How things are different now that Balls is shadow chancellor
Peter Hoskin 9:05am
The timing could hardly have been more resonant. On the day that Tony Blair is paraded,
once again, in front of the Iraq Inquiry, Team Brown is firmly back in charge of the Labour party. For, I'm sure you've noticed CoffeeHousers, three of the four great shadow offices of state are
occupied by former members of the Brown coterie: Ed Miliband, Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper. The fourth belongs to someone who doesn't sit easily in either half of the TB-GB divide: Douglas Alexander.
The question, of course, is what this means for Labour's economic policy. And the answer according to Miliband is "nothing much". The Labour leader has been keen to stress that his party's fiscal plans remain largely unchanged by Balls' ascension. The pair are said (£) to have shared a "lengthy late-night conversation" in which which they "squared their difference over the deficit".
But even if that turns out to be true, it is worth remembering that Balls can still make a whole heap of difference. After all, Labour's current fiscal roadmap – what we tend to call the "Darling plan" – was one that Brown put his name to. The divide between the former leader and Darling was often not so much over the specifics, but over the presentation of them; whether to mention or to downplay the cuts. If Balls, like Brown, veers insistently towards the latter, then Miliband's plans for the deficit may soon begin to sound even less rigorous than they are.
In any case, Balls as shadow chancellor lends even more political significance to the pace of the recovery. Yes, we all know about his warnings of a double-dip. But what matters more is what he says from now on in. He will snap at the government's heels; he will no doubt attack each and every cut; he will latch more effectively than his colleagues onto issues such as inflation. But if the economy starts to motor again, then much of that will be cast in an embarrassing light.
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GDT
January 21st, 2011 9:14am Report this commentPaper tiger.
Andy Leeds
January 21st, 2011 9:14am Report this commentOf course the Tories will be able to draw attention to the mess Brown created because one of the main architects of that mess is now shadow chancellor.
Nick
January 21st, 2011 9:43am Report this commentToday's inflation is a direct result of the policies Balls supported whilst in government. A collapse in sterling as a result of massive deficits, low interest rates and QE has resulted in imported inflation soaring. Hence the reason why UK inflation is worse than the Eurozone.
George Osborne correctly warned of this at the time. But Balls accused him of "talking sterling down".
Sterling has rallied with the Coalition's economic policies receiving general market approval. And as a result inflation (and thus petrol, gas and food prices) is lower than it would be if Balls were chancellor.
Hopefully Tory spokesmen have the nous to point this out.
JohnOfEnfield
January 21st, 2011 9:44am Report this commentMuch more important than merely "snapping at the heels of the Tories" is the fact that he will take Labour back to the far far left in matters of finance. Balls has no concept of "the middle ground" in these matters. As Ed is a self proclaimed "socialist" (which the rest of us should read as "Marxist") then between them they will end up keeping the Labour Party (The "New Labour" party is dead) out of power for a generation.
"Rejoice"!
Robin
January 21st, 2011 9:45am Report this commentBalls = Brown lite - one carefully crafted commentary on his involvement in Browns debt debacle will shut him up.
oldtimer
January 21st, 2011 9:45am Report this commentOne thing that is not different: standards in public life. These events confirm that the quick way up the greasy pole is by leaks and smears.
To the extent that this is obvious to the public at large, it will not do Balls much good. No doubt we are in for another unedifying period of Westminster politics.
In the real world, it is the forthcoming budget that will determine the fate of the coalition.
Jonathan Woolf
January 21st, 2011 10:01am Report this commentThe Westminster village might be impressed by Balls the "streetfighter" but I'm not sure anyone outside thinks he is anything but a thuggish bullyboy.
If the Coalition can rouse themselve from their silk-cushioned backsides, they can attack Balls for being Brown's brains and the architect of Labour's fiscal boom and bust; the system of bank regulation that completely failed to spot the risk carried by banks awash on easy money; and the BoE independence which has failed to achieve anything like stable prices and sound money.
