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| Mandelson: shadow cabinet must push deficit reduction message | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Members of the shadow cabinet must be honest with the public and spell out the scale of cuts they would have to impose in office if the party wins the general election in May, Lord Mandelson has said. | |
| The former cabinet minister said that the Tories’ “sharp step to the right” in the autumn statement, in which George Osborne spelled out spending cuts deemed by the Office for Budget Responsibility to herald a return to 1930s levels of state spending, has created an opportunity for Labour. | The former cabinet minister said that the Tories’ “sharp step to the right” in the autumn statement, in which George Osborne spelled out spending cuts deemed by the Office for Budget Responsibility to herald a return to 1930s levels of state spending, has created an opportunity for Labour. |
| But Mandelson said that Labour would only be able to exploit the opportunity in the final five months before the election if shadow cabinet members follow the example of Ed Miliband and Ed Balls who have made clear that deficit reduction would be one of their main objectives in government. | |
| Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC1, Mandelson said: “There is no point just leaving it to the two Eds to make these statements. The shadow cabinet, as a whole, have got to play as a team in this. Yes, in the last few weeks Labour has scored. It has put that deficit ball [in the] back of the net. To keep it there each member of the shadow cabinet has got to be honest with the public, they have got to set out what this means for their own departmental budgets and demonstrate to the public that they mean it, that they share the same sort of discipline that Ed Miliband and Ed Balls have shown.” | |
| Mandelson’s remarks show that supporters of Tony Blair believe that Miliband and Balls have taken great strides in recent weeks with their response to the chancellor’s autumn statement. Osborne had hoped to set a trap for Labour by outlining painful spending cuts in the next parliament. Miliband responded by saying in one of his main pre-election speeches after the autumn statement that the next Labour government would make deficit reduction one of its main priorities, forcing it to embark on day-to-day departmental spending cuts while protecting the NHS and spending on infrastructure. But the Labour leader met the chancellor’s central challenge – that he has failed to acknowledge the deficit – by saying that he would cut the deficit, though he would do so on a more benign timescale. | Mandelson’s remarks show that supporters of Tony Blair believe that Miliband and Balls have taken great strides in recent weeks with their response to the chancellor’s autumn statement. Osborne had hoped to set a trap for Labour by outlining painful spending cuts in the next parliament. Miliband responded by saying in one of his main pre-election speeches after the autumn statement that the next Labour government would make deficit reduction one of its main priorities, forcing it to embark on day-to-day departmental spending cuts while protecting the NHS and spending on infrastructure. But the Labour leader met the chancellor’s central challenge – that he has failed to acknowledge the deficit – by saying that he would cut the deficit, though he would do so on a more benign timescale. |
| Mandelson praised Miliband and Balls for handling the aftermath of the autumn statement with skill. He said: “When people look back at the last few weeks in politics they’ll see it as a defining moment for the next election. To be honest I was slightly surprised that the Conservatives chose to take such a sharp step to the right. But they created an opportunity for the Labour party which they swiftly took and moved on to the centre ground with their own deficit reduction proposals. The Labour party therefore has put itself in a very good position for the coming election.” | Mandelson praised Miliband and Balls for handling the aftermath of the autumn statement with skill. He said: “When people look back at the last few weeks in politics they’ll see it as a defining moment for the next election. To be honest I was slightly surprised that the Conservatives chose to take such a sharp step to the right. But they created an opportunity for the Labour party which they swiftly took and moved on to the centre ground with their own deficit reduction proposals. The Labour party therefore has put itself in a very good position for the coming election.” |
| The former European commissioner, who made clear during the 2010 Labour leadership contest that David Miliband was his preferred candidate, playfully suggested that the former foreign secretary may have a future role in British politics. “David … has a lot to contribute wherever he is,” he said. Winking, he added: “Of course I’d like to see him back in British politics.” | |
| Marr said: “You were just winking at me.” | Marr said: “You were just winking at me.” |