Exposed! George Osborne’s secret plan to help people back to work.

We’ve spent plenty time on Coffee House challenging George Osborne’s more dubious claims (‘deficit halved!’, etc) as has much of the media. But happily, there now seems to be a truce. Grant Shapps, Tory chairman, has confirmed that from now on he’ll use clear and honest language when talking about the deficit – a promise made good by the Tory political broadcast on Wednesday. In my Telegraph column today, I express a hope that the party has turned the corner and instead of telling porkies it will restrict itself to the large number of genuinely true boasts.

The above chart shows Osborne’s greatest boast: he has overseen more job creation than any other Chancellor in recent history. It may strike him as being a bit dull, lacking in the topspin that he is fond of applying. But if I were him, I’d take it. So much economics can seem abstract (inflation, deficit, primary surplus etc) but the word ‘jobs’ is fairly clear.