Labour’s summer offensive (contrasting with what one shadow minister describes as last year’s “summer of silence”) continues today with a speech by Ed Balls on the economy in the bellwether seat of Bedford.
Balls will reveal new figures from the House of Commons Library showing that by 2015, average earnings will have fallen by the highest amount since the 1874-1880 parliament. In addition, based on current trends, this parliament will be the first since the 1920s in which real earnings have been lower at the end than at the beginning. It’s a reminder that, however fast the economy grows, Labour will still be able to go into the general election answering Ronald Reagan’s question – “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” – in the negative. “From a Conservative-led government that promised to make working people better off back in 2010, this is a dismal record of failure,” Balls will say.
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