The Tories described the Liberal Democrats’ alternative Budget statement today as ‘part of price they had to pay to have a Budget.’ But the Liberal Democrats, oddly, didn’t seem to take their own statement particularly seriously. When Danny Alexander got to his feet there were only six Liberal Democrat backbenchers present. Two of the Liberal Democrats’ Secretaries of States didn’t bother to turn up either and Nick Clegg left long before the end of it.
This lack of Lib Dems’ strength in numbers was a particular mistake as Labour predictably barracked the statement very aggressively; Andrew Gwynne even stood up and shoved a copy of the Treasury Red Book at Alexander. But for all the satisfaction this heckling might have given Labour, one wonders if it is wise of them to remind the Liberal Democrats of just how tribal they are just before an election which is likely to produce another hung parliament. Watching the Labour benches today was another reminder of how hard it is to imagine any Lib / Lab coalition.
In terms of substance, the difference between the Tory and Lib Dem plans is 1.6 per cent of GDP. The Liberal Democrats would have spending at 37.6 per cent of the economy by the end of the next parliament, the same share of GDP that it was in 2003.
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