As far as Ed Miliband goes, they can improve their rather superficial attacks on him as a "nothing man" (not least because the strategy of being undefined but nice was actually working pretty well for him) and instead say "why listen to Mili-Ed - the real Red Ed is in charge now" "Has Ed Balls said it's ok to think that?" etc. Which would have the virtue of being factually correct. If Brown could dominate domestic policy even when Blair was in charge, how on earth will little Ed M stop Balls completely dominating the Labour party in parliament and the shadow cabinet?
Vote Miliband and get Balls might be a bit more effective a slogan than vote Blair get Brown ever was.
StrongholdBarricades
January 21st, 2011 10:13am Report this commentThe real question is why Red Ed thinks it is politically better to suffer the ignominy of the Coalition destroying Balls political career, than actually doing it himself?
Astute, scared or ditherer?
Perry
January 21st, 2011 10:13am Report this commentplus ça change . . . (etc)
DA
January 21st, 2011 10:19am Report this commentThe economy will definitely motor again. Clearing the debt quickly is the right thing to do in order to move on and progress.
Vulture
January 21st, 2011 10:30am Report this commentAs De Gaulle said of Giscard d'Estaing:
'Giscard? His only problem is the people'.
Balls, too, is not a people person. He would have functioned best in one of East Europe's copycat Soviet-style failed states, full of fake tractor production statistics, torture cells, and huddled proles trudging from high rise, cold water flats to do their compulsory stints in collective farms or Trabant factories.
Balls would cruise by in a limo with darkened windows. He is widely hated - even or especially by his own side - and that is his fatal flaw.
He may well succeed Millipede as leader but he will never be Fuhrer of Britain - he is Labour's Michael Howard. Not only is there something of the night about him - he IS the night. Dark, endless and very cold.
Publius
January 21st, 2011 10:32am Report this commentMiliband has a new pair of Balls.
We'll he's well and truly boxed in now. It's like the downfall even before the rise to power.
alexsandr
January 21st, 2011 10:38am Report this commentwhy are Beeb not reporting that Balls's SPAD outed the affair?
Sorry - silly question.
Percy
January 21st, 2011 10:42am Report this commentYes it is different, with the departure of Johnson, the Labour front bench looks even more of a freak show than it did yesterday morning.
sinosimon
January 21st, 2011 11:02am Report this commentthe real question for those decent members of the labour party.....and there are many.......is how far they are willing to give support to this creature to further their own desire for power.
they allowed another sociopath to smear and threaten his way to the top, leaving a trail of corpses behind him.......who went on to wreak the havoc we all now about.
anyone so monomaniac in their ambition is a danger to themselves, and more importantly to the country, if let loose on the levers of power. When that driving insistent craving is present in a man of such horrific detachment from any idea of truth or decency in public life the end result can only be a nightmare for the nation.
Miliband looks like a bewildered hamster strapped onto the grill of a speeding juggernaut squeaking that he is in charge because he is at the front, whilst a maniacal sadist grips the steering wheel and hurtles towards the cliffs....
TrevorsDen
January 21st, 2011 11:18am Report this commentCan anyone imagine wee Dougie as Foreign Sec?
Its a joke surely?
But what is no joke is that its now clear that Labour will never be able to balance a budget. Its imperative we keep them away from government.
Simon Stephenson
January 21st, 2011 11:49am Report this comment"But if the economy starts to motor again"
The sound bet is that this is not going to happen in the near future. The inheritance was just too severe even for a group of competent and reasoned men to turn round in so short a time. I fear that it will be impossible to discredit Mr Balls through contrasting actual achievement with his doom-laden predictions.
The real danger for the country from Mr Balls is that as far as accuracy and reality are concerned, he is totally without conscience. As with Mr Brown, all that is important is that his private blueprint for society is followed. Every policy is measured against it's adherence to this blueprint, and anything that deviates from it must be discredited in whichever way is most effective with a credulous general public - a public too scared to acknowledge that Stalinists have successfully gamed our system of democracy.
Balls and his followers are the Japanese knotweed of our political structure - they need to be recognised as such, and dealt with accordingly.
