Alistair Darling has this afternoon told the BBC that the cuts Labour will make will be "tougher and deeper" than those seen under thre Thatcher Government in the 1980s. As the BBC website reports:
Asked by the BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson to accept the Treasury's own figures suggest deeper, tougher cuts than those implemented by the Thatcher government in the 1980s, Mr Darling replied: "They will be deeper and tougher - where we make the precise comparison I think is secondary to fact is an acknowledgement that these reductions will be tough".
He added: "There may be things that we don't do, that we cut in the future. We will have to decide what precisely we can do within the [spending] envelope I set."
> CLICK HERE to watch the clip from the interview
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has responded by saying that this is inconsistent with the message the Prime Minister is using and proves that Labour have been "found out":
"Gordon Brown is basing his election campaign on the claim that Labour can go on spending. That is completely blown apart by Alistair Darling’s admission, under pressure, that Labour's own Budget numbers imply deep cuts. But why didn't he admit that yesterday? Twenty four hours on this empty Budget has completely unravelled and Labour's failure to act will hit families hard."
Jonathan Isaby