Economics

Spending Review: this is only the beginning

George Osborne's spending review will lead the way to further cuts in 2015

June 26, 2013
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George Osborne will today announce details of the Government's Spending Review. Benefits, departmental spending and local government spending are all due for adjustment.



The general concensus is that today's annoucements are only the gateway to further cuts following the 2015 election.

The BBC's Nick Robinson seems stoic about the Tory-Labour squabble, reminding us that it's "only 97 weeks to go until we all get to go to the polls again to choose our government."

And as Paul Johnson of the Institiute for Fiscal Studies warned in Prospect  last month, this Spending Review is sure to set the agenda for the next general election.

Until then, it's tension all-around, most of all for Osborne himself. In the Telegraph, James Kirkup picks apart Osborne's "tetchiness" leading up to the Review, reminding us what a hard job he has.

Matthew Oakley of Policy Exchange suggested that a failure to cap welfare spending would leave the government scrambling for another £40bn pounds in cuts. He warns that: “It [the cap] has to include the full range of benefits, including pensioner benefits and the state pension,” said Mr Oakley. “Without this, any proposed cap would be meaningless and fail to recognise the real drivers of rising costs. It's time for an honest conversation with the public.” The Resolution Foundation calculated another £26 billion of "fiscal pain" is needed by 2018.


The Social Market Foundation has summarised today' s Spending Review and sets out the proposed £11.5bn of cuts in the context of Britain's overall debt position.

See yesterday's round-up of the treasury questions—the “amuse bouche,” in preparation for today's Spending Review, on the Prospect blog.