Chancellor George Osborne is to reveal how and where the axe will fall as he makes the deepest cuts to the public sector seen in generations.Osborne To Reveal Spending Cuts At 12.30pm.The Spending Review, aimed at tackling Britain’s deficit by saving £83bn, will result in many lost jobs, and a reduction in public services.There were big decisions taken in June’s Emergency Budget, and there was a lot of controversy surrounding the Strategic Defence and Security Review.But the Chancellor’s Spending Review will surely be the defining moment of the coalition Government.The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats argue the UK’s budget deficit makes spending cuts unavoidable.Persuading voters to take the same view will be critical to their future electoral success.
The Chancellor will insist “fairness” is at the heart of the decisions that have been taken.The controversial cut in child benefit for higher rate taxpayers is a key part of this strategy, paving the way and providing cover for cuts in services that will predominantly affect poorer people.The Department for International Development and the NHS – but not the Department of Health – have had their budgets ring-fenced.But, while education and defence have been granted limited protection, some other departments may see upwards of a third of their budgets go.The Commons exchanges will also be a key first test for the new Shadow Chancellor, Alan Johnson.Mr Johnson argued in his first speech in the job on Monday that the speed and depth of the proposed cuts are misguided.
Labour says the cuts risk tipping the country back into recession, and that an emphasis on increased taxation – including a raised levy on banks – would enable the country to get away with substantially less in the way of departmental cuts.The opposition view is that Mr Osborne is neglecting the importance of promoting growth to turn the nation’s finances around.But the Chancellor says getting the deficit under control is a necessary first step to improving the overall health of the economy.Mr Osborne has been buoyed by the support of the IMF, as well as a group of prominent businessmen who endorsed his approach in a letter to the Daily Telegraph on Monday.
Nevertheless, by any standard, the Chancellor’s desire to downsize the public sector, to take huge numbers of people off welfare and to, at the same time, create jobs for them in the private sector represents an intimidating challenge, a challenge that will make or break him and his administration – skynews
