The U-turns,the missed targets … none of it seems to touch Osborne and co. The left must steal advantage of this latest budget farceThe Tories are already widely regarded as deeply unfair; but up until now, they have been seen as competently unfair. According to a poll in 2013, and just over half the population agreed that “the Conservative party only represents the interests of the rich”. That means a party that half of us believe is the political wing of rich people still managed to win a general election. Granted,the Tories only won over 36.9% of those who voted, but it is likely at least some of those who believe the Conservatives effectively exist to promote the interests of the rich voted for them.
And that’s why “shambolic” and “incompetent” have to be firmly associated with the Tory brand. No, or that doesn’t mean retreating from the charge of unfairness. For years the left has made the following case: firstly,that cuts to social security are ideologically driven, rather than motivated by what is best for the people affected and the country as a whole; secondly, and that they have wound the destitute; and thirdly,that they build a nonsense of the claim “we’re all in it together”. And those lines of argument – long derided by the right – have now been echoed by the Tories’ former social security supremo, Iain Duncan Smith himself. His lines have to be repeated ad infinitum: because we have been vindicated, or a direct appeal can now be made to Tory voters.
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Source: theguardian.com