Osborne accused of fiddling the figures over extra NHS cash

[dutchman]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 94200.html

George Osborne was today accused of fiddling the figures after it emerged that a third of the Government’s extra investment in the NHS will be money that has already been allocated to the Department of Health.



In an interview with the BBC, Mr Osborne said he would use Wednesday’s Autumn Statement to set out plans to provide an additional £2bn a year for frontline NHS services from next April.

But what the Chancellor did not mention was that the £2bn investment included £700m that had already been allocated by the Treasury to the Department of Health. Treasury sources later insisted that it was legitimate to include this money in the overall investment total because it had been found through “back office” cost savings and had never been allocated to the NHS.

Labour’s shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, accused Mr Osborne of “recycling funds” rather than finding new money for the NHS. “The Chancellor’s spin is of no help at all to an NHS in real crisis now,” he said. “This will only reinforce the view that Cameron and Osborne simply can’t be trusted with the NHS.”

Labour said it would stick to Mr Osborne’s spending commitment as well as finding an additional £2.5m raised through new taxation.

[rebbonk]

The bloke has been an unmitigated disaster as Chancellor. God help us if he ever becomes PM.

[dutchman]

I dunno Rebbonk, he seems right on the ball to me?

[rebbonk]

I'd love to know more about that day... (Interesting petition on 38 degrees, I think, requesting Theresa May introduce drug testing an MPs!)

[dutchman]

Osborne keeps announcing as "achievements", things which haven't happened yet. (A bit like Morrisons supermarket).

[rebbonk]

He ought have been a magician (and a poor one at that) with all his smoke and mirrors.

Osborne bragged about how he was going to completely eradicate the budget deficit by 2015, and how he was going to protect the UK's AAA credit ratings. He has blatantly failed to achieve either of these things.

Osborne has created more debt in 4 years than every labour government combined.

Under his stewardship public debt will have risen by 50% in just five years! Yes 50%!

I could go on....

The muppet has been a total failure and ought not be allowed to continue holding office. Send the fool back to towel folding, I understand he was quite good at that if adequately supervised.

[dutchman]

Regardless of who the chancellor is I've noticed that on Budget Day every headline is about how people will now have more money to spend while in the days that follow it's revealed how it will all be clawed back through rises in stealth taxes.