What a Balls-up
James Forsyth 1:38pm
A new poll out from Politics Home shows that the Balls and Brown attempt to claim that the next election will be a choice between Labour investment and Tory cuts isn’t doing Labour any favours. When asked which party is being most honest about tax and spend, Labour came third on 16 per cent behind the Tories on 37 and the Lib Dems on 28. Not even a majority of Labour supporters think their party is being straighter than other parties about its plans. Among non-aligned voters, only six percent say the Labour party is the most honest.
The smartest strategy for Labour on cuts would have been to make a big show of making some and then claim that any further cuts would dangerously reduce frontline services. This bit of triangulation would have put the Tories in a strategically tricky spot. But, instead, Brown and Balls decided to make a claim that just isn’t credible.
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Andrew Cadman
June 17th, 2009 1:58pm Report this commentPerhaps...but Labour as we know operates on the Goebbels maxim that: 'make a lie big enough and repeat it often enough and people will believe its true'.
I remember soon after New Labour got into power that it was Alistair Campbell's and Tony Blair's strategy to label any Tory policy as 'extreme', even when this was clearly ludicrous.
At first only 7% of the public believed this charge, and commentators held this up to show the limits of what spin could achieve.
After several months however of the same lie being repeated over and over, more than half the electorate believed the Tories were 'extreme'.
Sally Chatterjee
June 17th, 2009 1:58pm Report this commentBrown and Balls are the cutters. It was they who decided to fund the expansion of schools and hospitals on tax revenues from City banks and stamp duty from a house price boom.
There was a clear bubble in these areas yet Brown decided to tie the fate of these crucial public services to short term and unsustainable sources of funding. It's like winning at the bookies and then quitting your job, expecting to pay the mortgage on future winnings.
The failed Labour strategy could not last and now the bubble has burst everyone has to pick up the pieces because Brown and Balls couldn't fund these things on a safe basis. It's their short-termism and naivety that is causing the cuts.
Ray
June 17th, 2009 2:05pm Report this commentUnfortunately for Labour, Balls and Brown are obviously schooled in the Joseph Goebbels school of election strategy: namely, tell a lie often enough and for long enough and it will eventually become the truth.
obangobang
June 17th, 2009 2:11pm Report this commentNot surprising that no-one believes The Crashmeister, but I wouldn't put too much credibility in the Poll quoted since none of the figures add up :
Cons 37%
LD 28%
Lab 16%
None 28%
Total 109%
Eh?
pollster
June 17th, 2009 2:42pm Report this comment@obangogang - it says the respondents were allowed to choose up to 2 options for the parties that were being honest - hence it adds up to more than 100%
Wily Trout
June 17th, 2009 3:24pm Report this commentBliar and Brownie - not a good showing on the honesty front for Labour, is it?
crown blog
June 17th, 2009 3:50pm Report this commentpollster
more than 100% is impossible
Liz Brown
June 17th, 2009 3:53pm Report this commentI am not so convinced that the General Public will fall for the Liebour lies any more - I rather suspect that they have all more than wised up now
David Ossitt
June 17th, 2009 4:54pm Report this commentAndrew Cadman
"After several months however of the same lie being repeated over and over, more than half the electorate believed the Tories were 'extreme'."
Andrew you are absolutely right; but that was then.
Now the public can see the lie, in fact they are beginning to expect a lie each and every time Gordon and his minions open their mouths.
The effect; and Gordon has not yet grasped this, is to weaken his argument and strengthen that of David Cameron, he is becoming his own worst enemy .
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