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What a week! Every day a new offer from the government. Every day what wasn’t possible yesterday is possible today and changes which cost £7 billion yesterday are possible for peanuts.
Darling’s final offer is now in. Frank Field has withdrawn his amendment. I’d have kept it and let them twist in the wind a bit longer. Who knows what that would have made the settlement. Those between 60 and 64 who don’t benefit from the increase or allowances for 65+ will get a bonus through the Winter Heating Allowance system November. Not sure what.
Those with no kids, not eligible for tax credits will get something through a cheque ion the post. Young people will get the abolition of the lower youth rate for the minimum wage.
It leaves lots to be worked out carers? Timing? Method of transmission? Will it be adequate?
All to be worked out though that can’t be done meanly. The outcry will be enormous. The important thing is to get something stitched together to unite the party before the local elections. But why was Gordon so clumsy as to do it? Here’s why.
- Gordon has a tin ear for the problems of the people
- He does tricks to dish the Tories without thinking them through. He wanted to make the 23p rate to pre-empt them offering it. So he was hoping to take £2 billion from the poor to give a better deal to the better off
- He has no idea of the effect on the 10% rate payers. No research was done. Treasury didn’t warn him. So he felt right to assert – wrongly- that they’d all benefit
- Junior ministers are disposable. Ed Miliband, Yvette Cooper, Jane Kennedy were all sent in to defend the indefensible on arguments that turned out not to be true once Gordon had changed his mind
What a mess
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To Alistair Darling. Why don’t you begin to think of doing a Denis Healey? Denis had two or three budgets a year. You deal another early budget to tackle the gathering recession.
Boost spending. Raise tax allowances. Borrow and spend. Try Keynes for a change. In July.
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I’m taking bets now on the 42 day internment. Around 50 Labour MPs will vote against it. The Tories and Liberals remain staunch. It will be defeated. So my bet is the government will climb down. Any takers?
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Whips take the line that Party unity is crucial. It is. But they go on to argue that rebels should therefore climb down. The real issue is that the government should stop making daft proposals,which, it should know, won’t get through. |
