The Tories must be in panic mode. Cameron promises a land of opportunity after the election, but Osborne condemns the country to 12 years of austerity up to 2020 (and will even that date be shifted rightwards like so many previous forecasts of the end to austerity?).

Osborne says he’s laying the foundations for sustainable growth, but then brings forward the £12bn stage two of his notorious Help to Buy scheme which even his Tory supporters believe will throw oil on the fire of the already overheated surge in house prices. Do the Tories really believe that they can win an election promising to cut the budget deficit, which has stalled for 3 years, by £35bn by 2015, £42bn by 2017-8, and by another £43bn by 2020 to produce a budget surplus? Continue reading →