David Cameron this morning launched the Tories election manifesto and it had a dirty great hole in the middle of it, hence its nickname, the Doughnut Manifesto.We cannot do anything we want for public services unless we first secure the economic recovery. This is Labour's priority. It's the great big hole at the centre of the Tories' manifesto.
Cameron used the dreaded phrase, “we’re all in this together”. When a multi-millionaire, old-Etonian leader of the Conservative Party says "we're all in this together", what he really means is "you're on your own".
Do-it-yourself public services of the sort the Conservatives are describing won't work unless the frontline is properly protected and properly funded and the Tories will have to cut spending very sharply to make all their promises and all their figures add up.
Everything we want to do in public services depends on a strong economy. Labour has led Britain from recession to recovery and has set out a credible, coherent plan to secure the recovery this year. You cannot build a strong society without a strong economy. There is a big hole in the Tory manifesto. It's called economic credibility.
A combination of their black hole and a sink-or-swim approach to public services shows that for all the PR blitz, David Cameron has not changed the Tory Party. This is not an agenda for empowerment - it's an agenda for abandonment.
Cameron poster courtesy of the brilliant http://www.mydavidcameron.com/
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