George Osborne insists we're an aspiration nation. Not true
What Matthew Parris of The Times and Max Hastings of the Mail thought of Osborne's performance
MPS ARE BACK in the Commons today to debate yesterday's Budget statement. From the thousands of column inches devoted to the subject this morning, we've chosen Parris and Hastings for the last word - for the time being, at least - on George Osborne's performance. Here's a brief summary of what they wrote:
DO TORIES SEE MERIT IN LOSING NEXT ELECTION?Matthew Parris in The Times:
George Osborne is wrong to keep telling us we are an aspiration nation. We know what a mess we're in and we want a Budget for a desperation nation. There is no evidence that most of us consider ourselves to be, or even want to be, what the Tories like to call "strivers". Most of us are trudgers.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The British are stoical and for the stoical there was insufficient gloom in Osborne's speech. There is little public appetite for hope at present and a curious appetite for pain.
In prospect, the upcoming Spending Review in June looks awful. The scale of the cuts to state spending that must be made on the other side of the next general election is almost too dreadful to contemplate.
I did just begin to wonder as Osborne spoke whether — even if only subliminally — it is occurring to the far-sighted among Conservatives that it might be a wise precaution not to win the next general election.
GOD FORBID WE GET ED BALLS!Max Hastings in the Daily Mail:
This remains a fumbling Government, often incoherent in its policy-making and incompetent about delivery, and the Chancellor is personally unlovable.
But is is impossible honestly to blame George Osborne for our economic slump. It was Labour that plunged this country into the worst economic mess of our lifetime through a decade of reckless and unaffordable expenditure. The juvenile crowing on the Labour benches as Osborne made his Budget statement was contemptible.
Osborne may have made mistakes and got his forecasts embarrassingly wrong, but he remains courageously committed to the towering objective of reducing our dreadful national deficit.
Voters will see many temptations to reject the Tories in 2015. But we must never forget that the only alternative government on offer will be led by Miliband and Balls. And their best offer to the British people is a ticket to economic perdition.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Magazine solutions - May 10, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 10, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine printables - May 10, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 10, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
'Box Trump in for real if he pulls another stunt. Put him behind bars.'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why your local council may be going bust
The Explainer Across England, local councils are suffering from grave financial problems
By The Week UK Published
-
Rishi Sunak and the right-wing press: heading for divorce?
Talking Point The Telegraph launches 'assault' on PM just as many Tory MPs are contemplating losing their seats
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
How the biggest election year in history might play out
The Explainer Votes in world's biggest democracies, as well as its most 'despotic' and 'stressed' countries, face threats of violence and suppression
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Good democracies include their poorest citizens. The UK excludes them'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published