Healey backs away from cutting welfare cost amid warnings of public finance shortfall
Source: The Guardian ·
Experts round on chancellor over ‘scattergun’ budget, saying he ducked big tax and spending decisionsJohn Healey has backed away from cutting the cost of welfare this parliament, amid dire warnings his first budget could lead to brutal spending cuts because of a £28bn shortfall in public finances.Experts rounded on Healey’s steady-as-she-goes budget on Thursday, with the Institute for Fiscal…
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John Healey has backed away from cutting the cost of welfare this parliament, amid dire warnings his first budget could lead to brutal spending cuts because of a £28bn shortfall in public finances. Experts rounded on Healey’s steady-as-she-goes budget on Thursday, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies saying he had left himself a mountain to climb by ducking big tax and spending decisions. In a damning analysis, the IFS said Healey would need to have set aside an additional £28bn a year, to offset the impact of inflation on future spending plans and hit the target of spending 3% of GDP in defence by 2030. Instead Helen Miller, the IFS director, said Healey had opened the way to “a spending review that looks pretty brutal for some departments” – including real-term budget cuts. “Public service spending plans look extremely tight. They don’t look to me like plans that this government would want to deliver,” she said, adding that meant Healey could face “another season of damaging…