Economy a 'decade long project'

He also wanted to try to show that the government won't leave people behind and that the economy is not just recovering in the south of England.Inflation down, unemployment down, and today even George Osborne was down, 700 metres down to be precise, deep below the east midlands countryside. The chancellor came to Thoresby Colliery to announce some help for former miners whose free coal allowance had been stopped when their old employers went bust.

But, after a short delay when our underground train came off its tracks, he told me that he had also come to Nottinghamshire to offer a corrective to all the sunny optimism that had followed this week's positive economic news.

Progress, he said, was being made but we should realise that the government was engaged on a "decade long project" to fix the economy.

His subtext was clear: at the next election, people should give him the chance to finish the job. And the recovery will not be so secure that they should risk a vote on Labour.

You can watch my interview with him here:

James Landale's interview with George Osborne in full