Labour Question Government Borrowing Forecasts

First Posted: 17/11/11 06:12 Updated: 17/11/11 06:12   PA

Money
The Government could end up borrowing £100 billion more than it planned up to 2015, Labour has claimed.

The Government could end up borrowing £100 billion more than it planned up to 2015, Labour has claimed.

It published comparisons of independent public sector net borrowing estimates from a year ago with a round-up of the latest estimates.

Labour's analysis uses Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts from November 2010 and compares them with latest consensus estimates.

They show the coalition could borrow £11 billion more than it thought this year, £22 billion next year, £34 billion in 2013-14 and £42 billion in 2014-15 in the run up to the next general election. In total, if the forecasts prove accurate, the Government will borrow £109 billion above its plan.

Shadow chief secretary Rachel Reeves said: "These very concerning forecasts expose how this Government's reckless plan to try and cut spending and raise taxes too far and too fast is backfiring badly, as we and the International Monetary Fund warned it would.

"They suggest slow growth and higher unemployment could mean over £100 billion more borrowing over this Parliament than the Chancellor planned."

She said the Government's economic policy "choked off the recovery and pushed up unemployment well before the eurozone crisis". She added: "We are now in a weaker position. It's a tragedy for the one million young people out of work and the thousands of businesses that have gone bust, but it's utterly self-defeating on the deficit too."

Economic Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said the Government was committed to eliminating the budget deficit by the end of this Parliament.

He told BBC2's Newsnight the economy was "going through a difficult time because of the eurozone crisis", but claimed it was "absolute nonsense" to suggest the coalition Government would borrow more than £100 billion above its planned borrowing by 2015.

He added: "If we had followed the plan Labour had advocated the UK would have been incredibly vulnerable to the type of issues we have seen in Europe, the bond markets would have had no credibility, our credit rating would have been downgraded (and) our market interest rates would have increased."

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The Government could end up borrowing £100 billion more than it planned up to 2015, Labour has claimed. It published comparisons of independent public sector net borrowing estimates from a year a...
The Government could end up borrowing £100 billion more than it planned up to 2015, Labour has claimed. It published comparisons of independent public sector net borrowing estimates from a year a...
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Mickey Mouse 1
There are no lies or deceit on a chess board.
10:36 on 17/11/2011
The politicians know exactly what must be done to fix the economy, but they also know that if they do it, it is likely that they will never get re-elected again. They have to plug all the holes in the public purse and bin any unneccessary spending.They have to give incentive to wealth creators to get out of bed, we must be allowed to keep more of our own money so we can invest it and make more money.

So what do we cut?
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Mickey Mouse 1
There are no lies or deceit on a chess board.
10:24 on 17/11/2011
After running up the biggest government debt in history, Labour have lost any economic credibility they ever had. They are only being being given air time in the interests of "balanced" reporting.
10:14 on 17/11/2011
The borrowing estimates come from the opposition and are probably inflated it is difficult for the Chancelor when the going changes, because of E U instabillity. The ballance needs to be restored, wages escalated at the top and reduced at the base a 10 % raise at the base to a gradual 35%decrease at the top through voluntry means would restore the ballance. We have a good country here keep it going!
09:57 on 17/11/2011
talk about making the british public pay for it in a cruel way and giving billions away in aid a year..........this is wrong ...............shouldnt we have a say were out money goes to and i personally think we should stop aid for a couple of years and plough it back into our country as if we dont we wont have jack to give to other countries...................
09:27 on 17/11/2011
Just goes to show there dont know what they are doing. Stop foreign aid, get out the EU and close our borders unless they have £60k to pay their way before they come in to the UK.
10:00 on 17/11/2011
Errrr we don't have borders anymore
09:13 on 17/11/2011
if we stop handing out foreign aid we would not need to borrow anything and the country would be on the up and not on the way DOWN,
08:47 on 17/11/2011
I don't blame this government for the problems we have, I do however find them at fault for not doing what is asked of them by the people and that is, to get us out of the EU, close the borders and to put the walfare of those born here first, before the needs of those who see the UK as a soft touch. You can't fix a burst pipe by turning on the taps.
08:40 on 17/11/2011
For 13 years labour couldn't add up with Milly & Balls advising now they have the audacity to find fault with the government
10:03 on 17/11/2011
Stop blaming the last Government for all this mess we're in!! The Tories are much much worse than the previous Government! Labour would have made sure that the well-off b*stards paid, not the working-class, even if it did mean borrowing more. Any working-class person who voted Tory deserve all they get!
The only way out of this mess is to cut 20 pence a litre off of petrol, so that goods can be moved around cheaper, thereby lowering food prices etc etc etc......
10:30 on 17/11/2011
You need to to look up some facts,the rich/poor gap WIDENED under labour,official figures,the last government left the country in its worst financial situation in history, Brown was spending 25% more than he received,this government has beren in office a little over a year,don't expect miracles to clear up 13 years of chaos,when did a labour government ever leave the country solvent,in 1997 they inherited £1.5B then shortly after Brown sold our gold after giving the world a weeks norice he was doing so,hence the record low price received
08:32 on 17/11/2011
Quote; "The Government could end up borrowing £100 billion more than it planned up to 2015, Labour has claimed."

So why isn't Labour congratulating the government? Labour have been criticising the government for cutting spending too quickly but then have the gall to refer to:

"These very concerning forecasts"

Under Labour the annual borrowings would have been even greater. What hypocrisy!
10:13 on 17/11/2011
Working-class people that voted Tory deserve all they get. We wouldn't be in this state if Labour (and Gordon Brown) were still in power. And don't say it was Labour that got us into this mess because it was a WORLD problem caused by greedy bankers. David Cameron and his puppet have no idea how to get us out of this mess! They live in another world. When Cameron scrapped the Ark Royal and the Nimrod I knew that Britain had lost its Greatness. Unless we get out of the EU we will slip even further down!
11:46 on 17/11/2011
Quote: "And don't say it was Labour that got us into this mess because it was a WORLD problem"

You mean like in Germany:

"Last month, the government stated that it expected Germany's budget deficit in 2010 to amount to 4.5 percent of GDP, then falling below the 3 percent threshold by 2012, and dipping below 2 percent by 2013."

Labour consistently spent more than the economy could afford under the delusion that consumer spending fueled by the housing boom would last forever.

Quote: "When Cameron scrapped the Ark Royal and the Nimrod I knew that Britain had lost its Greatness"

This delusion explains a lot of British attitude. The rest of the world and specifically Europe, owes Britain a living. Winston Churchill considered there to be three circles of influence for Britain in the world. A special relationship with the United States was one of the circles, the others were the British Empire (Commonwealth) and a united Europe. Britain's place was in the intersection point of the circles as a central and linking factor and none of the relationships had any overriding priority.

Sadly it was this sort of arrogant thinking that resulted in Britain having no influence anywhere.
08:22 on 17/11/2011
Why are we in this situation in the first place??? LABOUR and the Euro Zone plus Bankers, its simple!!
10:31 on 17/11/2011
& who let UK bankers get away with it? Brown in 1997!
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NOSHER
08:01 on 17/11/2011
if they are going to borrow money why not to stop this disabled charge for parking people should have an omline petition or cut down in the amount of hanger on in the government that would cut some borrowing down this country is getting worse why dont they treat asylum seekers like they treat the tax payers its disgusting
07:53 on 17/11/2011
looks like the tax payer will end up paying yet again
07:14 on 17/11/2011
Weres he going to get this from The Money Shop?? lol
07:25 on 17/11/2011
Payday loans to the rescue OZZY