Blame the previous government for things we are now also doing

Let us be absolutely clear. The mess we inherited was unprecedented. The previous government spent recklessly, ignored the evidence, and made short term decisions for political gain.

We, by contrast, will spend recklessly but call it "investment." We will ignore the evidence but call it "taking a different approach." And we will make short term decisions for political gain but call them "difficult decisions in the national interest."

The key difference is vocabulary. And that matters. It matters because if you say something in a sufficiently serious voice while wearing a nice suit, people assume you know what youre doing. This has been the foundation of British politics since approximately 1721 and we see no reason to change a winning formula.