Taxing times for middle classes

The only constant in the past three months, however, has been Labour's incessant criticism of the coalition – and the party's repeated failure to acknowledge that it, too, would have been forced to impose swingeing cuts if Gordon Brown, by some miracle, had won the election.

This is illustrated by Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper's criticism of the new Government's austerity clampdown on tax credits that threatens to leave more than 130,000 middle class families across Yorkshire considerably worse off, with Labour branding the squeeze as "deeply unfair".

In an ideal world, the tax credits – introduced by Gordon Brown as a means of driving down poverty – would remain. But, despite the protestations of the Pontefract and Castleford MP, these "benefits" were never meant to be permanent, with households still able to claim such payments if their family income exceeded 50,000 a year.

It is this anomaly that prompted Nick Clegg, the much maligned Deputy Prime Minister, and George Osborne, the Chancellor, to taper the tax credit system so payments are scaled back gradually, both to save the taxpayer in the long-term and ensure that priority is given to the very poorest families.

It is surprising, therefore, that Labour, a party that has previously prided itself on championing the poor, does not agree with this progressive sentiment. It is less surprising, however, that Ms Cooper – and her Shadow Cabinet colleagues – are not prepared to outline the services and policies that they would downgrade, or scrap, in order to maintain tax credits at existing levels.

This has been symptomatic of Labour, whether in government or

opposition, in recent times, and it has to change. In short, Ms Cooper, and others, have to demonstrate that they are capable of spending

public money wisely and responsibly.