At last, the clash MPs have been waiting for - the first clash between the Chancellor and the man who should have been shadow chancellor all along. Ozzy threw down the gauntlet by taking the first question in an electric atmosphere. Balls let backbenchers goad the Chancellor for a while before suddenly charging. "Is there something different about the snow in Britain," he demanded, asking why Britain shuddered to a halt in December while the US economy motored ahead.
Osborne played the man rather than the issue, drawing blood with a job that Balls and Ed Miliband were both "second choices". Ouch. He attacked Balls as a "deficit denier" and a man with no plan.
It was terrific stuff on both sides but there was no knockout. Can't wait for the rematch.
Score: Osborne, 3. Balls, 3.
