Budget 2010: From Robin Hood to Alistair in Wonderland | Michael White | Politics | guardian.co.uk‏

Michael white does some cracking work here, made my laugh with his line about the Telegraph.

Now, Darling's growth forecasts are coming under some criticism, but they have done a lot since he's been chancellor and, other than the one time he agreed to do as Gordy told him, he's been largely right. He said the economy would be back to a low level of shaky growth by now. So let's not write him off too quickly.

"The Guardian's Larry Elliott, who wrote a book about the candy-floss financial economy long before the crash, is cross that Labour over-emphasised the City at the expense of manufacturing - he wrote about Birmingham's dwindling clout yesterday - but is glad that this error is now being addressed."
That's a very important thing too - could be key to Labour's future.

"did he [Peter Mandelson] learn to understand interventionist economic strategies watching EU governments close up, I wonder?"
Indeed. Let's hope he's properly seen the light.

"Where most weighty commentary agrees to be disappointed - Financial Times and Times included - is in the chancellor's failure to spell out more convincingly where he is going to cut excess public spending if he is re-elected. It's not good enough to say the NHS will save £400m by tackling staff sickness rates, admirable though that ambition is."
Agreed. All politicians are scared shitless of saying what people don't want to hear. And with some reason. The recent poll showing that a majority of people were against tax rises, spending cuts and a high deficit all at the same time shows how fickle people can be. But maybe the politicians should be brave. We can hope.

"But Anatole Kaletsky of the Times, who is always worth reading, writes that all three main parties were feeble on the key point yesterday - Darling, Cameron and Clegg - but that Darling was least bad. He had a credible vision for encouraging resumed growth - the key to everything, much more so than those cuts that obsess the Tories and their tax-exile media allies"
Very interesting, and I'm inclined to agree (see another post on that)