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Twitter reacts to Osborne's spending cuts

 

Wednesday 26 June 2013 17:18 BST
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Chancellor George Osborne's Spending Review in the House of Commons this afternoon
Chancellor George Osborne's Spending Review in the House of Commons this afternoon (BBC)

Twitter shifted into top gear as the Chancellor reeled off his plans for the 2015-16 spending review. Propaganda? Check. Screeching? Of course. Some fine bits of 140-character analysis? In place, as always. See the best below:

Osborne:

@gabyhinsliff: ..no doubt Chancellor will get around shortly to explaining why it hasn't all gone to plan, then. *dsnt hold breath*

@simonblackwell: Osborne has already said "all in it together" and "global race" in first minute. Triumphant spendingreview

Welfare:

@jameschappers: Osborne: welfare claimants who cannot speak English will have to attend language courses 'or benefits will be cut' SR13

@Rdarlo: Osborne's new '7 day wait' to claim out of work benefits sounds like good news for paydaylenders & more work for foodbanks

@BBCStephanie: Excluding state pension from welfare cap continues habit of maintaining spending on over-65s. 75% of that spending is not means tested.

@Peston: Odd perhaps that pension not included in welfare cap, given that age-related benefits are arguably biggest looming fiscal problem in west

@alexhern: All those “screw the unemployed” measures in one handy place: pic.twitter.com/jrAAi6wSX2

Infrastructure:

@margarethodge: Bumbling answer from Osborne when I questioned him on the real terms cut in capital investment HOC SR2013

@faisalislam: Is this an admission by the Chancellor, as the DPM has suggested, that it was a serious error in 2010 to halve capital spending?

@duncanweldon: Govt plan appears to have been to slash capital spending in downturn and then increase it once economy starts recovering. How very odd.

@peston: Increase in departmental capital budgets much less than implied. Public sector gross investment actually unchanged 2015-16, at £50.4bn

Local government:

@CarolineLucas: 10% cuts to local govt will be devastating - Chancellor outsources pain of cuts once again

@BenChu_: Osborne boasting about cuts to local government spending - so he's happy about collapse in social housing construction?

Foreign office:

@Benedictbrogan: Hague is best foreign secretary we have had in a generation says GO. Hague checks for his wallet [following 8% cut to budget] SR2013

DFID:

@_Johnrolfe: Well done George_Osborne for protecting the DFID_UK budget. Important that Britain is a global leader in international development. SR13

@IsabelOakeshott: If Osborne axed entire dfid budget for a year, he wouldn't have to find any other savings for 15/16.Just pointing it out. Not saying he shd

Ed Balls' response:

@Georgeeaton: So far this is Balls's strongest ever response to Osborne. #SR2013

@TimMontgomerie: If Labour are outraged at cuts why is Ed Balls making so many jokes? Better to be serious than making it look like it's all a political game

@IsabelHardman: And there was me thinking Ed Balls wasn't going to have a shouty half hour and was instead going to talk about iron discipline...

Miscellaneous:

@xtophercook: Is it time for my annual rant about how stupid the budget process is? Ed Balls is critiquing a document he hasn't been allowed to see.

@MichaelDugherMP: George Osborne wearing quite a lot of make-up. He looks like Marie Antoinette...

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