Chancellor warns of spending curbs

Britain faces the toughest public spending cuts in 20 years to reduce the budget deficit
12 April 2012

Alistair Darling has warned that Britain faces the toughest public spending restraints in 20 years in order to reduce the massive budget deficit.

The Chancellor indicated that Labour was ready to rein in spending severely once the economy had recovered from the recession.

His comments come amid signs that the markets are more confident about Tory plans to cut the £178bn deficit more quickly than Labour's pledge to halve it in four years. They will be seen as a shift away from some of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's rhetoric about the choice between Labour and the Tories representing "investment" versus "cuts".

In an interview with The Times, Mr Darling said: "My priority is to get borrowing down. Once recovery is established we have to act.

"The next spending review will be the toughest we have had for 20 years. To me, cutting the borrowing was never negotiable. Gordon accepts that, he knows that."

The Chancellor said that "many departments" would have to cope with cuts in their budgets in the next few years. That was "utterly non-negotiable", he said.

"We are talking about something like a £57 billion reduction in the deficit through tax increases and spending cuts," he said. "It is a change of direction."

His comments apparently referred to the next comprehensive spending review, including three-year departmental settlements, which will not be held before the general election.

He seemed to confirm that there would be a budget before the election, saying he had one to do "in a couple of months". May 6 is currently seen as the probable date for polling day. But spending cuts would not be introduced until after the country has recovered from the recession, he said.

"We are saying to people there are some things that matter (which) we need to protect," he said. "But the next spending review will be tough. There will be programmes that need to be cut. It will be the toughest for 20 years."

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