Reviewing politics
and culture since 1913

30 March 2010

Vince wins battle of the facts

Channel 4 FactCheck says Cable was most honest in last night's debate.

By James Macintyre

Vince Cable won the Channel 4 viewers’ poll after last night’s “chancellors’ debate”, and now, after initial analysis, it appears he has won the “honesty” verdict, too. This C4 FactCheck is well worth a read. Here is the excellent Cathy Newman’s conclusion for now:

Vince Cable reinforced his reputation — telling the truth, for example, on the income gap being worse than when the Tories left office.

Alistair Darling, on the other hand, boobed on the death tax. And George Osborne remains confusing on child tax credits.

And here’s the lesson for all three political parties as the campaign gets under way: the public likes honesty.

Our online voters made Cable the winner. And FactCheck’s provisional analysis is that he has been rewarded for speaking truer than his two opponents, but we’ll have more analysis for you later.

 

Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month

 

Content from our partners
Trees underpin environmental leadership
The benefits of UK consulting go far beyond the economic
Energy storage must not be overlooked on the road to net zero