Progress

IT?WAS déjà vu last week when, at Prime Minister's Questions, Ed Miliband effectively asked: 'What has the government ever done for us?' and found himself in the same position as the hapless Reg in The Life of Brian.

That wonderful moment when John Cleese asks: 'So what have the Romans ever done for us?' and concludes by spitting 'All right, all right, but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order — what have the Romans done for us?'

You see, as the economy takes off, gone are Labour's arguments about unending economic gloom.

Gone too, are their warnings about jobs as employment reaches its highest level in our history and unemployment falls fast.

Gone is their argument on deficit reduction — down a third.

Going even is Labour's argument about falling living standards as inflation tumbles.

Last Wednesday Ed was a man floundering in diminished territory, flitting between bankers' bonuses (far lower now than under Labour) and housing (Labour managed fewer new starts than at any time since the 1920s).

And let us not forget that, amongst the tough and sometimes unpopular decisions the government has had to take, a huge amount has been achieved.

Keeping interest rates low has saved mortgage holders thousands of pounds. In the South West alone over two million people have received a tax cut. An additional 20,000 apprenticeships a year have been created in the region.

We've helped pensioners with a £650 a year increase in the basic state pension. We've capped benefits and made work pay. We've improved our schools. We've cut net migration by a third. But then, as our Ed might say, 'apart from all that . . .'

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