Osborne’s ghost of Christmas future

There was plenty to welcome in George Osborne’s budget, from the proposed corporation tax cut to scrapping the 3p fuel duty rise. But to read Jonathan’s seven-graph summary is to realise that Osborne’s 2010 plan is not now enough. I look at this in my Telegraph column today. Here’s a festive summary of my pain points:-

Osbrownism – the ghost of Christmas Present 

Osborne’s words – tough on deficit, dealing with debt – are very encouraging. The figures: not so much. The main features of Osborne’s plan are identical to the Brown plan he inherited.

·      Slow-motion deficit cuts (Francis Maude on Question Time last night boasted about cutting deficit by 25% so far; the Brown plan he once rubbished involved cutting it by 33% by now)*

·      Capital spending (infrastructure, etc) halved, to protect current spending (jobs, etc)

·      Moderate spending cuts, averaging about 2.5 per cent a year

·      A 60 per cent increase in national debt

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·      Increased higher rate of tax, not to raise revenue but a stunt to make the cuts palatable (Brown’s ‘temporary’ 45p, later 50p, is now a permanent 45p)

·      Debt made artificially cheaper using QE, and used as a growth tool.