If you’re the tiny section of this blog’s readership contemplating voting Conservative, be aware that you’re voting for communism! Yes, we’ve had the £8bn NHS pledge, the policy of freezing rail fares, the promise of 30 hours a week childcare, and now the Tories are threatening to expropriate housing associations and pass them on at a huge discount to tenants. Yes, just when the election couldn’t get more Fortean it takes yet another weird turn.

Step back and consider the scene for a moment. On Monday Ed Miliband took to the podium and gave an authoritative presentation setting out Labour’s priorities, with full costings. Prudence and sound finance, which includes the requisite deficit pledges, are to be the bedrock of a policy agenda significantly to the left of any government since Jim Callaghan left office. By way of contrast, the Tories have contracted a bout of fiscal incontinence. £25bn worth of unfunded pledges? No problem! We’ll just say the money will be found as and when it’s needed. Verily, their policy slate is the unwholesome offspring of Milton Friedman and Labour’s 1983 manifesto. Bonkers. Continue reading →