"The Left is far from being a spent force"

Labour Left-winger Savages the Government

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Livingstone said the budget's "fundamental errors" increased the chance of a mid-term economic crisis, and therefore reduced the likelihood of Labour winning a second general election.

Mr Livingstone said of the Chancellor, Gordon Brown:
"He is so eager not to expose his flank to the Tories that it sometimes seems he is still fighting the election. Far from being the Iron Chancellor Britain needs, Mr Brown is more like a soft cuddly toy still eager to seduce the voters of middle England."

Mr Livingstone accused the Chancellor of failing to tackle an unsustainable consumer boom fuelled by house price increases. He predicted that it would be left to the Bank of England to curb the boom with interest rate increases that would make the "real economy of industry, exports and investment...suffer, while the Government indulges consumers."

The Chancellor's "decision to duck the difficult choices," said Mr Livingstone, could "revive the influence of the Left of the Labour Party and the trade unions. The Left "was far from being a spent force," and the budget's "failures" presented it with an opportunity: "By next summer the British economy will face much tougher measures as Gordon Brown struggles to deal with the problems he failed to tackle this time."