Eddie Barnes - Osborne's lack of ankle room

Did George Osborne show too much ankle last week? Gordon Brown is out of the stocks this morning, using an interview to proclaim that Osborne's doom-mongering of last week, and the tough policy prescriptions he said would be required were over the top. One well-placed Labour contact yesterday, who has taken defeat for granted for the last few months, yesterday told me that the possibility of victory is now back on. Osborne and Cameron are now tied into their stark plans for how to deal with the public sector crunch for the next nine months. This is based on their stark predictions for just how deep UKplc is in trouble. But what if, as Brown claims today, the economy improves, that gaping deficit suddenly begins to fall, and the UK's credit rating actually goes up?

Labour strategists think that the Tories have got carried away by polling, which both of them have, showing that people want to hear it straight, and want to be told up-front how bad things are going to get. That gamble appears to have paid off, according to a new poll released today, which suggests people approve of Osborne's approach. But what people say to pollsters might not be what they think in the privacy of their own home (or ballot station).

In other words, what if people are basically liars? It's all very well being honest with the voters. But what if the voters aren't being honest with you?