As the New Statesman’s George Eaton suggests, there’s quite a lot packed into Ed Balls’s piece in the Times today (also on his website for those who can’t venture beyond the paywall). And, what’s more, some of it makes sense. Take his argument that Labour shouldn’t cede
the “radical centre ground” of British politics to the coalition. That’s the right argument to make, even it if is rather undermined by Balls’s own efforts to drag the party leftwards.
As usual, it all starts to unravel as soon as Balls gets to the public finances. His position is blunt and straightforward: that “Labour needs strong leadership to make a credible argument against slashing public spending and raising VAT, which will increase unemployment and risk a double-dip recession.” Ok, there’s a place in the debate for someone questioning the depth and pace of the government’s cuts.
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