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UK voters want chancellor to act now to boost economy UK voters want chancellor to act now to boost economy
(3 months later)
The chancellor is content to let the economy recover at its own pace, without further intervention from the government, but voters want him to boost growth.The chancellor is content to let the economy recover at its own pace, without further intervention from the government, but voters want him to boost growth.
According to an Ipsos Mori poll for Markit, the financial data providers, 98% of the 1,500 respondents want the government to crank up the Treasury's fiscal turbo charger to provide a stimulus.According to an Ipsos Mori poll for Markit, the financial data providers, 98% of the 1,500 respondents want the government to crank up the Treasury's fiscal turbo charger to provide a stimulus.
The largest proportion of people questioned want it in the form of tax cuts – one that will favour consumers. Next on the list comes a boost to bank lending, which is favoured alongside higher infrastructure spending and a reduction in the scale of planned spending cuts.The largest proportion of people questioned want it in the form of tax cuts – one that will favour consumers. Next on the list comes a boost to bank lending, which is favoured alongside higher infrastructure spending and a reduction in the scale of planned spending cuts.
The message is that voters are not happy to sit and wait. They want action now.The message is that voters are not happy to sit and wait. They want action now.
In his spending review, Osborne kept to his theme that the economy is healing. It is an image of a country on a hospital bed, religiously taking its medicine, waiting for the all-clear.In his spending review, Osborne kept to his theme that the economy is healing. It is an image of a country on a hospital bed, religiously taking its medicine, waiting for the all-clear.
But as the chancellor will know, modern medicine dictates most patients are up and out of bed in just a few days to stimulate the healing process, while drugs dull most of the pain. The Bank of England is already providing the drugs, in the form of quantitative easing. Now, as the outgoing governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, intimated on Tuesday, the chancellor needs to move more quickly. And a poll that registers a 98% approval for action is not to be ignored.But as the chancellor will know, modern medicine dictates most patients are up and out of bed in just a few days to stimulate the healing process, while drugs dull most of the pain. The Bank of England is already providing the drugs, in the form of quantitative easing. Now, as the outgoing governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, intimated on Tuesday, the chancellor needs to move more quickly. And a poll that registers a 98% approval for action is not to be ignored.
In the Treasury's offices in Great George Street, the polling tells a different story. There is a YouGov survey pinned to the wall that indicates a majority of voters favour austerity. They'd like growth too, but approve of Osborne's brake on spending above all else.In the Treasury's offices in Great George Street, the polling tells a different story. There is a YouGov survey pinned to the wall that indicates a majority of voters favour austerity. They'd like growth too, but approve of Osborne's brake on spending above all else.
It is difficult to reconcile both surveys, but Markit's chief economist Chris Williamson has a warning.It is difficult to reconcile both surveys, but Markit's chief economist Chris Williamson has a warning.
"With 2% of the 1,500 households polled considering the economy does not need a further helping hand, the economic recovery should clearly remain at the heart of the government's agenda," he said."With 2% of the 1,500 households polled considering the economy does not need a further helping hand, the economic recovery should clearly remain at the heart of the government's agenda," he said.
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