Playing politics with the public finances

It has started. The Labour attack unit is out today talking about a “Tory VAT rise” – as per Paddy Hennessy’s scoop. Osborne stated his (to me, relatively paltry) position on the deficit: that he’d reduce it faster than Labour but can’t say how much. The Labour attack unit keeps partying like its 1999 with the “Tory cuts” line, now augmented with a “Tory tax rise.” Here are the words which the attack unit has crafted for Stephen Timms, chief secretary to the Treasury:

“George Osborne refuses to say what services he would cut or what taxes he would increase in order to cut the deficit ‘further and faster’ than Labour.  If he halves the deficit even just one year faster than Labour, he needs find a further £26 billion – equal to half the schools budget or a Tory VAT rise from 17.5 to 23%. He refused to rule that out today.