Ed Balls: We must secure a sustainable recovery

Yes, we're the underdogs in this election. Labour can't match the millions of pounds that Lord Ashcroft is pouring into the Conservative campaign. But we can offer something more valuable – a secure and sustainable economic recovery so we can raise family standards; a guarantee to protect frontline services like policing, schools, childcare and our NHS while we halve the deficit steadily; and a fairer society where government is on the side of the many and not the few.

The election is about big choices and there is a lot at stake for our area. First, do we continue taking the difficult but necessary decisions to secure the economic recovery or do we put all that at risk with reckless spending cuts which would risk plunging us back into recession?

I know from my own constituency that the global recession hit our region hard. The last two years have been really tough for families and businesses in Yorkshire. But the big judgments and decisions taken by Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling to support the economy during the recession have meant fewer jobs were lost, fewer businesses made insolvent and fewer homes repossessed than in the deep recessions of the 1980s and early '90s.

Many of us remember how back then our industries were decimated and unemployment in our region continued to soar even after the recession was over. The Government just sat back and watched.

And these are the mistakes that David Cameron and George Osborne seem determined to repeat again. It's not just that the Tories opposed all the decisions we took to support the economy over the last two years – from protecting thousands of savers in our region when Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock went down, to the successful VAT cut last year.

They now plan to take billions of pounds out of the economy just at the most critical moment when we need to support it – at the cost of tens of thousands of jobs.

Second, do we get the deficit down steadily and fairly while protecting frontline services like schools, hospitals and the police, or do we cut these vital services every family relies on?

To halve the deficit over four years there will be some tough decisions – cuts to non-priority programmes, including in parts of my department, and efficiencies across government as well as fair tax rises including the bankers' bonus tax and the new 50p top rate. And, yes, once the recovery is secure we will have to take the difficult decision to raise National Insurance, too. But 60 per cent of these tax rises to cut the deficit will be paid for by the richest five per cent.

The Tories oppose these tax rises but at the same time say they want to cut the deficit more quickly – regardless of the cost to the economy. But how will they do this? How will they fill the gap? They've already said families on middle and modest incomes will pay the price as they lose their tax credits and child trust funds. That doesn't seem fair to me.

And now, in a panic about the polls, they're promising to partly reverse next year's rise in National Insurance. But they refuse to say where the money would come from to pay for it.

I think they're making a big mistake if they think they can take people in Yorkshire for fools. They may get a few days of good headlines, but over the coming days and weeks people in our area will rightly want to know how much it would cost and where the money would come from.

The truth is that the only way they could pay for their pre-election promise is by deep cuts to frontline public services – and the

respected Institute for Fiscal Studies said schools are the biggest unprotected area for the Conservatives, which would mean cuts to teacher and teaching assistant numbers – or a rise in VAT, which would hit pensioners and those on the lowest incomes the hardest.

And third, the election is about different priorities and values. Do we keep investing in our schools – like the new Rodillian School I opened in Morley just the other week – and guarantee this year a sixth form, college, training or apprenticeship place for every school leaver? Or do we cut investment in jobs programmes and apprenticeships for young people?

Do we build on the improvements in our NHS – like the new state-of-the-art Pinderfields hospital opening in Wakefield this summer – with a guarantee that if your GP suspects you may have cancer, you will see a specialist within two weeks?

Do we keep the winter fuel allowance, free bus passes for pensioners and restore the link between pensions and earnings? Or do we prioritise an inheritance tax cut for millionaires which I doubt would benefit anybody in my constituency at all?

All the parties, all the politicians and all the promises must be properly scrutinised – from the party leaders in the TV debates to doorsteps, workplaces and cafs across the country.

The Tories promise change, but everyone knows they haven't changed themselves. On May 6, let's secure the recovery and do so fairly for families in my constituency and across Yorkshire. Let's not allow reckless Tory cuts to put all that at risk.