Balls lies

Ed Balls has been sounding increasingly desperate since his thwarted attempt to become Chancellor. He has started to hijack radio interviews, splurging out concocted claims about the Tories no matter what he is asked. But this morning, he used outright lies. People exaggerate in politics, they interpret and even stretch the truth until the elastic snaps. But rarely are outright, downright lies told. That was until now. Team Brown is adopting a new strategy: repeat a lie, as often as possible, hoping the interviewer will not stop or correct you. Here is the Balls Lie on the Today programme this morning.

LIE no1: “We have acted in the downturn, that will mean that the economy is stronger, we’ll have less unemployment, less debt…” Less debt? No, this was not a mistake. He repeats it here.

LIE no2: “Alistair Darling in the budget set out plans which show the deficit coming down, national debt coming down.