Blair backs Brown over economy
Prime Minister Tony Blair today said Britain’s finances were “in good shape” in a public message of support to his Chancellor, Gordon Brown.
A number of leading business organisations, among them Institute of Directors, are concerned that the Chancellor’s forecasts for the UK economy may be overoptimistic. The IOD’s director general, Miles Templeman, said: “We are very concerned, however, that the Chancellor’s UK economic growth forecasts are too optimistic and that as a result the tax burden may have to rise even further after the general election.”
Speaking in Edinburgh, Mr Blair backed the Treasury’s growth forecasts, saying they had proved more accurate than those of other forecasters in recent years.
In a speech staking out Labour’s pre-election ground, the Prime Minister said: “The public finances are in good shape and there is no reason to be deflected from the successful course the Chancellor has set to meet our fiscal rules.
“Over the present economic cycle the current budget is in surplus, and the Treasury’s growth forecasts – which have proved consistently more accurate than others over the last seven years – are entirely in line with our existing policies to meet our fiscal rules.”
He added that in 1997, government debt amounted to 44 per cent of national income but now it was only 34 per cent.
“We took tough decisions to get the public finances on a stable footing, and will not put this at risk.”
Mr Blair also echoed many of the themes that were evident in the Chancellor’s Pre-Budget Report yesterday, especially investment in education and skills in the UK.
