellist argued that 'Bizarre though it seems, honesty is a good idea in politics.'

Other panellists, while backing the strategy, pointed to wasted time and the need to be more specific on where cuts would be made.

A left-leaning panellist said: ‘This has taken three wasted months - Labour needs to speed up. It is operating at 2 rpm and needs to hit 78 rpm.’

Another panellist believed that the strategy would only work ‘if some sensible specific areas of cuts are proposed’.

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