George Osborne’s New Year speech on the economy

Earlier today the Chancellor gave a speech on the economy where he set up a choice for politicians: cut back on welfare, or hurt ‘hard working families’ with tax rises and cuts to services like the NHS.

Here’s the full text and audio of his speech:-

Thank you for inviting me to speak to you today here at Sertec. I’m here because you’re a great manufacturing company, of the kind we need to see many more of in this country. You make parts for British cars that are exported all around the world.

When we hear on the news that our economy is recovering, people wonder what it means for them. For some it feels abstract, remote.

But here there’s nothing abstract about the 200 new employees this company has created in the last year. Or