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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Economists warn on Tory cut plans | Economists warn on Tory cut plans |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| More than 50 economists have warned Conservative plans for spending cuts this year may push the economy back into recession, it has been reported. | More than 50 economists have warned Conservative plans for spending cuts this year may push the economy back into recession, it has been reported. |
| The Daily Telegraph says the letter has been signed by Labour peer Lord Layard and Sir David Hendry among others. | |
| Other economists have already said a Conservative government would be right to cut the public deficit this year. | Other economists have already said a Conservative government would be right to cut the public deficit this year. |
| Meanwhile, the Tories say 400 small and medium firms back its plan to halt most of Labour's National Insurance rises. | |
| The economists from around the world who have signed the latest letter say the Tories' proposed £6bn efficiency savings this year are "just a cut by another name". | The economists from around the world who have signed the latest letter say the Tories' proposed £6bn efficiency savings this year are "just a cut by another name". |
| "This is not the time for such a destabilising action," they add. | "This is not the time for such a destabilising action," they add. |
| "The recovery is still fragile. Only when the recovery is well under way, will it be safe to have extra cuts in government expenditure." | "The recovery is still fragile. Only when the recovery is well under way, will it be safe to have extra cuts in government expenditure." |
| The UK economy exited recession in the last quarter of 2009 when it grew 0.4%. | The UK economy exited recession in the last quarter of 2009 when it grew 0.4%. |
| Some of the signatories also signed a letter to the Financial Times in February warning against a rapid reduction in Britain's deficit. | Some of the signatories also signed a letter to the Financial Times in February warning against a rapid reduction in Britain's deficit. |
| 'Additional tax' | |
| Earlier this month, bosses of some of the UK's biggest firms said they were supporting Conservative plans to overturn part of Labour's planned National Insurance rise if they win power. | |
| The 23 - including Marks & Spencer's and Next's bosses - said the 1% NI increase would be a "tax on jobs" and would "endanger" economic recovery. | |
| The Conservatives says the small business leaders now backing its proposals for national insurance believe they will "protect jobs and support the recovery". | |
| In a letter, the signatories say: "We believe that the government's proposal to increase national insurance, placing an additional tax on jobs, comes at exactly the wrong time in the economic cycle." |