Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Ed Balls' truth train does not stop at every station

Gus O’Donnell's review, published yesterday, made it clear that the last Labour government at Westminster was very keen to see Abdelbaset al-Megrahi returned to Libya. But journalists trying to find ministers who had openly lied about that face were struggling to find one with a hand in the cookie jar.

Until they remembered that in September 2009 Ed Balls had told Radio 4's Today programme: ""None of us wanted to see the release of al-Megrahi."

I would not be too concerned - there are, after all, good reason to suspect that al-Megrahi had nothing to do with the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 - it's just that Ed Balls has recent form.

A couple or weekends ago he twice told Andrew Marr that the last Labour government had not run a structural deficit. Nick Thornsby has the precise quotes - and the figures that proves Balls was not telling the truth.

So Ed Balls is a formidable politician - but don't forget to count the teaspoons while he is around.

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