Ahead of this week’s Budget, Ed Balls (who I profile in the current NS) and George Osborne made their usual appearances on the Andrew Marr show. The best moment, as ever, came after their separate interviews when they appeared together on the studio sofa.
After Marr raised the subject of the TV debates, Balls ambushed Osborne by inviting him to shake hands on a head-to-head contest between them before the election. “Come on, George, let’s go for it,” he said. The Chancellor acceded, telling Balls, “I’m happy to meet you in a debate”, and shaking his hand. But no sooner had he done so than he added: “Well, we’re going to see who else wants to be invited … I’ve got a very effective Chief Secretary [Danny Alexander] who I would think would also want to be part of that debate”, prompting Balls to reply: “No, no, one-to-one, we just shook on it”. It was a brilliant manoeuvre by Balls, although the image of him shaking hands with Osborne will doubtless by exploited by the anti-austerity Greens, SNP and Plaid Cymru.
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