What Harriet Harman can do for us all

Today’s the day, I suspect, when it will really hit home with Labour that they are now in Opposition.  Attacking a government’s legislative agenda isn’t something they’ve had to do for 13 years.  And while you could say that the Brown machine acted as an opposition in government – geared to destroy its rivals – this is different terrain, with different priorities.  It will fall to Harriet Harman to lead the charge from 1430 onwards.

The FT’s Jim Pickard has some sensible advice for Labour’s stand-in leader.  But the crucial point is this:

“It will be tempting to slam ‘Cameron and Clegg’ for ‘taking £6bn out of the economy’ and ‘risking a double dip recession’. By all means defend some of the schemes scrapped yesterday, such as the Future Jobs Fund. But no one really believes that cutting the deficit by 4 per cent spells Armageddon.”