Osborne refuses to discuss where the spending axe will fall

George Osborne was today warned it is time to come clean with voters about how he plans to balance the books.



Two years after announcing Tory plans to cut welfare by £12billion, the Chancellor has still given no detail about what will be cut, despite the axe falling on government departments in 12 months' time.

The respected Institute for Fiscal Studies said it was a 'terrible shame' that they have been left 'guessing' about how state spending will be slashed to secure a £7billion surplus before the end of the decade.

Buried in the detail of yesterday's Budget documents were planned cuts after the next election which will be even deeper than previously announced.

It will mean that austerity will come to an end earlier than planned, and spending as a share of GDP will not fall to 1930s levels - blunting a key Labour attack that the Tories wanted to turn the clock back to a time before the NHS.

Mr Osborne said he needed to slash a further £30billion from government spending by 2017-18, with £12billion of savings coming from the welfare budget.

A further £5billion will be found from a clampdown on tax dodgers, with a raft of new measures targeting wealthy people stashing their cash abroad.

But he has not spelt out how the cuts will be made, amid warnings that public spending faces a 'rollercoaster' ride for the rest of the decade.

Paul Johnson, head of the IFS, said: 'But it is now almost two years since [Mr Osborne] announced his intention of cutting welfare spending by £12 billion.

'Since then the main announcement has been the plan not to cut anything from the main pensioner benefits.'

He said voters have been told about no more than the £2billion raised by cutting working age benefits, despite the £12billion of cuts due to be in place by 2017-18.

'It is time we knew more about what they might actually involve,' Mr Johnson added.

He said yesterday's Budget included 'unfunded commitments', including the Help to Buy ISA for first-time buyers to save for a deposit and £1.25billion for mental health, which would have to be paid for with cuts elsewhere.

'Whitehall departments are going to have to plan for some dramatically differing scenarios, one of which they will have to implement in just 12 months time.'

Mr Osborne has basking in the glow of a Budget in which he announced tax cuts for workers, savers and homebuyers, declaring: 'The sun is starting to shine'.

But there are dark clouds on the horizon, with deeper than expected cuts planned in 2016-18.

During media interviews this morning he repeatedly refused to say where the savings would be found.

Wherever it falls, it won't affect him, but it will likely affect the decent hard working families that support him and his ilk: those that graft and pay that idle 's wages

As regards a £7bn surplus before the end of the decade, someone's living in a dream world.

There again, come May, it'll likely be someone else's problem.

There again, come May, it'll likely be someone else's problem.

I very much doubt that Rebbonk.

The Tories are on course to win an overall majority, albeit by a very slim margin due to the way seats are allocated, then they can do what they want for the next five years without any interference from the Lib-Dems or anyone else.