Peter Hoskin

Budget 2010 – live blog

1343, PH: Harman has sat down now, so we’ll draw the live blog to a close.  I’ll write a summary post shortly.

1342, FN: I wish I could trash Harman’s response, but it’s actually quite good.  Many a Tory would be secretly cheering her trashing of the LibDems. “The LibDems denounced early cuts, now they’re backing them – how could they support everything they fought against, how could they let down everyone who voted for them?” Again, a fair point. “The LibDems used to stand up for people’s jobs, now they only stand up for their own.” Her main point – that forecasts for unemployment have risen – is a fairly strong one if true. Osborne did indeed shy away from admitting to VAT rise plans in the election campaign. Her other attack lines are flaky, but delivered fluently and with brio. A good deal better than many of Labour’s leadership candidates could manage.

1339, PH: And there’s more invective for the Lib Dems.  Harman says that Cable has transformed from “national treasure to Treasury poodle.”  Quite good, that.

1337, PH: Harman’s getting stuck into the VAT rise now, pointing and glaring at the Lib Dems who attacked a “VAT bombshell” before the election. She claims it will hit the poor hardest: an argument that has a great deal of support across the political spectrum.

1335, PH: Harman suggests that the OBR has downgraded its jobs figures in the wake of the Budget.  I’ll have to check the figures, but it’s quite a strong claim, if true.

1333, PH: It may be a bit rich to hear Labour lecture on the economy, but this is quite punchy stuff from Harman so far.  Her central claim is that the Tories measures will hit growth, which will make it harder to cut the deficit.

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