Polly Toynbee

Polly Toynbee, talking on the Guardian’s ‘Politics Weekly’ podcast this week about the future prospects for Labour party support if the Conservatives won the next election:

“I think it would build pretty quickly though, because I think what you would find is, the Conservative party coming in - in say 2010 - will be in such deep trouble, it would have to make huge cuts in services, and won’t be able to make huge tax cuts. People will really feel the pinch, whoever is in power. But Labour suddenly has a real cause at that point. This is back to the 1980’s - Mrs Thatcher’s notorious budget of 1981. It’s going to feel like that again and I have a feeling that will have a rallying effect on a lot of the people who’ve left Labour, coming back again.”

So there you have it. A newly elected government “…in such deep trouble” after thirteen years of Labour rule, having to make “…huge cuts in services”. Just as Labour has already committed itself to do after the next election. Indeed this weeks Institute for Fiscal Studies report suggests there will need to be an additional £20 billion in cuts (or tax rises) over and above the government’s PBR totals. But unlike Labour’s promised cuts in public services and already announced tax rises, a Tory one will take us “…back to the 1980’s”.

Breathtaking.