How the government’s 2012 growth forecasts have slumped disastrously

Why the deficit could still be a major long-term problem for Labour

By Conor Pope

The economy regularly polls highly as one of the most important topics of this election, but talking about “the economy” as an issue is a bit vague. What are people thinking of when someone mentions the economy? Growth? Jobs? The cost of living? The deficit? When ComRes asked about election issues a few weeks ago, they split up “the economy” into some its component parts. They found the cost of living scored 25%, promoting economic growth 20%, reducing inequality 20%, and […]

Chuka Umunna hits back at Boots boss anti-business jibe

Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna has reacted to warnings from Stefano Pessino, the chief executive of the company that owns Boots pharmacies, that a Labour Government would be a “catastrophe”. Umunna said he imagined people would draw their own conclusions from interventions by people who “who don’t live here, don’t pay tax in this country”. Pessino is worth an estimated £7.5 billion, and his company have been accused of using tax loopholes to avoid over a billion pounds worth of […]

It’s the War on Wales: now the Secretary of State is rubbishing education reforms that help our pupils

By Huw Lewis

Stephen Crabb is a good pupil. By attacking Welsh education today (£) in a base attempt to secure votes in the General Election, he has shown a willingness to learn from his cabinet colleagues. It was the Prime Minister himself who, when talking about the NHS, uttered that shameful phrase about Offa’s Dyke being a line between life and death. Senior Welsh Tories, understandably, remain very uncomfortable with that language, and they have made a bad fist of defending it. […]

Electoral registration: for the sake of our democracy we must get it right

By Paul Wheeler

Well no can say that they weren’t warned! LabourList has been a consistent Cassandra warning of the implications of the rushed and ill considered  introduction of Individual Electoral Registration (IER) by the Electoral Commission. So congratulations to Ed Milliband for raising the alarm over the slump in the level of registration amongst students in halls of residence. Let’s hope the combined efforts of local councils, political parties and civic campaigns such as Bite the Ballot can restore as many of […]

‘NHS reform was this Government’s biggest mistake’ – now the ex-ministers are out for Cameron

After a week featuring several critical interventions from Labour figures over plans for the NHS, the papers today see a couple of uncomfortable truths for David Cameron from close to home. The Observer reveals that Tory MP and ex-health minister Stephen Dorrell thinks that the NHS reforms have been the biggest mistake of the Coalition Government. They report: Asked if he regards the Health and Social Care Act of 2012, driven through the Commons by Andrew Lansley in the face […]