How does an Opposition party make up for the fact that its response to an economic statement is necessarily rather vague and rushed? In previous years Ed Balls would hold a briefing for journalists three or four hours after the announcement so that he could produce analysis involving figures and the small print that it is impossible to conjure up in the two seconds between the Chancellor finishing his statement and the start of your own response.
These briefings became a bit of a show, because Balls loved the knockabout and also loved revealing details that he hoped would skewer George Osborne. As interim Shadow Chancellor, Chris Leslie continued this briefing, admitting after the emergency Budget that it was ‘difficult’ for Labour to oppose a lot of the cuts, while setting out the problem with the tax credit cuts that only became a story many weeks later.
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