Much of the country (and its government) returned to work this week – carrying a few extra pounds after ten days of Christmas indulgence. But one man determined to put the public finances on a 2014 diet is the Chancellor, who announced a further £25 billion in cuts on Monday. He says the spending squeeze is needed to address the “big, underlying problems” in the economy – although an £83.3 billion pensions bill appears not to be one. The only way that Britain can secure its future, Osborne thinks, is to reduce welfare to the tune of a further £12 billion, something which reportedly had Iain Duncan Smith and his allies seething with anger.
Alongside having to manage a personal relationship with the Chancellor that is frostier than Lake Michigan, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions also had to deal with Francis Maude suggesting the entire Universal Credit project was “pretty lamentable” and an argument with the Trussell Trust over their apparent partisanship in the food bank debate. Welcome back, IDS – and Happy New Year from your cabinet colleagues.
Osborne may have warned of ‘hard truths’, but with the green shoots of growth emerging, public opinion is turning to other issues, particularly immigration. Following last week’s Bulgarian brouhaha (including Keith Vaz and Mark Reckless serving as a two-man-airport-welcoming-committee), the Tories have tried to take the lead on the issue; with their argument for EU reform supported by the Chancellor’s comments that “uncontrolled immigration…leads to abuse of our welfare system”. Labour has responded by talking about ending Britain’s "chronic dependency" on “cheap foreign labour”, but this is an area where the polls suggest the Tories have the upper hand. In fact, if you listen carefully you can almost hear the sound of those last remaining barnacles being scraped off the boat as the party puts itself on an election footing.
But it wasn’t all policy this week. Ed Balls’ interview with the New Statesman made waves (well, ripples) with his assertion that he would, after all, be delighted to work with Nick Clegg and Vince Cable. The intervention was largely interpreted as a sign that Labour is preparing for the possibility of coalition, and led to some serious in-joke social media flirting. Those of a delicate disposition should probably look away now.
Elsewhere, Simon Danczuk took a break from his Rochdale deli to question the wisdom of centrally controlled messaging, and in particular the ubiquity of Labour’s ‘One Nation’ message. The article started an interesting debate on the changing nature of communication and message discipline, although it seems unlikely to change the way political parties’ campaign anytime soon.
Finally, and on a much more sombre note, this week marked the sad passing of Labour MP Paul Goggins. The death of this universally respected and well-liked man cast a shadow across Westminster and meant PMQs was an unusually hushed and respectful affair. The loud, aggressive encounters to which we are used seem certain to return soon, but this week at least, parliament spoke with a quieter voice – as its inhabitants remembered that some things in life are more important than politics.
David Radestock
Consultant, Pagefield
Additional content by Rory Cronin, Sam Oakley, and Tom Bage