Vulture
January 21st, 2011 11:50am Report this commentWee Dougie wd make as good a FS as that banana toting geek David Miliband, Trev.
normanc
January 21st, 2011 12:08pm Report this commentIt's easy for us to (rightly) castigate Balls but this appointment will cement the Labour vote from the last election.
I wonder how many (if any) disaffected Lib Dems will his 'cuts cuts cuts' rhetoric will attract?
The Trade Union paymasters will be happier today too.
Publius
January 21st, 2011 12:14pm Report this commentListening to Balls, the man who wanted to abolish history from the curriculum, talking last night about "learning the lessons of history" was a particular low point.
Simon Stephenson
January 21st, 2011 12:31pm Report this commentDA : 10.19am
"The economy will definitely motor again. Clearing the debt quickly is the right thing to do in order to move on and progress."
With respect, I don't think you appreciate the depth of the hole we are in, or the scale of the obstacles to getting out of it.
Simon Stephenson
January 21st, 2011 1:01pm Report this commentJonathan Woolf : 10.01am
I think you may be confusing strategy that impresses you, with strategy that will be effective with the general public. Most of the public will start from the point of view of wanting to respect Mr Balls' intellect and competence. He is, after all, an elected politician who has reached a high position within his party, and if he is a house of cards, what warning does this give us for the rest of them? In all honesty, the public are going to find it very hard to look down on him on the basis of his opponents' assertions about things that have happened a long time ago.
My recommendation would be that Balls needs to be attacked in the here and now. He needs to be pressed at every opportunity to justify the purpose of his policies - to be challenged, continuously, to be open about his blueprint for society. Don't even attempt to fight him on the battleground of his choosing - always go behind his words and force him to defend what he really means. Remember, his words will never paint a true picture of his intentions.
Dimoto
January 21st, 2011 2:09pm Report this commentThe ascent of Balls should kill stone dead any chance of Labour seducing away faint hearted LibDems.
Ghengis
January 21st, 2011 5:38pm Report this commentSimon - I concur, shoot the fox.
red trev
January 22nd, 2011 5:52pm Report this commentI get the feeling,from our resident Tory posters,of fearful people whistling in the wind.The British electorate are a fickle and forgetful bunch.As the needless deep cuts,across the board begin to truly bite,they will be gladdened to listen to the radical alternative put forth by Balls.As a Socialist I am very heartened by his elevation because,now,we shall see the forensic dissection of Gideons nostrum's.Rejoice,the road back to power begins here.
hippiepooter
January 22nd, 2011 9:57pm Report this commentI guess that now Ed Miliband has appointed Ed Balls as Shadow Chancellor, we should all now 'beware the Eds of Marx'.
Simon Stephenson
January 23rd, 2011 2:52pm Report this commentred trev : 5.52pm
I'd be interested to hear whether your enthusiasm for a socialist future is dependent upon an anticipation that you, personally, will be part of the new hierarchy? Or are you prepared to go so far as to say that you would be similarly content should you end up as one of the subjects rather than as one of the leaders?
Are you really happy that socialism is benign to all people, in other words?
red trev
January 23rd, 2011 4:13pm Report this commentTo Simon Stephenson.Socialism is benign to all people,except its class-enemies.As for my own place in such a society,'from each according to his ability,to each according to his need.'
Simon Stephenson
January 23rd, 2011 9:21pm Report this commentred trev : 4.13pm
Have you answered the question whether or not you would be happy to be a person subordinate to a socialist hierarchy?
No, you haven't.
red trev
January 24th, 2011 11:11pm Report this commentTo Simon Stephenson.I'm sorry that you feel I haven't answered your question.Let me make this quite clear.I feel,when you use the word 'Hierarchy' you are seeing it's definition within a Capitalist sense.A Socialist hierarchy is quite different,built upon a common aim of Societal-transformation as opposed to Capitalism's power and domination relationships.These relationships,built upon exploitation and wage-slavery,engender alienation.In a Socialist system I would be quite happy to fulfill any role deemed necessary in order to contribute to the construction of Socialism.I hope this answers your question.
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