Fears of an overshoot grow as budget deficit jumps unexpectedly to £16.2bn October 20, 2010 PUBLIC borrowing unexpectedly rose to a record high for September, demonstrating the sheer scale of the challenge facing the coalition government as it yesterday unveiled deep spending cuts. Excluding the temporary effects of financial intervention, net borrowing was £16.2bn, well above the consensus forecast of £14.3bn. Including the effects of this intervention, net borrowing was [...]
Lib Dems claim partial victory amid the cuts October 20, 2010 THE Lib Dems yesterday insisted they had won a partial victory despite the swingeing budget cuts. The party, which had argued against reducing the deficit too quickly in the build up to the election claimed they had forced through a number of important concessions. Lib Dem minister for defence Nick Harvey claimed the delaying of [...]
Osborne admits taxes may drive banks overseas October 20, 2010 CHANCELLOR George Osborne yesterday appeared to soften his stance slightly on the taxes pummelling the banking sector, admitting for the first time that draconian measures run a real risk of hounding firms out of the country. “We neither want to let banks off making their fair contribution, nor do we want to drive them abroad,” [...]
Coalition cuts are political, says Johnson October 20, 2010 ALAN Johnson, the new shadow chancellor, yesterday dismissed claims the spending review was fair and tried to portray the coalition as ideologically-driven cutters who would squeeze the middle classes. He rounded on the coalition for “cheering the deepest cuts in public expenditure that have taken place in living memory” and warned that “spreadsheets and numbers” [...]
Osborne’s unlikely pin-up: Mr Brown October 20, 2010 POLITICAL EDITOR GEORGE Osborne has always been a master tactician first and an economist second. Yesterday’s highly political spending review was no different. Chief in his mind was closing down the lines of attacks his opponents might pursue. In that sense, he is not dissimilar to Gordon Brown, his predecessor but one and sworn enemy. [...]
Big businesses hit by a carbon stealth tax October 20, 2010 GREEN energy campaigners were horrified yesterday as the government quietly introduced a shock £1bn stealth tax on firms’ carbon emissions. Amid a spending review which was generally positive for the cleantech industry, the coalition said it would scrap plans to “recycle” contributions to the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) energy efficiency scheme back to the organisations [...]
Millions forced to work longer as pension age raised October 20, 2010 MILLIONS of people will be forced to work longer before they can collect their pension the government said yesterday as it first equalised the state pension age to 65 from 2018 and then raised it to 66 from 2020. The government said around 5.1m people would be affected by the changes but said £30bn would [...]
Chancellor says he will protect scientific researcha October 20, 2010 THE CASH budget for UK science will be maintained, the chancellor pledged yesterday as he prioritised support for the UK’s world class science community. While the value of the spending will decline by around 10 per cent in real terms, the government will spend £4.6bn a year on resources by 2015. Science minister David Willetts [...]
Department of Justice is amongst most badly hit October 20, 2010 CRIMINAL justice faced one of the biggest shake-downs of the spending review yesterday, with 20 per cent of its budget being cut. The coalition said the majority of this will come from shedding bureaucratic workers and the cuts will be phased in over the next five years. However, senior police officers say the cuts will [...]
Queen agrees to £6m cut to annual civil list budget October 20, 2010 EVEN the Queen felt the pain of yesterday’s cuts. George Osborne said the Queen had “graciously” agreed to do her bit. She has agreed to a freeze in the palace’s cash allowance, known as the Civil List and funded by the taxpayer, for a year. The bulk of the grant goes towards paying staff, with [...]