Larry Williams Drive

This Nicola Willis-Ruth Richardson showdown looks like it'll go ahead next week after the HYEFU release. As you'll know from listening to this show on Monday night, Nicola's not happy with Ruth. And Ruth isn't too happy with Nicola. We have a structural deficit and we're not addressing it. Surplus is probably going to be pushed out - again - to 2030. So we have a showdown. But you might be wondering why the current Finance Minister is debating a former one (of some 30-odd years ago) at all. Well, here's the comms strategy on this: Ruth has credibility, as least on the right. The left reckons she permanently scarred the country, but you can't deny something had to be done. And people forget the growth and jobs that followed. Nicola's still earning her credibility, and things have not been going terribly well on that front. Spending's higher than Grant and surplus keeps getting pushed out. The growth is anaemic. So this is a way of tackling Ruth's attacks head-on and putting them to bed. Usually, ministers