Game On

So now we know what we truly always knew. The Tories are Tories. They are going to fight the next election on welfare cuts for the working poor and tax cuts for the lowest and highest paid. It will be interesting to see whether the rise in the tax threshold balances the cuts to Working Family Tax Credit. With the poor Cameron giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other. So very like a Tory.

For the rich of course there is no such shilly-shallying. For those earning over £41K there will be a straightforward electoral bribe – sorry tax cut. Columnists will be falling over themselves today to tell the world this is a “middle class” tax cut. Expect the words “squeezed middle” to be deployed on behalf of some very comfortable people who actually reside in the top 15% of earners. Mean, median or mode – that ain’t no middle.

How are they going to pay for it all? Well as with their “no cuts to frontline services” promise in 2010 – that’s a question for after the election. One we can’t really expect the Party who promised to end the deficit but have failed by two thirds to do so to answer well.

Today Labour are 7 points ahead in the polls. Tomorrow, Cameron may well get a bump from a well delivered speech with some well times rabbits and hats. Though some interesting analysis from Hopi Sen suggests such bounces rarely exist or if they do, don’t really last.

Labour had a bad conference. The Tories had a rather manic one with defections and a sex scandal at the centre of activities. Who’s next became the near constant refrain of the time I was there. However, yesterday UKIP rather shot their own fox by re-announcing the defection of a donor as if Cameron himself was changing parties. It was a rare misstep from a party that is usually extremely media savvy. But one that show how much UKIP run on the fumes of hubris.

It is time to pick ourselves back up. The election proper has not started and it is a fight we can win. We will be told daily between now and May 7th 2015 that we can’t win. That Ed can’t win. That Labour have no plan. We can, he can, and we do. We may be bruised but we are as yet unbowed. We need to lift our heads and our hearts and come out fighting.

Fighting for our NHS which will not survive another five years of Tory rule. Fighting for our schools which are suffering the insanity of Govification. Fighting for the people with the least who are being asked to give the most. Fighting for our parents who deserve the best care at the end of their lives. Fighting for our children who deserve the best start in life.

There was one tax David Cameron didn’t pledge to cut yesterday – the Bedroom Tax. When looking at how to fund deficit reduction the Tories are a party that will tax the bedrooms of the poor, Labour will ask for contributions from the mansions of the rich. That is the difference and we must never, ever forget it.

This election is winnable for Labour. SO let’s get out there and win it.