Ed Balls MP

Ed Balls accused the Government of “driving people to the edge of despair” with its welfare reforms after a woman left a note blaming her suicide on the ‘bedroom tax’. “I don’t know the details of her case - it’s clearly a tragedy, but I... Continue to article

    Ed Balls said the Coalition have choked economic recovery in Britain. "It [the deficit] is down by a third because what happened in the first year of this Government inherited from Labour when the economy was growing, unemploy... Continue to article

Ed Balls said the latest GDP figures showed the Chancellor is letting the country down. "I’m afraid the economists and forecasters have not been expecting a strong recovery. We have not got one in these figures. We won't get that recover... Continue to article

Andy Burnham said the Government was engaging in back-door privatisation of the National Health Service. "Private companies have had a supporting role on the fringes of the NHS, but what we’re seeing now is quite different. The scale and... Continue to article

Ed Balls launched a stinging attack on George Osborne over the Chancellors comments about Mick Philpott. "They’re seeing long-term unemployment rising and they’re instead taking an individual example, A terrible example of a nasty man, M... Continue to article

Brooks Newmark said the Conservatives had been calling for “better regulation”, not further deregulation of the financial sector before the 2008 crash, and said today’s HBOS report showed the failure of the current Labour leadership. “We... Continue to article

Alistair Darling refused to rule out a return to the Labour frontbench in the future, but said he was focused on leading the Better Together campaign at present. “I have every confidence in Ed Miliband. I know that he is very focused on ... Continue to article

Ed Balls branded the Chancellor’s Budget yesterday “omnishambles II” after reports the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme could be available for people buying second homes. “This afternoon’s been shambolic and chaotic. It’s important ... Continue to article

Mark Prisk said the new Government's home-buy scheme was not about second homes. "I think Ed Balls is claiming that somehow you can get a loan on the help to buy scheme for your second home – lets be clear, that’s not the case. As for th... Continue to article

Ed Balls said the budget didn't really change anything. “One pence for a pint of beer is good, but you’re going to have to drink a lot of pints of beer for that to make any difference, on fuel he’s not gone ahead with a tax rise, that’s ... Continue to article

Ed Balls said the Chancellor's Budget is "fundamentally" the same failing plan, and called on the Coalition to scrap plans to cut the top rate of tax. "I think the National Insurance cut for small businesses, something we’ve been calling... Continue to article

John Thurso said the priority for the Budget should be increasing the income tax threshold to £10,000. “The first thing I’d say is that we’ve had Plan B – it was conceived by Gordon Brown, executed by Ed Balls and left the country broke.... Continue to article

Ed Balls said a VAT cut would be his “first proposal” for the budget, and indicated Labour would support the Chancellor if he decided to cut the basic rate of income tax. “I would like a number of things, including a boost to housing, in... Continue to article

Ed Balls said action was needed to stimulate the economy. “We need action to stimulate the economy, get construction moving… infrastructure to build homes and people back to work. Action to get small businesses the funds they need from a... Continue to article

Ed Balls insisted he was “going nowhere” as Shadow Chancellor, and denied that anybody within Labour was trying to replace him. “Not that I see, and to be honest if anybody wants to make that argument they can, but I think what you’ll fi... Continue to article

Ed Balls said most people would wonder what planet David Cameron was living on when he said his Government's policies were working. "I’m afraid most people will listen to what [the Prime Minister] said and ask what planet he’s living on.... Continue to article

Nadhim Zahawi said more needed to be done to get the private sector to invest. "The idea that when you have a debt problem what you should do is follow Ed Balls' strategy and borrow another £200bn is madness. He talked about 2009, whoeve... Continue to article