Osborne: Untrustworthy Labour bungled PBR

George Osborne says 'untrustworthy' Labour bungled pre-Budget report

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Wednesday, 09, Dec 2009 05:17

By Matthew Champion.

George Osborne has claimed Labour lost its moral authority and any chance of being trusted by the electorate ever again with today's pre-Budget report.

Alistair Darling unveiled plans in the Commons to raise national insurance contributions and tax bankers' bonuses, as well as increasing public borrowing forecasts for the next two years.

Shadow chancellor Mr Osborne said Mr Darling's plan would actively "choke off the recovery" and reduce Britain to the "sick man of Europe".

"This prime minister inflicted the deepest and longest recession upon us in modern history," he said after referring to Gordon Brown as "yet another failed master of the universe".

"No one will believe a word they say on the economy ever again."

Full story: Darling forced to revise economy contraction

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Pre-Budget report 2009: In depth

Pre-Budget report 2009: As-it-happened

Pre-Budget report 2009: In-full

Comment: Pre-Budget report ignores the bad and the ugly

Repeating his much-maligned "we're all in this together" line from party conference season Mr Osborne accused Mr Darling of "ring-fencing a black hole".

"We were promised a pre-Budget report and what we got was a pre-election report," he added.

Mr Darling hit back at Mr Osborne's allegation that people earning over £20,000 would pay more tax, saying the shadow chancellor was "long on politics and short on ideas".

For the Liberal Democrats, Vince Cable said Mr Darling could have done more with capital gains tax, which is staying unchanged at 18 per cent.

"There is a long hard slog ahead for the economy and the chancellor has not set out our path for it," the party's Treasury spokesman said.

He added that it had been a "good Budget for bingo and boilers", and that the economy was now being "rebuilt on sand".