BRITISH PRIME minister Gordon Brown is set to put the Conservatives under strong pressure this week over its plans to cut spending if it wins power in this year’s general election.
This follows Tory party leader David Cameron’s decision to row back from earlier declarations that significant cuts would be made in an emergency budget within 50 days of polling.
Mr Cameron’s row-back, taken in the wake of a number of polls that indicate that the UK could be heading for a hung parliament, prompted Labour’s Peter Mandelson to charge yesterday that the Tory leader and his shadow chancellor George Osborne were “now bobbing around like a cork in water” over its spending plan proposals.
Committed to halving the UK’s £180 billion (€206 billion) deficit within four years, Labour has insisted this could not start in the financial year beginning in April of this year because of the danger that it could choke economic recovery. The UK’s economy is recently back in the black, if only weakly. Chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling, though, has made it clear that tough action would still have to be taken.
Under Labour’s current plans, spending is to rise by £31 billion in the year from April.
“We are just seeing the early signs of recovery, but the road ahead will be bumpy. That is why we cannot take risks. The economy needs continued support until the recovery is fully locked in. That is why Labour is leaving Government spending and investment in place for 2010/11. It can’t be clearer,” said business secretary Lord Mandelson.
The Conservatives, on the other hand, have for long insisted that the spending cuts had to start quickly, and this year, if international bondholders were not to be frightened off buying British government debt and forcing the treasury to pay exorbitant rates of interest for it. Now, however, Mr Cameron is saying the cuts in the first year must not be “swingeing”.
His decision has played strongly into Labour’s desire to contrast the inexperience of Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne with that of Mr Brown, and to encourage voters to once again look at the performance of both the prime minister and Mr Cameron during the banking crisis.
The Tory leader has consistently opposed measures taken to buttress the British banking system.
“Instead of bobbing around like a cork in water David Cameron should level with the British people.
“If he refuses to be clear, if he will not be honest, people will conclude that – for electoral reasons – he is hiding the truth and that the Conservatives’ proposed cuts will indeed eat into the recovery and throw Britain back into recession and lost jobs.”
Describing Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne as a “Laurel and Hardy duo”, Lord Mandelson clearly indicated that Mr Osborne will be a major target in the campaign ahead when he described him as the Tories’ weakest link.
“The challenge for the Conservative Party is to be clear about its immediate plans: how much is it planning to take out of this year’s spending?
“So far all we see is confusion and disarray.”
