Being leader of the opposition on this Budget Day was like shooting fish in a barrel.
The forecasts didn’t predict a U-shaped recovery but a “trampoline recovery”, said David Cameron.
Predictions from the November PBR of a 1 per cent fall in GDP (it’s now 3.5 per cent) had turned out to be “utterly useless” and a “work of fiction”.
The prime minister had been “condemned by his own red book” which admitted the recession would be worse than the early 1990s, contrary to Mr Brown’s own words.
In a swipe at the McBride affair, Cameron accused Labour of being not only bankrupt but also “morally bankrupt”.
Public debt was higher than when Denis Healey had to go to the IMF four decades ago. Brown’s team had become the “government of the living dead.”
Clearly the Labour response would be: “What would you do differently?” Luckily for the Tories, they don’t need to answer – because they were not in charge during the boom times.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey
