Language is of course all important in politics. Small nuances can indicate shifts in position or major disagreements. How an initiative is phrased can determine its success or failure. What are we to make therefore of Peter Hain’s latest pronouncement on public spending?
Mr. Hain has moved the Labour Government rhetoric about ‘investment not cuts’ to a more realistic ‘public spending will have to be restrained’ mantra. I think we can comfortably take this to mean that he anticipates cuts.
Peter Hain is no fool. He knows that no politician can afford to ignore realities especially when the public have already reluctantly accepted the situation is dire and that cuts will have to be made.
Having said that it is clear that he is not setting the tone for the Government but trying to influence the official Labour Party line. Reports of arguments between Peter Mandelson and Shaun Woodward as they fight to win the Prime Minister’s ear indicate that the Government’s strategy is still far from settled.
Realistically the argument at the next General Election should be over who can best marshall the remaining public finances to protect sensitive services and stimulate growth. However, I am not convinced that the ‘great clunking fist’ of Gordon Brown (as Tony Blair once described him) could cope with that level of subtlety.
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