It's the positioning that matters

Alessandre Bieri

Can't wait to tear the PBR to shreds.

Although when Cameron does so in the house we all know Gordon'll ignore all the questions and attack Cameron for being "A Tory"

If he can't defend his policy it shows he knows he's wrong, just like everyone else does

Travis Bickle

Well if that over promoted waste of space doesn't like it then Cameron must "finally" be doing something right

ps I don't like the way her and her lardball husband take the proverbial out the taxpayer with their housing allowances, but what can you do?

TGF UKIP

Alessandre, unfortunately it's not what happens in The House that matters. It's in and on the media and there I'm afraid over the last three years, Fraser's boys have lost so much credibility, they are going to have a very hard, uphill job to get a favourable hearing.

Let's face it Fraser has been one of their most ardent admirers, defenders and promoters and they have tested even his patience to the nth degree.

David

BBC news to tonight-The Conservatives are out of step with everyone else, including the nobel prize winner in economics.

I'm glad you are pleased, Fraser. I just hope you can remain happy when the poll rating collapses.

nonspendaholic

If she doesn't like it, then I do.

Rob

"“Unlike the Conservatives, we refuse to abandon people in tough times. The British economy needs a shot in the arm, not a slap in the face.”"

'Hard times' to last until April 2010 - Yvette Cooper.

simon hb

Erm... isn't Cameron saying that he'll cut spending to avoid having to borrow money? In which case, he won't have any "savings" to "hand back" to anyone, will he?

Dick the Prick

Good grief peeps - I've done 12 years in Local Gov, Cops & Civil Service. Straight out of college with an Economics degree (hat tip to Arthur Pigou) I was wibbling to my first boss (now one of my closest chums - off on the lash on Thursday) that it was all an exercise in Keysian drivel.

BVPI's, LAA's, PSA's, CPA's - honestly peeps I can do them all and they're wasteful and stupid. I gave such a wide berth to those doing jobs that I went to their offices and did my work there so they weren't incumbered.

Profligacy for no point - should never have left CIPFA.

David

"In which case, he won't have any "savings" to "hand back" to anyone, will he?"

No, Simon. To coin a phrase, he wants to 'share the proceeds of the cuts'. A bit to pay off the debt, a bit as a tax cut, and a bit to save.

DiscoveredJoys

The (alleged, but I'm convinced) bias in the media against the Conservatives is a temporary thing. The Famous Liar Gordon Brown's support by the media is a fragile thing and could be whipped away overnight.

The Famous Liar Gordon Brown would then stand metaphorically naked in the spotlight of public censure... and would he have any true friends after treating his colleagues in his own special way?

It won't take much to trigger such a change. It probably won't be the economy, or the Tory revival, but something more personal - like further disclosures from Haringey, or Alistair Darling being sacked in a bullying manner, or Foy being caught out again.

Alfred T Mahan

Fraser, I agree with what what you say but not how you say it!

Tax cuts are not 'giving people their money back' - they're not taking it in the first place. Surely the 'slap in the face' is to take the money?

Nu Liebore have been exceptionally good at framing the language of debate in ways that put others on the subliminal back foot, and part of winning the debate is surely to change the lexicon. Eric Pickles and Christina Dykes are working on exactly this with local government - we need to do the same with Westminster.

So how about 'it's Labour who are slapping the face of the British people by taking more of their money away'?

Susan Hill

But will Cameron cut where cuts should be made ? Just give him a copy of the Guardian Appointments pages and a pair of scissors.
But he won`t, he won`t, they never do. And never forget Cameron is the self-declared pawn of the greens so all those stupid climate change officers and recylcying csars will keep their fat salaries for their rubbish jobs for a start.

oldtimer

I agree that the positioning is critical - and now we have distinct positions between the parties. But there is also the battle between the "narratives" as you in the media describe it.

One benefit of the announcement is that it provikes a change in the narrative. Media hacks now have the chance to write about something different. There is plenty for them to get their teeth into. No doubt your contributors to this blog will provide you with some ideas too.

For starters Dizzy has a very good blog on Brown`s borrowing forecasts from 2003 onwards, pointing out the inexorable rise in the predicted government debt for any one year in successive budget statements. A £10 billion plusshortfall is typical. It might be worth updating his data to reveal the actual results. This year will, surely, break all records for both inaccuracy and the level of government debt.

seb

@ oldtimer

Have you come across any figures relating to the borrowing - assuming anyone will want to lend - necessary to cope with a rise in unemployment to perhaps three million? All the talk is of the short term and fiscal stimuli, as though the intervening depression were not going to happen? Certainly, the government [sic] is on course to break all records for lying and debt.
The failure to confront this must count as some sort of mass denial.