[I]n the case of tax and spending, the big problem is not [Miliband’s] lack of authority: it is that he is wrong. He is wrong to believe, as he seems to, that higher taxes and more state involvement in the economy can generate prosperity. He still misreads the financial crisis as a chance for greater state activism, when in fact its impact on the public finances has required subtle thinking about slimmed-down government. Unlike most Britons, he has yet to see that the fiscal incontinence of the previous Labour administration (of which he was a member) exacerbated Britain’s fiscal plight, thus helping to necessitate the cuts he now lambasts.
— “British Politics: Who’s Miliband?”
