BUDGET 2011: Ed Miliband accuses 'complacent' Chancellor of conning voters

Response: Labour leader Ed Miliband accused George Osborne of conning voters
12 April 2012

Ed Miliband accused George Osborne of conning voters today with small giveaways that are dwarfed by tax rises and spending cuts.

The Labour leader claimed the Chancellor was seeking to trick the public by trumpeting a rise in the threshold at which people start to pay income tax - while the Treasury rakes in far more through the VAT increase and cuts to benefits and public spending.

"It's the classic Tory con to give with one hand and take more away with the other," Mr Miliband told the Commons. The Labour leader branded Mr Osborne "arrogant" and "complacent" for cutting "too far and too fast" as he seeks to tackle the country's debts.

"After this Budget, it's not the Chancellor who is rescuing the country," Mr Miliband said. "It is the country that needs rescuing from him."

Warning of more job losses and the squeeze on families' living standards at a time of soaring inflation, he added: "Won't they be right to conclude, 'It's hurting but it isn't working.'?"

The Opposition leader said the Government was taking a "reckless gamble" on the economy and claimed Mr Osborne's "second Budget tells the story of the failure of his first ... Every month when unemployment is higher than it should be it stores up long-term damage.

"Every month when growth is lower than it should be he hits the future potential of our economy. The problem is, instead of admitting it, he refuses to change course. It is a Budget for more of the same, from a complacent, arrogant Chancellor, in a complacent, arrogant Government."

Mr Miliband highlighted Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne's comment that the Lib-Con coalition "should not be lashed to the mast" of its current fiscal policy if Britain's recovery falters. "We needed a Budget that changed the direction of economic policy," the Labour leader added. "We needed a Budget that changed course on cutting too far and too fast."

He derided the Government for U-turns on the sell-off of state-owned forests, cuts to school sport funding and cut to housing benefit for individuals who had been looking for work long-term.

"It's not as if they haven't had practice at the U-turn business," he said. "They're becoming the past masters. But on this [the economy], the issue that matters most, they are least willing to change."

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