In the aftermath of the British Labour Party’s devastating fourth defeat to the Conservatives in 1992, it realised it could never convince voters that it was fit to govern without answering their question: can we trust you with our money? What followed, first under new leader John Smith, and after his death in 1994 Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, was what became known as the “Prawn Cocktail Offensive”, a deliberate and determined campaign to convince the City and business that New Labour could be trusted on the economy. Initially the Tories scorned these efforts. “Never have so many crustaceans died…

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