Downing Street Says

The Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) began by relaying what the Chancellor told Cabinet this morning. The Chancellor said that Britain’s economy remained strong and well positioned to deal with increased global economic uncertainty. He emphasised that the Government’s first priority would always be maintaining economic stability and sound public finances and that the Government would therefore take no risks with the economy or make unfunded spending or tax commitments. The Chancellor went on to say that the tough economic decisions the Government had taken meant that the country was in a strong position to continue to invest in key priorities like health, education, security and transport. He said that the spending plans and reforms set out in today’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) would help to ensure that all these public services would continue to meet the aspirations of the British people.

Asked which departments had been told their CSR outcomes already, the PMS said that, from memory, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Ministry of Defence, HM Treasury, Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and the Home Office had all been told their settlement.

Asked to elaborate on what the Chancellor meant when he said the Government had taken ‘tough economic decisions’, the PMS said that the Government had taken tough economic decisions, most recently on public sector pay, for example.

Asked what discussions there had been at Cabinet that morning about the CSR/PBR, the PMS said there had been a discussion around some of the more detailed proposals on the Pre-Budget Report (PBR), which obviously he was not able to pre-empt ahead of the statement, but it was a good discussion; the mood in Cabinet was business-like and upbeat.

Asked if there was any talk at Cabinet about inheritance tax, the PMS replied that it would be inappropriate for him to go into the detail of what exactly was discussed at Cabinet, as he did not want to pre-empt anything the Chancellor might say in his statement later today.

Asked if there would be any words from the Prime Minister regarding PBR, the PMS said no.

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» Tuesday, October 9, 2007

CSR/PBR

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