George Osborne said today that he had taken the gamble of proposing painful and extensive public spending cuts before polling day because he did not want the Conservatives to be elected on a "false prospectus"
But that's exactly what he did issue.
For once, I agree with Robert Chote of the IFS: the £7bn of savings he listed just dents the deficit, no more.
He mentioned nothing about rebuilding the revenue base in the economy.
He's investing not a bean so no stimulus there.
Instead he's cutting less than 20% of the deficit he says he needs to fill (according to IFS figures).
In which case if he's serious about balancing budgets that means he has £33 bn of taxes to raise.
Give or take that means increasing VAT to 22.5%.
Now maybe that's the plan. It would, of course, provoke renewed economic crisis, but what else is in the store locker if not that?
Talk about a false prospectus.....
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