Government attacks Tories over cuts

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The government has attacked the Tories for seemingly admitting that they would make cuts to public services if they were in power.

In what some observers believe amounts to a lot of fuss about nothing, Labour has jumped on comments by shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley that his party would protect spending on the NHS and schools but, because the overall pie will be smaller, would have to make cuts in other areas of around 10 per cent.

However, in making the attack Liam Byrne, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, admitted that Labour would have to make the same kind of "painful choices".

Byrne said: "Between now and 2013-14, public spending will rise by £86bn but if we make a series of very difficult choices on, for example, tax and, for example, on efficiencies, we can halve the budget deficit over the course of five years. Now, does that involve painful choices, I'm afraid it does, but what we are saying is that we are not going to cut widely and deeply ... as the Conservatives propose because we think that would be bad for public services and bad for the country."

But the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Philip Hammond said suggesting that Lansley had inadvertently revealed Conservative plans to cut public services was dishonest and "juvenile" and the public was well aware tough times were ahead and that "something would have to give".

Hammond reckoned Lansley was referring to Budget figures which showed departmental spending would be cut by 7 per cent from 2010. And he pointed out that Labour had not said it would protect spending on the NHS, as the Tories had. Also, Labour was looking to slash by 50 per cent what it spent on new schools and hospitals, he said.

"Something has got to give and what the public want is for us to stop this sterile, rather juvenile debate and start talking about how we are going to deal with this very difficult period for public spending in a way that minimises the impact on front line public services," Hammond said.