Member Article

Chancellor's Autumn 'Restatement' will claim Tory economic plan is working

George Osborne will today claim in his Autumn Statement that his economic plan is working, despite admitting that net borrowing will miss targets.

Some of the measures that will be announced include approximately £1 billion of investment for small and medium sized businesses, relief on petrol prices and changes to business rates to help the High Street.

The Chancellor will say that we need “to stay on course to prosperity” but he is also expected to acknowledge that net borrowing will miss targets and reach about £90 billion, greater than the £86.5 billion predicted in March during the budget.

Lower tax revenues due to an increase in low paid jobs and continued high social security bills will only increase pressure on future budgets, meaning possible further cuts or tax increases.

The statement will likely rehash infrastructure spending announcements that were already in the public domain.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls accused the Conservative party of shaping the wrong sort of economic recovery ahead of the Statement.

He said: “David Cameron and George Osborne have now failed every test and broken every promise they made on the economy.

“They promised living standards would rise, but while millionaires have got a huge tax cut, working people are £1,600 a year worse off under the Tories.

“This cost-of-living crisis is why the Chancellor will have to admit he has broken his promise to balance the books by next year.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .