Downing Street Says » Pre-Budget Report

» Friday, December 11, 2009

Pre-Budget Report

Asked how great the row was between No 10 and the Treasury regarding the Pre-Budget Report (PBR), the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made his views clear at the press conference this morning when he said that the story of a row between No 10 and the Treasury was completely wrong . The Prime Minister went on to say that he and Alistair Darling had worked very closely together for many years and continued to do so. He praised Alistair Darling for his PBR and assured people that we had both the fiscal deficit reduction plan and the resources to protect our combined public services.

Asked repeatedly how the Government would halve the deficit, the PMS said that the Chancellor had been very clear in the PBR about what needed to be done now to ensure that we created stability in the economy, maintained public finances and protected frontline services. There would be tough choices to come in the future about public spending but the Chancellor had set out in the PBR how within four years we would tackle the deficit.

Asked if the Treasury resisted real terms increases in the PBR, the PMS said that she would not get into discussions about the process of how the PBR was decided; the most important thing was that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor agreed about what was in it.

Asked how serious the discussion on VAT was, the PMS said that the Chancellor had set out how the Government would secure the public finances and ensure that we could achieve economic recovery. There would be tough choices to come about public spending but the PBR had been published with the Prime Minister’s full support.

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