Gordon Brown's Speech re: Spending Cuts
14th September 2009
Gordon Brown has admitted for the first time that spending cuts will be needed, in a speech to union leaders.
The prime minister said he would "cut costs, cut inefficiencies, cut unnecessary programmes and cut lower priority budgets". But he said Labour would not "support cuts in the vital front line services on which people depend". The Tories say the PM is in "full retreat" on spending. The Lib Dems have urged "serious proposals" to cut debt.
'Tough choices'
In a speech to the TUC in Liverpool Mr Brown said "hard choices" were needed. He added: "We are doing the right thing to make sure that for the future as we move into a full recovery we will invest and grow within sustainable public finances - cutting costs where we can, ensuring efficiency where it's needed, agreeing realistic public sector pay settlements throughout, selling off the unproductive assets we don't need to pay for the services we do need."
Mr Brown started by telling the TUC his government had not let the recession run its course but implemented measures to help businesses and homeowners during the recession - accusing the Conservatives of opposing his measures.
He said he believed the choices his government had taken were the choices of the British people. "We faced the Conservative position down and we have been shown to do the right thing by British families and British people," he said.
He said people's livelihoods were still "hanging in the balance" and asked people not to allow anyone to put the recovery "at risk". Ahead of the speech, Chancellor Alistair Darling said Labour would look to "cut costs" and "waste" and would consider whether some spending could be deferred as it sought to reduce the deficit.
But he told the BBC this did not mean the UK would fall "into a kind of dark age where the lights go off and nothing happens" and added that investment in frontline services would continue.
An opinion poll for the Times on Tuesday suggests 44% of people trust the Tories to cut spending in a way that does not harm services, while 35% trust Labour.
The poll of 1,504 adults, conducted by telephone at the weekend, also suggested 38% of people backed an equal split between spending cuts and tax rises to reduce debt, 21% backed all cuts and no tax rises and 11% backed tax rises with no spending cuts.
Jobs fears
Union leaders have warned all parties against "knee-jerk" cuts in public services as a way of saving money and have warned of possible strikes if public sector jobs are put at risk.
Bob Crow, leader of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said: "Both Labour and the Tories have committed themselves to cuts and privatisation and the trade unions have to take the lead in mobilising resistance and we should start preparing right now, here in Liverpool."
Public spending is set to be a major issue in the run-up to the next election as the government defends its plans to halve its budget deficit - expected to reach £175bn this year - within four years.
Meanwhile the Conservatives have claimed that spiralling debt levels will force Labour to push up interest rates and taxes and do long-lasting damage to the economy.
'Very foolish'
In a speech in London, Shadow chancellor George Osborne said Mr Brown should tell the TUC conference that "a decade of uncontrolled spending has left Britain with unsustainable debts" and put low-paid public sector workers at risk.
Earlier he told the BBC: "I think the big economic judgement of the recovery has been whether we need to cut public spending and David Cameron and I went out on a limb, told the public the truth about this.
"We endured months of Labour ministers and Gordon Brown in the House of Commons saying we were bonkers we got it wrong and the like, and look, lo and behold, they have completely collapsed and are in full retreat."
Meanwhile Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable has argued that there should be no "ring fenced" areas of spending. He is urging an end to "generalities" and instead "serious proposals for cutting public spending and tackling the UK's budget deficit". He told BBC Radio 5 live that government targets to halve the budget deficit within four years were "over-optimistic". He said the issue was now "when, how and where" cuts take place but said it would be a mistake to introduce them too soon. "The Conservatives argue you start cutting all this on a big scale tomorrow. Now when you are in the middle of a recession, and unemployment is rising, this is a very foolish thing to do and it makes the problem a great deal worse," he said.
Senior Communications Officer
Police Federation of England and Wales
