The full text of his speech is here:
http://labourlist.org/2014/01/full-text-ed-balls-commits-labour-to-budget-surplus-and-announces-50p-tax-rate-plan/
We will get the current budget into surplus as soon as possible in the next Parliament.
That is five years, to do something the Tories with all those harsh cuts Labour keep complaining about
haven't been able to get close to doing. The Tories promised this as well and look where we are now.
How exactly does Labour propose to cut the deficit within a single five year term, what is going to be cut
in order to reduce the government's costs to a level at or below income. Where are the details?
How fast we can go will depend on the state of the economy and the public finances we inherit.
Ah OK, so this is the excuse you will be using when people ask why you made promises you couldn't keep,
it's the fault of the last government.
Labour will combine iron discipline on spending control and action on growth with a fairer approach
to deficit reduction.
Hahahahahahaha. Iron Discipline. Oh dear. This is worth a good solid laugh, the sort of laugh that leaves
you helpless as you roll around overcome by mirth.
Iron Discipline, from whom exactly?
We won’t be able to reverse the Government’s cuts to child benefit for the highest earners.
So continuing a Tory policy.
We will keep the benefits cap, but make sure it properly reflects local housing costs. We will cap structural
social security spending.
So continuing a Tory policy with a few extra bits.
Over the long-term, as our population ages, there will need to be increases in the retirement age too.
So continuing a Tory policy.
We will make changes to create a fairer tax system. We will crack down on tax avoidance, scrap the shares
for rights scheme and reverse the tax cut for hedge funds. We want a lower 10p starting rate of tax, which
would help make work pay and cut taxes for 24 million people on middle and lower incomes.
Will cracking down on tax avoidance include countless billions lost by companies not paying tax or will you
be continuing the Tory policy of not bothering with tax evasion by multi nationals?
Where exactly will this 10p tax band be?
For the next Parliament, we will restore the 50p top rate of tax for those earning over £150,000.
A tax football that is passed back and forth between Tories and Labour. The Tories drop it, labour raise it.
Commit to building 200,000 new homes a year by 2020, with reforms to our planning system and a new
long-term Infrastructure Commission.
So continuing a Tory policy.
Ed Balls said in his speech that some people argue for a return to free-market, trickle-down economics –
cutting taxes at the top, stripping out regulation and making deep cuts to public services while others
say if the problem is that rapid globalisation and technological change have undermined the pay and
prospects of working people, then the simplest thing to do is to turn our back on those economic forces.
To put up trade barriers. Or to leave the European Union.
But he says that both these arguments are the road to economic ruin.
In terms of trade barriers or turning our backs on global markets and technology he is right, but on so
many other things his message is both confusing and often contradictory.
He is in favour of wealth creation and backing entrepreneurs but he also wants to raise taxes on those
same people.
He is in favour of Britain as an open and internationalist and outward-facing trading nation, with enterprise,
risk and innovation valued and rewarded but he says that leaving the EU or reducing the regulation burden
and red tape that cripple so many small and medium companies and prevent them from expanding globally
is the road to economic ruin.
He says "I know some in the business community believe that Labour’s focus on living standards, fairness,
transparency and competition is anti-business."
I would ask what transparency and fairness is he talking about here?
Exactly how many Labour MPs bothered to turn up for the Parliament debate on Living standards?
He says that an incoming Labour government would be forced to make cuts but then says that he would
not be able to reverse all of the Tory cuts meaning he would be reversing many of them. So what exactly
is he going to be cutting if he intends to reverse Tory cuts?
He said that "No responsible Opposition can make detailed commitments and difficult judgments
about what will happen in two or three years time without knowing the state of the economy and public
finances that we will inherit".
Which is odd given that the state of the economy is hardly secret, we members of the public can see it
and we don't like it so how is it that the shadow chancellor doesn't know what is going on?
He said "we will assess the case for extra capital spending to boost growth and jobs and make our economy
stronger for the long-term".
He also said "There will be no more borrowing for day-to-day spending" and "We will get the current budget
into surplus as soon as possible in the next Parliament". So where is the money going to come from to
support all that extra growth?
He also said "So I am today announcing a binding fiscal commitment. The next Labour government will
balance the books and deliver a surplus on the current budget and falling national debt in the next
Parliament".
Can we have that in writing or will this speech be deleted in a few years time in the same way that
Cameron has been trying to edit the past to remove his old promises.
We are a year and a half from the next election and we are already seeing the campaigning started.
Mr Balls, it is easy to talk the talk.
So why don't you tell us exactly how you plan to walk the walk.