Ach see them, they're all the same...

When the Tories are in opposition we often here the mantra "There's no difference between the parties"....and..."They're all the same". It's not true, of course, but it serves to keep a few wavering Labour voters at home when they might make the difference in an election, so it serves the Tories' purpose.
But yesterday we saw the real difference between Labour and Tory governments in a crisis, with the announcement of a further £2 billlion of cuts on top of the £6 billion already announced. Included in the  package of cuts is a new Hospital in Darlington, money for the Futures Job Fund and an £80 million loan to a manufacturing company, Sheffield Forgemasters.


No-one denies that difficult decisions have to be made in the current economic crisis, but these cuts highlight a crucial difference: Labour would have more concern in cutting for the economic health of individuals and the nation and an understanding that you cannot cut your way out of a recession. There has to be some care and concern for those who will suffer from any cuts, and mechanisms to alleviate that pain: you can't see Labour cutting a hospital just because it was announced by the Tories. And there has to be a strategic vision of how growth is created, defended, maintained and increased, because only growth will get us where we want to be: cutting job schemes for young people is short-sighted and wrong-headed.

The Forgemasters decision is particularly stupid: it saves no cash (the £80m is a loan), it generates no income, but it sends the message that this Tory government is just as indifferent to the needs of manufacturing as the last.

And we know where that ended....