In it together?

Tweet I've not been convinced to date about the Labour tactic of trying to portray the Tory leadership as 'toffs' because of their privileged background. I'm more interested in what they say and what they plan to do than in their own personal circumstances.

Sometimes, however, by their own statements, they invite more scrutiny of their personal position. Last week, one of the key phrases in the speech by the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, was that 'we're all in it together'. The implication was that we are all going to have to suffer for the economic situation in which we find ourselves; but coming from a man who is, shall we say, not exactly short of a bob or two, it hardly sounds sincere.

And, of course, it isn't really true either. What he means is not that he and people like him will suffer the cost of narrowing the budget gap, but that the burden will be borne primarily by those who work in, or depend on, public services. The bankers and financiers who caused the crisis - and who fund the Tory party - will continue to live the high life, and the Tories' longer term plans involve using savings in public expenditure to cut the taxes of the most well-off.

The spin put on his speech has been that he is being 'honest' with people - it would have been far more honest to have said 'My friends and backers have fouled up big time, and you're going to have to pay the cost'. I won't hold my breath, though.