Of course the Tories care about people (voters) – they are a political party and need to be elected just like any other party. Bizarre to argue otherwise – you cant be elected if you only target 1-2% of the population!
GO has confounded his critics (including Balls and the IMF and many on here) however the job is only partially done at best. Our economic recovery is indeed gaining momentum but faces very considerable headwinds domestically and internationally. Not least, what will happen when the deliberate policy of mis-pricing risk and flooding the market with excess liquidity comes to an end.
GO and his critics go on about sticking to Plan A and austerity when the reality is completely different. Step away from the rhetoric and he has shown a high level of flexibility (which neither he nor his critics admit). On more than one occassion he has pushed back the timetable for balancing the structural budget (ironically what Balls was partially arguing himself) and did so in response to the weakness in the economy. So complete bllx to talk about sticking to Plan A. Austerity was largely a myth anyway apart from the excessive cuts in infrastructure (where he did make mistakes).
But it is pure sour grapes and nonsense not to celebrate the broadening out of economic activity in the UK. The surprises are now coming on the upside not the downside and that is a good thing.
At the moment, the growth still lacks solid foundations so complacency could set in. We are being led by consumption again ( 🙁 ) rather than exports (despite weaker £) or investment and that is not a good thing. Plus he has failed to bring in sufficient supply side reforms.
But the giveaway is Labour’s current argument ie the shift away from flatlining/too far to fast to “living standards.” This is a subtle but important shift. The political argument has swung to who should share the benefits of the recovery and that, as the FT editorial concludes today, is a clear “victory for Mr Osborne” and a major challenge that the opposition will have to address – the joker card looks more like a trump card at this rate. But as I have said recently, it is only a low trump card and lots remains before GO can feel confident that it is a job well done.
The question now as the FT says in its sub-title is – “managing the UK’s recovery will prove just as important” and that is still very much WIP.