Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell "is a fan of straight-talking, honest politics", says Dan Hodges in The Daily Telegraph. "So he'll appreciate the following observation... John McDonnell is a dangerous left-wing ideological clown." A mere few weeks ago, at the Labour party conference and in a Guardian interview, McDonnell unilaterally said that Labour would back Chancellor George Osborne's fiscal charter, which would enshrine in law the requirement for the government to balance the books by 2018/2019, then run a budget surplus in "normal times".
In his speech, he said that Osborne was using the fiscal charter as a "political stunt. A trap for us to fall into" in order to brand Labour "deficit deniers". Why then, this Monday, did he "proceed to hurl himself into the very trap" he had identified by unilaterally reversing his position and announcing that he wouldn't support the fiscal charter?
The U-turn saw Jeremy Corbyn face a "damaging Commons rebellion" on Wednesday, as dozens of furious backbenchers, urged on by Osborne, considered defying his authority by voting in favour of the charter, says Ben Riley-Smith in The Daily Telegraph. A confusing memo sent out to Labour MPsclaimed Labour had changed its stance because the new fiscal charter is different to the one Labour voted for in January, but made no mention of why McDonnell had shifted position.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
The ridiculous thing is that Labour should have skirted Osborne's trap "with ease", says the FT. "Governments are elected to change the law" and there is no reason why a future Labour chancellor should feel legally or morally bound to follow his predecessor's path. Osborne himself overturned a Labour attempt at the same trick, calling the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2010 "vacuous and irrelevant". This "shambles" has lost Labour an opportunity to "set out a credible alternative strategy" and raises the question of whether McDonnell "even grasps the terms of the debate".
He and Corbyn campaigned against austerity all summer "before pledging support for a law that would have delivered more of it". Did they not bother to understand the policy? Labour's disarray in just one month the re-shuffle, the anthem and IRA debacles, the "chaos" over Trident don't go unnoticed by the public, which had long ceased to trust Labour with the economy in any case. "This is a disaster for Labour, but also unhealthy for British politics."
-
How much does it cost to move home under the Labour government?Home-moving costs are rising and could get more expensive once stamp duty thresholds drop in April 2025
-
What is the 25% pension tax-free cash - and when should you take it?The 25% tax-free cash that savers can take from their pension pots got plenty of airtime in the run-up to the Autumn Budget, with speculation that it could be cut or axed. But, what is it and how does it work?
