The three main parties are in an aggressive mood today. TheTories have a new attack poster warning voters about the dangers of a Labour-SNP deal, while Labour is warning voters of the danger of ‘1930s’ Tory spending plans, and the Lib Dems are launching their own plans to grow the economy.
For Labour, today’s speech by Ed Balls is an attempt to give the party a foothold in the economic debate as the Budget approaches. Balls and colleagues saw an opportunity in the row last autumn over whether the Tories plan to take Britain back to the 1930s, with polling showing that voters were less enthusiastic about George Osborne’s future spending plans than they had been previously. So the Shadow Chancellor will talk again about the 1930s in an attempt to argue that it is in fact the Tories who voters should fear on the economy.
A closer fight is between the Tories and Labour over Scotland. Today’s Saatchi poster showing Ed Miliband in Alex Salmond’s pocket is designed to pressure Labour into ruling out a deal with the SNP. Many of the party’s own MPs in Scotlamd are desperate for the leadership to make this pledge sooner rather than later. But not only do strategists want to avoid a game of ruling out agreements with every Tom, Dick and Harry on the political scene, they also want to avoid the charge that they are rejecting working with the SNP because they are anti-Scottish, hence the Tory posters.
So both parties are warning of the risks of voting for the other, rather than the reason for voting for them. Ed Balls will say that Labour has a better plan, while David Cameron’s plans for more free schools at least suggest to voters they are getting something in return for backing the Tories. But today looks like it’ll be as much about who you shouldn’t vote for as why you should back a certain party.
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