The two Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidates for Norwich have attacked the Chancellor’s statement calling it a “tax con which will lead to a borrowing bombshell”.
Antony Little, Tory PPC for Norwich South, and Chloe Smith, who is the Conservatives’ spokesman for Norwich North, made their comments after the Chancellor delivered his Pre-Budget Report.
Cllr Little said: “The Prime Minister failed to fix the roof when the sun was shining. He claimed that he ended boom and bust but actually left the British economy the least well prepared in the world to deal with the downturn. Now Gordon Brown has made it clear that he is going to add to Britain’s borrowing problem with an unfunded tax con which will create a borrowing bombshell.
“However the Chancellor decides to present it, today’s PBR is still a Christmas tax bombshell and he is trying to secure his future by mortgaging yours. The public are not fools. They will spot the difference between a tax cut and tax con.”
Miss Smith said: “The Conservatives would instead establish a credible fiscal framework and introduce a tough new forward-looking mandate for the public finances. This would be policed by an independent Office for Budget Responsibility that would make the budget forecasts and hold governments to account.
“We are also calling for greater spending restraint. We would reduce the growth rate of spending in 2010-11 below the levels currently forecast by Labour. So there is a clear choice between tax cons now and tax rises later with Labour, or fiscal responsibility with funded and permanent tax cuts from the Conservatives.”
