Ed's Balls up on earthquake - The Sun

ED Balls sparked fury yesterday by using the Japanese earthquake to attack George Osborne.

He claimed the Chancellor will use the tragedy as an excuse for Britain's poor growth.

The Shadow Chancellor said: "It won't be good enough if George Osborne stands up next week in the Budget and says the reason he has to downgrade his growth forecast is the cold winter, or the Irish bailout or because of the spike in world oil prices or the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake."

Mr Balls waded in as he and and leader Ed Miliband launched Labour's plans to use a 2billion bank tax to create 110,000 jobs.

Shocked Labour and Tory MPs said it was unacceptable for Mr Balls to exploit the horror in which 450 Brits are missing. Senior Labour MP Roger Godsiff, chairman of Parliament's all-party British-Japan group, said: "I would not have said what he said.

"I would not have mentioned it so soon after the event."

Conservative MP for West Suffolk Matthew Hancock said: "It's beneath contempt for Ed Balls to try to politicise the tragedy in Japan whilst the rescue efforts are still ongoing to find survivors."

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