Labour MPs speak their mind

Most Labour MPs I spoke to praised the measures the Chancellor took, while qualifying comments with phrases like "under the circumstances".

A few went a little further. Here are two of them...

Mark Todd is a business minded Derbyshire Labour member who is standing down at the next election. Speaking about spending cuts and debt he said:

"The spending cuts announced were helpful, but to be honest there will need to be other measures in the future – today maybe was not the day to announce them.

"We face the best part of a decade getting on top of things even on a quite optimistic assumption of the Government’s ability to continue paying off its debts.

"It’s going to be a tough decade of tighter spending and tax increases – that’s a tough future for this Government and for the next.

"The person who holds the chancellorship will not be very popular for quite sometime."

Mark Fisher, Labour member for Stoke Central, said he thought measures in the budget were good. But added:

"It was a sobering occasion. I was surprised by how optimistic the chancellor was about recovery.

"I hope he’s right. But when the economy is going to shrink by 3.5% this year to say it’s going to jump back up and start growing by three per cent after that is hopeful.

"There is, of course, determination, a will and energy to pull through, but saying we will turn around within 18 months is on the optomistic side."