Slash and Burn?
Since David Cameron cited Northern Ireland as a prime example of excessive state spending in an interview with Jeremy Paxman at the weekend, the other parties (and the public service unions) have been queuing up to kick the Tories. The DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson used today's Politics Show debate to allege this was part and parcel of a Conservative plan to make £6 billion worth of cuts across the UK, whilst the Conservative and Unionist Mike Nesbitt countered by asking how much longer the nation could go on borrowing at the current levels.
The Alliance Deputy Leader Naomi Long used her Inside Politics interview to continue the assault, claiming the Conservatives have an ideological committment to slash public services and make them privately funded. That's been labelled a "disgraceful lie" by the Tories.
With the Conservative and Unionist manifesto due to be launched tomorrow, expect more on this in tomorrow's morning papers.
The SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie rejected my suggestion that she lost last week's TV debate as "nonsense", deriding the debate as a beauty contest. She attacked Gerry Adams' assault on the SDLP's attendance record at Westminster by pointing to his own infrequent appearances at Stormont. She also confirmed she intended to "double job" throughout the next parliamentary term if she is elected as an MP.
I'm 
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