End of an era
The New Labour era is over - welcome to social democracy, announces Polly Toynbee. Following in Obama's footsteps, it is suddenly safe to tax the rich and spend to protect jobs. Keynes and Roosevelt are the world's spirit guides through this crisis, because in a crisis social democracy is what works. Yesterday that faith allowed Labour to shed its disguise and follow its nature in a £20bn shower of spending. Yesterday saw the Conservatives strip off their sheep's clothing too, as George Osborne tore into the "unexploded tax bombshell" with gusto, merrily defending the aspirations of the wealthy. Now we can see both parties naked as nature intended, and at last comfortable in their own skins. Polly Toynbee The Guardian
Full article: At last, the party of social justice has woken up 
Richard Ehrman: A purely political exercise
Darling introduced the most overtly progressive package of measures since the Government came to power in 1997, says Steve Richards. Low earners and pensioners are the main beneficiaries. Nearly all of us will pay for it later, but the wealthy will pay more. It has taken a recession for Gordon Brown and Darling to be more candid about what it takes to achieve a fairer society. The collapse in the financial markets seems to have given them the confidence to tip toe away more openly from the Reagan/Thatcher orthodoxies that cast a fearful spell over new Labour for more than a decade. Whether it will work is another matter. Steve Richards The Independent
Full article: At last – Brown is forced to be bold
We're lab rats
Brown is like some sherry-crazed old dowager who has lost the family silver at roulette, and who now decides to double up by betting the house as well, writes Boris Johnson. Perhaps we will all respond to his fiscal stimulus, like a bunch of overweight and exhausted lab rats shown one last piece of cheese. Perhaps we will all scamper off in the direction of the prize, and boost consumption, and keep the economy moving. But the public can see that this respite is only temporary. They can see that the tax rises are round the corner, and even as they tiptoe towards the cheese, they can see Alistair Darling waiting with his cosh. Boris Johnson Daily Telegraph
Full article: Why Gordon Brown the manic meddler had to take such a massive gamble
Philip Delves Broughton: Bankrupt Britain
Only employment matters
Employment is the key question, says David Aaronovitch: the need to keep people at work and earning, rather than to allow unemployment, and all its attendant moral, social and fiscal hazards, to soar. The habit of worklessness is one of the most debilitating vices that any people can acquire. The question should surely be whether Alistair Darling did enough stimulating. The truth is that we don't know what's going to happen. I have no idea which party will benefit from the recession, and, at the moment, I don't care. It could not be more irrelevant to millions who might lose their jobs. David Aaronovitch The Times
Full article: There's only one question: is this enough?
Obama's subtle task
Obama faces a subtle task, says John O'Sullivan. He must demonstrate that he is a safe pair of hands both economically and politically. On the economy, that means two aims that all but contradict each other. He needs to exaggerate the depth and danger of the crisis so that he can blame Bush for the deepening recession, while giving himself an excuse for unpopular and/or expensive solutions. But if he succeeds too well, he risks "spooking" the markets and sending the economy into a more prolonged crisis that could threaten his re-election. John O'Sullivan Daily Telegraph
Full article: Barack Obama's in a different boat from Gordon Brown
Doctors and the disabled
The medical profession in general still has a visceral bias in favour of eugenic termination, says Dominic Lawson. This is a function of the fact – which is undeniable – that people with Down Syndrome are likely to cost the NHS more in subsequent medical treatment than a child without any disabilities. Yes, there are arguments about the quality of life a disabled child can have. But it is others who might deem their lives to be inadequate, not they. When I look at my daughter Domenica, who has Down Syndrome, I see someone with a vast joy in just being alive, and I am indescribably happy that she is. Dominic Lawson The Independent
Full article: Shame on the doctors prejudiced against Down Syndrome
In Brief
Labour’s own
It was an aggressively sectarian set of measures. Labour has identified its "people" - the client state of public sector bureaucrats, operatives and claimants sedulously created by Mr Brown since 1997 - and Monday's main purpose was to protect them. Simon Heffer Daily Telegraph
Full article: Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report of political expediency
Well done, Darling
On balance you have to hand to it to Darling. This was good - one of the most dashing and risk-taking economic statements I can remember since Nigel Lawson cut the top rate of tax to 40% in 1988. Politically it is a remarkable reversal of roles: suddenly the government is the optimist and activist party. Will Hutton The Guardian
Full article: Bold, imaginative – and it might just work
Middle-rich squeezed
There are not many people on £150,000 who can afford a yacht. It will be the middle-ranking managers, suburban solicitors and hospital consultants - as well as the hedge-fund millionaires - who end up paying the new top rate. Rachel Sylvester The Times
Full article: 'Real' Labour regroups to fight the old battles
Let racists speak
Incitement to racial or religious hatred is a crime, but difficult to prove (the BNP's leader, Nick Griffin, was found not guilty in 2006). And rightly so. We should draw a clear line between words and violent deeds. State action against a political party, however odious, is nothing to cheer. Mick Hume The Times
Full article: Free speech means freedom for fools, too
The Tory smirk
The top Conservatives may be clever, but they are too often silly. There's an indefinable feeling of a smirk about to break through; a frivolous flavour of undergraduate politics hangs over them. Politics is not a game for gentlemen in blue tailcoats. Geoffrey Wheatcroft The Guardian
Full article: Wanted: an opposition
Channel-hoppers
Even watching TV, which rarely requires much concentration, is now a fretful, channel-switching activity; to our fidgety modern natures, it somehow feels more productive to sample several programmes rather than surrender entirely to one. Terence Blacker The Independent
Full article: Only one person is writing this – me
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