How could Keir Starmer not have known?
Keir Starmer caused some dismay yesterday when he warned the nation that the October Budget will be “painful” after saying Labour had inherited an economic situation that was worse than expected.
Today one of our readers pens a scathing response.
Jim Finlayson of Banchory writes:
"It was with jaw-dropping incredulity that I listened to Sir Keir Starmer's claim that he had no knowledge of the £22 billion 'black hole' in the UK Government's finances until the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) told him about it after the General Election.
"I have never considered SNP leader John Swinney to be in the mould of Nostradamus but I distinctly remember that during the election campaign he (Mr Swinney) repeatedly stated that there was a £20 billion deficit in UK Government finances and that the Labour Party would continue to inflict austerity on the country after the election. The figures he quoted came from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) and were in the public domain. If Sir Keir is now trying to indicate that he had no inkling of this he is either being dishonest or incompetent.
"As for Sir Keir's two leading henchmen in Scotland, Ian Murray and Anas 'Read my lips' Sarwar, who denied there would be the continuation of austerity in the post-election period, I saw on Tuesday morning that neither had the courage to make themselves available to go onto the BBC Good Morning Scotland radio programme and answer questions about Labour's continuation of austerity. I recall that following the change of government at the General Election of 1970 the rock band The Who released a new single called Won't Get Fooled Again. A memorable line from that song was 'Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss'. It would appear that on July 4 this year very many Scottish voters actually did allow themselves to get fooled again."
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