Labour tensions over economic policy emerged today as former Cabinet minister Peter Hain said shadow chancellor Ed Balls needed to “work even harder”.
He said the party had to be “performing better than we are now” to win a general election, adding shadow cabinet members had to “play their full role”. He wrote for Blairite group Progress: “Labour’s Treasury team need
to get out on the stump now and work even harder. It shouldn’t just be left to Ed (Miliband) and Harriet (Harman) to carry the heavy load.”
Mr Hain said the party could not be “equivocal” about economic policy, a reference to a disastrous interview when Mr Miliband was unable to confirm he would raise borrowing in the short term. His warning comes after criticism of Labour’s local elections showing.
But a senior party source said: “We are making solid progress. These people are comparing an era of two-and-a-half-party politics with an era of four-party politics, where there is also an anti-politics mood in the country.”
