16/09/2009

Osborne 'Reveals' Brown's Cuts

The government is planning a 10% cut in departmental spending over the next four years, according to Shadow Chancellor George Osborne.

Mr Osborne accused Gordon Brown of 'misleading' parliament over budgetary plans, after obtaining a leaked document purporting to show Labour's public expenditure strategy.

According to the Treasury figures, attained by Mr Osborne, spending within state departments will be slashed by 9.3%.

The Shadow Chancellor, speaking to the BBC, said his party would release the full 22-page report later.

Treasury officials have refused to comment on the leak. Mr Osborne claimed the Prime Minister had earlier told MPs there were no plans to cut spending by 10%.

"It's about trust and honesty... what they show - these are the internal government projections for spending - and they show that the government has been planning since the Budget a near 10% cut in departmental budgets," Mr Osborne told the Today programme.

"And now we know that Gordon Brown misled the public, misled Parliament, was not telling the truth, was sitting all the time on internal Treasury documents telling him the real truth."

He criticised Mr Brown for having branded Tory leader David Cameron 'Mr 10%' in debates following the last budget.

Addressing union delegates yesterday, Mr Brown used the word 'cuts' for the first time.

He and colleagues such as Lord Mandelson and Chancellor Alistair Darling had earlier skirted around the issue, instead discussing the 'prioritising' of funding.

The Prime Minister told the TUC he would "cut costs, cut inefficiencies, cut unnecessary programmes and cut lower priority budgets".

However, he denied the government would support cuts to front line services.

(PR/GK)

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