Taking up the gauntlet
- 12 May 08, 04:18 PM
The gauntlet had been thrown by Frank Field and Ed Balls clearly could not resist picking it up. In an extraordinary on the record (though off microphone) briefing - originally planned to be about the Tories' education policies - Mr Balls:
• Warned his party against "personal attacks or settling old scores"
• Attacked Frank Field's motives - saying pointedly that before last night's BBC interview, people could "believe his intentions were honourable" and could take what he said "at face value". It is now clear, Balls said, that nothing we do "will persuade Frank"
• Criticised last autumn's pre-Budget report for having focused insufficiently on family finances. If, Mr Balls said, the credit crunch's impact on family finances had been anticipated, "different decisions would have been taken" - remember that it was in the PBR that hundreds of millions of pounds were found to cut inheritance tax rather than to alleviate the impact of the 10p tax rate abolition
• Called for quick action on the 10p tax issue - "there is a real desire in the Parliamentary Labour Party and the country to set out what can be done quickly to show we're not just listening but acting"
• Appeared to concede the likelihood of Labour losing the Crewe by-election by saying that "the result would not be a decisive indicator of the general election result"
UPDATE, 04:50PM: For the record, Ed Balls told the Telegraph this morning that the fight for the Crewe and Nantwich by-election was not over and Labour could win.
