Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne made a spirited and defiant defense of his government’s track record in the past five years, as he unveiled the government’s annual Budget statement just two months ahead of a general election.
Pledging a budget without “gimmicks” and “giveaways”, Osborne said they planned to continue on their track of creating economic stability by cutting the deficit through reforms to welfare and measures to support businesses, to create jobs, contrasting the rise in employment in the past few years with the opposition’s dire warnings of rapidly rising unemployment.
“Do we return to the chaos of the past or do we continue the plan that is delivering for you,” he said. “Britain is walking tall again.” Further cuts were needed and would come from further cuts to welfare, departmental budgets, while around £5 billion would be saved by toughening up the rules on tax avoidance, tax evasion and aggressive forms of tax planning particularly for corporations and multinationals, he said.
“This country’s tolerance for those who won’t pay their fair share of taxes has come to an end.” He defended the government’s previously announced decision to cut corporation tax to 20 per cent, arguing that the opposition’s plan to increase the tax for the first time in over 40 years would be a “retrograde step.” Other measures introduced included plans for tax allowances to stimulate investment in the North Sea oil industry, hit hard by the oil price fall and investment in transport projects for London. Defending the government’s track record on poverty and welfare, he said that child poverty levels had fallen since the government came to power in 2010, while living standards had risen. Rises in university fees had not hurt opportunities for young people, with the number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds attending university on the rise. The Budget came as new figures from the government’s Office of Budget Responsibility showed a small uptick in projected growth for 2015 to 2.5 per cent from 2.4 per cent. Unemployment stood at 5.7 per cent in January though is set to fall to 5.3 per cent by the end of the year.
Britain had gone from “austerity to prosperity,” Osborne insisted. Labour Party leader Ed Miliband attacked the lack of any focus on the NHS and vital public services in the budget. With pressure on the NHS on the increase in the wake of funding cuts, the Labour party has put defending the health service at the heart of its pre-election campaign.