Labour are marking McDowell but it’s Bertie who has the ball

THE weeks since the election and the start of the silly season have seen some interesting exchanges between the Government and the opposition, and indeed within the Government, about political policy and positioning.

This is a good thing. Too often our politics is dominated by clashes of personalities or electoral contests.

This week the Labour party made a contribution to the debate with the publication of a “framework” economic policy document called The Fair Economy. It presents a social democratic vision for economic development and builds on some of the themes about a fair society which Pat Rabbitte set out in his first party conference address last year.