If you’ve become fed-up with half-baked Treasury statistics, the start of the purdah period is welcome news. The ban on Government and Civil Service resources being used to put forward the case for ‘remain’, means there will be no more of those. But with ‘remain’ having pushed ahead in the polls over the last few weeks, will this now help level the playing field?
Based on how the Government has tried to press home the advantage of using its huge resources right up until the last moment, it seems that there are certainly jitters about that happening. Its rather cheeky report put out yesterday evening which suggested that Brexit would leave pensioners worse off to the tune of £137 a year, for instance, is an example of how keen they have been to use everything within their means to try and shape the debate.
Nevertheless, It’s hard to disagree with Iain Duncan Smith’s view on the Today show that these pension statistics won’t do much to shift yesterday’s migration statistics from peoples’ minds. The front pages this morning make miserable reading for the Prime Minister checking his iPad in Japan and for George Osborne. Here’s a flavour of what they had to say:
Over the last few weeks, David Cameron and in particular George Osborne have capitalised hugely on the seemingly choreographed warnings against Brexit. We’ve heard from the Bank of England repeatedly. We’ve also heard from the Treasury on several occasions. Day after day, the warnings have come thick and fast. And whilst the figures, such as the report which said households would be worse off by £4,300, didn’t stand up to scrutiny, the PM and the Chancellor will be hoping that all that sticks in voters’ minds are the headline figures itself. But with front pages such as these, that will become more doubtful by the day. It’s particularly interesting to see how last night’s debate focused on immigration – a topic that will inevitably favour the ‘leave’ campaign. If this subject continues to dominate the overall conversation, expect to see the margin between the two sides narrow. But whether or not this proves enough to pay off at the ballot box remains to be seen. The ‘leave’ camp have some catching up to do. And the start of the purdah period could give them the shot in the arm they need to really kick start their referendum campaign.
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