The Ed Balls Guardian interview – key points

There’s a big pre-conference interview with Ed Balls in the Guardian today, but I’ve pulled out what seem to be the 5 key points from the interview that Balls will be trying to get across over conference week:

The shadow cabinet are still on a short spending leash

“We have to show we will not duck difficult decisions on public spending and on pay. We will face up to harsh truths. Everyone in the shadow cabinet knows there is no spending spree after the election. They know the inheritance is going be hard, and we will have to set out fiscal plans in our manifesto and in government.”

Zero-based budgeting (with limits) is in (but not until after the election)

“For a Labour government in 2015 it is quite right, and the public I think would expect this, to have a proper, zero-based spending review where we say we have to justify every penny and make sure we are spending in the right way.”

He may like Vince, he doesn’t care for Nick

“Clegg essentially said ‘ignore the fact that we are inrecession, that borrowing is rising and the plan has failed, but focus on the most narrow issue of which Tory cut he will not accept in 2015′. I am not going to get into an austerity bidding war with him when the austerity plan is failing.”

Although he’s not massively keen on Vince either

“Given that fundamentally he knows in his heart of hearts that he agrees with me, and not George, Vince has to pretend the difference between me and him is quite small, and between me and George is quite small. The truth is, I have a radical big difference with George, it is just that Vince is either biting his tongue or completely capitulated from what he believed before the last election…”It is unbelievably frustrating to hear Cable acknowledge the fundamental problem is a lack of demand, yet not reach the obvious policy conclusion. When Vince was on the [Andrew] Marr programme, and I had been on earlier, I heard him say the problem was demand, and I wanted to run out onto the set and shout ‘Eureka! Yes! Do something about it!’ And what happened? Nothing.”

How much worse off we are

“We have lost £47.5bn of hard lost output against the 2010 budget forecast – that is £1,800 in lower income in every household before you consider tax losses. We are paying £24bn more out in welfare benefits. The national debt is going to be higher at the end of this parliament than the Darling plan that Osborne ridiculed.”

And finally…

Ed Balls has just completed his Grade 1 piano exam – which presumably has been keeping him busy since he finished training for a marathon. He’s certainly keeping busy.