Calling a Spade a Spade
A former cabinet secretary in the last Labour government - Hazel Blears - has called on the party leadership to be 'explicit' about cuts in public spending.
Instead of simply pretending that Labour would make no cuts at all - which everyone knows to be nonsense - Hazel Blears is saying that Labour should spell out a credible alternative.
A good idea too - because that is the only way that the voters will take Labour seriously.
The last Labour government was not wholly responsible for the economic mess the country is in - but it does bear a significant share of the responsibility.
To my mind that means calling a spade a spade - instead of using weasel words for short-term political advantage.
Hazel Blears told the BBC Politics Show:
“I think we could be pretty explicit about where we had plans to cut. We said we would cut the deficit by half in four years, and I think we should absolutely stick to that and be clearer about what that means. The public expects us to at least give a broad direction – but I think they are worried that we haven’t been as clear as we ought to be.”
Now that seems a fair statement - and good advice to Labour's leader, Ed Miliband.
Instead of simply pretending that Labour would make no cuts at all - which everyone knows to be nonsense - Hazel Blears is saying that Labour should spell out a credible alternative.
A good idea too - because that is the only way that the voters will take Labour seriously.
The last Labour government was not wholly responsible for the economic mess the country is in - but it does bear a significant share of the responsibility.
To my mind that means calling a spade a spade - instead of using weasel words for short-term political advantage.
Hazel Blears told the BBC Politics Show:
“I think we could be pretty explicit about where we had plans to cut. We said we would cut the deficit by half in four years, and I think we should absolutely stick to that and be clearer about what that means. The public expects us to at least give a broad direction – but I think they are worried that we haven’t been as clear as we ought to be.”
Now that seems a fair statement - and good advice to Labour's leader, Ed Miliband.
