Labour struggle to convince on the economy because of Gordon Brown, says Umunna

Labour are still struggling to convince the public on economic credibility because of Gordon Brown, according to Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna. While Labour left the country “in a far better state” when it left office, Brown’s final year as prime minister was marked by a failure to give the impression that he acknowledged the need to reduce the deficit and allowed George Osborne to frame the debate on the economy.

In an interview with former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell in GQ Magazine, Umunna said that Brown’s reluctance to talk about the cuts he would have made led people to believe the party were not serious about dealing with the debt and deficit – and it’s a belief that still harms our chances next year:

“My view is that the seeds were sown under the last government and Gordon [Brown] – for whom I have a lot of respect. His refusal to use the word ‘cuts’ in trying to frame the economic debate as investment versus cuts gave the impression we didn’t understand that debt and deficit would have to be dealt with.”

However, the Streatham MP stressed that we still need to rebut the Tory charges that Labour “crashed the car” on the economy, suggesting his problems with Brown are more related to presentation than policy:

“I do think we need to talk more proudly about our record. We do need to explain and rebut this notion that we crashed the car … My main argument in my conference speech was that we did not crash the car. Labour left the country in a far better state, and I say it all the time.”

“We made a bad mistake in allowing the sense to develop that it was their [Labour’s] fault because they’ve failed to rebut the Tory line about ‘the mess we inherited’.

During the interview, Campbell seemed to echo Umunna’s sentiments about defending Labour’s record in power, but lamented that rather than rebutting charges of failing on the economy, “we have totally played into that” while in opposition.

Asked whether Labour could win next year’s election, Umunna was adamant that it is possible, but still depends on “making the right calls” over the next eight months:

“We can. I don’t know if we will, but we can, if we make the right calls, if we focus on people and their ambitions and not on the bubble at Westminster. Bill Clinton said we have to own the future. We have to tell a hopeful, optimistic, aspirational story that relates to their lives.”