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Students protest against a planned hike in tuition fees, but who's to blame?

Almost every political discussion seems to lead back to the same question.

Whenever we debate cuts, Coalition representatives say they've been forced into it by the mess Labour made of the public finances.

Labour then say that's nonsense, and claim the cuts are unncessarily large and are being pursued for ideological reasons.

It's an argument that's becoming overfamiliar and perhaps even tedious.

But it is a crucial debate, because the future electoral prospects of all three main parties will depend on who the public believe.

Labour has struggled so far to shrug off the charge that any cuts are really its fault.

But at the same time, when anger erupts on individual measures such as tuition fees, or the cancellation of school building programmes, the Coalition feels the heat.

The Politics Show went out and about in Newcastle this week to gauge opinion.

But to be honest, I'm not sure we're any the wiser, as public opinion does seem to be split.

It wasn't hard to find shoppers who do think Labour's management of the public finances has played a significant part in the need for cuts.

But again when we visited an individual community project in Newcastle affected by cuts, the people using it blamed the Coalition.

Labour will hope to capitalise on those feelings.

But there is a challenge ahead though.

Although the party will clearly want to ride on the back of individual campaigns, Labour leader Ed Miliband will stand accused of having no coherent alternative.

He's now embarked on a two-year review of the party's polcies, but clearly he can't wait for those reviews to report to decide on his strategy.

He says there's growing anger against cuts, but how can he make sure that anger is directed at the Coalition, and not his own party.

Let me know who you think is the blame for the cuts.

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