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Pledge or fudge?

Deborah McGurran | 18:57 UK time, Monday, 29 March 2010

Pledge card
There must be an election coming.

Labour's launched a

So what did the good people of Norwich make of such gems as 'secure the recovery', 'protect frontline services' and 'raise family living standards'?

Well quite a lot, surprisingly...

"I do quite like them. I agree with them," one man told me - "they're common sense to me. I'd like to protect second line services too."

"I like them. Something for the younger people. I agree with that," said a lady alongside, looking at the 'raise family living standards' pledge.

But others weren't so impressed.

"They're not SMART are they? You can't measure them and there's nothing about the environment," I was told by one woman. "The child tax credit is two years off: they're all aspirational."

Her colleague agreed: "They're not specific enough."

"All the parties are saying the same thing, there's nothing different here," added a young woman.

In 1997, Tony Blair published a list of five pledges which summed up the key targets for Labour's first term in office.

1. We will cut class sizes to 30 or under for 5, 6 and 7 year olds by using money saved from the assisted places scheme.

2. We will introduce a fast track punishment scheme for persistent young offenders by halving the time from arrest to sentencing.

3. We will cut NHS waiting lists by treating an extra 100,000 patients as a first step by releasing £100m saved from NHS red tape.

4. We will get 250,000 under-25 years-olds off benefit and into work by using money from a windfall levy on the privatised utilities.

5. We will set tough rules for government spending and borrowing and ensure low inflation and strengthen the economy so that interest rates are as low as possible to make all families better off.

How times have changed.

Now we get 'fairness in communities' strengthened by a crack down on anti-social behaviour. How exactly?

Labour can take succour from the voters of Norwich.

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