Michael Meacher MP

There is no doubt this is a defining moment for the Labour Party.   No-one questions that Ed Balls cannot, with 3 years or more to go to the next election, promise to reverse this or that particular cut, because nobody can anticipate in this exceptionally fluid and febrile situation what will be the state of the economy so far ahead.   But it is a totally different matter to say, as Ed Balls did at the weekend: “the starting point….is we’re going to have to keep all these cuts”.   It is also a totally different matter to say that Labour is signing up wholesale to the government’s present pay freeze and future pay cuts.   So why has he done it?   Not a single argument has been used to justify it except “Labour must be seen to be making tough choices”, which is simply a parroted mantra, not an explanation. (more…)