Nothing too surprising in Alistair Darling’s interview with the Independent this morning. There’s chat about how the Government’s spend ‘n’ borrow reponse to the downturn is the “responsible” thing to do; how the country will “get though it” all, perhaps by 2010; and how we shouldn’t expect £15 billion worth of tax cuts in the Pre-Budget Report. Halfway through the article, though, there are two quotes which add up to a something of an admission:
“There are two sides to it. It is also important that, like anybody else, you live within your means. You have to demonstrate in the medium term how you propose to do that.”
And,
“Keynes is best remembered for what he said about making sure you help the economy in difficult times. But he also was very sound on making sure you live within your means. He did believe that at some stage you have to pay for it.”
Now, given that Team Brown won’t want to confuse their current “we’re cutting taxes” message, this is probably the closest the Chancellor will get to admitting that taxes will eventually have to be raised to pay for our PM’s addiction to debt. The hope for the Government is that this soft sell approach will count as being “up-front” with the public, and thereby limit the scope for Tory attacks.
A slightly snide postscript: Darling says that “You do have a duty to level with people. There is no point in telling people things are better than they are.” Maybe he should tell his debt-fiddling boss.
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