Treasury outraged over Balls Tory claim

Only Mr Osborne would have been "misguided" enough to join the Tories in the 1980s, the Treasury said

Tuesday, 03, Oct 2006 12:00

The Treasury has dismissed as "insulting" the suggestion that Gordon Brown's right-hand man, Ed Balls, was once a member of the Conservative party.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne made the announcement while thanking his team during this morning's speech to the Tory conference in Bournemouth.

"Together, each month, we face Gordon Brown and his ministers across the dispatch box. Let me say it's a job we all find more fun now we've discovered that Ed Balls was once a member of the Conservative party," he said.

"This is actually true. But don't worry Ed, we won't tell anyone. We're as embarrassed about it as you are," Mr Osborne added.

Mr Brown's spokesman was quick to refute the claims, however, insisting: "Of all the insulting false allegations we have heard from George Osborne in recent weeks, saying Ed Balls was once a member of the Tory party really is going too far.

"Ed has been a member of the Labour party since he was 16. When he joined university, he signed up to all the political debating societies – Labour, Liberal and Conservative – so he could hear all the visiting speakers.

"The suggestion that Ed Balls would ever have been so misguided as to join the Tories in the era of mass unemployment, the poll tax and Black Wednesday could only have come from someone who did.