Balls and Osborne clash in first Commons duel

Green Politics

Ed Balls and George Osborne went head-to-head across the despatch box at Treasury Questions for the first time today, reports Shamik Das.

Ed Balls and George Osborne went head-to-head across the despatch box at Treasury Questions for the first time today. The new shadow chancellor quizzed Mr Osborne over the poor growth figures and the government’s lack of a Plan B, with the chancellor hitting back by calling Mr Balls a “deficit denier”.

Mr Balls questioned why the snow was to blame for the poor economic figures, while in the US, which had also been hit by the weather:

“…the pace of US economic growth increased, consumer confidence was high, and unemployment fell to a two-year low. Could the chancellor tell the House, is there something different about snow in Britain, or is there a better explanation as to why the American economy grew and Britain’s economy did not?”

Adding:

“…perhaps the chancellor should have spent less time on the ski slopes of Switzerland and more time in the conference halls of Davos, listening to the American Treasury Secretary. Let me tell you what he said: he said you’ve got to make sure you don’t hurt the recovery, there are some people who like to move very quickly, to do very deep cuts in spending, but that is not the responsible way to do it…

“In June, unemployment was falling, growth was forecast to be 2.3 per cent this year, now unemployment is rising and growth has stalled. Can the chancellor tell the House, with consumer confidence falling, inflation rising, with no bank lending agreement, no plan for jobs, no plan for growth, no plan B…

“Does he really expect us to believe he can meet his forecast for economic growth this year, or will he have to stand here at the Budget in six weeks’ time and downgrade his very first growth forecast?”

Watch it:

Later in the session, shadow Treasury minister David Hanson said the investment of the Labour government had “supported jobs” and that the governent’s growth strategy was “missing”, to which Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander insisted:

“I don’t apologise at all; they maxed out the credit card, we have to pay it off.”

No related posts.

19 Responses to “Balls and Osborne clash in first Commons duel”

  1. Geoff Walker

    RT @leftfootfwd: . @EdBallsMP and Osborne clash in first Commons duel: http://bit.ly/htzldZ – ft. video

  2. Shamik Das

    VIDEO —> RT @leftfootfwd: @EdBallsMP and Mr Osborne clash in first Commons duel: http://bit.ly/htzldZ

  3. Gavin Duff

    RT @leftfootfwd: . @EdBallsMP and Osborne clash in first Commons duel: http://bit.ly/htzldZ – ft. video

  4. Stephen W

    Balls was the architect of the boom and then the bust. He has zero credibility on any of these issues.

  5. Liz McShane

    Stephen – it seems that the global economic crisis may have escaped your attention.

    Ed Balls know his macro-economics, whereas Osborne can just about understand the mechanics of his piggy bank works.

    I would strongly suggest you read/listen to the speech Ed Balls gave to Bloomberg last August which shows a masterful analysis of global, macro economics .

    I have attached the link to save you time:

    http://www.edballs4labour.org/blog/?p=907

    It’s only a matter of time before Osborne and his myopic economics are mince meat.

Comments are closed.