Balls sidles up to the Lib Dems

Oh look, Ed Balls has backed a mansion tax, saying in an interview with Nick Robinson that ‘If the chancellor wants to go down that road then we will support him… let’s work together.’ But, never fear, it’s not a completely non-partisan offer from the shadow chancellor. He does weave a divide with George Osborne, by adding that ‘The issue is what’s the purpose? If the purpose is to help families facing higher tuition fees, higher VAT or higher fuel bills — for example boosting their tax credits — yes.’ In other words, the money should go towards Labour policies, or Balls will withdraw his hand of friendship.

The shadow chancellor’s main purpose will be to pre-empt any coalition plan to withdraw the 50p rate under cover of increased wealth taxes. But I wonder whether he also has a secondary purpose in mind: to agitate the Lib Dems. Labour made their strongest play yet for Lib Dem affections at the end of last year, with Douglas Alexander’s ‘genuine