OpEd: Election 13-04-15

The commentators 13-04-15

...on the general election campaign

It is hard to see how this week’s publication of the various party manifestos will break the deadlock. Sure there will be headline-grabbing announcements. But the campaign has already been saturated with unconvincing and usually uncosted pledges. The voters have grown cynical of such IOUs, and rightly so. No, the election outcome will be decided by deeper instincts and attitudes.
- Philip Stephens, Financial Times

"Labour caused the deficit”; “We took over in a crisis”; “We made things better by our new long-term plan”. These are the Conservatives’ three main economic claims. But do they stand up to scrutiny?
- Richard Layard, The Times

Hooray. Great move, Blue team! At last we are doing something to end the unfairness of a tax that has crept up on countless ordinary families. By cutting inheritance tax on family homes the Conservatives are promising to help vast numbers of people who were being clobbered by a phenomenon over which they had absolutely no control and for which they could not be blamed – the irresistible appreciation in the value of their homes.
- Boris Johnson, Daily Telegraph

Taxation in this country is already far too heavy, with so much of the revenue squandered on bureaucracy, foreign aid, the EU and freeloading immigrants. The Tory move on inheritance should be the precursor to a far wider reduction in the tax burden.
- Leo McKinstrey, Daily Express

Why was Justine furious? Because a man she had never met before - a man who didn't seem particularly interested in her or her choice of conversation - was involved with her hostess friend?
Was she furious with him because he didn't interrupt a conversation about economics to say "by the way, I'm going out with Stephanie". Was she furious with Stephanie for not mentioning the secret relationship?
Or was she perhaps furious because she thought she might have made a fool of herself by making a play for a man who wasn't available?
- Getting into a tangle over Miliband's love life

You can get daily updates from Editorial Intelligence by signing up here