Speak for the Budget

You have been asked to represent one voice in the budget debate — your job is to make your case clearly and persuasively.

Choose Your Role

Pick ONE of these voices: (A) Simon Harris defending fiscal discipline, (B) a Sinn Féin spokesperson demanding stronger cost-of-living measures, (C) a People Before Profit representative opposing the carbon tax, (D) a business leader worried about over-reliance on multinationals. Write your role and your core position in one sentence.

Know Your Audience

Who are you speaking to — journalists, voters, or other ministers? Write two things your audience already believes, and one thing they are sceptical about.

They already believe

They are sceptical of

Your One Message

Write the single most important thing you must get across. Then write the ONE thing you must avoid saying — because it would undermine your credibility instantly.

Must land

Must never say

Draft Your Statement

Write a 60–80 word statement in your chosen role. Use at least two of the hedging or prediction structures from today's grammar panel. Make it sound like a real spokesperson — not a textbook exercise.

Read It as the Audience

Re-read your statement as if you are a sceptical journalist. What is the one sentence that sounds weakest — too vague, too certain, or too political? Rewrite just that sentence. Then give your statement one word that captures what it is really arguing for.

Why that word?

Discuss Swap statements with a partner — which one would you actually believe if you read it in a newspaper, and why?

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