Labour would never be allowed to get away with the fantastical rhetoric of these Conservative leadership contenders

Imagine for a second that it was Labour rather than the Tories choosing the next prime minister. Consider what the response would be if the hopefuls said it would be no problem to find an extra £30bn to tackle poverty or an additional £40bn for the NHS, and vied with each other to come up with the most ambitious spending pledges.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out what the response from the Conservatives and the Conservative-supporting papers would be. At the very least, there would be questions asked about how the plans would be financed. More likely there would be warnings of a run on the pound and imminent economic meltdown. The headlines would read something like: “Loony left plans to bankrupt Britain”.

Larry Elliott is the Guardian’s economics editor

Continue reading…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Fatima Bhutto: ‘Who would play me in the film of my life? Al Pacino, circa The Godfather I and II’

The author on puppies, never throwing food away and how many shoes…

‘No one judges you out here’: fishing prescribed for NHS patients

Move is part of growing trend towards social prescribing to boost mental…

Tui to cancel 180 flights from Manchester airport in June

Airport blames staff shortages at Tui and its ground handler for axing…