Osborne, who is a leading contender to succeed Cameron, told parliament he was now aiming for a surplus of 10.1 billion pounds ($15.26 billion) by the 2019/20 financial year.
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While unprotected government departments will see their day-to-day spending fall by 18 percent rather than the 27 percent implied in July, the spending review is still one of the tightest in post-war history, Johnson said.
“Now is not the time for further police cuts”, he said.
While millions of low-paid families will not now see their benefits cut in April, the relief for many will be temporary point out Labour, with tax credits due to be phased out by 2018 in place of Universal Credit.
Tax Credits – the Government has scrapped plans to change tax credits and the current thresholds remain the same.
Osborne has imposed budget cuts in the face of opposition warnings it would slow Britain’s economic growth.
Finance Minister George Osborne on Wednesday spelt out his proposals for STG12 billion ($A25 billion) of cuts to welfare spending and STG20 billion of reductions to public expenditure, while raising STG5 billion via a crackdown on tax avoidance.
Stuart Hosie of the SNP Treasury said that keeping the pressure on Osborne about these cuts was the right thing to do.
The changes to the tax credit system would mean that £4.4 billion would be saved, but those against the plans said that people would struggle elsewhere and the savings would not end up happening.
Mr Osborne said today his U-turn on tax credits showed he was prepared to listen.
According to an early draft of his analysis of the Autumn Statement and Spending Review, Mr Johnson will warn: “If he is unlucky – and that’s nearly a 50-50 shot – he will have either to revisit these spending decisions, raise taxes or abandon the target”. He was big enough to come to the chamber and say that yes, it was wrong.
But policing, health, education, global aid and defence budgets have all been protected.
“Today is a good day for our communities and Thames Valley Police but we must also remember that we are still in times of austerity and we will continue to have some hard choices to make about how we allocate our resources according to local priorities”.
But these fears were an unnecessary worry, as it was revealed yesterday that there will be a £27bn improvement in public finances, meaning that the Office for Budget Responsibility will be able to help on tax credits.
Jon Lawes, managing director of Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions, has published his comments on the 2015 Spending Review and Autumn Statement.
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They also pointed out that the OBR had revised down their forecasts for families’ disposable income, average earnings and productivity.
