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| Version 5 | Version 6 |
|---|---|
| UK economy in a 'mess' - Cameron | UK economy in a 'mess' - Cameron |
| (9 minutes later) | |
| Labour has left the economy in an "utter mess", Tory leader David Cameron has said, after the chancellor said the economy would shrink 3.5% this year. | Labour has left the economy in an "utter mess", Tory leader David Cameron has said, after the chancellor said the economy would shrink 3.5% this year. |
| Mr Cameron said the UK was now in the worst recession since 1945 and its public finances were out of control. | Mr Cameron said the UK was now in the worst recession since 1945 and its public finances were out of control. |
| Chancellor Alistair Darling said the economy would recover in 2010 but borrowing would total £175bn this year. | Chancellor Alistair Darling said the economy would recover in 2010 but borrowing would total £175bn this year. |
| Labour's claim to economic competence was "dead", Mr Cameron told MPs, after it had presided over a "decade a debt". | Labour's claim to economic competence was "dead", Mr Cameron told MPs, after it had presided over a "decade a debt". |
| 'Red chapter' | 'Red chapter' |
| Describing the Budget as a "missed opportunity", Mr Cameron said the government was "running out of money, moral authority and time". | Describing the Budget as a "missed opportunity", Mr Cameron said the government was "running out of money, moral authority and time". |
| "As of today, any claim they have ever made to economic competence is dead, over, finished," he said. | "As of today, any claim they have ever made to economic competence is dead, over, finished," he said. |
| He said the chancellor's predictions for future growth in the economy - Mr Darling forecast the economy would expand by 1.25% in 2010 and by 3.5% in the year after - were wildly unrealistic. | He said the chancellor's predictions for future growth in the economy - Mr Darling forecast the economy would expand by 1.25% in 2010 and by 3.5% in the year after - were wildly unrealistic. |
| He [Gordon Brown] will never bring the changes required because he does not accept the economic model he has run during the last 12 years is fundamentally bust David Cameron Darling unveils 50% top tax rate Nick Robinson on the tax proposals class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/8012662.stm">New political dividing lines | |
| Borrowing levels announced in the Budget - amounting to nearly £350bn over the next two years - were historic, Mr Cameron claimed. | Borrowing levels announced in the Budget - amounting to nearly £350bn over the next two years - were historic, Mr Cameron claimed. |
| The chancellor had "written a whole chapter of red ink" while failing to come up with a credible plan to bring the public finances back into balance. | The chancellor had "written a whole chapter of red ink" while failing to come up with a credible plan to bring the public finances back into balance. |
| The Conservative leader attacked a plan to raise income tax for those earning more than £150,000 a year to 50% next April as politically driven and said other tax increases, including a 2p rise in fuel duty, would hit the poorest in society. | |
| He said Gordon Brown failed to grasp the extent of the problems facing the UK because he was in denial about his role in causing them. | He said Gordon Brown failed to grasp the extent of the problems facing the UK because he was in denial about his role in causing them. |
| "He will never bring the changes required because he does not accept the economic model he has run during the last 12 years is fundamentally bust," he said. | "He will never bring the changes required because he does not accept the economic model he has run during the last 12 years is fundamentally bust," he said. |
| 'Mishmash' | 'Mishmash' |
| Earlier, during prime minister's questions, Mr Brown accused the Conservatives of wanting to "cut their way through" the recession. | Earlier, during prime minister's questions, Mr Brown accused the Conservatives of wanting to "cut their way through" the recession. |
| The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said the proposed rise in the top rate of tax, which, if introduced before the next election would break a manifesto pledge by Labour, was partly designed to wrong-foot the opposition. | |
| The Conservatives pledged not to reverse Labour's previously proposed rise in the top rate to 45% but are likely to come under increased pressure to do so. | |
| For the Lib Dems, Nick Clegg said the Budget was a "mishmash of recycled announcements" which would do little to help those at risk of losing their jobs and their businesses. | For the Lib Dems, Nick Clegg said the Budget was a "mishmash of recycled announcements" which would do little to help those at risk of losing their jobs and their businesses. |
| He criticised the planned income tax increase for high earners as "tokenistic" and unlikely to raise significant sums of money. | |
| Ministers had shied away from the much more urgent task of closing loopholes in the tax system and tackling tax avoidance by wealthy individuals and large businesses, he added. | Ministers had shied away from the much more urgent task of closing loopholes in the tax system and tackling tax avoidance by wealthy individuals and large businesses, he added. |