Labour is winning the economic argument, Ed Balls has claimed, amid stinging criticism of his Commons performance after George Osborne’s Autumn Statement.
The shadow chancellor said the massed ranks of Tory MPs were always going to shout down his message and claimed many people have congratulated him on his performance.
And he said he “couldn’t give a toss” about speculation on his chances of staying in the job, insisting he had “never been less bothered” about “gossip and tittle tattle” in a 20-year career.
Labour had answers for real people, not just those in the Westminster bubble, Mr Balls told Sky News’ Murnaghan programme.
He said: “(We have) a really strong economic argument and that’s why 300 Tory MPs were going to shout really loudly from the very beginning.
“I decided I was going to take the argument back to them and say no, there is not a recovery for most working people, living standards are falling.
“What happened the next day? The Institute of Fiscal Studies effectively confirmed the Chancellor is out of touch saying living standards are going up because for most people, they are going down. I think we are winning the argument.”
Mr Balls questioned why David Cameron and Mr Osborne were laughing as he made his case, and added: “I have had people coming to me and saying, keep up the fight, because we need a Labour government because we’re getting worse off.”