Gordon has abased himself in front of Mrs. Duffy and the media. The tape being played over and over again in the frenzy that ensued makes for painful listening. But let’s make no mistake, with a right wing press all out to get Cameron into No 10, far more painful would be a Tory victory that would see the sort of brutal cuts being put forward as the only solution to the economic crisis.
Since the Institute of Fiscal Studies declared that the politicians are not coming clean on how they will reduce government borrowing the media have filled in the blanks. And with a singular lack of imagination they have stuck to the prevailing orthodoxy – squeeze the welfare bill, take an axe to the public sector. Make the old people with their free TV licences and their winter fuel allowances pay the price for the ‘Frankenstein’ financial products of Goldman Sachs’ Fabrice Touree and the greed of the bankers.
With the final Prime Ministerial debates Gordon Brown had to yet again humiliate himself and refer back to the Rochdale moment of madness, but he was then able to move on and concentrate on the economy. And while the debates have changed the political landscape, putting the Liberal Democrats on an equal footing – and Clegg has seized his moment – Brown has shown that of the three he is the most distinctive.
Again and again in last night’s debate Brown was aggressive in sticking to his message of ‘same old Tories’. Cameron would take money out of the economy and put the recovery at risk.
In the first debate Brown made the case for Keynesianism – private investment had dried up and the government had to step in. Last night he made the point that the Tories were planning to offer a corporation tax cut for the banks, a move that would hit manufacturing.
And while the mantra of all is fairness it’s the Liberal Democrats and the Tories who want to cut child tax credits and the Tories want to reward the 3000 wealthiest by cutting inheritance tax.
In this final debate the instant poll had Cameron out on top but insofar as substance is concerned it was Brown that showed mastery of the economic details.
Brown no doubt wounded from the hammering that he has received – and he was wrong to say to the widow from Rochdale what he did – he fought during this debate with a passion. It is indeed a fight for the future of Labour – every vote will count.
