Labour can't get their lies straight

One of the things which least impressed me about Labour's response to the difficult measures today was the expression on Red Ed's face when the chancellor announced that the government had actually accepted one of the requests from the opposition, limiting the extent of the cuts to hit any one department. He could not hide his disappointment.

But I also noticed that Alan Johnson, the Shadow Chancellor, made a comment diametrically opposed to one particular fairy story which Labour's Jamie Reed put in just about every piece of propaganda they issued in Copeland during the run-up to the last election.

Jamie Reed alleged that the Conservatives had voted against every penny of government investment in West Cumbria.

Yet today, Alan Johnson said that the Conservatives had SUPPORTED "Every penny of our spending plans" up to 2007.

I don't actually accept that either of these statements gives a fair picture of the Conservative position. But what is indisputable is that Jamie Reed and Alan Johnson cannot both have been telling the truth.

When the shadow chancellor says that the Conservatives supported every penny of Labour investment and the MP for Copeland had said that the Conservatives opposed every penny of Labour investment, you could argue that they were both wrong (and I would) but you cannot argue that they were both right.

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