Industry | 2010.03.15
George Osborne accuses Gordon Brown of dishonesty over spending
Shadow chancellor attacks prime minister\'s claim that choice at the election is between investment and cuts
George Osborne today accused Gordon Brown of being "dishonest" with voters over the need for spending cuts to deal with the UK\'s record deficit as he drew up the political battle lines ahead of next week\'s budget.
The shadow chancellor said it "will come down to honesty versus dishonesty", as parties battle for votes ahead of the general election, which is expected to take place on 6 May.
The government is committed to halving the country\'s record £178bn deficit over the next four years but insists Tory plans for immediate spending cuts would undermine the recovery.
Alistair Darling, the chancellor, made clear yesterday that the package he will unveil on 24 March will not spell out new spending cuts and instead focus on measures to encourage economic growth.
He also delivered a bullish assessment of the prospects for the British economy – suggesting lower-than-expected unemployment could give him more room for manoeuvre.
Sixty economists have publicly backed Darling\'s stance to delay spending cuts until 2011.
But the shadow chancellor co-authored a column in today\'s Financial Times with leading US economist Jeffrey Sachs, to argue that delaying action to reduce the deficit will "darken consumer confidence" and put long-term recovery at risk.
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "You can\'t conceal the central fact, which is that the country has run out of money and whoever forms the next government is going to have to take some very difficult decisions on spending.
"At the moment you still have the prime minister going around saying it is a choice between investment and cuts – that\'s just a dishonest approach to British politics. You have a chancellor of the exchequer, who probably is not going to be in post whoever wins the election, who has a very difficult judgment to make about whether he puts his country before his party.
"The debt is holding back the British recovery and, unless we get confidence into the British recovery – and that comes from dealing with our debts – then we will not be creating the jobs we want to see."
Osborne\'s comments coincided with the announcement of a government crackdown on the cost of credit card borrowing , which Brown said could save consumers around £300m a year.
Under the plans, repayments to credit and store card firms must be used to pay off the most expensive debt first before cheaper borrowing, in a reversal of current industry practice.
There will also be a ban on credit limit and interest rate hikes for those facing financial difficulties and a 60-day right to reject rate increases.
Brown said: "These new rights will put an end to the irresponsible lending practices that people have been most concerned about, and help cut the cost of borrowing."
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/[...]sborne-gordon-brown-dishonesty
