Darling predicts the future

Labour's planned National Insurance increase looks more and more likely to become one of the key themes of the General Election.  Following the boost given to Conservative support following George Osborne's pledge not to implement the increase, the Chancellor has now defended his plans.


In a report by the BBC this morning, Alistair Darling is quoted as saying that the planned 1% increase in National Insurance (for both employees and employers) will not lead to job losses.

How can the Chancellor come out and say this with such certainty?  We all know how brilliant the Chancellor is at making forecasts and predictions from the amount of revisions he had to reveal in his Budget report two weeks ago.  To say that increasing the cost of employing people will not lead to job losses is like Rupert Murdoch saying that his decision to charge for access to the Times website will not lead to a loss in readership.

It would appear now that in desperation, the Labour Party are turning away from Government by facts and instead are turning to Government by crystal ball.