Deceitful Brown returns to the old dividing line

Labour’s campaign becomes ever more like The Prisoner. Every time the plot seems decided, it veers-off in the contrary direction. The Prime Minister was interviewed by The Times yesterday and I feel for those who conducted it, stuck in the vortex of what Gordon will say next.

If you cast into the recesses of memory, you’ll recall that yesterday morning was tactical voting morning. They were all at it – Balls, Brown, Alexander and Hain. If you’re yellow threatened by blue, vote red; if you’re red threatened by blue, vote yellow. It was so confusing I half expected them to endorse blue if you’re red threatened by yellow.

That was yesterday morning. By mid-afternoon Brown did what he does best. He changed his mind.

“I am asking people to vote Labour because I want to get the maximum Labour vote.”

Volte faces are a way of life with Brown, and having popped he couldn’t stop. Labour professes to possess an ‘ambitious plan to reduce the deficit’, though details are as scant as Britain’s gold reserves. They will remain so. Fighting a core vote strategy, Brown is dependent on a fanciful investment versus cuts dividing line. He told the Times:

‘ “I’ll carry on spending…I have got no doubt that under the Conservative policy that would be implemented in this emergency Budget in June, that you are moving into a period where you have higher unemployment, higher business failures, lower growth and a danger of a double dip recession,” he says. David Cameron’s party promised to embrace progressive politics, he says, but they “are anti-public services, because they are going to cut schools and cut policing”. They are “anti-employment, because they are going to throw away the guarantees that we are giving young people to help them stay in work”. They are “anti-poor, even anti-middle class, in so many things that they are doing in terms of child tax credits and Child Trust Funds”.’

It’s incredible that Brown’s fantasy is bouncing the polls – a point that Ken Clarke makes in this morning’s City AM. No party has been frank about cuts, but Labour’s campaign is plain dishonest. Alistair Darling understands the situation but has been excluded from the campaign, so there is no doubt that Brown is conscious of his deceit. Voters should punish contempt with contempt.