Was Ed Balls’s latest commitment to fiscal responsibility just smoke and mirrors? That’s the suggestion on the front of today’s Times, which declares “Labour’s spending spree to cost £25bn“. The paper reports that the party has “quietly drawn up spending plans that would allow it to borrow £25 billion more than the Tories after the next election, despite promising to match George Osborne’s pledge of clearing the deficit.
“A ‘sleight of hand’ by Ed Balls means he would be able to slow the pace of public cuts proposed by the Tories, opening up a further ideological divide between the two parties.”
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