Osborne: UK has run out of money
The Government ‘has run out of money’ and cannot afford debt-fuelled tax cuts or extra spending, George Osborne has admitted.
Rowena Mason
The Telegraph [UK]
26 Feb 2012
In a stark warning ahead of next month’s Budget, the Chancellor said there was little the Coalition could do to stimulate the economy.
Mr Osborne made it clear that due to the parlous state of the public finances the best hope for economic growth was to encourage businesses to flourish and hire more workers.
“The British Government has run out of money because all the money was spent in the good years,” the Chancellor said. “The money and the investment and the jobs need to come from the private sector.”
Mr Osborne’s bleak assessment echoes that of Liam Byrne, the former chief secretary to the Treasury, who bluntly joked that Labour had left Britain broke when he exited the Government in 2010.
He left David Laws, his successor, a one-line note saying: “Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there’s no money left”.
Mr Osborne is under severe pressure to boost growth, amid signs the economy is slipping back into a recession…
…Amid warnings that Britain urgently needed to adopt a more pro-business outlook, senior Conservatives have urged the Government to get rid of the 50 pence [CAJ note: a 50% tax] top rate of tax…
…Meanwhile, the Chancellor made it clear he was resisting pressure to hand over up to another £17.5billion in taxpayers’ money to help bail out struggling European Union countries.
He said Europe had not “shown the colour of its money” by taking measures to help itself tackle its debt problems.
Until that happens, Britain will not give any extra funds to the International Monetary Fund…
The complete article is at The Telegraph.
CAJ note: The headline refers to Margaret Thatcher’s quote, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money. ” See our Quote of the day, No Such Thing as Public Money
