The attack that Labour fears

This article in today’s FT is an intriguing addendum to my post yesterday about Labour accepting the “headless chicken” charge.  It points out that Gordon Brown has now been “warned by Labour ministers and MPs to stop churning out initiatives to tackle the recession”.  And then goes on to describe an “anxious” parliamentary meeting of Labour MPs on Monday night, where one backbencher lamented Brown’s “blizzard” of initiatives.

Increasingly, it seems like Labour fear the “headless chicken” attack more than the Tories fear the “do nothing” counter.  The political tides certainly favour the Tories here – the “do nothing” tag was always disingenuous, and would become less effective as Team Cameron developed its response to the economic crisis.  Whilst the Governemnt’s always going to struggle to combat a recession this deep, effective policies or no’.  Indeed, the war of words epitomises Labour’s overall position: Mandelson’s very best efforts may win them some short-term gain, but the long-term fundamentals are set stubbornly, implacably, against them.