Labour split on cuts row
DIVISIONS at the top of the Labour Party emerged yesterday over whether it would protect health and education from spending cuts after the next general election.
The government is under pressure from shadow chancellor George Osborne who called for all politicians to have the “honesty” to admit there would be public spending cuts as a result of the financial crisis.
Osborne added it is “ridiculous to pretend there won’t be cuts” in the future. The Conservative party said – apart from education, health and overseas aid budgets – it will cut government spending by 10 per cent between 2011 and 2015.
But schools secretary Ed Balls said: “If we can get the economy right, as I believe we are doing, I think we can see spending on schools and hospitals rising in real terms after 2011.”
But this appeared to be contradicted by chief secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne later.
Asked about Balls’s remarks, Byrne pointed out there was an “if” in Balls’s sentence, adding: “The chancellor will set out the position in the forthcoming Pre-Budget Report.”
Analysts say Labour’s current spending commitments amount to a seven per cent cut in departmental spending between 2011 and 2014.