An unfamiliar mood before the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ Budget briefing today: many
of the gathered journalists, economists and policymakers had decided that, for once, this wouldn’t be an exercise in spotting the Chancellor’s deceptions, because, quite simply, there aren’t many.
And they could well be right. In his introductory remarks, Robert Chote, the director of the IFS, said that “the government is certainly to be congratulated for the transparency with which it
presented [yesterday’s policy announcements].”
What we’ve heard, so far, backs up that tribute. There will be an extra £50 billion of fiscal tightening by 2015; there is a 77-23 split between spending cuts and tax rises; and unprotected departments face cuts of 25 percent – all as George Osborne said yesterday. What a refreshing change to the Brown years, when the IFS had to locate spending cuts in the footnotes to footnotes.
One noteworthy point, though, is that unprotected departments could face even deeper cuts.
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