How long can Cameron blame Labour?

Understandably, David Cameron is blaming Labour for the age of austerity he must inaugurate, and will continue to blame Labour. Dominic Lawson asks a simple question in this morning’s Independent: how long can that tactic soften the opprobrium his government will incur?

‘After all, when Margaret Thatcher’s government cut the unsustainably vast subsidies to public sector industries – from coal-mining to car manufacturing – which her Labour predecessors had not dared to confront, it established her reputation among millions as a cruel and heartless prime minister. It will be fascinating to see if the much more soothing rhetoric of a Conservative government in coalition with the Liberal Democrats can convince the electorate that they are caring cutters; how extraordinary it will be if they carry that off while reducing public expenditure on a scale which Margaret Thatcher never even attempted.’