Labour have lost their “moral authority to govern” by putting electioneering ahead of fixing the economy, shadow chancellor George Osborne said today.
Responding to the Chancellor’s statement on the Pre-Budget Report, Mr Osborne told the Commons Alistair Darling had put off tough spending decisions until after Britain goes to the polls.
He accused the Chancellor of failing to produce a plan for dealing with Britain’s debts, failing to restore confidence in Treasury forecasting and failing to convince the world that the country is open for business.
And he described the decision to increase National Insurance rates as a “tax on jobs”.
Mr Osborne told MPs: “Today, confronted with the biggest budget deficit in our peacetime history, he faced a choice.
“Would he take the tough spending decisions before the General Election or would he completely duck them?
“We were promised a Pre-Budget Report and what we got was a pre-election report. They have lost all the moral authority to govern today.”
