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Britain Living Within Its Means? 6 Facts Cameron Does Not Want You To Know

Living Within Our Means? 6 Facts Cameron Does Not Want You To Know
Asa Bennett
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British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron delivers a speech on the ecomomy at an event in Nottingham, central England on January 12, 2015. Britain goes to the polls in a general election on May 7, 2015. AFP PHOTO / PAUL ELLIS (Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
PAUL ELLIS via Getty Images

David Cameron has set out the Tories' plans to deal with the deficit in front of the slogan: "Britain living within its means."

Speaking on Monday, he warned voters against voting Labour, saying doing so would pass "a "legacy of debt" to their children and grandchildren by voting Labour.

However, the Tory leader's attempt to cast his party as responsible custodians of the public finances is undermined by the alarmingly rose-tinted view of his coalition's economic management, as targets keep being missed and debt continues to rise.

See more on General Election 2015

David Cameron's Six Election Priorities Have Seemingly Annoyed Everyone

Here are just six awkward facts that Cameron would rather you ignore, and rather undermined his claims that the Tories are all about "living within our means".

Living within our means? 6 Facts David Cameron Does Not Want You To Know
Call this dealing with our debts?(01 of06)
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Osborne spoke proudly of the coalition's plan to "deal with our debts" in 2010, but the figures have shown anything but. This comes despite Osborne originally planning to have debt falling as a percentage of GDP by the election.The independent forecaster Osborne set up, the Office for Budget Responsibility, at the time predicted that public sector net debt would fall to 69% by the financial year 2014-2015. But this year, the OBR said that the UK's debt would hit 74.5% of GDP, which Osborne still tried to describe as "getting on top of our debts".
Is the deficit really under control? (02 of06)
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Osborne proudly told MPs in last year's Budget that "lower borrowing and a smaller deficit mean less debt". However, he originally forecast that borrowing this year would be nearly three times as much (£95 billion) as expected (£37 billion) back in 2010.
What about as a proportion of national income? (03 of06)
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Despite frequently warning that Labour would fail to keep the deficit down the IFS found that the deficit - as a proportion of national income - is now twice as large as Osborne originally planned.
Don't forget that AAA credit rating...(04 of06)
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Osborne can hardly pretend it was a resounding endorsement by Moody's when it decided in 2013 to downgrade Britain's AAA credit rating amid concerns about the country's weak growth. (credit:WPA Pool via Getty Images)
Is Britain really living within its means? (05 of06)
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Osborne's claims to be prudent with the nation's finances jar with the fact he has added more to Britain's £1.2 trillion debt pile in his three years as Chancellor than Labour did in thirteen. (credit:Spectator Coffee House )
Osborne needs you to live beyond your means..(06 of06)
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Osborne's own deficit reduction plans and Britain's economic growth rely on the public going on a £360 billion borrowing spree, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, which will leave households with an amount of debt 180% bigger than their income.
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