Laws is unperturbed by the scorched earth

Wags may term them ‘Osborne and Little’, but David Laws is emerging as one of the government’s star performers. Laws was instrumental in constructing the coalition, and now he has the unenviable job of identifying cuts. Being the axeman and taxman is hard work enough, but the opposition have weapons at their disposal.

Labour can say what it likes in this parliament’s infancy. Credibility comes later, with the election of a new leader for instance. Harman and Darling may have spurned the investment versus cuts line, but today Darling revived the conceit that all cuts are inherently bad:

‘During the election campaign the Conservatives did not say they were going to cut beyond eliminating what they said was waste and inefficiency. They’ve gone far beyond that today.’

Second, the refrain of ‘protecting the recovery’ has resonance beyond ideology because Darling and Byrne have only just relinquished the books. Labour’s strategy is eased by that proximity because it can simply defend its record within the new context of saving.