Today’s ‘Growth Plan’ will restrict leave for parents, more public services to be outsourced, R&D tax credits, and more enterprise zones, but it is difficult to assess whether the markets will accept this as a particularly credible growth plan.

The Sir John Vickers report on the future of the investment banks will be an useful first step in determining what to do with the regulation of the banks, which must be addressed. Ed Balls must outline the vital importance for the need for this, given that the Conservatives or the Labour Party have previously not done this.  The scope for this is large, but might include comprehensive stress tests for new financial instruments.

“Judge me on the facts” is what George Osborne wants, and the facts are we have a rise in VAT, a fall in consumer confidence, massive cuts, rising unemployment, higher inflation and possibly higher interest rates.

Labour should not allow the public sector investment to be mantra for the cause of the recession. Public satisfaction in the NHS was highest ever recorded, we have lowest National debt before the world recession, and it is difficult to claim that the primary blame of the economic crisis was over-spending in the public sector.

Osborne will wish Balls to specify where he would cut, and indeed Ed can say that he would cut less, and specify precisely the areas to cut. There could be a bank bonus tax, which we could use to get the unemployed back to work, especially construction workers whose faltering output in Q4 was a contributing factor to our poor growth. Osborne can make a stop to duty rise, which Labour would have done. Furthermore, Osborne’s argument that he is unable to reverse the rise in VAT due to Europe needs scrutiny by fellow journals and expert advisors. However, the investment banks are very important for GDP in this country, and many industries are reliant on them.