How Far, How Fast?
Every time I hear a Labour party spokesperson say - "Too far, too fast" - in relation to the government's public spending cuts.
I hear a voice in my head which demands - "How far, how fast?" - because everyone knows that if Labour had won the general election, they'd have been cutting spending as well.
The official line, of course, is that a Labour chancellor would be cutting the deficit in half - over four years.
Yes, but we know that already - what does this mean?
Labour originally introduced the 1p rise in National Insurance which came into effect yesterday - not the present government.
And Labour had also planned a series of increases in fuel duty - of around 5p a litre - which were ditched in yesterday's budget.
Now of course - in opposition - Labour will say that they would not have followed though on their plans.
But what would they do exactly - how would Labour's cuts differ from the government's cuts?
If the party can't answer that - then they're not taking the whole business very seriously - because they've only just left government after 13 years in power.
I hear a voice in my head which demands - "How far, how fast?" - because everyone knows that if Labour had won the general election, they'd have been cutting spending as well.
The official line, of course, is that a Labour chancellor would be cutting the deficit in half - over four years.
Yes, but we know that already - what does this mean?
Labour originally introduced the 1p rise in National Insurance which came into effect yesterday - not the present government.
And Labour had also planned a series of increases in fuel duty - of around 5p a litre - which were ditched in yesterday's budget.
Now of course - in opposition - Labour will say that they would not have followed though on their plans.
But what would they do exactly - how would Labour's cuts differ from the government's cuts?
If the party can't answer that - then they're not taking the whole business very seriously - because they've only just left government after 13 years in power.
