The shadow chancellor should never have pledged to support Osborne’s fiscal charter – it’s far more pro-austerity than anything the pre-2015 Labour party stood for
On Wednesday, parliament votes on George Osborne’s new fiscal charter. This obscure decision has major consequences for the political debate. Wednesday’s will be the fourth such vote in five years – thanks to the chancellor’s missed targets and obsessive politicking.
This latest vote – freed of coalition – provides not for a current budget surplus but an overall surplus with a deadline of 2019/20.
Related: Corbyn and McDonnell face major Labour backlash after fiscal charter U-turn - Politics live
Related: Jeremy Corbyn has blown his chance to revive Labour in Scotland | Iain Macwhirter
Continue reading...