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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| George Osbone: We'll redouble effort to cut debt after AAA loss | George Osbone: We'll redouble effort to cut debt after AAA loss |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| George Osborne has said the government must "redouble its efforts" to tackle UK debts despite the loss of the UK's AAA credit rating. | George Osborne has said the government must "redouble its efforts" to tackle UK debts despite the loss of the UK's AAA credit rating. |
| The chancellor said the downgrade was because of slow global growth and the difficult process of reducing debt, which he said must continue. | The chancellor said the downgrade was because of slow global growth and the difficult process of reducing debt, which he said must continue. |
| He was responding to an urgent Commons question from Labour on the downgrade, the first to the UK economy since 1978. | He was responding to an urgent Commons question from Labour on the downgrade, the first to the UK economy since 1978. |
| Sterling fell to a two-and-a-half year low against the dollar before rallying. | Sterling fell to a two-and-a-half year low against the dollar before rallying. |
| Mr Osborne said the government accepted the downgrade and the reasons for it but that the situation would be "much worse" if the government abandoned its efforts to reduce borrowing. | Mr Osborne said the government accepted the downgrade and the reasons for it but that the situation would be "much worse" if the government abandoned its efforts to reduce borrowing. |
| 'Stark reminder' | |
| He told MPs the downgrade was a "stark reminder" about the level of debt that the coalition government had inherited from its Labour predecessor and ministers were not going to "run away" from the problem. | |
| He said the AAA credit rating, which he has repeatedly said since taking office was a key benchmark of the UK's economic credibility, was important but the economy was "tested" on a daily basis in the financial markets - including on Monday - and had "not been found wanting". | |
| Mr Osborne said it was "patently ludicrous" that the UK's debt problems could be solved "overnight" and he said the deficit was down by a quarter since the election and interest rates on borrowing remained low. | |
| "We have got to convince the world that we can pay our way in the world, and that is what the government is going to do," he added. | |
| But shadow chancellor Ed Balls said Mr Osborne was "in denial" about the UK's economic problems and the government's failings. | |
| "The first economic test he set himself, now failed by this downgraded chancellor." |