Tax cuts for the top 1%, freezing
the minimum wage for people aged under 21, a health bill that GP's do not want
and the Granny Tax: are this government trying to make people hate them?
Yesterday's Budget has made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The papers tore into the "same old Tory party" for the removal of the
personal allowance for pensioners, but cutting the 50p rate of income tax for
people earning over £150,000. Within an hour of the Budget, "granny
tax" was trending on Twitter and six years of Conservative modernising has
been damaged.
Modernisation was the challenge for Conservatives in the
last decade. Their attempts to "detoxify" the brand from a right-wing
party for the rich fiercely divided party members. Modernisation gave David
Cameron the leadership. Modernisation paved the way for an influx of young,
energetic members. It even inspired the change in party logo: from a burning
torch in an iron grip to a tree that looks like broccoli.
Today that work is not completely undone but it will require a
solid defence. I imagine Conservatives in government have cold sweats at night
about headlines such as "Osbourne
picks the pockets of pensioners" or "Chancellor
clobbers ordinary Brits." The next few days will likely see a flurry
of facts and figures and statistics from think-tanks and pollsters, a defence
mounted on the economic benefit of a fiscally neutral Budget.
Heads will also turn to the Labour party response. This is what
they have been waiting for. It is an opposition's dream to be handed ammunition
from the government's own policy. Up to now, Labour have been a weak opposition
marred by a lack of direction, an inability to capitalise on unpopular
Conservative policy and in-fighting between Team Ed and Team Dave. The polls
said it all: an ICM poll for the Guardian on Monday 19 March found that the
Tories had a three point lead, despite the passage of the health bill and the
leak of the cut in 50p tax.
Labour must take this opportunity and show themselves to be a
strong force for scrutiny and opposition. Yesterday was a fine start: Ed
Miliband made a good speech, which included a fantastic quip at the
Conservative front bench (albeit childish and a bit overdone.)
The work begins today for Labour as a true champion for the
jobless, penniless lower classes. You can picture the campaign adverts now.
Images of a pensioner, cold and sad, because she is losing more money under the
Coalition. It is raining outside and she stares through her window with a glum
face. Cut to what she is looking at: a mansion on the hillside, bright with
colour and noise, as the top 1% celebrate their savings of nearly £45,000 by
having a money fight ("Look Gideon, flying notes!")
This is exactly what the Conservatives feared and it is what they
will try desperately to avoid. But it might be too late and when it does
happen, Tories will have Tories to blame. This was truly a Frankenstein
moment.
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