Tories question Lib Dems' commitment to post-election cuts
James Forsyth 1:11pm
The mood of this morning’s ‘Growth Forum’ hosted by the Free
Enterprise Group of Tory MPs and the Institute for Economic Affairs was summed up by Kwasi Kwarteng’s introductory remark that to meet the OBR’s ‘ambitious growth targets’,
the coalition ‘can’t just bumble along’.
The headline news coming out of the event is Andrew Tyrie, the influential chair of the Treasury Select Committee, calling for it to be made clear that the government’s ambition is to get state spending down to 40 per cent of GDP. David Ruffley also caused a stir by saying that BIS and, possibly, DCMS should be abolished.
But, in the session that I attended, what struck me most was George Osborne’s PPS Sajid Javid implying that the Tories are not certain that the Liberal Democrats will go into the next election committed to eliminating the structural deficit by 2017, which is the coalition’s agreed position. Javid started off by saying that at the next election the two parties will be advocating more cuts, before correcting himself to say ‘at least one of them [will be] arguing that we are going to have to make more cuts’.
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Publius
February 27th, 2012 1:37pm Report this comment"the influential chair"
ChairMAN, for Christ's sake!
Dave B
February 27th, 2012 2:18pm Report this commentThe deficit should be eliminated by 2015. This pushing back the date is a mistake.
Steven J
February 27th, 2012 2:18pm Report this commentSajid Javid is certainly one to watch. Very impressive.
normanc
February 27th, 2012 2:41pm Report this commentAnything with a TLA that IDK WTF it is should be on the chopping block, so BIS should definitely GTF.
MilkSnatcher
February 27th, 2012 2:58pm Report this commentPost-election cuts? That would mean 2013's cuts then.
Ostrich (occasionally)
February 27th, 2012 3:03pm Report this commentnormanc 27th, 2:41pm
I THINK I worked out your meaning correctly.
Nice one!
Dadad
February 27th, 2012 4:52pm Report this commentWhy do they keep talking about reducing a structural deficit, when the real problem is that this government keeps on spending more and more; our borrowings are continually rising. All they bleat about is that they are reducing the rate of increase.
When will somebody admit that we are living beyond our means, and that total borrowing must not increase any more, but be reduced.
Dimoto
February 27th, 2012 6:42pm Report this commentDaveB -
The structural deficit will be eliminated by 2015, with a fair wind.
The revised plan is a contingency in case the Eurozone falls apart, and to try to moderate the ever-growing demands for random tax-cuts and expenditure increases coming from all sides (that doesn't seem to have worked).
As for the 40% cap on public expenditure, the substantial reduction in the number of public sector employees now under way, is the best way to achieve this.
oldtimer
February 27th, 2012 7:35pm Report this commentDimoto
...they also need to cut back the overall cost of the welfare budget.
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