Ed Balls rattles No10, saying: I’d love to be Chancellor
The Tories seized on fresh tensions between Downing Street and the Treasury today after Ed Balls revealed he would "love" to be Chancellor.
The Schools Secretary, a close friend and ally of Gordon Brown, was touted a possible replacement for Alistair Darling last summer.
Mr Balls's confirmation that he is interested in the job follows days of speculation that Mr Darling has joined forces with Bank of England Governor Mervyn King to oppose a further spending splurge in the Budget next month.
The Treasury insists there is no split with the Prime Minister over a new fiscal stimulus, but the Chancellor appeared to have won a major victory yesterday when Mr Brown admitted fresh spending may not be needed.
In an unusual move, Mr Darling met the Governor along with City minister Lord Myners in his Commons office last night for talks. Officials stressed that although the trio normally met in the Treasury, it was routine.
Mr Darling today played down claims of a government rift over the recession as the Tories declared Mr King had "cut up his credit card". Mr Darling stressed there was no "difference" between him and Mr King and claimed they were both keen to do "whatever is necessary" to help the UK cope with the downturn.
But when challenged by the Tories, Mr Darling refused to say whether he agreed with the Governor's warning this week that Britain was not ready for a second boost in the Budget. The Chancellor cast further doubt over the chances of a G20 agreement on a major new "fiscal stimulus", pointing out that no country would arrive in London next week wanting to tear up its own budgetary plans to get a global deal.
Mr Balls used an interview with today's New Statesman to lavish praise on Mr Darling for his handling of the Treasury brief. But he admitted he would want the Chancellor's job. "Would I like to be Chancellor at some point in the future? Of course I would. I'd love it."
Mr Balls was careful, however, to stress that his job in charge of education and schools was his priority at the moment. "From my point of view that's a job half done so I don't want to change," he said.
"I have worked with Alistair Darling since 1993 and I think history will judge him to be a very far-sighted and brave Chancellor. He and Gordon have been a great team along with Peter [Mandelson]."
When asked about the jockeying to replace Mr Brown, he said: "I'm not going to say I don't want to be leader of the Labour Party, that would be a silly thing to say."
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne today claimed there was now a serious "crisis of confidence" at the heart of the Government following Mr King's warning that debt was so high further tax cuts and spending rises were not possible.
Mr Osborne seized on Mr Darling's refusal to say whether he had "full confidence" in the Governor.
Mr Osborne said: "A dire situation for the Government just got worse. When a Chancellor refuses to express confidence in the Governor of the Bank of England, or agree with statements he makes, we have reached a crisis of confidence in the Government's ability to lead us into a recovery."
