We must avoid saying “we told you so”

Last year Labour urged the government to adopt shovel ready projects as the most effective way to get the economy moving again. Osborne poured scorn on such ideas, and – to kick sand in the face of his opponents – cancelled Building Schools for the Future. Today the list of infrastructure projects was too long to fully comprehend. Some were big, many were small, and only time will tell if they are significant. What a difference a year makes…

Of course this is not new money. “Savings” (cuts) will be made to find the money. Working families will suffer. Public sector workers will be placed on the rack once again. And borrowing – irony of ironies – will balloon.

It’s pleasing in some respects to see the government finally come to their senses are realise that infrastructure projects are essential to provide the jobs and growth – particularly in the construction sector – that we need to kick start the economy. Labours response in the coming weeks should be “thanks for listening to us…but you’re still missing the point” – it must not be the voter repelling “we told you so”.

In response Ed Balls was bombastic, forceful and fluent. It was a textbook opposition performance – listing Osborne’s mealy mouthed excuses – which will have cheered those sat behind him. But there’s still work to do on Labour’s economic messaging. Too much of Balls’ response today sounded like “we told you so”. It’s heartening for us to know that Balls and Miliband were right, but it won’t do enough to convince a recalcitrant electorate who still hold us responsible for the economic crisis. Likewise, there’s now the beginnings of a Labour alternative emerging, but it’s not enough just to refer to “Labour’s 5 point plan” as if it’s meaning is self evident. We need to talk about what our plan means for people’s lives, jobs and futures.

Osborne is in a hole. He’s decided to keep digging. That’s bad news for the British people – and we need to find new ways to express that, without saying “we told you so”.