Juliette Gerstein looks back at the week in politics and the media.
Last week’s Budget has continued to attract media attention. Polls over the weekend put Labour just one point ahead of the Tories, although they appeared to regain some of their lead later in the week. Nonetheless, even a one point Labour lead still gives a small Labour majority. Support for Osborne also increased, whereas Miliband’s poor response continued to draw criticism, and a series of left-wing and Party figures spoke out to criticise his leadership and call for a change of direction. Jenni Russell in The Times (£) described a “disastrous absence of enthusiasm” for the Party’s policy making process, whilst Dan Hodges said that Miliband has no chance of winning, and should tack hard to the left to ‘lose big’ not small. The changes to pensions dominated coverage, but the welfare cap was also voted through Parliament after Labour decided to support the measure.
Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage held a live debate on the EU, which provided broadly good coverage for both Party leaders but polls suggested Farage won. Owen Jones argued this proves that UKIP continues to define the debate in the ‘Ukip-isation’ of politics. Richard Morris said that this demonstrates the importance of focusing on hearts, not minds. The Chancellor and the German Finance Minister wrote an article for the Financial Times emphasising that any reform to the EU must ensure fairness for those countries ‘inside the single market but outside the single currency’, and advocating a move towards a more ‘flexible and outward looking’ EU. Isabel Hardmann asked if this would be enough to convince Tory backbenchers. A poll for the Sun showed that Labour’s lead over UKIP for the EU elections has dropped to two points.
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