1. Will Straw at Left Foot Forward tries to persuade us that Iain Duncan Smith misleads by saying that 70 per cent of the net 4m jobs created in 13 years of Labour government were taken by people from overseas. I am baffled by his attempted distinction between the net and gross increase in employment. The net change is what matters. Welfare reform was perhaps the greatest failure of the period.
2. I do not agree with Tom Harris on electoral reform (it may be the only subject, depending on whether he agrees with me that Christopher Eccleston was the best Doctor), but this (right) is painfully effective. It makes my point that it is all too easy to campaign persuasively against the Alternative Vote.
3. And finally, Paul Waugh asks number 427 of my Questions to Which the Answer is No:
Waugh was referring to today’s speech by the shadow chancellor in which he said:
We welcome the fact that the Conservatives and the Lib Dems have accepted that graduates should make a contribution but we disagree with the principle of them paying all the cost.
This is the central issue now and it’s why the Shadow Cabinet has agreed to look at whether a graduate tax can be a fairer and more sustainable alternative to the current mess as part of our policy review proposals.
So Labour is looking at “whether” a graduate tax is the right policy. And that is another question – number 428 – to which the answer is known.
Eagle Eye 