Osborne hints at school funding cuts

Shadow Chancellor issues warning on public spending

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
From the blogs

Sepp Blatter: Penalty shoot-outs must remain, they’re football’s great leveller

As England supporters, we should scorn at any such deciding factor within football. On so many occas...

Why do some men consider the street as a female meat market?

Pronouncements on sexual inequality in the UK are normally met with an eye roll by my generation. As...

Political corruption reflects the widening chasm between the political class and the electorate

The corruption and hypocrisy which has come to characterise politics and politicians, and in particu...

Despite its popularity, the death penalty would allow the state to kill innocent people

The University of Michigan law school and Northwestern University have just compiled a database of o...

George Osborne has come under fierce attack after saying he would not protect schools and the armed forces from budget cuts should the Conservatives win the next election.

The shadow Chancellor said controversial spending plans would be made as a result of Britain's growing debt, warning there would be a "radical shake-up" of the way schools are run. He also said defence spending, traditionally a priority for the party, would not be ring-fenced beyond next year.

David Cameron has been reluctant to reveal details of his party's public spending cuts, but the toughened stance from Mr Osborne was seized upon by Labour as a sign that the shadow Chancellor was planning to slash spending on public services.

"George Osborne is showing his true instincts," said Treasury minister Angela Eagle. "Now it's clear that the Tories want to cut schools and cut apprenticeships in the middle of a recession – alongside a tax giveaway for millionaires' estates."

A spokesman for Mr Osborne said it had always been the party's position that only current health and aid spending commitments would be guaranteed beyond 2010. But Mr Osborne's warning over defence spending has also riled backbenchers and Tory party members.

Former shadow defence secretary Bernard Jenkin said that without increasing defence spending by an additional 1 per cent of GDP, Britain would become a "third rank power".

"Living within current budgets would mean cuts to aircraft carriers, the independent deterrent and attack submarines," he said. "If defence isn't ring-fenced, then nothing is ring-fenced. It means we're going to be a soft power, not a hard power."

Tim Montgomerie, editor of the Tory grassroots website ConservativeHome, said the low priority for defence would "not be well received" among party members.

Mr Osborne has said he favours spending cuts rather than increasing taxes, which could kill off an economic recovery. His warning comes as Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, looks set to announce a rise in public debt in next week's Budget. Annual borrowing could reach £175bn as a result.

The shadow Chancellor also tried to heap more economic misery on the Government yesterday, suggesting official statistics showed Britain had already been in recession for a year. Revised figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicated that the economy started to retract from April last year, although the ONS said it had officially recorded growth as flat.

"Next week's Budget will be a day of reckoning as it is laid bare what the impact of this year-long recession has been on unemployment and the public finances," Mr Osborne said.

Ms Eagle accused him of "distorting the facts and talking down the UK economy".

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

As scientists at Rothamsted's GM trials plead with activists not to sabotage their work, Michael McCarthy visits the battle field
Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Deep in Cameroon's rainforests, poachers are killing primates for food. Evan Williams reports from Yokadouma on a practice that could create a pandemic
Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Government urged to take abuse more seriously as London study shows 41 per cent are harassed
Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Militant Tuhoe tribe members defiant amid claims race relations had been set back 100 years
Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Mayor condemned for saying that two-thirds of riders killed on the road were at fault in accidents
Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Unlikely community movie beats the stars to get prized Leicester Square premiere
Solved after 33 years? Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton

Solved after 33 years?

Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton
Like mamma used to make: Pizza Pilgrims is proving a word-of mouth sensation

Pizza Pilgrims: Like mamma used to make

A van dispensing purist pizzas is proving a word-of mouth sensation
The supper on its uppers: Why we need to learn to entertain lavishly for less

Supper on its uppers: Entertain lavishly for less

Dinner parties are buckling under the pressures of food snobbery and belt-tightening...
The 10 best summer cookbooks

The 10 best summer cookbooks

From Claudia Roden's The Food of Spain to The Art of Cooking with Vegetables by Alain Passard...
Gorgeous Georgian: Now we can enjoy the cuisine of Russia's fiery neighbour nearer home

Gorgeous Georgian cuisine

The food of Russia's fiery neighbour is among the world's most inventive and original
Fury at Obama over filmmakers' access to Bin Laden kill team

Fury at Obama over filmmakers' access to Bin Laden kill team

White House denies putting politics before national security
Novak Djokovic: Patriot's game

Novak Djokovic: Patriot's game

The world No 1 is fiercely proud to be from Serbia and to be improving his country's profile. And he knows that winning the French Open – and therefore holding all four Slams – will do his cause no harm at all
Rugby league's great drugs cover-up

Rugby league's great drugs cover-up

After Hull's Martin Gleeson failed a drug test last year it sparked an avalanche of lies, complacency and confusion which Robin Scott-Elliot reveals for the first time
Ian Bell: Forget good-looking shots, I want to be known as a tough operator

Ian Bell: View From the Middle

It was nice to play a pressure innings at Lord's on Monday and be recognised for it