Labour to fight poll on economy plank

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JAN. 9. Economy would be the ``key battleground'' on which the Labour Party intends to fight the coming general elections, the Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair has declared, echoing the outgoing U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton's famous 1992 election slogan ``It's the economy stupid''.

The move has effectively pre-empted the Tories who have yet to get their act together with Mr. William Hague still not clear which of the many issues his party has raised in recent months - Europe, taxes, crime, pensions - has the potential of stealing Labour's thunder.

By laying down the agenda, Mr. Blair has caught the Tories on the hop and pushed them into a defensive position. More so because economy is not the strong point of the Tories and even those who are not terribly enamoured of Mr. Blair's handling of the day-to- day economic issues are not inclined to buy the Tory claims. Memories of Thatcherism are still strong, and even without Labour's prodding people know that the current crisis in the National Health Service, railways, schools and the police is a Tory legacy - a result of years of neglect of public services compounded by full-throated privatisation of key public utilities.

Mr. Blair has said that the electorate would be asked to choose between economic stability which his Government has brought about and the Tories' policy of ``boom and bust'' which led to their undoing in the last elections. On offer would be the promise of more investment in public services, particularly health, education and transport and this would be contrasted with the Tories' record of relentless cuts in public spending. ``I think there will be two very clear choices before the British people. Stability in the economy versus the old Tory boom and bust (and), investment in our public services versus cuts in public services,'' he said on BBC's ``Breakfast with Frost.''

The Labour would project itself as the party best able to manage the economy after the ``stability'' achieved in the past three- and-a-half years. It would talk of higher salaries or incentives for teachers and nurses, expansion of the police force which is suffering from acute manpower shortage and more investment in public transport and health. In fact, some of these measures are already in the pipeline and by election time the Government hopes to do enough to convince the voters of its sincerity. Mr. Blair's remarks are seen as a conscious attempt to reassure the traditional Labour supporters - workers, pensioners, single parents, the unemployed, ethnic groups - many of whom have openly accused it of neglecting them in its bid to broaden its appeal to the upwardly mobile middle classes.

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Section  : International
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